Day 6-Teen Club and PnP

Teen Club meets once a month on Saturdays. The kids, ages 12-14, play games and discuss issues related to their health and living with HIV/AIDS. This month’s topic was hand washing. In one activity we did in small groups, one child was chosen to have glitter poured on their hands. Then they went around and shook hands with all the other children to show how germs spread and are really hard to wash off. Everything was discussed in Sesotho so I didn’t really know what was going on half the time but it was a lot of fun! And at the end there was a delicious lunch.

Dr. Paul demonstrating how to be safe around dangerous fluids.













Lunch-stew with rice, butternut squash, beets, and salad










Grocery shopping in the evening. Pick and Pay (PnP) is the local grocery store.

Day 5

Work
On Fridays we don’t have to be at work until 8:30am, the extra sleep was really nice! I spent the day listening to lectures given by several of the doctors and health workers:
Disclosure (Me Mama Keuna)
Malnutrition (Dr. Paul)
Care of Exposed Infants (Dr. Meena)
PMTCT (Dr. Alex)
I had a meeting with Meena in the afternoon and we discussed some of the long term projects I will be working on and planning some possible outreach trips. I’m really excited to get started on all of it next week!


Dinner and a Movie
Friday we went to a movie and afterwards got dinner at a restaurant in the mall called Spur. It was suppose to be an American southwestern style restaurant, but they had things like schnitzel on the menu, really random. Lina got up to wash her hands during dinner and told the waiters that it was Kadi’s birthday. They came at the end and sang to her!

Day 1

First official day at the clinic! Baylor Clinic is a two story brick building with exam rooms downstairs and offices upstairs. Monday through Thursday everyone arrives by 8 am and there is a morning song and prayer. The words are all in Sesotho so I have no idea what they are singing about, but the songs are so pretty! Then Dr. Mohapi, the executive director, gives announcements and everyone starts the day. Monday I spent the day shadowing Dr. Mamello, she’s a native doctor so she translated her conversations with the patients from Sesotho for me. I spent most of the time asking a lot of questions because it was the first time I had heard of any of the HIV medications and abbreviations for things! And thankfully my bag arrived so the week started off well.

Baylor Cottage

I’m staying at the Baylor Cottage with three other girls. It’s right next door to the clinic and really nice- two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and living room. We have hot water and electricity, the only down side is that there isn’t internet. So at night when the clinic is closed, we take turns going to sit outside under the window of the Visiting Scholars room to steal wireless! But other than that it’s really convenient.

Some more pictures of the Cottage:










Kitchen











Dining Area











Living Room

Arrival in Maseru

After two and a half days of traveling I finally made it to Maseru, Lesotho! It was weird coming into Moshoeshoe airport because the tiny plane was the only one there and the small one room airport was staffed with about five people. I got my passport stamped and looked for my bag…which unfortunately didn’t make it. I was very proud of myself because I didn’t panic and reported it to the lady at the counter (who I’m pretty sure also stamped by passport and checked my bag at customs…). She told me my bag would arrive on the next flight from Johannesburg so I wasn't too worried about it. A driver from the clinic was there to pick me up. It was crazy to actually drive from the airport through the rural outskirts of the city and finally make it to Baylor!!

Johannesburg Airport and the 4th of July

I only had an hour until my connection to Lesotho though so I had to hurry through international transfers and didn’t get to see much of the city outside of the airport. Johannesburg airport is huge so as I was rushing to my gate I saw lots of stands selling vuvuzelas (and lots of signs saying not to blow them in the airport). I got to the gate and there was a bus that takes you from the gate to the plane which was running kind of late. As I have found most things in Lesotho do! But luckily it meant I still had some time to stand outside and get some fresh air before the plane left. Only a 35 minute plane ride left! Oh and happy fourth of july:)

Flight to Johannesburg

Finally on my way to Africa!! My flight left New York late morning, clear skies so luckily no delays this time. The plane wasn't full and I actually had two empty seats next to me, so plenty of room to spread out. I attempted to sleep to start getting adjusted to the time change since it was about 11pm in South Africa. But around 2am I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. I watched the Sound of Music until they served breakfast and after that it was only an hour until the plane landed! I was so excited I couldn't sleep anymore. So much for adjusting to the time change...