July 2017:
my second assignment as an Austrian Doctor in the Mathare slum in Nairobi.
As the only pediatrician in the team, I had a lot to do. I had to care for 50 to 70 children every day, including severe “diarrhea children” with severe fluid loss. Children with malaria, meningitis and sickle cell anemia were the order of the day.
I found the unnecessary and yet so frequent malnutrition emotionally stressful. Thanks to the good organization at the Baraka Medical Centre, such children are nursed in the “Nutrition Centre”, in the nearby feeding station, and the parents, mainly the mothers, are trained.
Chronically ill patients are also cared for by medical officers, and tuberculosis and HIV patients are integrated into treatment programs and monitored.
Psychological counseling and support is offered at the Counselling Centre. Psychological problems are just as common as in Central Europe.
Young children with developmental problems can also receive remedial therapy at the Nutrition Center. This is because developmental disorders are usually only recognized at a very late stage or only reported by the parents at a very late stage.
Due to the feared and then actual unrest in the slum, our outpatient clinic was closed for 10 days. We doctors and the local staff were forced to take leave.
Fortunately, the Nutrition Center was able to maintain operations and continued to provide 800 daily rations to those in need.
For me, the work was very nice in the knowledge that I could help a little, but the majority of the lasting help is provided by the local employees.
