The Guy who wanted Overalls at Saint Francis Hospital

I visited a small, but quaint hospital about 45 minutes away from nearby Ulundi. The sisters run Saint Francis Hospital with a physician that drops by 5 days a week for 3-4 hours to help with more difficult cases. This quiet hospital mainly serves psych patients. (You would love it here, Stephanie.) Upon entrance, I noticed many men in blue hospital garb wandering and sleeping the outdoor premises. They are the pysch patients of Saint Francis. One gentleman politely whispered to me, “I have been here too long. I am ok now- no more voices. Tell them that. Tell them I can go home.” Unfortunately I didn’t have the power to assess his mental status.

Today I enjoyed the morning in the Outpatient Department (OPD), accompanying one of the kind Sisters. The OPD line is much shorter than Benedictine’s line. However Friday is a slow day for all hospitals. I saw a total of 8 patients in 3 hours with the sister spending excellent time obtaining a history and educating the patient which would be nearly impossible at Benedictine. Time is not a constraint at Saint Francis, only resources.

One patient was amused by my presence. He came in with uncontrolled hypertension, but he loved my pants. At one point the Sister left the room and he pointed to the holes in his pants that have been stitched up countless times and then waved at my pants with a smile. I returned the gesticulations with pointing his pants and then my pants interchangeably several times and included some audible garble like “You want to switch pants? My pants, you like?” He proceeded to show me the broken band of his watch and I showed him my broken band of my watch. The whole entire encounter set us laughing uncontrollably although not one comprehensible sound crossed either of our ears. Yet I clearly understood want he wanted and the sister verified my presumptions. However he also mentioned that he loves overalls and wanted me to bring back some overalls to South Africa for him. I told him that I needed to take a picture to remember him when I do come back with overalls.