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.

It’s been an interesting few days here in Bansang! The weekend saw us visited by representatives of Gambia Experience, The Gambia’s largest and most successful tour operator . They were making a whistle stop tour around the country visiting some of the many organisations which they had sponsored as part of their 25^th anniversary celebrations and the Bansang Staff Farming Association was one of them . .  MD Chris along with Katie who had implemented the awards project were accompanied by their local tour manager Joyce who has lived in The Gambia for about 17 years.

 Arriving on Saturday afternoon, allthough the thrust of their visit was to see the farm project,  we started with a quick tour of the Paediatric Ward, where hopefully, they could see through all the muck and chaos well enough to realise that the upgrade is going to be really good when it’s all finished.  A look around the fruit and vegetable garden and the Mite house, it was  then back to the house for cold drinks and a chat before taking them to their accommodation at Bintou’s Paradise Lodge. Later in the evening Anita, Tanya, Wandifa and I joined them at Paradise for a very pleasant evening meal  which also gave us time to discuss various projects with them that we have on the drawing board ,as well as giving them more details about the farm project which were to visit the following morning.

Sunday started with a meeting of us all with some of the members of the farm association back over at the Mite house which of course ran to GMT (Gambia Maybe Time!) It was then off out into the bush to visit the farm at Galamandah which is roughly 20km from the hospital along dirt roads. A meeting with the Alkali (chief) then a ride of just a few km more took us to the heart of the 100 Hectares of land which he has given to the Hospital’s farm association so that they can grow food for the hospitals patients. By 1pm, right on schedule we were heading back to the main road to part company having meanwhile also met with the Oxen that part of the award went to purchase and to hang the ear tags around their necks declaring them to be… Serenity and Experience….

Monday was a bit of a downer, as it started with the news that Bunja, the chief electrician’s mother had died after quite a long illness during which she had been at a the hospital in a small side ward. I had only met her for the first time on Sunday as I was working in the female ward, so it came as a bit of a shock. Then one of the tiny twins which had been admitted over the weekend lost his fight for life, and again I was holding him only hours before. About two months old, Adema and his sister Owa, who is still in there fighting, each weighed less than a bag of sugar. They had been born in their village some 30km from Bansang and brought for treatment just too late for there to be a realistic chance to save them. But the staff are doing a great job and as off last night the surviving sister was still alive.

Then as if to cap off the day we spent some time with a young patient  Yeng Walley who has been in and out of the hospital since she broke her back falling out of a Mango tree a few years ago. Paralyzed from the waist down, she suffers with terrible bed sores and after being taken home by her family a couple of weeks ago was re-admitted  in a really bad way after her family had sought help from the local traditional healer. Rather than cure, her had very nearly killed her! With her haemoglobin level still dropping inspite of having received 3 units of blood (all that was available) .

Anita and I spent some time with Yeng until I could face it no more, whilst Anita stayed to comfort the young girl , I found a quite corner in which to sit and be alone, all my past grief returning to consume me once more…  A couple of stiff whiskeys and a sleepless night did little to alleviate the problem. However, The next day saw a marked inmprovement with Yeng taking some Ambrosia rice pudding which we took in to try to tempt her with and after Anita had sat with her and painted her nails she actually smiled at us for the first time…. I just hope that the improvement has continued overnight.

Meanwhile work on the Children’s ward goes on apace! We have now cleared the bottom section of the ward completely with all the beds and cupboards lined up outside.  We now have almost 50% of the windows opened up and ready (except for painting ) to receive their new aluminium units. Today (Wednesday) is going to be a little frantic with two people from Power Up Gambia (PUG) coming over to look at the solar systems and how they can help. I have Lamin from maintenance starting on welding up reinforcing bars to the beds which keep breaking. The window man should be here about lunchtime and we are also opening up the roof of the Mite house to try to sort the Bat problem by cleaning out the loft area and then installing lighting which should discourage them from roosting there…. So once again, busy busy, busy

The Queen is back

Been so busy the last few days, I’ve only just realised that I had completely forgotten to post anything up on Anita’s momentous return to her beloved Bansang… It’s an indication I guess, of just how hard “the Boss” works me while she’s here commanding her troops !

It was a bit of a stressful start to the day on Wednesday when we left Baju; we had been expecting to stay 2 nights but then a call from Wandifa, acting CEO, told us that the Health Minister with whom Anita was hoping to get an appointment was in the Upper River Region of The Gambia and we could get to see him on Thursday so we needed to cut and run a day earlier than expected. The problem was that I had told Sutay our driver that we wouldn’t need him until about 1pm and unknown to Anita the celebration I had been putting in place to welcome her was due for 5pm (a day earlier than arranged though!). By the time we picked up groceries and collected Sulayman that was going to make it somewhat tight getting up to Bansang in time… and Sutay had his phone turned off so I was unable to contact me to ask him to show earlier. Eventually, after a few abortive attempts I managed to speak to him and arranged an 11.30 pick up…. By 12.30 I was just about ready for a coronary when he breezed up. Shopping loaded, Sulayman collected, we headed off on our 4 ½ hour drive to the hospital.

