sawubona

Sawubona or hello in Zulu is the only thing I knew how to say today to everyone that walked in the clinic. I was a little bit in shock when we went into this rural clinic. We drove past beautiful green hills but crowded with little metal shacks on the way there. I don't know how someone could live in them. Anyway, every SINGLE person we saw today had HIV. It wasnt shocking to anyone there, it was almost a casual occurrence to learn that you had stage 4 HIV. The health standards are a lot different here, the doctors and nurses dont wear gloves or wash their hands very often. They probably thought it was weird that I washed my hands after touching each patient. He said the people know how to prevent HIV, they just don't follow through. It was hard for me to understand. The nurse said everyone was in denial. I guess I would be too. They come to the clinic multiple times hoping for a different prognosis. Women here don't have power or authority when it comes to using condoms and it is common for men to have multiple partners. The scariest thing for me to see today was seeing the patients that had muscle wasting. Their cheeks were all sunken in and they were so skinny. HIV wasn't real until now. Literally until I am working with them and seeing them and touching their skin.

oh and lots of women came in on HIV medications complaining of weight loss in their butt and thighs. One woman even showed us a picture of her bigger self. They love having curves. It's crazy how much different it is in the US. I think if you asked any woman in LA if they wanted to lose weight, they would say yes without a thought.

Heres a picture of me and Kayla with the student nurses that were working at the clinic. When I asked them what they thought of Americans, they said "rich and fast-paced". I like to see how they think of us.