Opportunistic Infections Clinic

Happily the Sister in the Opportunistic Infections Clinic did not send us on our way this morning.  We arrived bright and early to watch the hall full of patients being led in song and prayer.  What a lovely way to start the day and uplift the spirits!

Our first visit of the day was to join in a group counselling session for adolescents with HIV.  The counsellors and the children very kindly agreed to conduct the session in English for our benefit.  We tried to sneak in quietly and perch in the corner to observe but the children moved around and gave us their seats at the main table.  We protested that we were fine but the counsellor explained that this was the children showing respect for their elders so we took our seats.  All the children greeted us in unison as 'Auntie Natalie and Auntie Kerrie'  All the children then stood up in turn to introduce themselves - they told us their grade at school, the current medication regime and timings and what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Much emphasis was placed on encouraging them to think about their future and where their lives were going and the fact that their HIV status should not inhibit them.  In fact. if they sat down without telling us what their dreams were, the counsellor made them get up again to tell us.  We were sat in a room of future teachers, doctors, accountants and lawyers.  Sadly though, only 1 wanted to be a nurse!  After introductions they discussed issues around compliance and adherence with regimes and how the non-disclosure of status could affect this.  The children then all had a 1 to 1 session with a counsellor.  We were both amazed and moved by the bravery of these brave children in the face of the burden that they carried.

We then tagged onto a Dr's training session on the assessment of the newly diagnosed patient.  We found this so informative and useful and then sat in on a few consultations afterwards and gave our opinions with our newfound knowledge!

We left our teaching session to go and join the nurses in the assessment hall but found everyone gone.  Things seem to come to a grinding halt at lunchtime so we wandered about for a little while until we found the end of an adolescent clinic that the Dr kindly allowed us to join.  We heard some stories from patients that brought tears to our eyes and again were humbled by the bravery of the patients. One of the patients, a young lady of 20, has a dream on running her own business, which is to help other children with HIV with things like providiing clothes and toys to orphaned children. However her compliance with her medication was erratic due to her chaotic life. The Dr said that if she were to become more compliant he would help her acheive her dream by funding her business!! Such acts of kindness once again made us feel humble. She would not be able to help others if she didn't look after herself. The Dr and patient had known each other since 2004.

The clinic wrapped up and what seemed like the never ending lunch hour was still going on so we were released for the day to go and arrange the rest of our week.