helen weld public health

January 18, 2009
Bo, Sierra Leone

Time flying. . .

The two weeks since returning to Bo have flown by. All is going along pretty well. It’s gratifying when plans actually work out, especially considering all the potential pitfalls with transportation, general organizational and timing hassles in this part of the world.

Friday night I was standing on the “border” between the arrivals and departure sections in Lungi Airport, where absolute chaos prevails with masses of people coming and going. My right eye was waiting to see Selena Gerace from Mt. Shasta, California appear while with my left I was watching Annie, Jenn and Melinda in the departures queue. It worked out that Selena arrived in time to meet them for a tiny bit of crossover time. Jenn said,” We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen twice as much as we talk.” This is certainly great advice for everyone everywhere.

Jenn and Melinda were able to collect a lot of interviews with women, nurses, staff and community members, including a health councilor with the Bo City Government and a traditional birth attendant. They were able to return with Alice, one of our discharged women, to her village for an emotional homecoming. Alice had suffered from the miseries of fistula for 15 years and now has been cured. Her testimony at last week’s discharge ceremony had everyone weeping. (I challenge anyone not to cry!) It will be exciting to see their footage. On this trip they were also able to pick up another girl who was brought to them by her father. People were certainly drawn to them and were willing to share their amazing stories in depth.

Annie finished working on the mass grave memorial, repainted a sign and also helped in the garden. She did some paper cutting design and paper box making with the women (some had never used scissors), played cards, did puzzles and hung out with them which they adored.

Jenn, Melinda and Annie all made a positive impact on the program and it was wonderful to have them here. They’ll all be missed.

Meanwhile, Coleman has been teaching first aid and working in the garden, including putting in an irrigation system. Zhao has been making fabulous posters for Family Planning and Reproductive Health classes and teaching. She’s also been training Aminata, one of the nurses, on the computer. It’s exciting how fast and eager Aminata is with her learning. Though she still does lots of administrative work in the office, Julia has been working in the garden too which is a great change for her.

I continue to coordinate and keep the lines of communication open. I love that every day is different with this work. Sunday’s are generally pretty low key and laid back. Today I went and hung out in the ward with some of the women. One young woman, Kadiatu, is particularly eager to learn how to read. It’s so fun to witness her soaking things up like a sponge. Today I taught her quite a bit of geography which was really fun. We did all sorts of puzzles, world map ones of varying degrees of difficulty and an African one. The puzzles have been a huge success with all the women.

Some rather out–of–the-ordinary and ordinary bits of the work days have included:

Dealing with some fallout in the ward as one of the patients was accused of being a witch. The situation seems to be quelled and she is accepted now.

Getting our patients and staff vaccinated for yellow fever and witnessing the mass immunization clinics. There were two cases of yellow fever reported in the Bo District recently and the goal of the 5 day yellow fever campaign throughout the district was to immunize 528,000 people.

Not in the “out-of-the-ordinary” category, but certainly rewarding was to help Sundu, one of our patients (she was admitted several months ago pregnant with a pre-existing fistula and delivered a healthy son was delivered by C-section) with breastfeeding. Her babe’s name is “DoctorMaggi”. He’s appears to be pretty robust and a great ‘mothersucker’!!! It’s so sweet watching her care for him.

Delivering the graduation speech at the discharge ceremony. The five women looked so beautiful in their new dresses. Poised, scared, sad, happy and excited all at once. Three came to receive their presents and hugs, sobbing.

One of our staff members, John, is now off for a few days on simultaneous bereavement and paternity leave. One of his wives delivered a baby girl on Boxing Day in Bo and the baby died Thursday. Friday AM his other wife delivered a baby boy in Freetown. Her first child was stillborn. His quote of the day was, “In Africa you have to lose one or two children before you can start a family.”

Being interviewed on radio

Continual networking with locals and people abroad to improve and sustain the program

Taking a tour of the impressive MSF facility with the volunteers.

Dinner table and end-of-the day conversations with volunteers about insights and experiences

Constant hassles with the internet connectivity

Attempting to teach the staff why anticipation of problems is crucial to achieving good work

Meetings, meetings, meetings. . .

Watching Bo get ready for Obama festivities. Banners across the main streets and radio advertisements for parties. Tuesday will be a big day here and we have an invitation from our landlord to watch the inauguration on his TV. Very exciting.

The staff will all be wearing their Obama shirts!

I continue to feel lucky to be immersed in this rewarding and challenging work.

Helen