In the Province
Hello everyone! Long time no talk. I have been enjoying my time here in the province so far. The area is definitely calmer than the fast-paced, packed streets of Manila.
The other participants and I are stationed in Quezon’s Rural Health Unit (RHU). People from the twenty-four “barangays,” or villages, of Quezon* visit the RHU for several reasons. They seek consultations, prescriptions, pre-natal checkups, free medication and vaccinations, and more. The RHU also has a certified Birthing Home, which allows patients with low-risk pregnancies to give birth there. Overall, this past week has been pretty eventful in the RHU.
During the mornings, the other participants and I help the Barangay Health Workers with checking the patients’ vitals. We also have the opportunity to observe consultations from the doctor and other nurses. The consultations are in Tagalog, which allows me to practice my listening skills. We noticed that a number of the cases involved children with skin infections, which may have been caused by poor hygienic habits such as bathing in bodies of water.
The first day working in the RHU escalated pretty quickly. A woman was about to give birth! I was excited until I walked into the delivery room. The woman was in so much pain and the room was blazing hot (to keep the newborn from getting cold). My vision started getting blurry and I was getting so dizzy. I was a little disappointed in myself when I had to walk out for a bit. But by the time I came back, the cutest little baby girl was out. Even though I missed that delivery, there was another child birth that happened yesterday. I missed it by only five minutes, but stayed to observe the post-partum procedures such as checking the placenta and suturing. I hope to witness the full delivery process before the program ends.
On Wednesdays, children are scheduled to receive free vaccinations based on their age. For example, we learned that children usually receive the measles vaccine at nine months.
It is especially important for children in the province to receive vaccinations since they are even more exposed to diseases such as tuberculosis. The RHU offers the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine to provide protection against tuberculosis, which continues to be prominent in the Philippines. The RHU provides guidance to educate locals about the importance of full immunization. Despite this, few parents still refuse to have their children vaccinated due to other beliefs.
This past Thursday, the RHU sponsored a lecture in honor of Nutrition Month. For this event, mothers were specifically taught techniques for breast feeding. The lecture also emphasized the importance for children to consistently wash their hands thoroughly. Following the presentation, we checked the children for signs of malnutrition. We recorded their height, weight, and Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC), and checked for edema. If the children were determined to be malnourished, our doctors provided free supplements based on the severity of the condition. The parents were reminded to bring their children in for a check-up soon after to see their progress.
After the nutrition program, we visited the Alabat Island District Hospital, which is the main hospital on the island. We were able to ride an ambulance there since it was in the next municipality (about 30 minutes away).
On Friday, I had the chance to observe one of our nurses remove a fish hook from someone’s hand! The patient casually said it happened the day before, but did not come in since it did not hurt yet. The process was amazing to watch.
Other than working in the RHU, we have been exploring the island and enjoying each other’s company. I will talk about all the cultural fun things in my next blog haha. Hope you enjoyed that quick overview of the past week.
Until next post :-)
Love,
Jen
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*The municipality of Quezon has twenty-four “barangays." In each barangay, there is usually a Rural Health Station (RHS) with nurses and Rural Health Workers. However, the RHS can refer for patients to seek consultation or obtain medication from the doctor in the RHU. Dr. Jana is currently the doctor for the entire municipality. For more complicated cases, she refers patients to hospitals either in Alabat or Gumaca (across the water).
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This blog post is dedicated to Joelle and Andreas from my job back home.
