Calls to heaven are local here

On African Enterprise campus :) It was freezing this day and then next it was 90!

     So you remember everything I said about not wanting to miss out on a nap, a hike, or something or other to post a blog...well, most definitely sticking to it. We have been in Pietermaritzburg for a week now and I hardly ever have a spare second of free time. My hours are constantly filled with class, homework, and activities which is so great but it leaves little time to blogging/posting pictures. They say study abroad semesters are supposed to be an easy workload, but unfortunately, this is not my case. The way the program is set up, we fit our entire semester of courses into a period of 10 weeks in order to finish classes in November before we go to Capetown at the end of the semester. So...I have class Monday 9a-8p, Tuesday and Thursday clinicals from 7:30-3:30, and class Fridays from 9a-4p. Luckily we have Wednesdays off to do work for our online class and finish up homework. And South Africans have the most wonderful invention called tea time every day at 10:30 and 4 which is the most amazing break/end of class celebration in the world. Rooibos tea is very popular here and served along with the best fresh (& warm out of the oven) pastries. Personally, I like the Ceylon which I’ve been told not to tell to a South African, but ya…

     We are staying at a conference center about 10-15 minutes outside of the Pietermaritzburg city center (depending on who’s driving ha!) The campus is absolutely beautiful with a jungle full of trees and complete with a waterfall. There is a full kitchen staff who cook 3 wonderful meals for us every day in addition to tea time. (umm…hello South African 15?)

Megan and I in our room

Hiking in the reserve

    We live in a suite-style “chalets” with 8 girls (2 per room) around 1 central room. I am rooming with Megan, one of the other nursing students, who is perfect! I may be slightly biased, but I definitely think I have the coolest chalet!! :D Yesterday was Tahitian dance classes courtesy of Cherokee (one of my chalet mates who puts my dancing to shame) and today we went on a group hike through the reserve. I have been told that 4 zebra (pronounced zeh-bra, like debra with a z, if you are a true South African) and a rhino roam freely there, but have yet to see them. Megan saw all 4 of the zebra…jealous!! I did see a buck (deer in South African) on my run on Monday. We rounded the curve in the road, and there, about 10 feet away, was a buck! Also, monkeys roam freely on our campus. Yes, they are absolutely so cute, until you find out they are mean and break into your chalet to steal Crystal Lite packets. so funny!Such a beautiful place. They say that calls to heaven are local here.

     We have 4 clinical sites that we will attend over the course of the semester. For our first week at clinical, I went to Mason’s clinic, which is in the middle of one of the poorest towns in Pietermaritzburg. People would walk from far distances to attend this clinic to receive treatment. The clinic has many different treatment areas—the ARV portion (Antiretrovirals), the TB (tuberculosis) clinic, the chronic portion, the antepartum portion, and the general clinic. Each of these ‘portions’ as I’ve called them, are simply a room with a nursing bed and medicines.

First day of clinical in Africa!!

     So mini nursing lesson… HIV is the virus that gets transmitted between people and affects your body’s T-cells. A normal T-cell count is between 700-1500. When the T-cells reach a level below 500, it is classified as stage 1 AIDs. ARVs are the meds used to prolong life and prevent the further decrement of the  T-cells. In Africa, ARVs are started when counts fall below 250, unless a person has TB, then they are started at 300. The clinic provides these meds to people infected with AIDs for free at the ARV section of the clinic. TB is very common in people who have HIV/AIDs. My nursing professors told us that 80% of the people who have AIDs, also have TB and 80% of the people who have TB have AIDs. When people contract TB, they have to take medication every day for 6 months!! In the TB section, we distributed Bactrim and Vitamin B Complex to the patients. The chronic portion deals with more disparities. At the antepartum clinic we examined pregnant women for their routine appointments and three girls (ages 16, 19, and 20) come in a row for pregnancy tests. I watched as all three of them took pregnancy tests that all determined they were positive. It is so crazy to watch the seconds that somebody’s life takes such a drastic change.

     On Thursday, an 18-month old baby came into the clinic to be tested after having HIV exposure. The little boy was so happy and bright smiling and here we were testing him for HIV. HIV: this stigmatized, live-changing and awful disease. The nurse was testing him and the whole time I was praying that he would test negative. One little line appeared across the test box and I felt myself breathe again as he was determined negative. We were so thankful and the little boy was copying us clapping. I then realized, this is just the beginning. This little boy is 18-months old and is growing up in a country where HIV/AIDs is so prominent, and he is not the only one.

   So one of the coolest things I got to do so far was Thursday (and stop reading now if you have a weak stomach) when I got to do a pap-smear. Ok, I know some of you are grossed out right now, but in the states you have to be a nurse practitioner or doctor to do these things, so it was pretty awesome! Exams are done on HIV-positive women to check for ulcers and make sure opportunistic STIs have not developed. Next week I will be in a mobile hospice care for HIV/AIDs patients.

   So that never does justice to my week of being here, but that is a little of what I have been doing over the past week. LOVE YOU ALL!