Today Julie, Paula and I went to the district hospital in Mbanga to get a better sense of how the health care system works here in Cameroon. We also took a woman and her son in from Mangamba who we had seen last week during our “clinic”. Her 2 year old son was very sick and needed more care than we could provide so we offered to help pay for his treatment. (It has been such a blessing to have the money available to do that.) We were able to provide the little boy with transportation, consultation, IV treatment and three medications. By the end he was a new kid; running, laughing and playing! The total cost? 10,000 francs (which is equivalent to 20 US dollars). Isn’t that amazing?! But 10,000 francs is a lot, especially out here in the bush. Transportation is also a huge barrier to proper medical care; dirt roads and long distances make visits to the doctor quite the ordeal. When you finally arrive at the doctor’s, he will make a list of supplies that he’ll need, you go to the pharmacy, return to the doctor and he will carry out his treatment orders. It’s so different than our hospital units, each fully stocked with just about everything one might possibly need.
We took a tour of the hospital which included the maternity ward, laboratory, surgery unit, medical ward, dentist office and pediatric unit. The nurses were so great as they guided us through procedures and encouraged us to dive in, getting our hands dirty! Paula and I changed the dressing of a splint on a young man’s tibia-fibia fracture (both bones in his shin were snapped like popsicle sticks after a motorcycle hit him as he crossed the street). The splint was made up of pieces of wood, each padded with cotton and wrapped with an ACE bandage.
It makes me realize how lucky we are to have so many cool tools and gadgets. We brought some of the medical supplies we’ve been collecting for the hospital and the nurses were just thrilled. They love medical tape. And alcohol swabs. Things we totally take for granted.
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