10th June- Full Day in Lab

Worked in the lab today doing ALL of the patient blood testing, draws and pricks for the various tests.  I'm getting so much better at the blood pricking for the rapid tests.  It's not as easy as it looks to get the blood drop into the center of the loop below

I've found, however, the bigger people are harder to get veins for and older people have veins that move around a lot if they are thin and their elasticity has gone more so than others.  But now I really understand what my mom meant when she always mentioned that veins would be good to 'poke' :)  haha whenever I see good ones I would love to just draw the blood cause they'd be so easy!  This day though we were really busy...it was just me, one other volunteer, Chelsey from Michigan, and a Tanzanian technician named Happiness.  I don't know what they would have done had we NOT been there. 

Matt and I performing Widal tests

Me doing an erythrocyte sedimentation rate test

Happiness is always telling me that she wants an American husband, that when I go back to the States to look for a husband for her.  The male doctors do that as well, asking if we (being white EU or Amer. female volunteers) want to marry them or get a Tanzanian boyfriend and settle there.  I really don't know what it is with everyone wanting to get married so young! and they find it weird when we say that we are too young.  A lot of people here seem to get married quite young, especially if they are part of a local tribe, Meru or Masaii.  Many of the young girls have already had one or two children by my age!  Very different, but it's their culture.

Gonna do the night shift on Monday and Tuesday (didn't end up going the other night), it's going on the weekend now so I have to wait til then.  Should be good, I just hope I can stay 100% all night.