16 June 2007: A Swiss Army Knife, Serge’s Well-Stocked Med Kit, and a Minor Procedure

On the night before I left, Serge and I sat on the floor of our room with a bunch of little baggies (about 3 times the size of the $5 & $10 crack rock bags that litter the streets of West Philly), a slew of meds, and other medical supplies. After packing it all up, it seemed like so much to take – when was I going to find a need for Dermabond?! Well my doubts were assuaged last night and we were all thankful for Serge’s thoroughness. Nicole, a PhD student from Austin who is running a VCT component of one of the studies had an old heel blister, that was massively swollen and infected. When she commented to Emily that she was having trouble walking and the pain was traveling up her leg, Emily decided she needed to lance that sucker. Luckily it wasn’t tracking. Iodine, my flame and alcohol sterilized Swiss Army knife, a very brave Nicole, a very apt and steady-handed Emily, triple antibiotic ointment, bandages, surgical tape, and mountains of pus later and our first field procedure was a success. Nicole and Emily preparing for the carnage.

We had spent the day working and then shopping in the outdoor market (picture any outdoor market in a developing nation – expect this one has goats heads hanging from butcher stalls, a liquor store called the Booze Den, and bike seats made from recycled plastic bags for sale.

One of the med students who is here from Jeff purchased a bike for use for the summer but needed a new seat and was over the moon when we found these. She now has a new bike seat complete with girly flowers.

I’m jealous and want very badly to purchase one of the bikes to ride while here. They are the main mode of transportation in Malawi, both personal and public – bike taxis are everywhere. Here are some bike lust pics