After a quick breakfast of French toast, courtesy of Dr. Giraldo and Dr. Soerens, we started our morning with more project presentations for the hospital staff. We got lots of really good feedback and we are excited to share with the teams back home.
After presentations, the clubfoot team started setting up for the testing clinic. I followed along with the clubfoot team to help record videos for the data in addition to take photos. Today we saw the first two baby girls for testing, since previously the team has only seen baby boys during the past two days. One of the girls had both parents come to see her testing. They asked a lot of really good questions about the testing process and what the results will mean for our research. It was great to see both parents attend the appointment and also show lots of interest in our research and their daughter's contribution.
In addition to the mom and dad, we got to meet lots of other sweet mothers and babies. We successfully got four tests done and got lots of really good data.
After we had lunch, Ethan, Jacob, Dr. Soerens, and I had the opportunity to do another home visit with Reverend Victor and Paul. We got to meet three siblings, Nina, Gregory , and Angel. Angel had previously gotten an AFO and treatment done at CURE after she fell and injured her ankle, which you can read more about here: https://cure.org/curekids/kenya/2021/06/angel/ . The siblings recently lost their mother last Monday and were still in mourning. Nina, the second child out of four, lives with her three children and husband near Nairobi, but came to support her two younger siblings. Reverend Victor started an engaging conversation by asking about each of the siblings faith journey after condolences. We also got to learn more about their community and daily lives. Angel is currently in 8th grade and is interested in becoming a medic in her future. Her older brother Gregory currently does labor locally, but has aspirations to become an automotive engineer. At the end of our visit, Jacob and Dr. Soerens led us in prayer over the siblings for both their period of mourning and their futures. We had an amazing time visiting Nina, Gregory, and Angel and are praying that their faith in God will guide them.
After we returned from the home visit, we started up some games of Exploding Kittens to close out the night. The team has recently become avid Exploding Kittens players and we often play after a day at the hospital.
Today was a really productive day and we got to meet lots of really amazing people! Tomorrow will be our last day of testing, with six total patients planning on coming, in addition to finishing up work in the Orthopedic Workshop with Seith.
-Rachel