Another Day at the Office
27 May 2009
I woke up earlier than normal. Normal is 5:30am. I was pondering ways a math teacher could use positive incentives with his failing math class. He has fortunately decided not to beat the students, which is the normal remedy. Some students say they do not study. Others say they cannot understand the meaning of the questions which are all in English as opposed to Setswana which is used in many classrooms. Exams are very important in determining whether a student can go on for further study. They are all in English which creates an extra barrier. I resolve to ask another Peace Corps volunteer, who deals with positive reinforcement, what to do. I plan to see her at a meeting today in the village.
This is the second day without the senior teacher in counseling who was called away with only a few hours notice to attend a three day workshop. (Short notice is common here in Botswana.) She is the only trained counselor at the school with over 200 students. In January of this year she returned from three years training in South Africa and Malaysia, since Botswana does not have advanced degrees in this area at the University of Botswana. (Botswana is really fortunately to have the luxury of guidance teachers and trained counselors, many African countries have no counselors.) Because I do not understand Setswana well, (which is an understatement), I find it hard to handle the office on my own especially with sick students. I do not like making judgment calls not being trained in medicine. Yesterday we had many students coming for pain pills and sanitary napkins. But today I have to leave for a morning meeting to prepare for our teen club. I generally dislike leaving the office uncovered. I phone another guidance teacher to see if she would cover. She is busy marking. About 8 am a distraught student walks into the center with a problem. I explain that the counselor will not be back until Friday. The problem cannot wait. (Most problems cannot wait.) So we talk. It is a problem dealing with teenage pregnancy. Counseling is necessary. I listen and explain that this situation is something that needs a Batswana guidance person. I call the guidance teacher. She will see the student at noon.
I go to the meeting where we planned a sporting Olympics for our HIV positive teens. I also talk to another volunteer about some useful solutions to the math class. I return to school for a meeting about taking our PACT (Peer Approach to Counseling Team) club to visit a rural primary school to help them develop their own PACT club to help prevent teenage pregnancy and other problems. Later I see the guidance teacher. She has seen and will continue to help the student in distress sort out the problem. I feel the case is in good hands. Next I leave to print out a memo requesting a bookshelf as part of a plan to set up a resource center in the Guidance Center. I now run into a different math teacher who is interested in having me teach life skills to his class. I have observed his class and we want to organize a plan. But I am called into the Guidance Center. “Mpho(my Setswana name), tla kwano!”(“Mpho, come here!”)
Our all purpose guidance room is also our sick bay. A student is on the bed experiencing trouble breathing. Her eyes are rolling back in her head. She acts like she is choking. She is jerking her body frantically. It could be a seizure. A crowd has gathered. A few yards away in the same room is the voter registrar registering voters for the upcoming country-wide election in October, 2009. He and his partner turned up unannounced two weeks ago much to our surprise and has been there every day. Some cleaning women have gathered. A few classmates are there along with their English teacher in whose room the problem began. We search for someone with a vehicle to take her to the hospital. In the meantime, the cleaning women massage her chest to relieve any pain she might be experiencing. We locate a pickup truck. The math teacher picks up her limp body up and carries it to the truck. We take the mattress and blankets since she will be in the back. Two students, the cleaning ladies and I ride with her. She is twisting constantly but her eyes are open. I took a first aid course in the US before I joined the Peace Corps. Little did I know that I would be part of the sick bay for over 2000 students. (My attempts at obtaining a youth friendly clinic in the village for the past six months have been fruitless to date.) I try to remember what to do. She is breathing so I do not want to use CPR. Feeling helpless, I keep her awake and talking. I pat her on the back in case there is something lodged in her throat. I ask the students to talk to her. She says she has a brother. We get to the emergency room. The math teacher then picks her up again and carries her into the hospital. She has not eaten all day so we do not understand how she could be choking. I have been through a similar crisis earlier this year with a student who was having trouble breathing. She emphatically denied having asthma. A teacher and I took her to a local clinic. It turned out she had asthma. She was released after receiving some medication and was walking around smiling the same afternoon.
