Paying a Debt

Garn hard at work installing a well pump

In Karanda town

Ready for work!

Okay, so I know I owe you all a decent blog entry on what I've been up to in the last week, so here it is. If the power doesn't go out and the internet doesn't crash, maybe I'll even attempt a few pictures! First of all, it is amazing to me to be licensed as a nurse in another country. That is so cool. Here they wear shoulder patches, or epilets they're called, to signify your status. The students get black bars on theirs - 1 for a first year, 2 for a second, 3 for a third year. Once graduated, you lose the bars and instead get a badge that signifies you are the real thing now, or a general nurse they call it. Instructors and charge nurses get green bars above their badges. When someone of higher status comes into the room and you are sitting, you must stand. I knew about this before, but I was still taken by surprise when a first year student stood upon my entering the room. Wow! First was the guilt - oh goodness, please sit down! but then the realization - power!! Wow! And respect! Very cool! lol... and since respect is so important here, first names are not used. Male nurses are Mr, and female nurses are Sister. Ward aids and students are Miss or Mr as appropriate. These poor new coworkers of mine, they are struggling just as much with my Fresian last name as I am with their Shona last names! :) I am now Sister Haayema. (or Seesta, as they say it with their accents) I tried to get them just to say Sista Michelle, but it didn't go over. They just laugh and struggle to say Haayema again. :)

I love them - they are so grateful to everyone who comes, and so patient when we ask them to repeat what they said 3 times because the accent is so thick. The nurse I worked under for the last 2 days said before I left today that he was so looking forward to learning from me because he's only been graduated for 2 years and I have for 8. I told him that I think he has much more to teach me than I have to teach him, but he still said he had so much to learn from my experience. Wow. At home, the new, wet-behind-the-ears, book learned but little real experience new grads come to their first job trying to tell us how to do our jobs. I appreciate the enthusiasm for what you learned, but now you're in the real world. :) So this is a switch. (No offense to all the new grads out there! I still love you!) They also love it when you attempt to say something in Shona to them - they laugh and laugh, but really appreciate it. I've got all the appropriate greetings down, and the newest thing I tried to learn today was "did you vomit today?". Not quite the direction I was expecting in language learning, but will probably come in handy many times.

The hospital is divided up into different wards, and each are actually their own building, attached by walkways, some covered, some not. It's interesting to pick up your patient from the OR here, bring them out the door to outside and wheel them down the sidewalk to their ward. :) That was funny. However, it was not so funny when a patient died and we had to wheel the body down several walkways outside to get to the morgue. The wards are maternity, pediatrics, male ward, female ward, theatre (OR) and out patients. The last 2 days I've spent on female ward, and I haven't heard yet what next week will bring. My observation days were spent on peds, maternity and female ward. I haven't ventured down to the male ward yet to work. I won't be working in maternity at all as they also have a midwifery program here, so that suddenly makes me not qualified to work there. Too bad, it would have been fun - my one day of observation sure was! The community outreach we planned for last Friday didn't happen because the truck broke down. However, there is a plan to take me along on an immunization run out in the community next Friday! Woohoo! Not sure if I can make it, though, as we are heading out to Victoria Falls next weekend!! It's ideal right now, as we can only get 30 day visas, so we plan a trip to Vic Falls, cross the border into Zambia, and get a new 30 day visa. It's always changing, but that seems to be working right now. I'm only slightly worried that they'll change things and deny it, and we'll be stuck in Zambia. Oh well, I hear they have a nice game reserve right there.... :P

Okay, I think that's enough talking for now. I'll try a few pics. Feel free to laugh at me wearing a white nursing dress, but it's not so bad when all the other nurses are wearing them. AND I'm so happy to have a license and be working, that I don't really mind at all. Just want to say thanks for all the comments, everyone! We get so excited over each one, we really appreciate hearing from home.