A weekend break

Algol
Hamish Tait, Robin Hastie & Jim Hepburn
Sun 30 Sep 2007 17:00
Just back from a weekend break in Maroua. A good chance to relax & stock up on some provisions. We left Zidim by "moto" riding pillion along a very rough dirt track. After about an hour, we joined the main road at a village called Gazawa. There we paid for our seats on the bus to Maroua and sat under the shade of a tree to wait for departure; buses don't leave till they're full, however long it takes! Then an ancient Renault drew up with three female passengers in the back. Anne & I were directed into the front passenger seat (yes, both of us!) so avoiding what could have been a long wait for the bus. After a bit, the car stopped and several large boxes were packed into the boot. Then the owner of the boxes was squeezed into the back seat. After a few miles, progress came to a gentle halt as the engine seemed to give up and there we were stuck at the roadside. The bus we should have got appeared shortly after and our driver went off in it leaving us stranded. Fortunately he reappered after half an hour or so with a litre bottle of petrol which was poured into the tank. Attempts to get the engine going were frustrated by a jammed starter motor. Up to this point, all chat between the driver & the other passengers had been conducted in Fulfulde, but at this point he said a very clear "merde" which caused much hilarity. Eventually he got the engine going and we got to Maroua without further incident. We got a great room at the Baptist Mission, then headed for the nearest bar for a beer - the first in two weeks! In Maroua, we had the chance to pick up some provisions (although limited by what we would be able to transport on motos), visit the craft market (where my attempt a bargaining proved disastrous!), to visit the VSO office where Anne was able to pick up some material for her work with the schools. We finished the day with a meal at the most expensive restaurant in town: cost us just under £15 for both of us to have a three course meal plus drinks! Prices are very low here, reflecting the very poor wages. A baguette style loaf is 10p, 2 bags of lemons cost 10p, a kilo of best beef (and it really is good) £1.25, a whole chicken (including extermination, plucking and cooking) £2.80. In the hospital, a consultation costs 60p for an adult and 35p for a child. Our stay in Maroua for an air conditioned en suite room cost £9.50 for one night.
Our return journey was uneventful; we got a "taxi" in Maroua for Gazawa, but once the price was agreed (£4 for sole use of the car) the driver went off to pray. That raised our anxiety levels until we realised he is a Muslim & it is Ramadan. When we got to Gazawa, he tried to persuade us to hire him again to drive us to Zidim, but he wouldn't come down to our best price and we weren't convinced his car would manage the road given the state it's in. We managed to get a couple of motos to take us back to Zidim without incident.
Back at the hospital I learned from Sylvia that a newly born baby was admitted yesterday with tetanus. The baby had been born at home and the cord tied using a fibrous strand obtained from millet (the main local crop). Cutting the cord would not have involved anything resembling hygiene. By one of those strange coincidences, I am reading a book called the "Illustrious Exile" by Andrew Lindsay (a name which will mean something to St Andreans), a novel depicting events if Robert Burns had gone to the West Indies in 1786. In it, he recounts that new born children "sometimes succumb to the locked jaw, which is invariably fatal": a footnote gives further information "Neonatal tetanus, probably caused by the use of a non-sterile implement to cut the umbilical cord." More than two hundred years later, here in Africa this easily prevented condition is still an issue. This makes me wonder if we have the priorities right; couldn't simple basic health education and simple preventative measures like immunistation dramatically change the quality of life?
Enough of such serious thoughts! We understand the weather at home has turned distinctly wintery. What a shame; we're just about managing to cope with the 35 degrees + here!