Forår og besøg hjemmefra.

Jeg må tilstå, at jeg er lidt misundelig på jer, der oplever foråret derhjemme. Men det er faktisk lidt som om, der også er en slags forår her.  Lige da jeg kom var der en masse døde blade på træerne, og stadig ligger de døde blade overalt på jorden. Men pludseligt er der kommet nye lysegrønne blade og fantastiske farverige blomster på træer, som ellers så helt døde ud. Alting begynder også at blive grønnere pga. de små livgivende regnvejrsnætter, vi har haft. Derudover er det jo også blevet noget varmere her, siden jeg kom i januar.

Så har det jo også været påske, og jeg havde besøg af Mads og mine forældre. De første 5 dage var fantastisk afslappende på et strandhotel sammen med Mads. Vi har stort set ikke lavet noget som helst, men bare fladet ud og hygget os. Skønt!

Da mine forældre kom kørte vi til byen Makeni, hvor vi havde vores base på Hotel Wusum i 3 dage. 

Vi var ude og se Masanga, hvor vi lige var nede og se en guldmine og et smut forbi påskefesten. 

Næste dag var vi en tur i Bumbuna for at se dæmningen og dagen efter, på 50 års-dagen for Sierra Leones uafhængighed (d. 27. april,) var vi i Makeni, hvor vi så nogle fine optog.

Herefter kørte vi den lange vej mod øen Tiway, som ligger midt i en stor flod, og efter sigende har et fantastisk dyreliv med masser af forskellige slags aber, fugle og tilmed elefanter. De skulle også have en pygmæ-flodhest, som der dog kun er minimale chancer for at se. 

Desværre nåede vi kun en enkelt overnatning og ingen ture ud på øen, for vi var nødt til at tage tidligt af sted om morgenen, da mor var blevet ret syg. Så i stedet kørte vi de 2,5 timer tilbage til Bo, hvor der er et Læger uden grænser-hospital. Her blev mor tjekket for bl.a. malaria, som hun heldigvis ikke havde. Men hun var ret dehydreret, så hun fik en halv liter i.v.-væske for at komme ovenpå igen.

Vi tog en overnatning i Bo, og næste morgen kørte vi tilbage mod Freetown. Mads skulle hjem næste dag, mens mor og far havde 2 ekstra nætter før de skulle hjem igen.

Lige før Freetown ligger der et chimpanze-reservat, som tager sig af chimpanzer, der har været holdt fanget af mennesker. De forsøger langsomt at gøre dem vilde igen, så godt som muligt, og har planer om at sætte dem ud i naturen igen, når de er klar, og når det rigtige område er fundet til dem. Det var sjovt at se de søde chimpanzer, og jeg fik en del gode billeder af de yngre.

På trods af dårlige maver hos samtlige deltagere og problemer med at tåle varmen, nåede mor og far alligevel lige også at opleve nogle markeder inde i centrum af Freetown inden de tog hjem.

På trods af diverse problemer og uventede hendelser havde alle en fantastisk tur! Men intet er nu så godt som hjemme, og mit lille værelse her i Masanga er efterhånden blevet mit hjem, om end midlertidigt. Jeg savner dog Mads og glæder mig til at skulle hjem d. 1. juni.

Der er i øvrigt ved at være en temmelig høj luftfugtighed hernede, så selvom jeg og de andre ellers havde vænnet os til temperaturen er vi begyndt at svede ret meget igen. Desværre bliver det kun værre over de næste 3-4 måneder. Så jeg tror, det er det rigtige tidspunkt, jeg skal hjem på ;)

På hospitalet i Masanga  er der blevet rigtig travlt fordi hospitalet i den nærmeste større by, Magburaka, er lukket ned pga. renovering. Samtidig er der kun en læge her i øjeblikket, fordi den anden er hjemme på ferie. Så der er overfyldt på afdelingerne og masser af fødsler, så der er ikke noget behov for at vi opfordrer flere kvinder til at komme og føde på hospitalet lige nu.