At the hospital our student is given an intravenous drip. We wait in the nearly empty waiting room for her since they say she will be released. Her blood pressure and temperature are normal. Her brother and grandfather arrive at the hospital. We are not told the possible cause, but she is resting and can talk. We leave knowing there is nothing else we can do. It is still not clear about what brought on the incident. In the truck riding back to school, my body is still tense with anxiety and the fear of losing our student before reaching the hospital. I walk home at dusk feeling glad to feel the on-coming evening chill.
Another Day at the Office
27 May 2009
I woke up earlier than normal. Normal is 5:30am. I was pondering ways a math teacher could use positive incentives with his failing math class. He has fortunately decided not to beat the students, which is the normal remedy. Some students say they do not study. Others say they cannot understand the meaning of the questions which are all in English as opposed to Setswana which is used in many classrooms. Exams are very important in determining whether a student can go on for further study. They are all in English which creates an extra barrier. I resolve to ask another Peace Corps volunteer, who deals with positive reinforcement, what to do. I plan to see her at a meeting today in the village.
This is the second day without the senior teacher in counseling who was called away with only a few hours notice to attend a three day workshop. (Short notice is common here in Botswana.) She is the only trained counselor at the school with over 200 students. In January of this year she returned from three years training in South Africa and Malaysia, since Botswana does not have advanced degrees in this area at the University of Botswana. (Botswana is really fortunately to have the luxury of guidance teachers and trained counselors, many African countries have no counselors.) Because I do not understand Setswana well, (which is an understatement), I find it hard to handle the office on my own especially with sick students. I do not like making judgment calls not being trained in medicine. Yesterday we had many students coming for pain pills and sanitary napkins. But today I have to leave for a morning meeting to prepare for our teen club. I generally dislike leaving the office uncovered. I phone another guidance teacher to see if she would cover. She is busy marking. About 8 am a distraught student walks into the center with a problem. I explain that the counselor will not be back until Friday. The problem cannot wait. (Most problems cannot wait.) So we talk. It is a problem dealing with teenage pregnancy. Counseling is necessary. I listen and explain that this situation is something that needs a Batswana guidance person. I call the guidance teacher. She will see the student at noon.
I go to the meeting where we planned a sporting Olympics for our HIV positive teens. I also talk to another volunteer about some useful solutions to the math class. I return to school for a meeting about taking our PACT (Peer Approach to Counseling Team) club to visit a rural primary school to help them develop their own PACT club to help prevent teenage pregnancy and other problems. Later I see the guidance teacher. She has seen and will continue to help the student in distress sort out the problem. I feel the case is in good hands. Next I leave to print out a memo requesting a bookshelf as part of a plan to set up a resource center in the Guidance Center. I now run into a different math teacher who is interested in having me teach life skills to his class. I have observed his class and we want to organize a plan. But I am called into the Guidance Center. “Mpho(my Setswana name), tla kwano!”(“Mpho, come here!”)
Our all purpose guidance room is also our sick bay. A student is on the bed experiencing trouble breathing. Her eyes are rolling back in her head. She acts like she is choking. She is jerking her body frantically. It could be a seizure. A crowd has gathered. A few yards away in the same room is the voter registrar registering voters for the upcoming country-wide election in October, 2009. He and his partner turned up unannounced two weeks ago much to our surprise and has been there every day. Some cleaning women have gathered. A few classmates are there along with their English teacher in whose room the problem began. We search for someone with a vehicle to take her to the hospital. In the meantime, the cleaning women massage her chest to relieve any pain she might be experiencing. We locate a pickup truck. The math teacher picks up her limp body up and carries it to the truck. We take the mattress and blankets since she will be in the back. Two students, the cleaning ladies and I ride with her. She is twisting constantly but her eyes are open. I took a first aid course in the US before I joined the Peace Corps. Little did I know that I would be part of the sick bay for over 2000 students. (My attempts at obtaining a youth friendly clinic in the village for the past six months have been fruitless to date.) I try to remember what to do. She is breathing so I do not want to use CPR. Feeling helpless, I keep her awake and talking. I pat her on the back in case there is something lodged in her throat. I ask the students to talk to her. She says she has a brother. We get to the emergency room. The math teacher then picks her up again and carries her into the hospital. She has not eaten all day so we do not understand how she could be choking. I have been through a similar crisis earlier this year with a student who was having trouble breathing. She emphatically denied having asthma. A teacher and I took her to a local clinic. It turned out she had asthma. She was released after receiving some medication and was walking around smiling the same afternoon.
