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Old 08-24-2017, 10:56 AM
island101 island101 is offline
 
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Default #1 Free Breast Exam

About the blog: Karen, a 28 years old nurse from Chicago, Illinois working as a nurse in a small village in Uganda for six months.

Story:
Last week Friday I came home from the clinic where I work as a nurse. My host mother had some friends over for a gathering. The clinic where I work is having a day next week where we provide free breast exams for the women in the nearby area to promote breast health. I thought this would be a good opportunity to talk to the women about taking advantage of free breast exams. Very often the women in these small communities don’t get good preventative healthcare. After I felt more comfortable talking to them I brought up the idea of them meeting at the clinic next week at the event to get their breasts checked.

They seemed curious, but skeptical. None of them had ever had a breast exam. I told them in the US it’s common for women to get breast exams. One of the women who seemed to be the jokester of the group said she would get one, but only if I go first. All the other women laughed, so I laughed with them. I thought she was only joking. Then some of the other women said they would also go, but only if I went first. It was then that I realized they were being serious and wouldn’t go unless I agreed to be examined too. I told them I’d do it, hoping that they were only joking and that they would go for the exam.

Today was the day of the free exams. Let me tell you a little about the setup. When I got to the clinic today they said they were expecting a large group of women to attend from our town as well as surrounding villages. Because the clinic is very small and the women in this area are don’t really consider breasts to be a private area that need to be covered, it was decided to conduct the exams outside in front of the clinic. When you walk about the villages you frequently see women breastfeeding their babies or openly working outside topless on hot days. Nobody really seems to care much about bare breasts.

We had three areas set up for the exams each staffed by a doctor and nurse. They were out in the open with the lines of women facing the exam areas, so it was almost like a show. One of the doctors is from Germany and is also on a medical mission, the other two are local Ugandan doctors. Other than me, the two other nurses working that day were Ugandan. We have a small medical staff and we’ve been working together for the past three months and have formed quite a tight group and have become close friends outside of work.

Breast exam day was very successful as we had hundreds of women show up. Some made a day of it and brought their husbands and children to the clinic. It was almost a party atmosphere. It felt great to help these women to better their health.

A couple hours in I saw my host mother and her friends join the line waiting for the doctor I was working with. I was happy to see them and that my talk convinced them it was important to show up and take advantage. When it came time for them to be next they reminded me that I promised to go first. Again, I thought they were joking and mentioned that I had my last medical checkup 6 months ago and wasn’t due. They said I promised them and they only came because I was so passionate about it and agreed to get an exam.

At that point, I felt that I had to go through with it. The doctor I was working with was Dembe, one of the local doctors. I told him that before he examined my host mother and friends he had to examine me. He gave me a shocked look like he thought I was crazy or didn’t hear what I said until I reached down and took my shirt off. At this point I still had on my sports bra as I have C cup boobs and like the extra support. I looked out at the people in line and you could have heard a pin drop. All eyes were on me. Even though the women of the village were frequently topless I always kept mine on as it’s not something I am used to culturally. I think because my skin was a different color than theirs the crowd paid a lot of attention to me.

It was too late for me to back down now, so I unhooked my bra and took it off. It felt weird to be standing topless in front of all those men, women and children, but even more strange in front of Dembe and the other medical staff who were my friends. I’ve never really liked my breasts. I have large areolas and long nipples, so I wondered what the onlookers were thinking or if they were judging me. I could feel my face was a little red and even though Dembe is black, I could see a little red in his face too. I don’t think he knew what he was signing up for when he came to work this morning.

After I sat down on a chair Dembe went to work feeling my breasts for lumps. This is a guy I work with, eat lunch with and trade knock-knock jokes with and now he’s feeling my bare breasts. After he finished examining each breast he squeezed each nipple. That was the most embarrassing part of the exam for me. I’ve probably lost the upper hand in our jokes with each other now that Dembe has tweaked my nipples.

After he was done, my host mom and friends started clapping. Amusingly many of the other people there also started clapping. I put my bra and shirt back on. I probably should have also taken a bow (LOL). After I was done it was my host mom’s turn and then the rest of her friends also lived up to their part of the deal.

I found the experience a little embarrassing, especially with the large crowd with all eyes on me, but it was worth it. I feel strongly about women’s health and was able to participate in this great event. It’s interesting how different culture view breasts. I think I may participate and free the nipples when it’s a very hot day and I’m around the house. At this point I think I could be comfortable topless in front of my host family and their friends.
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