These are a couple of pictures I took at the Egyptian hospital on Saturday. The pediatrics clinic is a one room afair. Because of cultural norms here, girls are seen as patients on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Boys are seen on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. The translator has been teaching me some basic essential words so I can at least find out the basic reasons they have come for help -- the language thing is going slow but it helps a lot. The first picture is just of a young girl who brought her little brother in for care. She, like most all these kids, seemed very mature for her age. Her brother was fine. She would have had to come by 8 am, wait outside and then compete with the other 160-200 patients crowding around the building to try to get in. Not a typical day for a young girl her age. She was just as determined as she looks in the picture. Life here makes for strong women.
The boy below was brought in by his mother. She just asked why he was so short. This seemed like an odd question until she said he was fourteen years old. Dr. Hani and I looked him over and discovered he had a cardiac anomaly with a phenomenal heart murmur. All we could do to assess him was talk, examine and get an EKG. We surmised he has a serious congenital aortic valvular problem. He's always tired and the condition has clearly stunted his growth. Of all the things we learned, the most shocking was that this was the first time the boy had ever seen a doctor for any reason at all.
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