The trip was thankfully uneventful , and I was so busy bringing Anita up to date on what had been happening at the hospital that for the first time ever I didn’t fall asleep for most of the journey. In fact we made such good time that Sutay, realising that we would be early, made a phone call, all in Mandinka so Anita would not understand what was being said, and then slowed down a little… well a lot actually, as Anita turned to me and said quietly “ we’re going very slowly, I wonder why?” to which I replied that the vehicle was probably overheating again and Sutay was letting it cool down! An explanation which was accepted without further comment.

As we arrived at Bansang, Anita became more restless and one could sense the anticipation at her long  awaited return. A few people could be seen outside the main gates, which is not unusual, but as we approached, a couple of them stopped the car and opened Anita’s door . As she stepped from the car, the full force of the welcoming party enveloped her, and with drums, whistles and shouts of joy  shepherded her over to the house where seats had been set out for us and an even larger throng assembled. An emotional Anita greeted friends built up over so very many years that she has been working for the people of Bansang.  What I hadn’t realised was that in all the years Anita has been coming to Bansang and all the welcomes she has arranged for other she had never before been the recipient of  one herself! Inspite of her  having arranged dozens of them for others including the various Scoots teams that I have brought across the Sahara. The dancing and drumming became ever more frenetic in the heat of the afternoon sun, with Anita overcoming her emotions to participate in many of the dances. The inevitable speeches and words of welcome really came from the hearts of the speakers as one by one they welcomed Anita back into her huge Bansang family.  

Wandifa then informed us that they had also prepared  food for us, so as the singers, dancers and drummers together with most of the assembled multitude head either home or back to work we, along with most of the hospital management team went into the house where a most welcome and plentiful feast of fresh salad, mainly from the hospital garden had been laid out. By the time the last of the guests had left it was quite late in the evening and time for a walk over to the hospital for a quick tour. Of course first stop was the Children’s ward with a tour of the building work and then as she always does time to visit and speak with the little patients. Yes, the queen of Bansang was back!

Friday 22nd March am

Hopefully Morro is back on the job today as his team seem to have slowed down almost to a stop whilst he has been missing. It may be of course that they are lacking supplies which he is bringing back with him or it may be the usual, while the boss is away syndrome …. Anyway my “boss” has found me plenty of other things to do to stop me from getting bored! But then she did take me to Paradise for dinner last night. It’s always lovely sitting right on the river bank under the sort of start studded sky that you only seem to find out here or at least in underdeveloped countries where there is little light pollution. We then went on a pub crawl around Bansang…. However as there is only one bar in town that didn’t take too long LOL!

^{And now for something completely different... I try my hand at a little Orthopedic Surgery!}

Today we will be moving a whole load of beds out of the Children’s ward  onto the strip of land between it and the road, which should at least make life a little easier for our Senegalese window opening man and of course they are going to have to be wash off to remove the dust and debris once the work is finished anyway. It is also hoped that we may be running up to Basse Sant Su for a meeting with the Minister of Health who is apparently at this end of the country at the moment. As a fairly new incumbent of the position Anita has to meet with him and it seems I am to be dragged along as well. Not sure that I will have much to contribute but it will be very interesting to meet such an eminent member of the government although I’m really not used to such political goings on.

Otherwise it will be business as usual plus sorting a few last minute bits for our sponsors who are arriving on Saturday afternoon. Gambia Experience are the foremost tour company operating in Gambia and bring many UK tourist out here. This year they celebrate their 25^th Anniversary and have made a variety of different awards and grants to projects in the region including The Bansang Hospital Appeal. The cash award has gone into the farming project, buying another two Oxen together with weeders and seeders, plus various other items to help increase the yield on this important sustainable resource. The plan is for the representatives to arrive with us in Bansang around tea time on Saturday for a quick tour of the hospital before heading of to Paradise for dinner and to spend the night. Then Sunday morning after breakfast it will be off to the farm at Galamander  to meet Serenity and Experience their two Oxen and to generally see and be briefed on the project by the chairman of the farming association. By lunchtime Sunday they will be on their way back to Banjul whilst we catch our breath! I just hope that they can see through the chaos of the rebuilding work just what fantastic progress has been made at Bansang Hospital over the past few years thanks to Anita’s vision and foresight.