Sidst i næste uge kommer de to, der skal overtage for os, herned. Det bliver rigtig dejligt at få nye mennesker med nyt energi herned.

Denne gang er der rigtig mange billeder med, nyd dem! for det tog meget lang tid at uploade dem.

Knus og kram hernede fra den fugtige varme, Anne.

Spring time and visit from Denmark

I have to admit that I am a bit envious of all of you back home who gets to experience the spring time. But actually it somehow resembles spring here as well. When I arrived here, there were dead leaves falling from some trees and they were laying all over on the ground. Some leaves are still there on the ground, but suddenly new green leaves and fantastic flowers emerged on the trees that otherwise looked completely dead with no leaves at all. Everything starts to look greener now because of the small life giving rains that we get during the night some times.

Besides this, the weather has also gotten somewhat warmer since I came in January.

During Easter I had visit from Denmark, Mads and my parents. The first five days was amazing relaxation at a beach hotel with Mads. We did almost nothing besides relaxing and having a good time together. Very nice!

When my parents came, we went to Makeni, where we had our base for three days at the Wusum Hotel. During these days we went to visit Masanga. In Masanga we saw a gold mine and shortly stopped by the Easter party in the village.

The next day we took a trip to Bumbuna to see the dam and the day after, the day of the 50^th anniversary of independence in Sierra Leone (the 27^thog April), we stayed in Makeni where we witnessed some nice parades.

After Makeni we drove all the long way to Tiway Island that lies in the middle of a big river. The island is said to be rich in animal life with many different kinds of monkeys, birds and even some elephants. There should also be an endangered pygmy hippo, though the chances of actually seeing it are minimal. Unfortunately we only had one night at the island, and no forest walks or anything else, because my mother god really sick and we had to leave the island early in the morning to drive the 2.5 hours to the MSF hospital in the city Bo. My mother was checked for Malaria which se fortunately did not have, but she was quite dehydrated, so she was given half a liter of saline iv, which made her feel a lot better.

We stayed in a hotel in Bo for one night. The next morning we went back to Freetown because Mads had to leave the next day. My parents still had two nights in Freetown before they had to leave.

Just outside Freetown there is a Chimpanzee Sanctuary, where chimps that has been kept as pets are taken care of. Slowly they try to get them used to take care of themselves and not be dependent of humans. They plan to reintroduce the chimps to freedom when at some point the chimps are ready and they have a qualified peace of forest to release them into. It was nice to see the funny and cute chimpanzees and I caught some nice pictures of the young ones.

Despite stomach problems for all of us and troubles coping with the heat, my parents got to experience the markets in the center of Freetown before they went home.

Despite various problems and unexpected episodes, everyone had a fantastic trip. But nowhere is as good as home, and my room here in Masanga has become my home now, although temporary. Still I miss Mads and I am looking forward to going home on June 1^st.

The humidity down here is getting up by now, and even though I did get used to the heat, I now sweat quite a lot again. Unfortunately it only gets worse during the coming 3-4 months. I think I chose the right time to go home ;)

Masanga Hospital has become really busy during the last month or so because the nearest hospital in Magburaka has been closed down for renovation. At the same time there is only one doctor in Masanga at the moment, as the other is home on leave. This means that the wards are overcrowded and there are plenty of births at the hospital. So there is no need for us to talk anymore women into giving birth at Masanga Hospital at the moment.

Late next week the two new volunteers, who are going to take over our project, are coming to Masanga. I look forward to meet new people with new energy on this project.

This time you get LOTS of pictures (see the Danish version), enjoy!

Hugs from Anne.

