Accomplishments and Enthusiasm

It's over, and we were able to accomplish so much. Anja, along with the operating room assistants, improved and replenished a number of sets. Additionally, the stores have been made more organized and better documented so that the next team can easily locate items. On Wednesday afternoon, lessons were given again, this time focusing on trauma sets, including which instrument is used for what purpose, how to hand it over, and how to clean it. It was fantastic to see scrub nurses who were off-duty returning to participate in the training.

As a thank you, a celebratory dance was performed with joyful singing. The two students, Maryam and Lucy, who began their scrub nurse training in September funded by Simba Health, have learned a lot and are very enthusiastic. It's wonderful to work with them. On Thursday, we worked a day at St. Clare Hospital, a well-equipped facility where unfortunately not enough patients come. We were able to bring some instruments that we can use to improve the sets in Sengerema. How great is that!

Over the past two weeks, Michiel conducted an inventory of the anesthesia workstations and assessed what is needed for the new operating room complex. Initially, he participated in the offered operating room program to observe how things are going and identify any shortcomings. Afterwards, he extensively discussed with the anesthesia team to determine their needs and what is necessary to work with the Sulla 800 ventilators in the new operating room complex. This entails a transition from spontaneous ventilation with an open system to controlled ventilation with a ventilator and closed system.

It's clear that some training and guidance will be necessary. However, there is great enthusiasm for the possibilities offered by the new operating room complex. There is also a lot of input from the team and ideas. There also appear to be opportunities to combine it with St. Clare where some aspects are already functioning. All in all, it was a mission where we were able to accomplish a lot, and the collaboration with the tropical doctors and medical interns was very enjoyable both in terms of content and socially. Meanwhile, the new tropical doctor, Malouk, has also arrived and settled into her accommodation at the SZ house. It was once again a pleasant stay in the container house, not least because of Erik and Jiska's tremendous hospitality and their tireless enthusiasm for the entire project. It's great to be there as a team and contribute to it.