A Day in Pictures

Sunday rolled around with plenty of work to be done at icddr,b. Since I managed to snap an array of wonderful pictures, I have decided to let them do most of the talking in this post. I hope to give each of you a better understanding of my days here at icddr,b:

The entrance to the centre

This mothers' name is Bokul and her son, Apon, is 4 months old. Apon is suffering from severe malnutrition and stunting. Her husband works by making rice milk powder and she lives in the suburbs of Dhaka. She has one other child, a 6 year old boy, who wants to be a doctor when he grows up. She has not had any proper schooling.

This is a shot of Dr. Chisty leading morning rounds in the long stay ward. As you can see, he is surrounded by junior doctors and nurses who are intently listening.

This little girl was at the Long Stay Ward with her baby brother and mother. Since her mom did not have anyone else to watch her, she brought her daughter to the hospital as well. Her brother is suffering from severe acute malnutrition. At first glance, you may think this girl is around 4-5 years old... guess again! She was a stunted child and is actually 9 years old. She seemed very interested in me, like most people here, and followed me around the ward as we finished up rounds.

My supervisor, Dr. Sayeeda Huq 

This is what all of the hospital beds look like. Each has a small mattress with a hole in the middle

for waste purposes; buckets are below the beds to catch the waste that falls through the hole. New plastic coverings such as this one are placed atop the mattresses and cleaned as new patients arrive.

 

A mother in the long stay ward with her child

Looking down the hall in the LSW

Mother: Majida, 17 years old. Father: Shumar, 21 years old. Married for two years. Their sons' name is Masud, 8 months,  and is suffering from severe stunting and acute malnutrition. I will be monitoring Masud throughout my stay at the centre. He is currently in the acute phase and the parents have agreed to go to the Nutrition Rehabilitation Unit following the acute phase.

 

Working hard, or hardly working? You decide

Mother, Rehana, in the NRU. Her son, Tofajeel is 2 years, 3 months. Her husband is a fisherman and she has 7 other children-- the oldest is 24. She was married off at age 12 and has had no formal education. Her daughters have been educated up to class 3 and her sons have been educated up until class 5.

Shundu Apon! Apon and his mother were pictured earlier. This adorable baby lights up any time I walk over to him, tickle his belly and say his name in a high pitch tone. This mother is absolutely wonderful with her child. I had a staff member translate for me and tell her I think she is a wonderful mom. She replied by saying thank you, but although she is a good mother and does everything she knows, she still fails to ward off malnutrition. I cannot wait to learn more about the public health field so that I can fix problems like this one.

A new baby in the NRU getting saliva swabbed for testing

A beautiful Banladeshi girl

Mother and child. This mother is the same age as me, 20.

This girl was hit by a rickshaw while running across rush-hour traffic and was left with a broken leg. She is in the NRU with her mother and baby sister- who is being treated for malnutrition.

A few of the mothers and myself. This is the only place in the world I will be considered "tall". I am 5'4.. These mothers were most likely stunted as children, just as their own children are now. The nutrient deficiencies and malnutrition problems consuming this country are unmistakably visible everywhere.

 

 

Many of you may be wondering how people react when I take their pictures; to answer that question, most of them have never seen a camera (let alone a digital one) and are extremely thrilled to see pictures of themselves and their children. I have built up relationships with most of these beautiful people and have made a deal with them to get black and white printed copies of the pictures for their own keepsake. What a rewarding, simple task.

 

 Though I have not particularly shared information with you all about the clinical research and protocol here at the hospital, I assure you I have learned infinitely more in the past week than I thought possible. If you have any direct questions for me, please do not hesitate to send me an email at ceberly@masonlive.gmu.edu ! You will not be bothering me by any means and I have a decent amount of free time on my hands each day. I would love to answer your questions!

 

I am currently sitting in the library on the fourth floor and am about to walk down to the long stay ward to meet with Sayeeda for morning rounds. Another day in the life!

 

-C.