By Mary Langdon, Kiwanis International Foundation Trustee
We made our way into the peripheral health unit, and I was amazed at how cool the building was. The women were brought to the back porch in groups of three for their tetanus vaccinations. Some of the women did not have a vaccination card and the nurse had to fill a new one out for them. She was explaining to them to keep the card in a safe place and also about all the free health care available to them.
Dr. Nuhu, UNICEF’s immunization specialist in Sierra Leone, was with us explaining what the nurse was telling the women as they came in to wait their turn for their shot. I would see the nervous looks on their faces, and I would ask Dr. Nuhu to ask them if they knew why they were getting shots. Most did, but some did not. For those who did not know, Dr. Nuhu or the nurse would explain that the vaccines would help make sure their babies did not die from tetanus. Many times that would calm the fear of the women.
There was this particular group of three women waiting on the bench on the porch. The youngest girl in the middle was terrified. The women on each side of her were somewhat stoic. I asked the nurse to ask them if they knew the reason for the shots. They did not know, so the nurse explained why to these ladies.
The little terrified one all of a sudden changed her facial expression to joy. The woman on the right side of her asked the nurse a question, and she got off the bench, started shaking my hand saying "thank you" and then proceeded to hug me.
I found out later that the nurse had explained I was with Kiwanis, and that we were supporting tetanus elimination efforts throughout the world. Dr. Nuhu asked the older woman on the other side, as she was sitting very straight and tall and not moving, what she thought. Her response was she was acting like tetanus by being stiff. No doubt this woman has seen this kind of death in her lifetime.
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