On our last day of clinical we ventured over to the nearby Children’s Hospital to work with the volunteers. This hospital is considered to be one of the best hospitals in South Africa and is the only children’s hospital in the country. In fact we were told, it is the only Specialty Children’s Hospital in Sub-Saharan Africa. As soon as we walked in, we all knew that it was a hospital for children. There was a huge wire elephant, a large giraffe stuffed animal and a mural of other various African animals on the wall. We automatically felt comfortable, especially with our past pediatrics experience that we’ve had at other South African hospitals.
Four of us were assigned to volunteer on the liver and kidney transplant floor that is also combined with the neurology floor. The other twelve students were dispersed all around the hospital on various floors. We saw several patients that were waiting for kidneys and livers and also several patients that had just received transplants. All the transplant patients were on precautions, but all were doing well after surgery. The cases at this hospital were difficult and multidimensional and that was evident.
I spent a good part of my morning with a little boy who was receiving hemodialysis. He has spent all of his two short years in the hospital and is now waiting for a kidney. He is developmentally delayed and cannot walk or talk at all. Regardless, we played all morning with puzzles and games while he was having his treatment. He knew all the nurses and was able to communicate with all of them. He was incredibly happy and cheerful. It was enlightening to watch him all morning.