At the hospital our student is given an intravenous drip. We wait in the nearly empty waiting room for her since they say she will be released. Her blood pressure and temperature are normal. Her brother and grandfather arrive at the hospital. We are not told the possible cause, but she is resting and can talk. We leave knowing there is nothing else we can do. It is still not clear about what brought on the incident. In the truck riding back to school, my body is still tense with anxiety and the fear of losing our student before reaching the hospital. I walk home at dusk feeling glad to feel the on-coming evening chill.
Another Day at the Office
27 May 2009
I woke up earlier than normal. Normal is 5:30am. I was pondering ways a math teacher could use positive incentives with his failing math class. He has fortunately decided not to beat the students, which is the normal remedy. Some students say they do not study. Others say they cannot understand the meaning of the questions which are all in English as opposed to Setswana which is used in many classrooms. Exams are very important in determining whether a student can go on for further study. They are all in English which creates an extra barrier. I resolve to ask another Peace Corps volunteer, who deals with positive reinforcement, what to do. I plan to see her at a meeting today in the village.
This is the second day without the senior teacher in counseling who was called away with only a few hours notice to attend a three day workshop. (Short notice is common here in Botswana.) She is the only trained counselor at the school with over 200 students. In January of this year she returned from three years training in South Africa and Malaysia, since Botswana does not have advanced degrees in this area at the University of Botswana. (Botswana is really fortunately to have the luxury of guidance teachers and trained counselors, many African countries have no counselors.) Because I do not understand Setswana well, (which is an understatement), I find it hard to handle the office on my own especially with sick students. I do not like making judgment calls not being trained in medicine. Yesterday we had many students coming for pain pills and sanitary napkins. But today I have to leave for a morning meeting to prepare for our teen club. I generally dislike leaving the office uncovered. I phone another guidance teacher to see if she would cover. She is busy marking. About 8 am a distraught student walks into the center with a problem. I explain that the counselor will not be back until Friday. The problem cannot wait. (Most problems cannot wait.) So we talk. It is a problem dealing with teenage pregnancy. Counseling is necessary. I listen and explain that this situation is something that needs a Batswana guidance person. I call the guidance teacher. She will see the student at noon.
I go to the meeting where we planned a sporting Olympics for our HIV positive teens. I also talk to another volunteer about some useful solutions to the math class. I return to school for a meeting about taking our PACT (Peer Approach to Counseling Team) club to visit a rural primary school to help them develop their own PACT club to help prevent teenage pregnancy and other problems. Later I see the guidance teacher. She has seen and will continue to help the student in distress sort out the problem. I feel the case is in good hands. Next I leave to print out a memo requesting a bookshelf as part of a plan to set up a resource center in the Guidance Center. I now run into a different math teacher who is interested in having me teach life skills to his class. I have observed his class and we want to organize a plan. But I am called into the Guidance Center. “Mpho(my Setswana name), tla kwano!”(“Mpho, come here!”)
