THe Muzungos Will Eat You!!!

(For those of you who don’t remember much from your high school Kinyarwandan class, muzungos are rich white people.)

Long time stalker, first time blogger here. I’ve spent my time so far on the Peds side which includes NICU, well nursery, Peds wards, and PICU. During the first part of our day, we examine the NICU babies. If adorable could kill, this room would be enough to take out the entire continent. Some of the social situations these children and mothers are dealing with also tug at our hearts very strongly. Unfortunately my carry-on isn’t big enough for all of them, and the Rwandan government apparently doesn’t allow international adoptions. This room is maybe 12’ x 20’ and contains 5 isolets (some containing multiple babies), 5 cribs (again, some containing multiple babies), two counters, a sink, and two benches for the mothers. All mothers here breastfeed, so the mothers, who have clearly very recently given birth, must stay in this room almost ALL DAY LONG in order to be able to feed their children, unless they are in the recovery room next door, which they stay in only a few days after giving birth. Currently there are 12 or 13 babies in this room, with only two sets of twins. Not only are most of those mothers present in the room along with that many babies and that many places for the babies to lie, but also three Rwandan nurses who translate for us and who care for the babies while we are not there, Julie Yerger (another Muzungo), Dr. Peevy, Micki, three medical students (Anna, Katy, and myself) and Jamie, our own NICU nurse. Can you say, “crowded”?

Then we go across the hall to neonatology B, which functions as a step-down unit for the NICU as well as a place for discharged NICU babies to come for follow-up appointments. We’ve had a few play musical rooms with us and move back and forth across the hall multiple times, but for the most part, moving here means leaving soon. This room has adult sized beds so mom and baby stay together in the same bed.

After that it’s off to newborn wards. This room also has twin beds, and is where mothers come shortly after delivery with medically stable babies. We try to find the charts and match them with each baby (not an easy task when you can’t pronounce the names) and attempt to see each baby once before the mom is discharged to ensure that the baby is stable. The moms play musical beds and sometimes go to another building to use the restroom, eat, or bathe, and the babies can’t tell us their mothers’ names, so sorting them out can be a little difficult. Luckily the nurses and nursing students speak somewhere between a little and much English, and can also remember which women were in which beds.

Next is PICU time with Dr. Nathaniel (aka Pastor), Leonard, the intern and/or Dr. Ngoy. Kids are placed in the PICU if they need closer monitoring or if they need oxygen. This is where our sweet twins Happy and Hope resided, both of whom are aptly named. Hope is a beautiful little girl who is requiring oxygen who has been difficult for us to treat. Since mom has to be around, as she’s only 7 months old, her twin, Happy was there, too. This kid LOVES the muzungos almost as much as Daniel loves protein. Their mom is a teacher and actually speaks ENGLISH!  She allowed us to pray over Hope and her condition, and thanked us when we were done. Such a bittersweet moment – happy to be sharing my love for Christ, but so sad for this sick little girl.  Yesterday, Hope was finally taken via ambulance to Kigali (which is a 6-7 hour drive despite being less than 100 miles). We hope and pray the doctors in Kigali can figure out what’s wrong and treat her! Any prayers for this wonderful family would be much appreciated. Not only is she very sick, but the parents have no family in Kigali so they must find living arrangements, or live with the ENTIRE family in Hope's hospital room.

Baby Hope and Katy

Twin sister Happy

Finally, we tackle pediatric wards. Peds wards are split into three general rooms, which I haven’t found a rhyme or reason for why which kids are in which rooms, but they do move around between them. Here most kids stare at us but usually comply. But in the past few days, we’ve met MULTIPLE kids who cry blood-curling screams when we approach them. The first time that happened to me was a child of about age 3 or 4 in room C. I at first thought that the kid was afraid because of the stethoscope and scrubs, but the child calmed as Dr. Nathaniel approached. His younger sister, who was maybe a year old, crawled toward Katy’s backpack as Katy sat on the adjacent bed looking at another patient. However, when Katy looked at the baby, this kid completely LOST it and also screamed and fled. We had a couple other experiences that day and in the couple days following. We assumed it was because these kids don’t really get much exposure to muzungos. Upon mentioning our experience to Julie, we learned that it is quite common here for the parents to tell children that if they are bad, the muzungos will eat them. Knowing that I’m the equivalent of a bear or the boogey man to these little ones, I now understand why they are terrified of me. For those patients, I stay low, try to avoid eye contact, and just let the non-Muzungo doctor see them

The past couple weeks here have been incredible! We’ve come closer as a team and made some great new friendships. The surgeons, Sarah, and Duane abandoned us already. We hated to say goodbye, and are surprised that half our time here is done! We are praying for safe, speedy travel for those guys and can’t wait to reunite back in the States!

-- Mary Margaret