Night Shift



If you have money to blow, we could use
a few new incubators

I have been working in the NICU, and during Ramadan most of my shifts have been night shift. This is because people prefer to be home during "Iftar", the meal where the fast is broken. 

For me, one of the best parts is getting fed at 3AM.  Normally, I would either have to wake up to get food at this time, squirrel some food away, or just go hungry.

This little one is hoping that her
next leap will be the leap home.
Seriously, it's a 360-degree ultaviolet device
for jaundice.

At one point, a sleepy staff member came out and told me a bit about himself.  It turns out that he had two jobs-- one here, and one in Ramallah.  Ramallah is about a 3 hour round trip.  I asked, surprised, how many hours he worked in a week.  He told me 40.  I nodded, thinking that this was normal, until he told me that he had an additional 35 hours at the hospital that we were at.  Turns out that he is working two full time jobs.
I found out the reason for this when I asked if he had kids.  It turns out that he and his wife are not able to have kids, so the extra money that he is raising has gone to two unsuccessful in-vitro fertilization attempts.  They are trying for a third.  Having kids is vital to family life here in Palestine.  (As there are no retirement homes here, it is also vital for a comfortable old age.)