Work begins..

This month I (Sue) have been let loose to write the BLOG.  Since the end of June we have been living in our new home at the hospital, which has taken quite a bit of adjusting to. I am still trying to get use to not being in walking distance of a decent size shop or being able to nip to the market for fresh veg when needed. We go into town about twice a week when we have to make sure we get enough food to last.  At the moment we are in the middle of Ramadan so the small shop outside the hospital is closed during the day which means I can’t get bread so more often than not its crackers and marmite for lunch much to Malcolm's dismay. The house is situated close to the hospital wards so we are in sight of patients and visitors with our every move observed.  We have been trying to get the house sorted but are having a constant battle at the moment with leaking windows as the rains have arrived and at times are so heavy we have pools of water particularly in our lounge. We keep coming up with new ideas of how to alleviate the problem and I am sure one of the ideas will work!

Since moving to the hospital I have also started full time work, my day starts at 6.30 with the usual question of "is there water for a shower?", we then start the day with a time of worship at 7.30 followed by a short staff meeting with the work day commencing at 8. I have spent my first few weeks getting use to the flow of the work on the wards, attending the ward rounds and helping where I can, during the quiet time those of you who know me won’t be surprised to know I spend my time cleaning and organising hoping that some of this will rub off on the other nurses. I am not sure what the other nurses make of me but they seem to have accepted me and my strange and limited French language. I pray each day that the language and understanding will improve. The hospital has been quiet since the start of Ramadan but those who do come tend to be really sick.

Mother encouraging her child to drink the enriched milk

There are three children at the moment with malnutrition who are struggling to put on weight. Before coming to Chad I would see children with malnutrition on the television and naively thought that if you gave them nutritional food they would start to gain weight, how wrong was I, these children are unable to swallow even the smallest amounts of milk and each hour it's a struggle to get the fluid into them.  Unfortunately the mothers tend to tip the children upside down and pour the milk into them which as expected causes a lot of spluttering so there is a constant need for education. Thanks to Rebecca there is an up and running malnutrition program along with the pastor's wife who helps monitor the outpatient children and delivers the education program along with cooking advice, all in Arabic.  

Scared by an acid ant !

In addition to struggling with starting work, I have also had to cope with the many insects and creatures that live here with us. A few weeks ago I resembled Harry Potter with a red mark across my forehead  and eye lid which we think  was caused by an insect that excretes acid, it must have walked across my face as I slept, luckily I was able to cover it with my fringe. I have since had one on my knee so they are obviously attracted to me.

Malc putting the lawn mower together

Adjit happy in his work

Due to the rains, which have now arrived in force, the grass has started to grow which brings a welcome relief from the dust but creates a good hiding place for snakes. We have already seen people with snake bites so it was with great excitement that we unloaded a new petrol driven lawn mower from the container which arrived last November. Normally the grass is manually cut with a machete which is very time consuming and back breaking work for our grounds men. Malcolm assembled the mower, had a quick practice run then handed over to Adjit with some simple training, who then did a good job of cutting the grass in front of the wards and outpatient clinic rooms. As you can imagine it generated a lot of interested with all the male workers wanting a go, so I don't think there will be any shortage of volunteers. It reminded Malcolm of his time spent cutting the grass at Bluntisham Baptist Church, and how time spent in Gods presence while cutting the grass whether in Bluntisham or Chad is exactly the same.

We hope that through our work and by making small changes or by introducing new methods we can in some small way help with the running of this much needed hospital. 

Blessings Malc & Sue

A new Chapter

Hi and welcome to our new blog. Firstly apologies as it has been a while since our last update, the reason being we took a short personal break to go home to the UK to visit family and friends. This was much needed after a year of settling in to our new surroundings, language learning and working in our new roles. We had a fantastic 3 weeks and returned refreshed and recharged, ready to start working full time at the hospital.

Our new one storey home

Kitchen Cupboard awaiting repair

We have now moved into our new home, within the hospital grounds, which although habitable is not yet completely finished so we are currently living in 1 room surrounded by our suitcases, being used as bedside tables. Outstanding work on the kitchen, windows and bathroom will hopefully be completed within the next few weeks. Whilst away we had some furniture made by a local carpenter so have wooden chairs to sit on, plus we have been given a dining table and chairs from a friend who is returning  to the UK, so can now eat our meals properly rather than on our laps. We await delivery of shelving for storage space and a desk plus we now need to kit out our new home with crockery, cooking utensils etc. as obviously we arrived here with nothing but our clothes. We look forward to the day when we can finish work and come home to relax and be able to find things without the need to search through suitcases and finally unpack properly.

Living Room

Living at the hospital has its challenges but one advantage is that we no longer have to drive to and from town on a regular basis at the end of a long day, particularly as the rains have now started. Frequent trips into town are however still needed, to buy provisions and to provide a welcome respite from the hospital. Our house is the closest to the hospital buildings, less than 100 meters away, next to the water tower and generator building. Getting to and from work is a mere 2 minute walk, but does mean we seem to be permanently at work. Even sitting out the back of the house on the veranda in the evening or weekends, we are disturbed by visitors or patients seeking medical help.   

View from kitchen

View of water tower

The hospital complex fortunately does have its own water supply, via a bore hole, which is pumped via a generator into a holding tank on a tower, as we have no mains electricity. This single tank supplies both the hospital and the houses so runs out frequently. The first pump of water generally starts at 6 in the morning and is repeated frequently throughout the day except on operating days when the generator is running constantly to supply power. We are fortunate to have now completed installing solar power within all existing buildings at the hospital, but it does need to be managed carefully. 

Although each building has its own panels and batteries which are charged daily by the sun, they can only hold a limited capacity. An example being the hospital wards which can only have light for 4 hours each evening, on cloudy or rainy days this is reduced further. Trying to educate people to conserve energy is challenging in a culture where they are used to using what is available now, and not worrying about tomorrow.

Another challenge we have to get used to as there is no mains electricity is having a Gas fridge. A solar solution is too expensive and needs many batteries to run. However a fridge is an essential luxury here to try and keep water cool in these extreme temperatures plus we rely on a small freezer compartment to keep meat fresh. Unfortunately gas fridges are not very efficient so our water is generally warm as the fridge never gets very cold but the freezer does seem to work OK, most of the time. The numerous issues include no warning of the gas running out, the constant smell of gas plus the expense as gas bottles only typically last 2 weeks. They are also very messy as they create a lot of carbon, which needs to be cleaned out frequently. Waking in the morning to find no gas to the fridge, no water in the taps, the starting of the generator and the dawn call to prayer are all new experiences and challenges we need to adapt to in our new home.   

Our formal full time French tuition was completed in May with the final exams, which Sue managed to pass but Malc unfortunately didn't , therefore although now working full time at the hospital we have decided to continue our studies with a tutor at the school once a week.

Daily life here is challenging but we have lots to be thankful for, in particular continued good health and we are sustained in the knowledge that the work of the hospital is so desperately needed here. 

Love Malc & Sue