Last 10 Days in Africa...

July 27, 2009 – July 28,2009
This week is my final week in Bwiam. I’ll be working in the medical ward throughout this week. I’ve been wanting to work in the medical ward since day one, so I was really looking forward to it. (You save the best for last, right?) So, the medical ward is where the Cuban doctors make their rounds, meaning that they’ll go around the whole hospital checking up on patients. I get to follow the Cuban doctors and get to see how they diagnose the patients. Basically I get the opportunity to see how medicine is used and how patients are treated in a third world country. I saw many patients with different problems. One patient had her toe cut off, another had a fever up to 103 degrees, and this one patient had a 1st degree burn on her whole left arm… It’s quite unfortunate to see them. They’re so helpless. The worst part is that the Cuban doctors can only do so little to treat them. Usually their best option is to wait it out and hope that the patients get better.

July 29, 2009
Today Alex, Molly, Heedeok, Matt, and I decided to go to Brikama. We spent the entire day travelling around. We ate at a nice local African restaurant. It was really nice to get away from the hospital. These past couple of days I’ve been more homesick than ever. Travelling to Brikama definitely helped alleviate that sickness. I did some more shopping at the crafts market and finally headed back towards home. By the time I got back home, I was completely exhausted. I went to bed right away.

July 30, 2009 – July 31, 2009
Again, I went to the medical ward and got to see the patients. There weren’t any new patients these last two days, so it wasn’t as exciting. One thing I really enjoy about this program is that the people within my group are so diverse. Every time I engage on a deep conversation with them, I’m learning something new either about their culture, their country’s history, or about the world in general. I’ve become more interested in politics than I’ve ever been before. I’ve been so oblivious of everything that’s been happening outside of the U.S.

Tomorrow is officially our last day in Bwiam. After wards we’ll be traveling around The Gambia and Senegal doing some exciting things (hopefully…) I still can’t believe that I’m leaving Africa. It seems like I’ve been here for a good 3-4 months or maybe even longer… I’m so accustomed to the things here. It’ll be sad to say our farewells to our friends in the village. I’ll really miss them.