Unwell? Follow the John the Baptist diet

30/10/2008Sarah Hall is a BMS worker in Guinea. She tells us how she has been teaching patients at the Medical Centre, Macenta, about how important eating the right foods are in their recovery process.

Fodé’s brother has just arrived at the Medical Centre with a nasty infection in a wound on his arm. Aissata has lost a lot of weight and is suffering from tuberculosis. Mamady arrived last night with a chronic infection in his left foot, due to leprosy.

What have all of these people got in common other than being ill and in-patients here in Macenta? Well, they all need to eat well to help them get better.

On Tuesday, Daniel and I finished a series of three teaching sessions about the importance of nutrition for patients.

For the most part, patients rely on their families for their food and the nurses have never been taught to consider this important aspect.

We talked about energy and protein needs and we encouraged everyone to recognise that good nutrition helps in the healing process.

We also taught that it helps to reduce the length of hospitalisation and the amount of drugs that have to be administered.

Then, the inevitable question was asked – “How are our patients going to pay for all of this food? Rice, meat, fish… it all costs a lot of money”.

We talked about food alternatives. People are very attached to rice here, but maize is also available and it costs less than rice.

It’s also not necessary to eat fish or meat every day – peanuts, beans, soya, even manioc leaves, are all available. Then there are the ‘free’ food sources – the wild animals and, of course, insects.

Locusts can easily be found, alongside big juicy snails and caterpillars. OK, not the standard fair in an NHS hospital, but here in the bush in Macenta they add necessary nutrition into the diet, helping our patients to get better.

Our hope now is that the nurses will be encouraging our patients and their relatives to understand the importance of what they eat.

Sarah Hall, and other BMS mission workers like her, are only able to do what they do through your support. To give to help the work of BMS today, click here. There is a variety of options for both individuals and churches.

Utilities

Archive News

Guinea News