helen weld public health

Days full to the brim. . .

Yesterday morning I promised Robert that I would write a bit of a blog within 24 hours and the time is running out.

Each day in the past two weeks has been full to the brim.

Darius was unable to arrive on schedule on the 18th since he was struck with a nasty Texan flu which he said made him feel the “sickest ever”. Luckily he arrived 5 days later. As predicted, when he arrived the women erupted in LOUD choruses of song and dance which practically rocked the building.

Cox Family

We had the pleasure of having Clif, Kelly and Camilla Cox from Grapevine, Texas here for a few days. Clif is a colorectal surgeon and was able to repair a couple of abdominal hernias on our patients, as well as assist the general surgeon at the hospital with cases. Last Sunday, I accompanied them on an excursion to visit a hospital about 32 miles from Bo. On the way home, the rented Mercedes taxi broke down and we were stranded by the deserted roadside for about 5 hours. It was quite an adventure as a bush fire was bearing down on us from behind. 8 year old Camilla was an absolute champ throughout the whole adventure and it was definitely a “bonding experience”.

Broken down in Serabu

Helen and Camilla

Lungi beach walkers

The next day Darius arrived with Bob Scanlon MD from New York, George Mulcaire-Jones MD from Butte, Montana, Ray Rogers from Butte, Montana and his brother Jim Rogers from Lancaster, Pa. who were all here to teach/train at the Maternal Infant Health conference. They departed yesterday after a very successful three and a half day stint of lectures and hands on training in emergency obstetrical and infant care. The turnout was fantastic with about 80 health practitioners from all over Sierra Leone attending. They were able to hand out “Rescue Kits” complete with ambu bags, medications etc. to each institution represented. It was a terrific start to tackle the huge problem of the high (est) maternal/infant mortality rate in Sierra Leone.

Darius at conference


Dr. Vandi, Dr. Sobel & Dr. Cox

Conference Facilitators

Ray is also going to be able to help us get our new website launched which will happen within the month. Stay tuned for this very exciting development..

Jenny Bennett, a theatre nurse, from Victoria, Australia arrived with Nancy Sobel, MD from Boston the day that Darius was supposed to originally arrive which meant a trip to the airport for me. This is a 36 hour interlude. I did manage a walk to the beach and caught a great shot of women walking home. I also watched CNN news for a few minutes…such excitement! Jenny’s Aussie accent and idioms are great to hear. Both of them have been busy in the OR with Darius tackling some difficult cases with success. It’s great to have these women being operated on.

Jenny & Jackie preparing for surgery

Neonatal resuscitation training

Meanwhile, the daily challenges continue. The power at the hospital has been out almost every day for most days, except for yesterday. We found out that the President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Koroma, is coming to Bo today for a university convocation. This means that the city’s electric company is deciding to pull out all the stops and have the power on while he and his entourage are visiting. Darius et al are going to do as many cases as possible during this time. Doing surgeries under the power of the hospital generator just doesn’t cut it. It can’t handle the lights and the A/C simultaneously.

The “witch” saga escalated to unimaginable heights two weeks ago, but that is a whole book unto itself! There are ongoing management issues and just the “regular” challenges…such as trying to get things printed etc.. which are constant every day.

Now that the conference is over, the day to day should be “routine, but wait….the President is due to visit the ward today!

Also, I would like to thank all of you who sent me this link to this New York Times article about fistulas. For anyone who hasn't read it, I recommend it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/health/24hospital.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Much love, Helen
Here are a few more photos:

Delivering instruments and supplies to the OR


Kumba and Feremusu carrying loads to the OR


Dog jumping from garbage can

Barack Obama Truck