Fatima* was a nice plump baby, but she had a bad respiratory
infection. She hadn’t slept at all two nights before, but now with medication
and chest physio she was showing improvement. Illa, the physio-therapist, put a
vibrator on her chest. “This helps loosen the mucous in her lungs,” he told me.
After a minute he put the machine away and worked his way around her chest, his
one hand slapping the fingers of the other stretched over her ribs. Her
breathing was raspy now. Then he began reinforcing her coughing by pushing up
on her diaphram (please note that I am not a medical person; these are my
interpretations of his techniques). Fatima was crying in earnest, stopping only
to cough and swallow. Her grandmother helped hold her in place. Illa gave me a
wry grin. “The mother won’t bring her in here,” he said. He summarized,
“Medicines help, but this really helps her get better faster.” Indeed, once she
was up and in her grandmother’s arms, Fatima stopped crying and breathed
easily.
CSL is the only health clinic in the area that offers physical therapy.
*Name has been changed