I didn't sleep well lastnight and dreamed a lot of home, I think the chocolate and big bang theory did it. So I woke up feeling very homesick and a little bit tearful. It's not that I want to go home or anything I think it's just that I'm ready to move on from here, which is very frustrating because I was really looking forward to it!! I think if there was a bigger variety of food and some Internet connection I would be ok, how bad is that! Dal baht for breakfast, just the smell of walking into their kitchen now starts putting me off food, but the mornings seem to be my worst time ( apart from chia) It livened up a bit afterwards though because when I opened the shutter to our room a snake flopped off it onto the window sill. It wasn't that big but big enough for us to not want it in our room and it caused quite a fuss with the family trying to catch it. After a while of Sita shouting at it and throwing buffalo poo at it, and bibas trying to grab it without getting bitten, he eventually caught it and took it down to the forest so it wouldn't find it's way back. The medical centre was really boring today, I spent a lot of my time trying to plan the health and hygiene lesson I'm putting together for future volunteers. Some of the staff played on the iPad when there wernt any patients, well when I say played I mean kind of just touched it opening random things. They loved it!
I took some blood pressures and handed out some tablets, most of the time not knowing what for and making it very clear it wasn't being communicated to me that well and that I was a bit lost. A lady came in feeling weak and dizzy...again, they gave her Iv fluids which seems to be quite common here. They keep asking me to do it after watching didi but I keep refusing, stating where I'm from you need proper training to do something like shove a needle into somebodys vein but they just seem a bit disappointed that I won't do it. When didi took the needle out after it was finished blood went all over the bed next to it along with some of the fluids ( forgot to mention no gloves or hand washing took place throughout any of this) and it was just left. I thought I'd wait a while and see it anybody thought to clean it but they hadnt after over an hour so I made a big point of getting the dettol out and giving the whole space a good clean. A boy came in with an 'ear infection'. I was about to take his temperature and look in his ear but was told not to, and he was given a course of adult strength antibiotics without anybody even examining him.
Later in the day a woman came in with her baby of maybe 1 and a half years old with a massive cyst on the side of her head. She should have come in sooner because it was pretty bad. They didn't even take them through to the curtained section they just got mum and baby to sit on the floor, the man who ive been told is the cleaner went and got a needle and put it into the child's head with no form of anaesthetic at all. He started trying to syringe the fluid out but nothing came out. They then cut the child's hair off from around free cyst and again, put the syringe in. The girl was crying her little eyes out and was clearly in a lot of pain, screaming and screaming. I tried to stroke her to soothe her because I didn't know what else I could do but she was in too much pain to register any comforting touch. They then moved her to the bed ( thank god I had cleaned it earlier) whilst 3 adults held her down and one started trying to use the syringe. Her screaming was so horrific, I asked had they not used any pain relief first, a numbing agent on the skin, anything, and they just stated a simple no as though it was weird I had asked. I had to leave the centre for a while because I felt really distressed and faint from seeing what they were doing. I could hear her screaming from up the hill, when I couldn't hear her anymore I went back in. She was lying really still not making any sound and I honestly thought she had passed out. I went to look at her and she was awake but as though in shock, just staring and breathing really fast but absolutely silent. I'd had enough for one day and one of the ladies from the school came down to offer me some chia just in time.
I went up, sat with Liam and the teachers and recovered with some chia before going to class. Highlight of my day!! I wish I was teaching! Unfortunately the teachers there can't speak great English themselves so even with us telling the children the right way to say something the teachers will often repeat after us but saying it wrong so the children say it wrong. So we kind of teach the teachers too, but it's really fun even though a lot of what we say isnt fully understood. Liam bought some of the children some books and pencils today which was really appreciated as a lot of students are too poor to buy them so have to come to school with no materials.
We bought some Pepsi and little sweets from the small shop by the school and shared bits with the 2 kids that hang on for us to walk back with. When we got back the girl stayed for a while and had tiffin with us because she's related to the family. We had popcorn and flattened fried rice with a side serving of lots of ants crawling around in it all. Just wipe them off and give it a blow and it's good to eat. Did I mention how proud I am of Liam? Even he ate it with the ants on! We fed the goats some of the rice, one baby goat in particular gets a lot more food because he's been chosen as the sacrifice for next years dashain do they're fattening him up. We watched sita milk the buffalo whilst the baby was feeding, we prepared a load of corn for the animals and we helped make the garlic roti for dinner. We love it when we have roti, it's a welcome food to have with the curries and rice and I always eat a lot more when we have it. We remembered that we had hot chocolate so we all had some with our buffalo milk after, it wasn't the same as cows milk and perhaps it wasn't quite hot enough but it was a nice home comfort and I think the family liked it. Liam certainly liked it because he's not really keen on the buffalo milk. Afterwards we all spent a little while looking through some photos and videos on the camera before deciding we were all tired. I think we were all in bed by 8.30- it keeps getting earlier!
