Saturday: Time for some shopping in Nakuru

rs. Today it was raining in the morning and too dangerous to drive to the hospital on the muddy street, so I took the chance to do some shopping in Nakuru town. I left my car near a hotel where it is safer to park. The street boys who usually look after my car, where nowhere to be found. There is an animal market and a free Disco outside the town, so they probably went there. I was buying some vegetables and made a stop at the souvenir shop where I met some friends. Back home I had time to install some lost software on Nyaga's office computer.

Visit of the Head Teacher

rs. Today the Head Teacher, Mr. Njoroge, visited us. As I feel more at ease outside we met in front of our storage container. He wanted to know if this year again we will visit the school to deworm all children. As we are very busy at the moment and need all energy to keep the cholera disease in control, we agreed that we will come after the holidays. Our medical team usually goes to the school once a month to give some talks on aids, hygiene, and contraception. All these themes are a taboo for the parents as well as the teachers. So it is our doctors who have to take action.

Again more cholera cases

rs. The day started with bad news. Our doctor Wanjara informed me that over night 4 new Cholera patients came to our hospital. They were immediately isolated and became infusions. Our nurse John took all preventive measures because there still is a big risk of infection. In Nakuru town 3 people died of Cholera and also in Kisumu there were again more Cholera cases. All the time I am thinking why this disease is still so active here and the only reasons I can find are a lack of information and many patients don' take it seriously enough. Often patients are not cautious in the public and in public transports, so the risk for the others around them are big. I decided today to order vaccinations for all members of our crew. The medications should arrive on Monday.

Registration numbers to get drinking water

rs. This morning we prepared the numbers for the people to get their drinking water regularly. As we never know how long the water station will supply us with water, we want to be sure that all residents of the camp have access. So with this registration number that the woman on our picture carries around her neck, they can be sure to get the water. People from outside will not be accepted, especially because they might misuse the numbers and use the water for other purposes than drinking.

Vaccination day

rs. Today we had a vaccination day. 56 babies and 35 small children came with their mothers. Not everyboday came, because there is still some fear of cholera although in Kasambara and Thugunui the situation has thanks God much improved. Today, we also made some phone calls reagarding food supplies for the refugees but unfortunately nobody from the official offices in Nakuru wanted to know something. Perhaps we have to go there personally to get some response.

Many people have Diabetes

In the waiting room

rs. Daily routine is back. The cholera cases could be limited thanks to the given medications. But in the hospital we still have many patients. The waiting room was full the whole day. For a short time there were so many things happening at the same time that our laboratory assistant and even the cleaning woman went to help the medical staff with organizational things. Currently we have many patients with diabetes and high blood pressure. Our doctor Wanjara spezialized in treating the diabetes cases. Often a change in the food plan can do a lot. Many Kenyans not even know that they have diabetes because most of the other doctors don't check it.

A visit to the General Hospital in Nakuru

rs. Towards noon I got a call from Alice (see picture right), nurse at the General Hospital in Nakuru. As it is Sunday I took the time to visit her. It has been about a year since I saw her last. There I also met doctor Frederick (see picture above). I quickly jumped into the uniform to be allowed to enter the operation theatre rooms. There Alice told me that they urgently need some advice. The sterilisation machine is out of order and they had no clue what could be the reason. As they know that I am a practical woman, they thought I might help. In fact I could check the machine and saw that a fuse was defective. So we replaced it with a new one and the machine was working again...

Our Blog: 10,000 views in 6 months!

We are proud that our Blog "Rhein-Valley Hospital News" is becoming more and popular with now 10,000 viewers from many parts of the world (see map). Thanks to the regular news coverage by Ruth Schäfer, director of the Hospital we can supply this daily news to you!