Exit

It’s difficult to adequately describe the last few days of my time here. The first emotion, fairly obviously, is one of sadness. But I also had a fairly rapidly approaching realisation that it was time to go. There is still so much to do here, but that is up to someone else.

My final day began, as many days did here, by being woken by the six thirty bugle call and ceremonial raising of the flag. The bugler has improved since I’ve been here, but he still sounds often like he’s drowning a box full of cats. I won't miss his music one bit.

I sat outside sipping a cup of tea, as the sun rose above the trees. One of the clinic staff came over, a patient to see. I wandered over to the clinic.

The woman was lying on the floor; she was rolling around in the sand, hyperventilating. Hysteria is a very common problem here. All sorts of theories abound as to why this is. Basically my view is that the women here have incredibly stressful lives and as the only method of escape is sickness they pretend to convulse as a method of getting some much needed time off.

It’s still a little difficult to treat and often we have to just leave them alone until they calm down. In this case I sent the family away for ten minutes and sat with a translator. I told the woman I would tell her family to give her some days of rest if she stopped throwing herself around. She did, I went back to my tea, which was still warm.

The previous night had been my leaving do, and as I went back to the expat area various people were emerging from their huts. We all sat down for breakfast together.

I walked round the market, to say a final goodbye to the village. I met up with various chiefs, sub-chiefs and, bizarrely, the head of the prison service. They wished me good luck, ‘go in peace‘was a common sentiment.

My farewells were cut short by the roar of the plane overhead. A few more hurried goodbyes and then that was it. As brutally as it had begun the ground was disappearing away from under me and life as I had known it for the last ten months was over.

As might be clear from the writing, I may have physically left, but my mind is very much still there.

The plan for the next week is a beach and then home. I’ll write a few final blog instalments early next week.