Monday, January 11th Our first day at ILH

We are getting settled in to our housing and adjusting both to the time change and to life in Ilula. The faculty are housed in the largest guest house, with semi-private rooms and bathrooms, as well as the largest living room and veranda.  This is where the group meets for meetings and meals, which are all buffet-style. The food has been a highlight thanks to our delightful local cook, Anna, and her two daughters. Meals have generally included rice, curried peas and potatoes, various meat casseroles, and chapati. We are well-fed, if any families of travelers have been worried!

The students are housed in two separate guest houses, one for women and one for men. The women's guest house also has a generous living room, as well as two bunk rooms that each have western-style bathrooms with a private shower and toilet. Success with the showers has been mixed thus far, but several ladies had successful rain showers! After our long bus ride on Saturday, we were happy to find clean sheets and mosquito nets hung and ready to use.

Today was the group's first day to observe and participate in rounds throughout the hospital, clinics, and nursing school. We started the morning with devotions and morning meeting with the hospital staff, then split up into smaller groups. Some highlights included:

-Healthcare administration students learning about finishing construction on the private ward and its potential role in funding the larger hospital system

-Infection prevention team & nursing students observing a tooth extraction and infection control measures in the dental clinic

-Medical students delivering a baby

-Pharmacy students investigated the pharmaceutical supplies and joined in on rounds

-Resident physicians learned about the top 10 conditions affecting patients treated in the hospital and participated in rounds where they were able to see examples of patients with those conditions and their various treatments.
 

After the rain

We woke up to rain early in the morning, which continued through the morning but let up by lunch. The countryside we can see from the verandas of our housing is particularly beautiful in the mist and clouds. I will try to post a picture, but the internet is happier with text than graphics. That being said, we are very grateful to have enough internet to check in with all of our families and friends!

Much love from Ilula,

Sara Jennerjohn, on behalf of the team