Well! The first thing the morning brought, and far too
bloody early, was next doors cockerel crowing to the dawn about 4 hours too
damn early…. I think we might be having chicken for dinner tonight, what a
shame I didn’t manage to pack my large knife!! Either that or he has to learn,
fast, that 3am is not dawn at this time of year! Then of course it’s the turn
of the Mosque with the call to morning prayers which starts around 5; don’t
they ever sleep out here? I guess I had forgotten such pleasantries, although
I’m sure once we have put in a couple of tough days sleep will come more
easily….
It was relatively cool this morning (under 30C !) with a
little high cloud cover keeping the sun under control but by the time we left
the house at around 11.30 the sky had cleared to reveal one of those hot,
balmy, still days that African excels in producing. Why did we not leave the
house until 11.30? The truth of the matter is that we were both sat around the
kitchen table counting mound after mound of Gambian bank notes; money that we
had brought out for Anita which had to them be split into numerous small (and
one very Large) amounts for distribution to various members of staff and for
various project that the Bansang Hospital Appeal supports. It is one of the many
reasons that Bansang Hospital manages to retain it’s staff when all the others
in Gambia struggle against recruitment from foreign countries including the UK.
It is something I have witnessed Anita sorting in the past but never though
that I would be asked to undertake, I’m so pleased to have Glenis’s help in
checking that I had got the amounts correct, as with 50 Dalasis to the UK pound
and the largest denomination note just 100 D or £2… there was one hell of a lot
to count. I’m please to say that the largest proportion of it, which was a
donation to the operating theatre project, is now out of my custody and safely
tucked away in the hospital safe for the weekend.
Once the money was safe sorted it was tome to tackle the
next major task of our tour of duty,a meeting with Principle Nursing Officer
and Acting CEO Wandifa. A delightful and sincere man in whose abilities to
manage the hospital Anita had no doubts. However today it was a question of
trying to get answers to a host of questions Anita had posed, some of which
could just prove a little contentious!
In the event the meeting passed easily enough with most of the questions
including the ones which caused Glenis and I some concerns being answered in a
very open and straightforward manner. Phew! We could draw breath once more…. By
the time we left Wandifa’s office it was almost time for Friday prayers and the
customery crowds at the hospital were beginning to thin out. We headed off to
the children’s ward to catch up with some of our good friends on the staff if
they were on duty and it wasn’t long before the usual warmth and affection we
have come to know and love of Bansang once more embraced us. The toured the
ward, a little saddened by the number of malaria cases we found, although it
must be said that most seemed to be improving with the hospital’s great care. I
caught up with Cadi and Sukarou two
nurses that were special favourites of both Corinna and myself to be greeted
with big hugs and smiles. We left the ward as always with those mixed emotions
of sadness for the young patients but huge joy to back amongst such loving and
caring staff and friends.
Slowly we work our way through the pages of lists given to us by Anita, and slowly, slowly bit by bit we tick them off and move on. At the moment (1pm ) we await the arrival of two Swiss doctors from Banjul who sponsor some of the projects with which Anita is involved including the new operating theatre complex which is starting to take shape and will soon be up and running, heralding in whole era at Bansang Hospital.
I'm now suffering just a little from a sprained ankle after stepping into a shop and straight into a rather large hole....As they say though things have a way of balancing out, and I had an unexpected call this morning that did just that....
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