A walk through the Namibian Healthcare system

So a few weeks back I was hanging out with some friends in Rehoboth for the fourth of July. We were having a BBQ when the door to my flat suddenly stopped working. The handle turned but the inside pieces didn’t move. After about 45 minutes or so I became exceedingly frustrated and punched the window above the door. It was a stupid move. I generally have a good hold on my temper but when you get to the end of my fuse there’s a massive keg of dynamite. Anyhow I cut my hand up pretty bad. I called a colleague and went to the hospital with her and two friends. My friend Martin was supportive and helpful. While my friend Chris made jokes the whole time. Mrs. Pretorius took us to the hospital and spoke to the nurses and registrars while I elevated my bandaged hand. We saw a doctor within five minutes. He shot some local in my hand and went about sewing it up. It took 11 stitches. I didn’t pay anything. The following day I went back with Mrs. Pretorius to get the bandage changed and make sure the wound wasn’t infected. We waited about an hour before a nurse changed my bandages and rubbed iodine in everything imaginable. I paid N$20 or about $2.50 US. I was having difficulty closing my hand because of the swelling but I had no nerve damage. I skipped school the next day and went to the Ministry of Works to see if someone could come out and fix my door. We jerry rigged it well enough to slightly function but it was still having problems. I waited two days for someone to come take a look. No one did. I went back to school on Wednesday and Thursday but I had difficulty writing things on the board so I ended up making hand outs and having children write notes off my laptop. It wasn’t the most exciting lessons but I needed something. On Friday I went to the clinic to get my stitches removed. It was 7am and there were 42 people in front of me. The clinic didn’t open until 8am. I left and went to the private clinic that Peace Corps sent me to last year when I had a lung infection. I was seen within 10 minutes and paid N$236.00 or roughly $29.50 US. The stitches came out without incident. They put new bandages on and lots of various antibiotic creams. The next day I went to Windhoek for my closing of service (COS) conference with some more friends. The door was still broken. I arrived back to Rehoboth a week later and the door is more broken now because all of our jerry rigging makes it worse. The ministry still has not done anything.