Our all purpose guidance room is also our sick bay. A student is on the bed experiencing trouble breathing. Her eyes are rolling back in her head. She acts like she is choking. She is jerking her body frantically. It could be a seizure. A crowd has gathered. A few yards away in the same room is the voter registrar registering voters for the upcoming country-wide election in October, 2009. He and his partner turned up unannounced two weeks ago much to our surprise and has been there every day. Some cleaning women have gathered. A few classmates are there along with their English teacher in whose room the problem began. We search for someone with a vehicle to take her to the hospital. In the meantime, the cleaning women massage her chest to relieve any pain she might be experiencing. We locate a pickup truck. The math teacher picks up her limp body up and carries it to the truck. We take the mattress and blankets since she will be in the back. Two students, the cleaning ladies and I ride with her. She is twisting constantly but her eyes are open. I took a first aid course in the US before I joined the Peace Corps. Little did I know that I would be part of the sick bay for over 2000 students. (My attempts at obtaining a youth friendly clinic in the village for the past six months have been fruitless to date.) I try to remember what to do. She is breathing so I do not want to use CPR. Feeling helpless, I keep her awake and talking. I pat her on the back in case there is something lodged in her throat. I ask the students to talk to her. She says she has a brother. We get to the emergency room. The math teacher then picks her up again and carries her into the hospital. She has not eaten all day so we do not understand how she could be choking. I have been through a similar crisis earlier this year with a student who was having trouble breathing. She emphatically denied having asthma. A teacher and I took her to a local clinic. It turned out she had asthma. She was released after receiving some medication and was walking around smiling the same afternoon.
At the hospital our student is given an intravenous drip. We wait in the nearly empty waiting room for her since they say she will be released. Her blood pressure and temperature are normal. Her brother and grandfather arrive at the hospital. We are not told the possible cause, but she is resting and can talk. We leave knowing there is nothing else we can do. It is still not clear about what brought on the incident. In the truck riding back to school, my body is still tense with anxiety and the fear of losing our student before reaching the hospital. I walk home at dusk feeling glad to feel the on-coming evening chill.
Another Day at the Office
27 May 2009
I woke up earlier than normal. Normal is 5:30am. I was pondering ways a math teacher could use positive incentives with his failing math class. He has fortunately decided not to beat the students, which is the normal remedy. Some students say they do not study. Others say they cannot understand the meaning of the questions which are all in English as opposed to Setswana which is used in many classrooms. Exams are very important in determining whether a student can go on for further study. They are all in English which creates an extra barrier. I resolve to ask another Peace Corps volunteer, who deals with positive reinforcement, what to do. I plan to see her at a meeting today in the village.
This is the second day without the senior teacher in counseling who was called away with only a few hours notice to attend a three day workshop. (Short notice is common here in Botswana.) She is the only trained counselor at the school with over 200 students. In January of this year she returned from three years training in South Africa and Malaysia, since Botswana does not have advanced degrees in this area at the University of Botswana. (Botswana is really fortunately to have the luxury of guidance teachers and trained counselors, many African countries have no counselors.) Because I do not understand Setswana well, (which is an understatement), I find it hard to handle the office on my own especially with sick students. I do not like making judgment calls not being trained in medicine. Yesterday we had many students coming for pain pills and sanitary napkins. But today I have to leave for a morning meeting to prepare for our teen club. I generally dislike leaving the office uncovered. I phone another guidance teacher to see if she would cover. She is busy marking. About 8 am a distraught student walks into the center with a problem. I explain that the counselor will not be back until Friday. The problem cannot wait. (Most problems cannot wait.) So we talk. It is a problem dealing with teenage pregnancy. Counseling is necessary. I listen and explain that this situation is something that needs a Batswana guidance person. I call the guidance teacher. She will see the student at noon.
I go to the meeting where we planned a sporting Olympics for our HIV positive teens. I also talk to another volunteer about some useful solutions to the math class. I return to school for a meeting about taking our PACT (Peer Approach to Counseling Team) club to visit a rural primary school to help them develop their own PACT club to help prevent teenage pregnancy and other problems. Later I see the guidance teacher. She has seen and will continue to help the student in distress sort out the problem. I feel the case is in good hands. Next I leave to print out a memo requesting a bookshelf as part of a plan to set up a resource center in the Guidance Center. I now run into a different math teacher who is interested in having me teach life skills to his class. I have observed his class and we want to organize a plan. But I am called into the Guidance Center. “Mpho(my Setswana name), tla kwano!”(“Mpho, come here!”)
