The hospital's emergency generator, in constant use since the gulf war, can power only the operating room and the trauma center. Without consistent electricity to run air conditioning or transfer systems in other parts of the hospital, windows are left open. Mothers brush flies from sick children lying two and three to a threadbare mattress on rusting iron beds. They share worn photocopies of decades-old textbooks. They have little access to current research and no access to the Internet.
Nurses earn less than doctors.
Many have abandoned the profession, leaving mothers and grandmothers to care for their sick children, administering medicines and watching for changes. The hospital needs scalpels and clamps for surgery, antibiotics for infections and cytotoxins for chemotherapy. There is not enough specialized formula to treat underweight babies. Syringes and surgical gloves are washed and reused. Visitors entering the hospital must step over a crude graffito.