TB Hospital

Today a few of us went to visit the TB hospital. This is different from the TB clinic we went to before because it is all inpatient. When we first walked in we came to the infant ward. Some of the babies are not able to stand or even sit up because of their TB. Many of them are covered with bandages and oxygen tubes. This was pretty heart wrenching. We got a tour of the hospital by the Occupational Therapist. Patients range from a few months to 18 years old. There are about 60 patients. The hospital has a school for the older kids and a preschool for the younger ones. We will be working with the infants and young children because they are less contagious so it will be safer. The hospital has an OT, as well as PTs, and Speech therapists because TB affects EVERYTHING. The kids constantly need to be stimulated. Most of the patients are also infected with HIV/AIDS. The OT we spoke with was amazing and was open to hear our ideas about programs we could implement after hearing more about the needs of the hospital. I was really impressed about how efficiently the hospital was run and the programs for these kids. As of now, this is defintely where I would like to do my service.