The Data Will Be Collected!

What is the postal motto – through rain or sleet or snow we go…. Our teams will out do the US Postal service any day – no flat tire, or thick mud or washed away bridge could stop our teams. GI illness, mosquitoes, no running water and no electricity – they couldn’t stop us either! The bush – roads that left us aching, meals that were…well different, and accommodations that weren’t quite home – but… what an experience. No matter the challenges we faced – each of us has been deeply moved by the amazing individuals we have interacted with! We saw clinicians that deliver babies almost non-stop, mama’s who had just delivered, sick kids and worried family members. We had children great us, sing to us and play with us. Our CARE colleagues have opened their hearts and homes to us and have shared their passions, knowledge and experience with us and we have learned a lot. Field work is not for the weak - just read the our stories and check out everyone’s photos! The good news is we actually went to Hospitals, Health Centers and Dispensaries and interacted with clinical staff to collect data on the number of deliveries, complications, use of HIV counseling and testing and the documentation of these and other indicators.

The lowest level health facilities, DISPENSARIES, usually serve 2 villages and we visited several very remote Dispensaries. We learned that many are very busy, especially delivering babies. Interestingly, these Dispensaries only have 2-3 staff (a clinical officer and maybe a nurse mid-wife), often serve a population of 5000-8000, deliver over 20 babies a month and often do not have the equipment and supplies needed. Look at the pictures to get a sense of what one might see at a Dispensary.

A Health Center is the next level up of the Health Facilities – usually they receive referral from the Dispensaries. They are bigger, more established and serve more people.

The Hospitals are the highest level health facilities and again have more trained staff, received referral patients in critical condition.

The data analysis begins in a few hours and then report writing and powerpoint generation will occur. The goal is to have a near final draft of a report covering each of the health facilities that we visited by tomorrow evening!