o We finally got internet access! I’m not sure why they didn’t feel it was necessary to tell me that Macs don’t work before I lugged it here, but they’ve loaned me a dinosaur of a laptop to use that works so I’m okay with it!
o I sat in on an Adherence Counselling with Miko who was ridiculously good at her job. There was about 8 people in the room, and she was meeting with them for the first time since they’d been diagnosed positive. It was all in Zulu, I think, and it mainly consisted of (from what I gathered) taking about how to take care of yourself properly once you start the drug regiment, such as eating healthy, making sure to take the pills at the same time every day, etc. The people were all listening really attentively and one asked if you could ever stop taking the drugs, to which Miko replied a resounding NO, and some seemed surprised by that. She then met with some others who were on their Second Adherance Counseling, which they need in order to officially start treatment. I’m a bit fuzzy on the details of the sequential order but that seems right. One woman started crying, stating that she was so upset about her partner- since she told him she was pos and he was neg, he’s been emotionally abusing her. Miko was brilliant with her, and sat next to her and let her cry, suggesting that she and her partner come in for couples counseling with the social worker. I felt a bit awkward being in the room for this, but I walked out with her and she was so sweet- made me really, really excited to start counseling and building a rapport with people.
o We then shadowed Shirley, the psychologist, and sat in on some intense sessions. One included a little girl in 6th grade who couldn’t read and was getting depressed from it; another included this darling little boy who came in with his aunt as his mother had passed away last night and he just came to live with her. The poor kid spoke no English and had repeated grades 1-3, so he was 13 and entering the 4th grade, I believe. Shirley was amazing, and really social worker-y with her therapy techniques, which was so cool to see her in action. Loved it!
o The rest of the day was spent flitting about. One memorably awesome moment was when I had to hold a 7 wk old baby boy in the ER while his mother got a Depo shot. Adorable!
o There’s some people that I’m making friends with- one is this sassy older nurse from England named Sister Ross and she’s hysterical and seems to really have our backs. Definite ally. Another are the two girls who work at the info desk who have offered to take us shopping, definitely taking them up on that offer since they have sick style!
o The Old Girls are 4 old sisters who come with us on the way home and get dropped off at a shopping mall- they’re all nurses in their 60’s and Sister Ross calls them the Old Girls. They basically gossip in Zulu and giggle hysterically, and I’m in love.
Quiet night in this evening, recovering from our hectic social calendar. So far we’ve been here a week and I’m settled and have peace in my heart being here, apart from bouts of homesickness and missing people I love. I’m learning so much, and this city is really great to explore. So far, so good!
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