Our all purpose guidance room is also our sick bay. A student is on the bed experiencing trouble breathing. Her eyes are rolling back in her head. She acts like she is choking. She is jerking her body frantically. It could be a seizure. A crowd has gathered. A few yards away in the same room is the voter registrar registering voters for the upcoming country-wide election in October, 2009. He and his partner turned up unannounced two weeks ago much to our surprise and has been there every day. Some cleaning women have gathered. A few classmates are there along with their English teacher in whose room the problem began. We search for someone with a vehicle to take her to the hospital. In the meantime, the cleaning women massage her chest to relieve any pain she might be experiencing. We locate a pickup truck. The math teacher picks up her limp body up and carries it to the truck. We take the mattress and blankets since she will be in the back. Two students, the cleaning ladies and I ride with her. She is twisting constantly but her eyes are open. I took a first aid course in the US before I joined the Peace Corps. Little did I know that I would be part of the sick bay for over 2000 students. (My attempts at obtaining a youth friendly clinic in the village for the past six months have been fruitless to date.) I try to remember what to do. She is breathing so I do not want to use CPR. Feeling helpless, I keep her awake and talking. I pat her on the back in case there is something lodged in her throat. I ask the students to talk to her. She says she has a brother. We get to the emergency room. The math teacher then picks her up again and carries her into the hospital. She has not eaten all day so we do not understand how she could be choking. I have been through a similar crisis earlier this year with a student who was having trouble breathing. She emphatically denied having asthma. A teacher and I took her to a local clinic. It turned out she had asthma. She was released after receiving some medication and was walking around smiling the same afternoon.
At the hospital our student is given an intravenous drip. We wait in the nearly empty waiting room for her since they say she will be released. Her blood pressure and temperature are normal. Her brother and grandfather arrive at the hospital. We are not told the possible cause, but she is resting and can talk. We leave knowing there is nothing else we can do. It is still not clear about what brought on the incident. In the truck riding back to school, my body is still tense with anxiety and the fear of losing our student before reaching the hospital. I walk home at dusk feeling glad to feel the on-coming evening chill.
Another Day at the Office
27 May 2009
I woke up earlier than normal. Normal is 5:30am. I was pondering ways a math teacher could use positive incentives with his failing math class. He has fortunately decided not to beat the students, which is the normal remedy. Some students say they do not study. Others say they cannot understand the meaning of the questions which are all in English as opposed to Setswana which is used in many classrooms. Exams are very important in determining whether a student can go on for further study. They are all in English which creates an extra barrier. I resolve to ask another Peace Corps volunteer, who deals with positive reinforcement, what to do. I plan to see her at a meeting today in the village.
This is the second day without the senior teacher in counseling who was called away with only a few hours notice to attend a three day workshop. (Short notice is common here in Botswana.) She is the only trained counselor at the school with over 200 students. In January of this year she returned from three years training in South Africa and Malaysia, since Botswana does not have advanced degrees in this area at the University of Botswana. (Botswana is really fortunately to have the luxury of guidance teachers and trained counselors, many African countries have no counselors.) Because I do not understand Setswana well, (which is an understatement), I find it hard to handle the office on my own especially with sick students. I do not like making judgment calls not being trained in medicine. Yesterday we had many students coming for pain pills and sanitary napkins. But today I have to leave for a morning meeting to prepare for our teen club. I generally dislike leaving the office uncovered. I phone another guidance teacher to see if she would cover. She is busy marking. About 8 am a distraught student walks into the center with a problem. I explain that the counselor will not be back until Friday. The problem cannot wait. (Most problems cannot wait.) So we talk. It is a problem dealing with teenage pregnancy. Counseling is necessary. I listen and explain that this situation is something that needs a Batswana guidance person. I call the guidance teacher. She will see the student at noon.