Kyllinger og slange

Den anden aften var der planlagt burger night som en slags farvelhygge til Emil som nu er rejst hjem. Alt var købt ind til burgerne på nær kød, der desværre var udsolgt af. Jeg havde virkeligt set frem til denne burger night, og valgte at tage med vores køkkendame, Fatmata, ned i landsbyen for at købe et par levende kyllinger vi kunne slagte. Det lykkedes efter et stykke tid at finde to små kyllinger som vi købte. På vej tilbage gennem landsbyen kom vi forbi Fatmatas far, som var så venlig at tage livet af dem. Hjemme i køkkenet hjalp jeg Fatmata med at plukke kyllingerne – det er slet ikke så svært som jeg troede, det tager bare lidt tid :) Når man er 11 personer om at dele 2 små kyllinger, forstår man bedre hvorfor man spiser alt hvad der overhovedet kan spises på dyret. Lever, hjerte og hals smager faktisk rigtig godt!

Umiddelbart inden mit kyllingeeventyr nede i landsbyen opdagede vi en knaldgrøn slange udenfor et af værelserne her på hostlet – den første levende slange jeg har set her. Da vi ikke vidste om den var farlig eller ej, tog jeg en kæp og sammen med en lokal ældre mand (B.S.) sørgede jeg for at slangen fik sit endeligt. Slagen var ca. 1 m lang og 1,5 cm tyk. B.S. konstaterede, at den ikke var farlig, men at den nok ikke ville være så rar at blive bidt af.

I sidste weekend var alle vi frivillige i Freetown for at se byen og for at slappe af på stranden. Freetown er en hektisk by med alt for små gader til de mange biler. Jeg brugte en del timer på at gå gennem gade efter gade med små boder på rad og række. Hver gade havde sit tema – tøj, elektronik, bøger, mad osv. – mens at boderne hver for sig nærmest havde det samme udvalg inden for hver genre. Jeg var også i Big Marked, hvor jeg fik købt lidt souvenirs med hjem. Stranden var som sædvanligt skøn, og hummerne lækre :)

For nyligt har vi været ude i to små landsbyer tæt på Masanga for at tale med beboerne, især de gravide. Vi fortalte en lille historie med en besværlig fødsel, hvor kvinden til sidst kom på hospitalet og fik et kejsersnit og både mor og barn overlevede. Bagefter talte vi om de ricisi der er ved at føde hjemme, og hvilke tegn de skal være opmærksomme på under graviditeten så de kan søge lægehjælp om nødvendigt. Til sidst blev der stillet en masse gode spørsmål. En kvinderne stillede spørgsmål om infertilitet fordi hun havde mistet alle sine tre børn, og nu ikke kunne blive gravid igen med en ny mand. Det var nogle gode ture, og jeg håber det er lykkedes os at få nogle flere kvinder til at komme på hospitalet og føde. Som det er nu, er der stadig en mange der føder hjemme i landsbyen, selvom de kun bor 2 km fra Masanga Hospital!

Prøv at se damen med de mange kurve med kul på hovedet!!

Chickens and a snake

The other night we planned to have burger night as a farewell dinner to Emil who has now gone home to Denmark. All the ingredients for the burgers were bought except the meat, which unfortunately was sold out. I really had been looking forward to this burger night and decided to go with the kitchen lady, Fatmata, to the village to buy a couple of chickens we could slaughter. After a while we succeeded to find and buy two small chickens. On our way back through the village we met Fatmata´s father who kindly slaughtered the chickens for us. Back in the kitchen I helped Fatmata to pluck the chickens – it was not at all as hard as I thought it would be, it just takes some time :) When you are 11 people to share two small chickens you understand why it is important to eat everything possible from the animals. Liver, heart and neck really tastes good!

Just before my chicken adventure in the village we discovered a bright green snake outside one of the rooms here at the hostel – the first alive snake I have seen here. As we didn´t know if the snake was dangerous or not, I took a stick and together with a local, elderly man (B.S.) I finished the snake. The snake was about one meter long and 1.5 cm thick. B.S. declared that it was not dangerous, but that it would probably not be nice to get bitten by it.

