June 25

To the left is a picture of the sign which is posted at the entrance to the hospital, named "Kibogora". There is always a friendly guard at the gate. To the right is a picture of Lucas standing in front of the hospital's internet cafe (a benefit for staff members), which is located near this same sign.

After spending some time in the physical therapy department, I was impressed with the variety of modalities that they perform, considering that they are in a rural area of Africa: TENS, casting, exercise bike, ice therapy, massage, thera-band, and made-to-order wooden crutches (made on-site in the wood shop by a carpenter). The lead PT showed me some pictures of babies' legs with congenital deformities, which he has improved by applying a series of casts over time.

Today I finished my first report/assignment, regarding improving the chart tracking system here. This weekend I should also finish my evaluation/report about bottlenecks in the outpatient clinic process. I hope that the administration here can use some of my suggestions! I should start a new project early next week. I think it will have something to do with cash handling and collecting hospital coinsurance. I have heard that the hospital and clinic coinsurance amounts are very small - the equivalent of $1 or so - therefore most people are able to pay these small amounts. Hope to learn more about this next week.

I should mention how well Lucas and I are being fed here. We get 3 hot meals a day delivered to our little house. Basically it's room service. Bread is baked fresh every day, and daily we are served papaya, bananas and pineapple straight from the garden just a few feet from our door. We are really getting spoiled!