August news
ANNE
Work:
Thanks to the generosity of Shona’s friends and colleagues, we will be able to give 60 books to each of the beginners’ classes of 2 of the schools. This should mean roughly one book between two – a huge step forward. I have persuaded the head teacher of one of the schools that he, as the only qualified teacher there, should take that class himself to give the children the best possible start. I still have some work to do on the second head teacher. There are also about 200 little schoolbags with paper, pens etc. on their way. In fact, they have been on their way for the last 10 weeks! We live in hope. Have finished my first draft of the VSO document which has
to be finished by end August. Feel I am making progress at last.
Home:
Fridge/freezer No. 8 has gone bonkers; the fridge has been running at -6C and the freezer at +6C! François tried to solve the problem by cleaning out its chimney and then turning it upside down for half an hour. Now fridge is at +6 and freezer on zero. When we leave for Maroua this weekend it will be turned upside down again! We are getting there! At least we have cold water again.
This week we have had to ask for help to stop people coming to the door asking for money. Last Thursday, a fairly average day, 5 people(mainly strangers) arrived at different times, plus one hand-delivered letter. It started before
Village life:
Last week we went to the wedding of the hospital almoner/evangelist in Gawel, about 30 kms away. We drove over the worst roads ever with deep mud, ruts and lakes. Don’t think we would have made it if the hospital driver had not led the way. The exciting thing about this wedding was that it was the first ever legal marriage to be performed in Gawel – Marriage Certificate No. 1. The couple had been married in the civil ceremony at
Went to market this week with Dr.Dj and
Typical Cameroonian organisation:
The pastor of Membeng asked me to find someone to talk to the villagers there about safe childbirth in hospital as opposed to possibly unhygienic conditions in the village.
I spoke to Zra, chief midwife. He was willing to do it. I told the pastor. Nothing happened. We were all at the wedding together and I suggested they discussed dates. Next day the pastor arrived at the house; it would not be proper for a man to do the talk. I spoke to the only female midwife, a cheerful, happy person – delighted to do it but I would have to ask permission of hospital management. I did this – no problem. Speak to Zra. Spoke to Zra. He will now speak to Noami, the Psycho/ Social nurse. I give up; they are on their own now!
Hamish thinks it’s time they had a brewery here so that they can practise organising p……..ups!
Cameroonian Bureaucracy:
On Monday Shona and I left Zidim at
Random Facts/thoughts:
Growing basil very successfully and lettuce not at all successfully.
Termites have been building a home under our bed - it was about 4 inches high when I discovered it during one of my routine snake searches at bed time.
Hamish
Firstly, congratulations to Anne & Francois on the safe arrival of their daughter, Laura Louisa on 9th August (photo attached).
We’ve also attached the latest pictures of baby Rowntree (AKA Fruitgum!).
The hospital almoner/evangelist got married on 2nd August. Everyone from the hospital was invited, and several made the effort to travel to his bride’s village, Gawel, for the ceremony. The rainy season has finally started so many of the dirt roads are impassable. There was some concern about the road from Zidim to Gawel, but we set off following the hospital car driven by Jean, a very experienced and capable chauffeur. At one point he stopped and got out of the car to check the road ahead; it looked like a lake! He came back and said he thought it would be OK if we stuck to the middle of the track. How we were to do that was beyond me as the
track disappeared into what looked like deep water. Off Jean set and made it safely through. We followed and were very relieved to come out on the other side in one piece and still dry! Once we got to the village, a squad of volunteers set to with a cloth and a 1.5litre bottle of water to remove the worst of the mud from our car. They made an amazingly good job of it then decorated it with garlands made out of toilet paper – yes, ours was to be the bridal car! You can see the end result in the attached photo. The church ceremony was a fairly protracted affair especially with long processions to hand in an offering for the church and then to give gifts to the happy couple. One feature of African weddings is that the bride seldom looks happy, as you will see in the photo taken at the “reception” after the service. After this, we had been asked to drive the couple and their best man & chief bridesmaid to the town of
We have just paid a visit to a rehabilitation centre for physically and mentally handicapped. This is in the
Shona insisted I attach a photo of the kid who wee’d twice on my trousers after I prescribed water pills for him. She thinks he’s cute!
One final note. The hospital accountant has said he would like to buy our car from us when we leave. Having seen his attempts to demolish the hospital’s garage door when he took the hospital car out, we’re not sure. Our uncertainty increased when he had another go at the other garage door when he put the car back in! It has been suggested that he doesn’t actually have a licence and I think we could believe that!
Shona
I’m now into my last few weeks here, it has definitely been the fastest 3 months of my life! Things went a wee bit quieter physio-wise for a couple of weeks, but it’s picked up again this week which is great. We’ve had a variety of patients, including one guy who was bitten on the forearm by a snake. He’s ended up with some neurological problems in the affected arm so my splint making skills have been put to test to prevent contractures.
A new physio has arrived at the hospital, I was originally told he was a student and now I think he’s just finished his course, we’re not really getting clear information from him, his English is good, but there are a lot of misunderstandings! We are trying to work together at the moment, which is great because he is able to help me translate, so mum has been freed up a bit.
The rehab centre at Mouda was amazing yesterday, we’re hoping to go back when there are more patients. It’s better set up than anything I’ve seen back home, which shows it can be done here! Unfortunately they’ve no vacancies for physios!
Still no sign of my equipment, I’m beginning to think that I dreamt it all up in the first place. With only a few weeks left, I’m running out of time for it to arrive. You never know, miracles might happen!