Day 6 – Challenging Day
During our rounds on Saturday morning, we focus on the case of M., a little girl just over a year old who has been admitted with severe malaria and is not improving after four days of treatment. We do not feel that our concern is shared by the rest of the staff, and after discussing the case again, we insist on doing some more tests and ask Maurizio to come and examine the child. This intervention brings to light some inconsistencies that stem from a somewhat approximate way of working, probably resulting from a combination of factors that we find difficult to understand.
Towards sunset, we decide to take a walk in the savannah with Jenny and Eva. What should have been a peaceful and relaxing moment turns into another difficult one: we find a man slumped on the ground by the side of the path, apparently in serious condition. We immediately turn back to ask for help, and again, without acting impulsively, we ask the local staff for the best course of action. They are the ones who recover the man, who turns out to be mentally ill and very hungry. He has been given a hot meal for tonight, but it is difficult to imagine what will become of him in the coming days. We pause to reflect on how ruthless and stigmatized mental illness is in a country where care is based entirely on integration into the community.
