statistical report. After a nights sleep it made even less sense and the
notes I had made seemed to be written in a language not of this earth. Never
mind, report dispatched, just have to wait for the feedback on it….gulp!
As is usual for the arrival of the plane, my preparedness was not exactly
that of military precision. Stuffing what clean clothes I had into a small
bag and grabbing a few biros and rushing towards the airstrip I arrived at
the gate and spun on my heal remembering I'd forgotten my stethoscope, I did
this little dance a few times as various other things came to mind that I'd
also left in my hut. The engines were running (A pilots way of telling you
to get yourself into the flippin plane... pronto!!!) by the time I clambered
aboard.
The flight to the outreach site was, if I'm honest, embarrassingly short. It
took just over five minutes to cover a distance that takes as many hours to
walk. The same pilot who flew us last time (and got lost, stop sniggering at
the back there!!) Flew us again and this time there was no mistake, the
airstrip was soon teaming with people who ran to observe this strange lump
of aluminium that had interrupted their morning. This was only the second
plane to land there in two years.
Anyway once landed things were pretty much as we had left them in December.
Everything was running well, various different problems had cropped up. A
few of these later. The BIG difference was the people who I'd got to come on
outreach with me. After a lot of pleading with the boss I'd scored a major
success. We had not only my new outreach buddy but also (da da
daaaaaaaaahhhh!) a Logistician. This I think was because, frankly, when it
comes to organising, things like logistics it's better to get
a ….erm…logistician.
Anyway with the various logistical bucks successfully passed we endeavoured
to try and sort out the medical side of the whole business. Moses (for it
was he again) was doing sterling work. Despite the fact that we hadn't
really worked with him since his arrival, he'd even managed to organise a
half decent off duty rota for the staff (BIG step forward)
The feeding program being offered to the populations' malnourished children
was disaster on every conceivable level. Sadly this wasn't his fault, and
therefore nothing we could easily correct. People seem unwilling or unable
to return for the repeat visits required in order to cure the malnutrition.
With a walk of six hours in temperatures that are in the low forties Celsius
it's not hard to understand why.
Medically the major problem was diarrhoea, no water pump still, it keeps
being promised by another agency…. never happens…out of my hands…tired of
being angry about it… Like so many before me I'm just a bit resigned about
the whole affair now. It's just so depressing,
The water level is lower and scarcer now so the quality has dipped still
further, the dirt is more concerntrated now. I'm not sure how this is
possible, but it is. A thick layer of brown slime sits at the bottom of any
large water container when you empty it. That's all I can say without
screaming!
One morning I was called to see a little girl with a piece of cow bone stuck
in her ear, another unbridled success for our friends in the traditional
healing fraternity. With a pair of tweezers and a lot of tugging I managed
to get it out, but not before causing significant pain and a bit of
bleeding. Hopefully incidents like that will get the message across.
It seems a bit weird that these trips become mundane but it's funny also
what you get used to. A new outreach partner has reminded me how odd this
all is compared to healthcare in the western world. But the numbers (for
this is what really matters I suppose) are better than ever and we seem to
be saving more lives than ever. I cannot describe what an immense
satisfaction that is.
We left a few days later with the majority of the staff for a large party in
the base site. There were speeches under the tree and the staff killed a cow
(and frankly I'm not sure the Iraqi government could have killed anything in
a much more gruesome way!!) and there was signing and dancing long into the
night, I have to admit I was so tired from the walk back that I sloped off
to bed at a conservative 11.45pm. A wonderful evening.
So the plan for this week is a wander off to another outreach site with
large numbers of soldiers and large problems. Will let you all know how that
goes!
