Day 4

Dr. Troy explained to me how in some ways the vaccination system in developing countries is better. Each nurse is in charge of 5-10 villages. She will visit them to vaccinate each kid. This ensures that everyone is vaccinated on a schedule and no one is forgotten. This system works very well because people here typically only go to the doctor’s office when they are sick, not for regular check ups or anything of that nature.  One downfall is they don’t get any vaccinations after age 2 up until junior high.  In addition, when a child is born, the doctor will give the mother a card that helps them track the development of their baby, document when vaccinations are given, and other basic needs.

Faith Roots International Academy has one class for each grade up until Junior high but also has a resource class. This class is for kids coming in that do not necessarily meet the standards that their typical grade level would require of them. This is normally because they may have spent a longer time at the lake and thus missed out on more years of education.  The resource class helps to slowly integrate them with the grade level that they should be at instead of throwing them into a class where they will fall more and more behind. 

We did some more health screenings at the school today with Dr. Troy.  We took the heights and weights of children.  As Dr. Troy continues to do this every few months or so he will be able to track their development. Without the scale it is easy to see that each kid is underweight. We also did eye exams testing their left, right, and bilateral vision. It was difficult for most of the kindergarten students to focus.  We cut most of their exams short because they couldn’t stand still.  So far I’ve only seen one girl my entire time here that wears glasses.  From the eye exams today I think many more kids could benefit from them.