Mega Outreach

Today was another outreach day, where we go follow up with kids who have left TTL and asses their nutritional status as well as general health. We also bring the families food. The goal is to transition the kids to being at home with no support and keeping them healthy, so after a few of these visits, we'll stop bringing food and still follow the kids and make sure the family is able to provide for the child. Once this objective is met, kids "graduate" from TTL's outreach program.
Today, we went to a village where many women and children gathered for a group visit. These women are truly incredible. They hike up these huge mountains from their villages to meet us, with babies on their backs.
I am always amazed at the things mothers think to pack for their children...they are always ready with extra diapers, snacks, hand cloths to wash those dirty hands after snacks, toys, etc. Lesotho women are no different, so they carry these babies plus huge bags of baby supplies up and down these mountains. We also give them lots of food which is pretty heavy, that they also carry. These women must be in seriously good shape!
The majority of the women we saw were all in the same town. They all just kind of sit on the grass with the outreach workers and each answer questions about how the kids are doing. Then, we weigh and measure each kid. We have rapid HIV test kits that use saliva, and anyone who hasn't been tested gets checked during outreach as well. These results come back in 10-15 minutes. Thankfully, everyone we tested today was negative, but I was glad to see that the outreach workers take the women aside to privately tell them the results regardless of the result. I found that people are surprisingly open to being tested for HIV, which I thought was great. I had heard that there was a lot of resistance in Africa to HIV testing, and that many people didn't want to know their status, but today that wasn't the case. In fact, a grandmother watching her grandkids stopped us in the middle of the road and asked us to test her. Perhaps this is a new wave of thinking, but it is great to see. I am optimistic about the possibility of eradicating this epidemic if people are proactive about learning their status and getting treatment. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction!
On the way back to TTL, a number of women and children from more rural areas just met us along the side of the road for assessment. At one point, a herd of sheep, cattle, and a few bulls passed right around us. To give you and idea, these roads aren't wide enough for 2 way traffic..so we are standing next to the car and the bulls literally come close enough that we could touch them! Those horns look pretty ferocious up close. All I could think was, "why did I choose my red sweater today?" I felt like one of those rodeo clowns. Thankfully, I think only rodeo animals respond to that color, because these bulls were totally disinterested in me! I think the herders have the animals pretty well trained at this point.
Along the drive home, a village health worker flagged us down to evaluate some twins who aren't doing well. Apparently it is a pretty common problem for twins to become malnourished in Lesotho because the moms aren't well nourished to begin with, and can't produce enough milk to feed both babies. One of the twins was especially thin, and was starting to have swelling from protein deficiency. We are going back tomorrow to bring the twins to TTL.
Tomorrow is our last work day of the week, we have a four day weekend for Easter, which we're all looking forward to!
H

The Bukana, or health record, which everyone is required to  have.  Only health professionals are allowed to write in the Bukana.

The village health worker and the little twin who is going to come to TTL tomorrow

Beautiful view on the drive

Giving out food to the moms and children in the village

This is the other twin, who weighs a bit more. Her big sister is watching her for the day.

One of the kiddos happily picking up her vitamins

Moms and babies in the village. They all have the babies tied to their backs using the blankets! 

The bulls who got too close for comfort....

This is how we weigh the babies...we put them in a harness and pick them up with something that looks like a vegetable scale from the grocery store! Needless to say, they hate this part.

Measuring arm circumference as an indicator of nutritional status.

The outreach workers asking the moms questions

Another gorgeous view on our travels

Moms and babies happily pose for the camera!

The Rapid HIV test kits we use. Interestingly, they are manufactured in  Bethlehem, PA, home of my alma mater, LEHIGH

The big siblings help us get food out of the truck