12/19

One of my greatest challenges today was witnessing someone being refused care due to the clinic's short supply of a particular medication. People must register with the Ministry of Health to a particular location, and once that is chosen, they may only good to that provider for healthcare. Changing providers involves a lot of paperwork, and many people simply do not want to put in the work. An HIV-positive mother came in requesting albuterol for herself and 2 of her children. The clinic was low on this particular medication, so the clinical health officer (equivalent to a physician assistant) told the patient that she would have to go to her original hospital for care. Unfortunately, this hospital is over 3 hours away. The mother also insisted on not doing the paperwork, because "that stupid Ministry is useless so why should I give them my information?"

I worked with this family to go sign the appropriate papers. This took hours, and I was not surprised that people simply do not want to go through this process.

I went on a homecare visit because one patient had not come in for her monthly after a 3 week grace period even with an extremely low CD4 count. After considerable effort in finding her, I learned that she was not going due to fear of being seen by her neighbors. It took several talks with those nearby and her before she was willing to come to the clinic to get follow-up tests and medication. When this woman came to the clinic, she continued denying that she has HIV and requested us to find what is truly causing her ailment. "You guys have the wrong virus," she told us. It was difficult to help her past the "denial" stage of grief, and we now see her every day.

I then bought some raw materials to make purses for mothers who have no means of working. I have a very high awareness on the sustainability of my work, and it is my hope that the purses will be sold in markets to help pay for food.