This week I am continuing working on my literacy program. I have not shown the girls any of it yet, that’ll be the true test. These girls are not only illiterate, but they also mainly speak temne and mende (the two local languages more common upcountry), not even krio. So I am teaching them english as well as literacy and I have never really taught before. I have tutored but not taught. Mum, you taught german. Any suggestions? Like number games or something? I dunno. Feeling a bit lost with it all. At least I am only developing the program, in the end I will not be the one teaching it, unless I love it of course, in which case I won’t give it up. But the plan is to develop the program to a level that other volunteers can come in and teach it. I need to develop a few things like it too, so that we can bring people over to help. Leesa is bringing her 16 year old son over and I would like Rob and Manu to be able to at least do a day or two to give them an idea of what it is all about and so they can meet everyone, including the patients. You will not ever do anything as rewarding in your life. I have never believed in true altruism, because you always get a good feeling from helping people. My belief has never been more acute than in this job. We had a discharge ceremony at the ward at PCMH the other day and they were all singing and dancing and telling their stories. They presented the visitng surgeon Dr Smith with a plaque and he presented them all with new clothes and gifts for their return home and they sang lots more songs. I got all teary. If you are ever here for one, you must attend. It is so sweet and you can see such a difference in them from the moment when we pick them up to when we return them. They are new people. Literally. When we bring them down, they are quiet, they rarely meet your gaze and they usually look down. They are physically fragile, often very unwell and timid. When you return them to the provinces, they are active, laughing, singing, dancing, they are sooo grateful and most importantly THEY ARE DRY, sometimes for the first time in 30 or 40 years. We have grandmas, aged 65 or 70 having fistulas repaired that they sustained in their 20s or 30s. They all treat us like their saviours, which I guess in many ways we are. Many of them return to their communities and through some mystery will often report that their husbands have fallen in love with them again and they are together again. Thank god, we offer free C sections to any of them who fall pregnant again, because most likely they will rupture everything to buggery again if they deliver through the birth canal!
On a positive note, all the bypass surgeries performed during the surgeons visits have been successful and the girls have recovered with no complications. The new procedure seems to be very successful and easier to perform. The doctors are now working on a staging system, so that rural doctors can assess the gravity of the injury and give a prediction based on outcome, so they can repair some and then give us the worst cases (stages 3 and 4) to us. We are getting much more complicated cases now that we have put the word out that we will do complex cases and will not discriminate. The worst cases (stage 4), the success rate is something as little as 0-10%, but the surgeons still try. It drags our success rate on paper right down, but that is not what is it about is it? We believe that everybody deserves a chance to get better. I think we probably have the worst success rate in the country because of it, but we are doing the right thing by the girls, which is all that matters.
Anyway, otherwise all is well here. We have two long weekends in a row, with Mohammed’s birthday and then easter and I am loving the three day week. The hash yesterday was a laugh, a great run, and next week it is at Charlotte Falls which is meant to be stunning. Danny and I are starting to do real couple activities now, all very new for me, and tonight we are going to dinner at Ziad and Ionie’s house, friends of his. They are an awesome couple and I get along really well with Ionie (she is 27, has been here 5 years and is from the UK). It is nice to meet a really nice and laid back girl. You don’t come by many expat girls here and a lot of them aren’t too much like me. They don’t like going camping, going out on the boat fishing and hanging out with the boys. She also laughs a lot. I don’t like the small close-knit expat community too much – sometimes it is nice to hang out with them, but not all the time – I prefer to mix into the culture rather than make myself comfortable and avoid it. I have met some nice lebanese girls, but again a very different lifestyle and also quite a closed community. Then there is special courts or UN, but many of them are ex cops from the UK and a bit too girlie and silly even for me. I have nice contact with all these people, but they are acquaintances rather than friends. Ashley, Lisa, Joanne, Kerrie and now Ionie I could really see being really good friends. Having a good group of girlfriends is more important than anything!
Anyway, I have to do some work on this literacy project. I am happy and well and will report back anon. Oh and also Abdallah has offered me a part time job in his cafe! If I can manage it beside work it would be awesome and would mean I could save some money towards a car! YIPPEE!!!
I hope next time I write, it will be bucketing down rain! The rainy season starts soon and it keeps getting really overcast and not raining, but I am REALLY READY FOR SOME SERIOUS RAIN NOW, THANKS! It is stinking hot here!
Sorry about the lack of photos. Everytime I try to load them the generator goes down or the internet crashes. I will keep trying in future.
All the best,
xox
30 °C
