Wrapping up and Kamogelo

We're finishing up our clinical tasks here in Gaborone, which includes spending and distrubiting the money that has come in throughout our stay. A portion of the money will be going to the Kamogelo preschool, which has instruction, meals, supervision, a garden, playground, etc for orphans and vulnerable children in a village outside of Gabs. "Orphans or vulnerable children" means that they have lost caregivers due to AIDS, and generally they are living with grandparents or extended family, and don't have as many resources at home to stay healthy.

We did physical assessments on all of the children and found lots of skin infections, runny noses, dental problems and a few more serious issues. This was also a repeat assessment so we were able to do growth charting and identify kids who need more nutritional support. There are local medical and dental clinics so we were able to refer all of those children and the staff at the preschool will be helping with follow-up.

In addition to the assessments we also were asked by the staff to teach them first aid on topics that they see often. We also invited the parents for this 2 hour session and had about 30 people attend. We covered oral health, skin infections, and communicable diseases based on what we saw in our assessments. We also covered seizures, head injuries, poisoning, cuts and burns, and fractures at the request of the staff. We used a lot of demonstration and the nun who runs the orphanage (Sister Margaret) did a great job translating for us. (Or so we assume. How does one translate the concept of losing "electrolytes" when a child has diarrhea?) The learners seemed very engaged, asking a number of great questions and taking notes. We are following up on this session with handouts that illustrate the key points for each topic. Our hope is that much of the information will spread throughout the community as teachers and parents teach each other when they notice a problem.

The donation money will primarily go to our third task requested by the day care, which is to restock their first aid kit. This kit is used for the bumps and scrapes of preschool life, but also to support care for longer-term problems. While we were there, one child had an infected cut in his heel from stepping on a thorn, and he had not received any care at home. The teachers were the ones who noticed the limp, assessed the wound, and performed hot soaks and dressing changes with the first aid kit supplies (and some instruction from us.) They had a rudimentary kit, but are missing many essential supplies, such as band-aids (called "plasters" here), antibiotic ointment, skin creams, and bandage tape.

Another portion of the money will be used to provide toothbrushes for the children at this preschool and another preschool for OVCs that we have been working with. Our fabulous dental student Saveet, was able to assess each child and teach them how to brush their teeth correctly. Of course, in order to do that they will need a brush which runs at least 20 pula (equivalent of a buffet lunch or 6 rides on the combi).

We will post another final update when all of our projects are complete. The Journey of Hope has already left town and will be sending updates when they get back on Monday. Many of the rest of us are leaving this weekend for a week of travel before we fly home. We are grateful for all of the various forms of support we have received and are excited to share more in person!