6 of the best !

So, it’s situation normal in Bansang,  the temperature continues to rise, Morro’s Merry Men forge on with the work Paediatric Ward, whilst Dembo sits on his butt doing sweet FA! Last week saw me called to the headmasters (CEO) office to have my finger slapped for allegedly insulting Dembo. I vigorously deny this slur on my character as I feel it is impossible to insult somebody as lazy as he is!!! Anyway with all the work we are now putting Morro’s way I don’t really see the need for Dembo’s position and fortunately I don’t now have to deal with him very often, going through Wandifa, the CEO instead.

Today Anita and I escaped from the hospital for a couple of hours to check out a new route I may use on this years Scoots trip in October. It involved a ride of about 60km, going first up to Janjanbureh on McCarthy Island, crossing to the north bank and then riding the sand road back to Bush Town and the Bansang Ferry. But expecting Anita to forget about the hospital even for a couple of hours is a little like trying to climb up Niagara Falls ! It started with an innocent hail from a school car park from Noa, the local Councillor, this then escalated into a meeting with the Governor of the Region, who also just happens to be the Chairman of the Hospital board of Governors!  We then visited the Governors House which is undergoing very substantial renovation where we met the Architect and a real Project Manager….  Finally we got back to our ride and headed further along the Island to Bird Safari Park to check out the facilities and prices; we also enjoyed a couple of ice cold Cokes whilst sat at the edge of the River Gambia. By the time we got into the ride proper, all ideas of an early start to avoid the heat had melted away and for the rest of the journey we simply cooked.

Back at the Hospital, the first two sections of the wall in the Paediatric ward are now all but finished, with the third section completely demolished and the foundations also almost dug. The ceiling and top half of the walls in the malnutrition unit have had there first two coats of white emulsion although it will need at least another coat or two to cover some of the old damp patches. Hopefully, also this week will see

the first of the nice new windows units installed and I’m really hoping that the three in malnutrition will be installed before Anita leaves for the coast. If that happens I can sleep easily on my little wicker bed for the first time since I took on this project. In all honesty Anita has been very happy with and totally supportive of,  the work she has seen going on in the two weeks she has been here, and I defy anyone not to be impressed by the work rate of Morro’s team, particularly as the afternoon temperatures are now hitting around 45c ! The thought of swinging a very large hammer to demolish walls in that heat just fills me  with horror.

At the other end of the scale, maintenance finally made a start on sorting the bat problem in the Mite house and after having at least 4 men “working” on it for two days, have managed to cut a man sized hole in the plaster ceiling; put a foot sized hole through another part of the ceiling and removed possibly 3 concrete blocks from a partition wall in the loft space ! In the two days of working the head of the department didn’t so much as get dirt under his finger nails…..

Another couple of the guys Lamin and Alpha, Lamin being one of the electricians, have been working really well under my guidance doing some pro-active welding of reinforcing rods to brace the legs on the inferior quality beds supplied by a British company , Durbin, which keep breaking . When Anita complained to the company she was informed that the beds were charity quality and therefore not made to last…. I don’t think they will be seeing much more of BHA’s  funds!

As I drove back down the grounds from the Mite house on Wednesday past the Eye Unit, I spotted one of the drains overflowing across the road. What I though was going to be a very simple job then took Jeuldeh the plumber several hours of hard work to sort. Once again Dembo never got off his backside to even see what the problem was, but Jeuldeh  worked really hard and we now have all the drains around the unit flowing freely. Yet another job sorted.

Other projects that have been initiated by “the Boss” and in most case already completed are:  Thorough cleaning of all the walls, windows, and floors in the Mite House. The windows getting their first thorough cleaning since installation in about 2009. This was achieved by removing them from the frames to clean the outside as it is otherwise not possible due to the Mosi screens. This was then repeated in the Female Ward. New curtain material for the Female Ward was purchased from Bansang (out of Anita’s housekeeping money !) sewn up into curtains by the hospital ‘s resident machinist and put up on rods and wire fixed by yours truly… a good all round team effort. I also refixed the rails for the mosi screens on the door and Anita had all the beds, floors, walls and every other nook and cranny scrubbed until it gleamed. All in all a really first class transformation for less money than a round of drinks at your local!

PUG (Power Up Gambia) in the shape of Lyn and Leland duly arrived on Wednesday and spent 4 days looking at and taking various power consumption readings across the multitude of circuits which emanate from the main distribution box.  The hope is that they will be able to isolate the materity suite and supply 24hr electricity with auto switching from mains to Solar or even emergency generator. We spent a couple of very pleasant evenings at Paradise with them discussing the solar requirements and various other hospital projects with them. They left on Friday morning to head back down country to Biwam where they are based when in The Gambia, although they should be back later this week by which time Anita will be back in the UK and I hopefully will get to enjoy their company one last time at Paradise for dinner and cold Jul Brew!

In the meantime we still await a call from the Minister of Health giving us an audience before both he and we return to Banjul on Wednesday. Thursday was scheduled as a day of R & R, but you can bet your life it won’t happen, as already I have to meet with the window man to look at Auminium doors, visit a couple of builders merchants, look at floor tile and roofing material and stock up on all the stuff you cant get in Bansang….. With a bit of a tail wind I may get to dip a toe in the sea and down a couple or three of Luigi’s cocktails before saying goodbye to Anita at Yundum airport and heading back to Bansang.