Daycare #6

Daycare #6 was pretty much in the center of town for this area. It was brand new, and just opened a few weeks ago. Even the walls still smelled like paint! Many of the kids were healthier, but the teachers didn't know them as well so the histories were even shorter. We unpacked our giant bags of medicine, and set out to weight and examine all the kids.

I saw two pretty healthy, though underweight, kids. The first child I sent away with her bar of soap, toothbrush, health form, and albendazole, because all I could see was a little runny nose. Half-way through my visit with the second child, the teacher came up to me and told me I forgot to give her her cough syrup. Well, her lungs were clear, and she had a dry cough. What was I gonna do? There seems to be a strong belief here that symptoms can be treated, and people are willing to try anything. I told the teacher that I didn't have any medicine that would work, because she didn't have pneumonia, and the cough medicine was only for productive coughs. She looked at me like I was crazy, but accepted my answer. I really wonder what she was thinking, though. Maybe it's easier to give cough medicine for kids who don't need it, just to make the parents and teachers happier. Because what happens when we really need them to come in (like for heart problems!) and they don't...
Each kid at the schools get these little bags of medicine and goodies. And at the daycares, this is invariably where the plastic bag goes. I've almost stopped trying to take it out of their mouths!