Lost in Translation

Just thought I'd post some of the best "communication moments" that I've had (with or without interpreters) while here in Soddo. 

 

- I was interviewing a trauma patient who had been beaten over the head with "pieces of wood and stone" (you'd be shocked to see how frequently this is written on someone's chart).  I asked the nurse/ interpreter if the patient knew where she was.  Per routine, they talked together for about a minute, after which time the nurse told me that the patient was unconscious. 

 

- We saw an emergency patient for abdominal pain who ended up having a ruptured spleen.  We asked him what he did right before the pain started.  "Eating lunch" he said.  Wish he would have mentioned that right before eating lunch, he was being beaten with a metal pole. 

 

- Soddo math:     Coffee pots are 7 Birr a piece.  If I buy two coffee pots and pay with twenty Birr, my change is two Birr, right?

                           Lattes are 3 Birr each, Tea is 2 Birr.  Mango juice is 4 Birr.  Therefore, 4 lattes, 4 teas, and 2 mango juice are 20 Birr (we left a tip).  

                           Soda is 3.5 Birr each, I buy six.  I am told 24 Birr.  I pay 30 birr and get one Birr back. 

 

- I am seeing a trauma patient who has been beaten over his head with a machete by his son.  He speaks a different tribal language, so I ask the nurse to get a family member who can interpret.  "Let me get his son" 

 

-  "You have discharge on the Gyn ward."  -  I do? 

 

- "You know this man's penis?" - context.  It's all about context