06/12/14

Kaitlyn

     Hello everyone! Today was outreach day for Team Mutomo. We split up into two groups and visited separate clinics that open once a month to serve the people of the surrounding area.  I was stationed at Chumameno, a clinic with one room near the edge of a village out in the bush. I was there with Julia, Mary Clare, Jacob, and chaperoning us were Ann and Tim. At the clinic I was in charge of helping mothers set their children in a harness scale that hung from a tree to measure their weights.  Jacob and I then measured the head circumferences of the babies which were all recorded by Mary Clare and Julia. It was interesting to see how they maintain medical records. At birth, a child is given a small booklet where all medical information is recorded. The mothers carry these with them every time they take the child to a clinic where more information can be recorded later on and growth can be tracked on a hand drawn graph.

     The mothers walked for miles and miles to reach the clinic. I talked to one girl who was only twelve who had carried her infant sister on her back all the way to the clinic because her mother was working. One of the men working with us began talking to a large group of women urging them to be sure not to marry off their daughters too young. He pointed out that Julia and Mary Clare were 15 and I was 18 and that we were focusing on our educations so that we would become successful on our own. Sometimes I forget that at my age, many girls around the world and in other cultures already have families. Some of the women scoffed at his lecture, but others seemed to listen to his advice.

     I cannot even give an estimate of how many kids we measured at the clinic today because as soon as one was taken out of the sling another was thrown in. It was extremely hectic at some points but as the numbers started to decrease, I got to talk to some of the young kids hanging around the village. They were shy at first, but as soon as I gave them some fruit snacks I had 6 new best friends.

Now I am off to go play sports with some Fatima girls! We loved gaining new experiences at the outreach clinics today and are excited to see what else is in store for us this week.