Excited, happy, anxious, curious…. all emotions that I am experiencing at the moment. For the past month, Jesal, Joao, and I have been working in the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK) at Rice to complete our tasks of technologies. Being so busy, I haven’t completely comprehended how I will be leaving in less than a day. We will be journeying to Namitete, Malawi, a very small city about an hour away from the capital of Malawi. This will be my first time in Africa, and I can’t wait to experience firsthand the Malawian culture and life at St. Gabriel’s Hospital. Learning Chichewa, toughing through little to no internet access, and cooking for ourselves will be a great skills for Jesal, Joao, and I to go through together.
Here are a few of the technologies designed by Engi 120 freshman teams, capstone engineering design teams, and global health technology teams that will be brought over.
- Temperature Probe: detects hypothermia and fever when the belt is wrapped around the infants waist.
- Stirrups and curtain: to be used for gynecological exams
- LCtemp: this is Joao and I’s GLHT design project. A color change under the frowny face indicates the presence of a fever
- Babymetrix: Jesal’s GLHT design project measures the weight, height, and head circumference of infants.
Other technologies include:
Flow-splitter- allows one oxygen tank concentrator to be used for five patients rather than one
Phototherapy dosing meter- helps measure the correct amount of light to breakdown jaundice
Morphine Dosing Caps- prevents under/over dosage of morphine with accurate and quick dispensing
Boxyclean plans- sterilization process to decrease the risk of hospital acquired contamination
Many people have asked me what I hope to gain from this trip. I have planned and prepared for the past few months, but I know that my upcoming experiences can only be learned from seeing and doing, rather than being taught in a classroom. For the past few years, I have volunteered in hospitals and taken 2 design courses at Rice, and I am anxious for the feedback of our designs from doctors and nurses in Malawi. I want to gain an appreciation for constructive criticism and to develop skills to adapt to them as well. Also as a pre-medical student, I am very excited to witness the health infrastructure of St. Gabriel’s. I can’t wait to get started on this journey!