...that I did not include enough detail about our actual work in Sudan. I am out of the country now, so this is a retrospective glance at our work there.
(in spite of my extensive descriptions on our living and fun times, we actually did work also...)
We have spent time at the three teaching hospitals in Southern Sudan. This usually included getting acquainted with the staff, hospital layout, services rendered, and problem areas. Our doctors' expertise is in pediatric health, so the morning involved rounding with the staff, and the afternoon included some type of teaching- most importantly a two day seminar in neonatal health and resuscitation. For my non-medical people (or those who can't use google), this translates roughly into "saving babies directly after they are born if they can't breath or have a low heart rate") Close to a fourth of all deaths in children under the age of five are caused by neonatal asphyxia (inability to breath), so our training modulus helps train staff on how to help prevent those deaths. It's a fairly straightforward workshop (I've even taught it a few times), and it's really cool to see the impact that it can have.
The picture shows a medical officer (the equivalent to a Resident in the US), and a nurse-midwife practicing neonatal resuscitation.
Additionally we had lectures in a wide range of topics (including HIV/AIDS, acute respiratory illnesses, diahhreal illness, etc etc) and staff at each hospital chose which they wanted to hear.
Feel free to post a comment below or email me with any specific questions about our work, but that's the cliffs notes version!
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