Well… it couldn’t last; the rain had held off for a few weeks and now is
back by the lorry full. Thunder and sky splitting lightening are now a daily
occurance. On a personal level this is of no particular concern to me as I’m
not going anywhere for the next few weeks. For everyone else it is a real
headache. With the airstrip now having a deep end and a shallow end (and a
definite vacancy for a lifeguard) the chances of a plane for the next week
is remote.
Luckily (as my protracted arrival proves) it has rained here before and we
have enough supplies to keep us going for weeks, hopefully there will be a
break in the weather soon. In the meantime the clinic is deserted. In fact
it's so empty the tumbleweed has moved on somewhere more interesting. The
rising water has made travel from anywhere but the nearest towns impossible.
We expect to see more patients in a worse state when the weather improves.
The crop this year is causing concern also, and this batch of rain may have
come to late to solve that problem. Enough water but in short bursts, rather
than drizzle is the main problem. This is the only rain they will get before
a very long, arid dry season. We are seeing malnutrition increase already. I
hope things are not as bad as predicted once we get to February.
In a land so utterly different from my own it is nice sometimes when things
happen that seem a little too familiar. A child presented today with a piece
of maize stuck in her ear. It is refreshing to know that even thousands of
miles away from home children still put silly things in every facial orifice
imaginable! Needless to say we didn’t have anything like the right equipment
to get it out and our efforts (I say ‘our’ as two of us were involved in
this venture) resembled a cross between bomb disposal and that thing the
space shuttle does when it’s trying to grab an errant satellite with the
robotic arm. Left a bit, right, up a touch…missed. Anyway the child will
come back for round two when it stops raining. Any bright ideas please feel
free to e-mail.
The chickens are well, and getting used to their new home,
though they seem a bit too attached to the old one. This means there is a
nightly scramble round the clinic rounding them up and taking them back to
the new coop. We still have to find (and no this is not a joke) an
‘influential’ chicken, convince that flock that the new home is preferable
and the rest will, apparently follow. Hmmmm. I will keep you posted.
Otherwise all is well, I did a teaching session on antibiotic resistance,
which involved drawing with a marker pen on one of the nurses hands. And
then when trying to do it again seeing how he moved his hand away. I little
like antibiotics, not so effective if you try them too often. Things here
are a little basic, but the eagerness to learn puts us in Europe to shame.
Not sure what tomorrow brings (which is still the most exciting thing about
being here!) if it’s worth writing down I’ll let you know.
