Work:

This involved a visit this week to our local MP who happens to live next to the hospital. He must have the poshest house in Zidim with not a mud hut in sight. He has several permanent buildings, including a double garage and more bits of technology than I could count. This kind of sets you apart from your neighbours when they all live in mud huts which have to be replaced every few years. Nevertheless he is a child of the village, the late pastor�s son and the first person from Zidim ever to go to University. He could have his home in the capital city but chooses to base himself here. He is married with two sons. Godam and I were there to try to enlist his support for the schools� development plans � he sees his r�very much as one of development. He was very courteous and hospitable and gave us a good hour and a half of his time. He had clearly taken time to read all four plans � he had been bored and stuck at home with �flu!

I have also had a trip to Mokolo for school sports. These involve all children from P7�s equivalent. They do races, shot put and high jump. Each pupil is given a mark out of 20 for each discipline which is part of their exam results for going to secondary school. The Inspector was having difficulty placing certain children because some had entered under their village names and some under proper names! Race tracks were marked out with sand and the starter�s gun was plastic flip-flops banged together � remarkably effective! Predictably the put was a boulder and the high jump stands were branches dug into the ground with rope made from millet stalks.

Work gets me involved in all sorts of side issues: this week I was asked to help a sort of farmers� cooperative whose aim is to increase their income and get out of poverty. I was given all the legal documents to read over, listing office bearers etc. When it came to the description of the treasurer�s r� I noticed that the person filling it �must be of good moral standing and be able to read and write�. Makes you think, doesn�t it?

Minding our own business having a Fulfulde lesson when a lorry turned up with a new fridge. That was astonishing enough but it turned out not to be a paraffin operated one but gas and electricity! Nobody will tell us where it came from so I am afraid some corruption has been involved somewhere along the line but I am very glad to see a proper fridge again. Quite sorry though that Shona and Andy will miss the joys of the filthy old paraffin ones. Now I have both fridge and freezer � just plain greedy. The freezer will be removed when they are convinced that this strange new gas one will go on working. When they remove the freezer, I hope they will also remove the rat I saw going under it this morning. Let�s hope there is a happy ending with fridge No. 8.

GD wanted to replace the straw roof of his house before the rainy season. A few weeks ago he gave another villager money for the branches which are used as a framework. The other man resold the struts and has gone on promising replacements for weeks. GD has now gone to the Lawan (the chief�s deputy) to resolve the matter. The salesman has been given one week to provide branches (not entirely sure why GD could not have collected the branches himself).

Gd�s 13-year-old brother has �gone mad�. Apparently he is raving and hallucinating. I have a feeling I should be going to spend time with the family to show support. Last night he was put on the back of a moto taxi and sent to a traditional healer miles away. Not sure what the treatment was but the healer wants a sheep, 2 cockerels and some eggs in payment. The hospital would have been cheaper.

We are now into the planting season and as everyone is busy in the fields, the hospital is quiet except for really urgent cases by and large. Dr Jemba & I seem to be able to work together quite effectively. Another Cameroonian doctor has joned us � she arrived on 11^th June from Douala (the commercial capital of Cameroon). She studied in Paris, is married to a Frenchman (who's still in France) and has been working in intensive care. It will be interesting to see how she adapts to life here in the Far North where anything approaching a sophistcated lifestyle is a real challenge. As our range of investigation and medication is very limited compared even to Douala I think she may find the medicine here a bit frustrating,

We've now had some experience of the real rain here and soon the short route to Maroua will be impassable. Already this week, Anne got stuck in the mud on her way for a meeting. Fortunately, 8 local guys appeared and pushed her back onto the road. But only after she'd got out of the car hereself and walked throug mud up to her knees to try & find help! If she'd sat in the car, the help would have arrived anyway & she'd have kept her feet clean!

It's great having our daughter, Shona, with us and already within a few days of arriving she's working with some of the patients in the hospital. For me, it's just great to see how the patients respond to her input. Her presence in the wards is proving a real morale booster for some really sick people. Her boyfriend Andy Rae accompanied her on the journey out and he starts the return journey tomorrow. Dr Jemba asked him to give a talk to the hospital staff about his job with the Ambulance Service. He rose well to the challenge, but I had to do the translation into french. Despite that, I think his efforts were greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately, we're having more problems with technology � guess the African climate and the vagaries of power supplies don't suit! The new charger for the laptop has blown as has the charger for our satellite phone. Have sent to the UK for replacements � urgently!