Bread.

I'm once again pressed for time but it is probably just as well because, words cannot describe the profound changes in my life in the past 36 hours. After 4 days of waiting to watch a baby come into the world, I finally got to see two beautiful healthy baby girls born in the Kwamashu Clinic in Durban. I spent all week in the Labor ward, and experienced a plethora of firsts, including My first 3 IVs, multiple full pelvic exams and leaning to tell how far along a baby is using the three finger test externally between the sternum and the top of the uterus. The maternity ward, including pre and anti-natal care has NO DOCTORS. It is run by the most incredible women who are all midwives and nurses, who probably have a thing or two to teach doctors. The clinic is in a serious state of disrepair. There are ants crawling in the sharps container. There is ONE fetal heart monitor, that was probably made in the eighties, that is not cleaned between patients, and there’s something to be said about paramedics in the states who make money for each run. The ones here are untrained and don't seem to know what Stat means when it hits them in the face.

This experience was completely upstaged this morning while tears poured down my cheeks, as I held an 18 month old AIDS orphan who was comforted out of her tears by me holding her. I spent the morning walking almost two miles to deliver in home care, to an AIDS/TB patient, an alcoholic in a stroke like state of dementia, and a man who had diabetes, hypertension and has had two strokes since 1999. When we got to the houses the two Zulu speaking women who accompanied, spoke in Zulu to the first family. The only word I made out was "DOC- TOR." I swallowed hard and hope to look behind me and find Anthony Edwards, or George Clooney. No luck. I was the Doctor. The second house was worse. It was a one room shack, that reeked of urine and fecal matter. The ground was a place I would never want my child to go. it was a sea of broken glass, shattered concrete bits, and cockroaches. You'll have to wait for my next entry to find out what I did as "Dr.Saw-Sha." I think seeing someone with a stethoscope that cared was some kind of hope for these patients. The frustration with the lack of care by the families of the patients that need in home care is outstanding.

I'm on my way to the beach for the weekend! Sunday we're going to uShaka Marine World. Check out the bread isle at Safeway this weekend. Feel overwhelmed? Today I saw a tiny store that had two kinds of bread: brown and white. That was all the store had. There were ten shelves. Five were empty. There were no lights and the floor was concrete. Contrast. Am I grateful for my ability to make such a comparison? Blessed, I am certainly blessed.