Awesome Day at AIDS Relief Hospital

I don't even know where to begin describing our day on Tuesday. It's a memory I'll have etched in my head and heart forever. Our client is in the business of providing aid to people whether due to a natural disaster such as a tsunami or an earthquake, and also to people in need of food, health services, education or housing.

Both teams of 3 plus several client representatives from the Abuja office spent the day Tuesday at an AIDS Relief hospital in a village on the outskirts of the city. We saw a true glimpse of Africa and quickly determined this fairly new city we are staying in doesn't represent what Africa is really like. We drove on the bumpiest road ever passing shack after shack. We had two young female doctors in our vehicle, and they explained this is the most populated settlement in Africa. Of course we saw a lot of very poor looking people. Many of the women had babies strapped on their backs with a long piece of material tied just right. And....we found the motorcycles of Africa. Motorcycles are outlawed in the city, but obviously a hot commodity in the village.

I was expecting a several story building with various wings...you know, a hospital. We arrived at the hospital and entered through a gate guarded by security. It was like a two story stand alone ranch house with several one story buildings off to one side across a little parking area. There was a lot of activity at the one story buildings....many moms with babies was the first thing I noticed. In addition to providing AIDS Relief, this hospital also has a full service medical clinic for the poor.

We had a briefing session in the 'house', which is actually the office and lab. We met Sister Geraldine, an Irish woman with a vibrant personality. She started the hospital about 10 years ago in conjunction with some other organizations and has built it up to what it is today. The hospital is her vision and life. She operates on (as she describes) a shoe string budget and a skeleton staff. It's amazing what they do and the number of people they help. We then had a tour of the lab which is where they monitor blood of infected patients. Several times a year the patients have their blood tested to see if the anti retroviral therapy (ART) is working.

Next we went over to the actual hospital area. FYI...the HIPAA laws have not made it to Africa, so we saw it all in progress. In one room was an HIV+ woman having blood drawn. Another room was packed full of people going through ART education to learn about the drugs they would be taking to fight/maintain their infection. They also do education on preventing the virus from being spread from pregnant moms to their babies. There's a big pantry for food distribution. Anybody with a BMI less than 20 is given food to assist them with nutrition so they will be strong enough to take the drugs and fight the disease. We saw a lady meeting with one of the doctors as well as the pharmacy. It was quite a site seeing all these people sitting in this area of the hospital which is well known to be just for people who are HIV+ or infected with the AIDS virus.

Next we walked over to the building with all the moms and babies. They give vaccinations in the morning, so we saw many newborns getting their first series of shots. Next we went through the clinic. Augustin drew the most stares because he is Chinese. I guess they are used to seeing white people, but the Chinese kid was a novelty. I brought a bunch of little Dum Dum suckers and gave them to the little kids that were waiting in the various areas we visited. That was a hit!! Next Sister Geraldine knocked on a door, opened it up and there was a very pregnant woman getting an ultrasound on the belly.

Our next stop was in the recovery area of the maternity ward. Several cots were set up in a big room. A woman was laying on one and had her brand new baby girl next to her. The daddy was in a chair right by her side. "Patricia" had just been born that morning. She was fine with me taking a photo of them. From there we went to the surgery suite...just a room...very clean and we had to put booties over our shoes to go in. Sister Geraldine said that most surgery is done without general anesthesia. These people are tough!!

Our last stop was an area where the very sick AIDS patients reside. It was really sad to see. One room for women and one for men. Each room had 4 beds. It was very clear that the people in these rooms would not be going back to their homes. Sister Geraldine didn't think one guy would make it through the day.

We ended the day with a working session with Sister Geraldine and the other Sisters (her office staff). What an operation. This woman is amazing and she wears so many hats. Made us all really stop and think about what's important. WOW.....what a day!