I go to the meeting where we planned a sporting Olympics for our HIV positive teens. I also talk to another volunteer about some useful solutions to the math class. I return to school for a meeting about taking our PACT (Peer Approach to Counseling Team) club to visit a rural primary school to help them develop their own PACT club to help prevent teenage pregnancy and other problems. Later I see the guidance teacher. She has seen and will continue to help the student in distress sort out the problem. I feel the case is in good hands. Next I leave to print out a memo requesting a bookshelf as part of a plan to set up a resource center in the Guidance Center. I now run into a different math teacher who is interested in having me teach life skills to his class. I have observed his class and we want to organize a plan. But I am called into the Guidance Center. “Mpho(my Setswana name), tla kwano!”(“Mpho, come here!”)
Our all purpose guidance room is also our sick bay. A student is on the bed experiencing trouble breathing. Her eyes are rolling back in her head. She acts like she is choking. She is jerking her body frantically. It could be a seizure. A crowd has gathered. A few yards away in the same room is the voter registrar registering voters for the upcoming country-wide election in October, 2009. He and his partner turned up unannounced two weeks ago much to our surprise and has been there every day. Some cleaning women have gathered. A few classmates are there along with their English teacher in whose room the problem began. We search for someone with a vehicle to take her to the hospital. In the meantime, the cleaning women massage her chest to relieve any pain she might be experiencing. We locate a pickup truck. The math teacher picks up her limp body up and carries it to the truck. We take the mattress and blankets since she will be in the back. Two students, the cleaning ladies and I ride with her. She is twisting constantly but her eyes are open. I took a first aid course in the US before I joined the Peace Corps. Little did I know that I would be part of the sick bay for over 2000 students. (My attempts at obtaining a youth friendly clinic in the village for the past six months have been fruitless to date.) I try to remember what to do. She is breathing so I do not want to use CPR. Feeling helpless, I keep her awake and talking. I pat her on the back in case there is something lodged in her throat. I ask the students to talk to her. She says she has a brother. We get to the emergency room. The math teacher then picks her up again and carries her into the hospital. She has not eaten all day so we do not understand how she could be choking. I have been through a similar crisis earlier this year with a student who was having trouble breathing. She emphatically denied having asthma. A teacher and I took her to a local clinic. It turned out she had asthma. She was released after receiving some medication and was walking around smiling the same afternoon.
At the hospital our student is given an intravenous drip. We wait in the nearly empty waiting room for her since they say she will be released. Her blood pressure and temperature are normal. Her brother and grandfather arrive at the hospital. We are not told the possible cause, but she is resting and can talk. We leave knowing there is nothing else we can do. It is still not clear about what brought on the incident. In the truck riding back to school, my body is still tense with anxiety and the fear of losing our student before reaching the hospital. I walk home at dusk feeling glad to feel the on-coming evening chill.
Another Day at the Office
27 May 2009
I woke up earlier than normal. Normal is 5:30am. I was pondering ways a math teacher could use positive incentives with his failing math class. He has fortunately decided not to beat the students, which is the normal remedy. Some students say they do not study. Others say they cannot understand the meaning of the questions which are all in English as opposed to Setswana which is used in many classrooms. Exams are very important in determining whether a student can go on for further study. They are all in English which creates an extra barrier. I resolve to ask another Peace Corps volunteer, who deals with positive reinforcement, what to do. I plan to see her at a meeting today in the village.
This is the second day without the senior teacher in counseling who was called away with only a few hours notice to attend a three day workshop. (Short notice is common here in Botswana.) She is the only trained counselor at the school with over 200 students. In January of this year she returned from three years training in South Africa and Malaysia, since Botswana does not have advanced degrees in this area at the University of Botswana. (Botswana is really fortunately to have the luxury of guidance teachers and trained counselors, many African countries have no counselors.) Because I do not understand Setswana well, (which is an understatement), I find it hard to handle the office on my own especially with sick students. I do not like making judgment calls not being trained in medicine. Yesterday we had many students coming for pain pills and sanitary napkins. But today I have to leave for a morning meeting to prepare for our teen club. I generally dislike leaving the office uncovered. I phone another guidance teacher to see if she would cover. She is busy marking. About 8 am a distraught student walks into the center with a problem. I explain that the counselor will not be back until Friday. The problem cannot wait. (Most problems cannot wait.) So we talk. It is a problem dealing with teenage pregnancy. Counseling is necessary. I listen and explain that this situation is something that needs a Batswana guidance person. I call the guidance teacher. She will see the student at noon.
