Losho Mara.

2/28/09

Yesterday we did a clinic near the Masai Mara at the Losho Mara tent camp where we are staying.

We saw mostly children. Several had bilateral ear infections and one baby less then a year old had abscess on his anterior thigh. Sister Freda said it was from a "quack." Apparently because of lack of access to medical care people visit folk healers. This child had visited one who had a syringe and needle that she used to draw up God knows what (often water that has collected on banana leaves overnight) into the child. All it does is make these abscesses. Sister Freda showed me a picture on her phone of a young man at her clinic who had to have an AK amputation (thats above the knee for you non medical types) because of this practice. I brought Sister Freda a book on tropical disease and read about Brucellosis prior to the clinic. This infectious disease contracted from infected cattle is wide spread among the Masai and can cause many problems, including chronic arthritis. I am convinced that many of the joint pains I saw were due to this and I treated several men for Brucellosis. Of course out here there is no way to confirm it. After seeing forty to fifty patients and lancing an abscess above a little boys eye we organized the delivery of corn meal and sugar to the women of the village. There seemed to be about a hundred women and we saw only about ten Masai warriors. I never did get to ask Stonic if all these women were the responsibility of just these few men. As usual the activity got chaotic but we managed to distribute all we'd brought. Then the Masai women set up in the field and many of us bought Masai jewelry.


Kris Carpenter bought necklaces for Helen and Bernice, Sister Freda's clinical specialist and pharmacist. She presented them while we had tea around a campfire that afternoon. They were thrilled. Doubly thrilled when we told them they were going on our game drive tomorrow. They have never been.