Weekly Reflection for January 15 - 20

We started the week at Ruaha National Park on a safari. We were able to see a variety of plants and animals ranging from baobab trees, elephants, giraffes, lions and my personal favorite, the leopards. I was interested to learn that some of the plants have a defense mechanism to prevent the giraffes from overeating and killing the plant. Certain plants can release a chemical that makes the leaves taste bad to the giraffes and prevents them from overeating. This chemical will then be released downwind leading the giraffes to graze upwind!

 After our return to Ilula on Tuesday, we got right back to work learning from our Tanzanian colleagues. On Wednesday, I was able to watch my first Cesarean Section with Dr. Elisha. Scheduled Cesarean sections typically occur on Tuesdays and Thursday, but emergency Cesarean sections occur daily. The OR room typically includes a physician, two nurses and the anesthesiologist. Rachel and I were also able to round on the antenatal and postnatal wards with Dr. Elisha on Wednesday and Thursday. Many patients remain in the antenatal wards for weeks or months leading up to the delivery of their baby because they live from so far away. In the postnatal ward, women are required to stay for at least 24 hours following delivery to make sure they can breastfeed their babies!

Maggie

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