I go to the meeting where we planned a sporting Olympics for our HIV positive teens. I also talk to another volunteer about some useful solutions to the math class. I return to school for a meeting about taking our PACT (Peer Approach to Counseling Team) club to visit a rural primary school to help them develop their own PACT club to help prevent teenage pregnancy and other problems. Later I see the guidance teacher. She has seen and will continue to help the student in distress sort out the problem. I feel the case is in good hands. Next I leave to print out a memo requesting a bookshelf as part of a plan to set up a resource center in the Guidance Center. I now run into a different math teacher who is interested in having me teach life skills to his class. I have observed his class and we want to organize a plan. But I am called into the Guidance Center. “Mpho(my Setswana name), tla kwano!”(“Mpho, come here!”)
Our all purpose guidance room is also our sick bay. A student is on the bed experiencing trouble breathing. Her eyes are rolling back in her head. She acts like she is choking. She is jerking her body frantically. It could be a seizure. A crowd has gathered. A few yards away in the same room is the voter registrar registering voters for the upcoming country-wide election in October, 2009. He and his partner turned up unannounced two weeks ago much to our surprise and has been there every day. Some cleaning women have gathered. A few classmates are there along with their English teacher in whose room the problem began. We search for someone with a vehicle to take her to the hospital. In the meantime, the cleaning women massage her chest to relieve any pain she might be experiencing. We locate a pickup truck. The math teacher picks up her limp body up and carries it to the truck. We take the mattress and blankets since she will be in the back. Two students, the cleaning ladies and I ride with her. She is twisting constantly but her eyes are open. I took a first aid course in the US before I joined the Peace Corps. Little did I know that I would be part of the sick bay for over 2000 students. (My attempts at obtaining a youth friendly clinic in the village for the past six months have been fruitless to date.) I try to remember what to do. She is breathing so I do not want to use CPR. Feeling helpless, I keep her awake and talking. I pat her on the back in case there is something lodged in her throat. I ask the students to talk to her. She says she has a brother. We get to the emergency room. The math teacher then picks her up again and carries her into the hospital. She has not eaten all day so we do not understand how she could be choking. I have been through a similar crisis earlier this year with a student who was having trouble breathing. She emphatically denied having asthma. A teacher and I took her to a local clinic. It turned out she had asthma. She was released after receiving some medication and was walking around smiling the same afternoon.
At the hospital our student is given an intravenous drip. We wait in the nearly empty waiting room for her since they say she will be released. Her blood pressure and temperature are normal. Her brother and grandfather arrive at the hospital. We are not told the possible cause, but she is resting and can talk. We leave knowing there is nothing else we can do. It is still not clear about what brought on the incident. In the truck riding back to school, my body is still tense with anxiety and the fear of losing our student before reaching the hospital. I walk home at dusk feeling glad to feel the on-coming evening chill.
On a lighter note I have also started "coaching tennis." The first time at our teen club, there were about 20 students, 6 "racquets" and two balls. They all did well. At our local teen club with had about 6 racquets and 6 balls. We had trouble keeping the balls in the court but the kids had fun hitting. I now coach half of m senior schools' team. (We are double shift, so I do one week and another teacher on a different shift does the other. There are about 10 students, 5 racquets and as usual well worn balls, but only two. They are keen to learn. They play well. None have had lessons. I am learning lots about coaching young males and females on serve, volleying, court positions, etc. We always do not agree, but they are very polite so I do not always know what they think. So it goes... My days are always a surprise. I never know what will happen! Do feel free to post suggestions and comments. Go siame.
