The Other Side of Town

Side Note: I added pictures to a few previous posts so go check them out!

Today was much like yesterday, (as we have the same schedule everyday) but we started our morning at a hospital across town. The side of town in which the campus is a much a nicer area. The entire campus is surrounded by a high barbed wire electric fence, and the houses have them as well, but I never felt truly endangered when walking around outside the campus, even at night. The other side of town was much different. It was about 35F and there were people EVERYWHERE. Walking, riding bikes, standing around, probably just trying to get out of the township they were all centered around, but I can't say for sure. The buildings were older and there was not a single white person anywhere near this area. There are basically no white people on our part of campus, our dorm, or any of the areas we have walked to, only people of color. When our mentors arrived the first day, I was surprised to find that they were white, and the ratio of non-whites to whites in the medical school is much like that of Appalachian.

In the hospital we followed the same routine as yesterday, but this time in the burn unit and in the pediatrics department. We saw many young burn patients and learned about the process of healing these wounds, the success rate, possibility, and need of skin grafts, and the great lengths taken to provide a safe, bacteria-free environment. Unfortunately, our doctor was very soft spoken and spoke Afrikaans about half the time, so I did not get too much information from the pediatrics portion of our day. We left this hospital and returned to the one on campus to sit-in on exam room appointments for more pediatrics. Most of these children had cerebral palsy, down-syndrome, etc, and most of these parents spoke Sotho and had to be translated by a certain doctor, or a Sister (basically a CNA).