Last weekend we were all in Freetown to see the city and to relax at the beach. Freetown is a hectic city with too small roads for the many cars. I spend some time to walk through small endless streets with street shops lying close together on every street. Every street had its own theme – clothes, electronics, books, food etc. – while every shop had almost the same things within the themes. I also went to Big Marked where I bought some souvenirs. The beach was great as always and the lobster was delicious :)

Recently we went to two small villages close to Masanga to talk to the people there, especially the pregnant women. We told a story about a complicated delivery. The woman eventually went to the hospital where she got a Cesarean Section and both mother and child survived. Afterwards we talked about the risks of delivering at home in the village and what signs and symptoms they should be aware of during the pregnancy, so that they can seek medical assistance when necessary. In the end the women asked a lot of good questions. One of the women asked about infertility because she lost all her three children and was now unable to get pregnant again with her new husband. It was two very nice trips, and I hope that we succeeded to get more women to come to Masanga Hospital to deliver. As it is now, a lot of women still deliver in the villages even though the live only 2 kilometers from Masanga Hospital!

Se the pictures in the danish version. Check out the lady with many baskets on top of her head!!

Regnvejr

Så har jeg oplevet mit første Masanga-regnvejr. Det kom en nat kl. 00.30 hvor jeg alligevel var vågen og lå og vred mig af mavekramper. Det var ret fascinerende at ligge der under et bliktag, der fik det til at lyde noget mere voldsomt, end det sikkert var :) Det stoppede ca. en halv time senere, og i morgenen efter kunne man slet ikke se at det havde regnet. Det har regnet lidt 3 nætter i træk og lidt nogle formiddage den sidste uges tid, og det er som regel akkompagneret at lyn, torden og kraftige vindstød. Jeg havde næsten helt glemt hvordan regn giver en helt speciel duft og frisker så dejligt op. Nogle kalder det mangoregnen fordi der som regel kommer lidt regn her i tiden hvor mangoerne modner.

I sidste weekend fik vi et tilbud om at blive hentet af en dansker, der bor i Makeni, tidlig søndag morgen, for at køre ca. 3 timer til en lækker strand uden for Freetown og hjem igen samme aften. Så kl. 7:30 søndag morgen blev vi hentet og kørt til et lækkert stykke strand med et hotel og en restaurant. Her fik vi de mest lækre kæmpestore hummere og tyndtskåret rå barracuda marineret i lækker olivenolie og lime. Dertil vand, whiskey, vin, øl eller Savanna (stærk, tør cider) efter ønske :) Stedet hedder Francos og der skal jeg helt sikkert hen igen inden jeg tager hjem!

Nu har jeg også været til bryllup, eller i hvert fald til noget af et. Jeg var blevet inviteret af bruden, som jeg lærte at kende på en af vores screeninger for grå stær. Vi var inviteret til kl. 12, vi var der 12:30 og brudeparret dukkede op i kirken ca. kl. 13. Herefter varede det helt utroligt længe: Der var diverse kirkelige handlinger blandet med en masse sang og dans i halve timer ad gangen. Det var meget livsbekræftende med alle de glade dansende og syngende mennersker. Der var en del oplæsninger fra en præst, noget af det forstod jeg, og det handlede om, at man ikke skulle skændes over, om der var redt seng eller ej ;) Kl. ca. 16 var selve kirkehandlingen færdig, og de dannede et optog på gaden med dans og musik (fra de to brass bands, der havde været inde i den lille kirke). Her valgte valgte jeg og min ven så at tage hjem. Vi var på motorcykel og ville gerne hjem inden det blev mørkt og selve festen lod ikke til at begynde lige foreløbig.

Vi har været på besøg på Mary Stopes klinik i Makeni. Klinikken behandler bl.a. seksuelt overførbare sygdomme, sætter spiraler op, steriliserer og behandler infertilitet. Desuden tager de ud til landsbyer i distriktet hvor de bl.a. oplyser folket om at kvinderne, bør tage på sygehuset for at føde, om familieplanlægning og om det de kan tilbyde på klinikken. De har en lille gruppe med, som opfører drama og sang og dans om de forskellige emner, hvilket her er den bedste måde at få et budskab til at ”hænge fast”, da det er noget, de er vandt til og fordi mange er analfabeter.

Slut for denne gang :) Vi ses!

Rain

Now I have experienced my first rains in Masanga. One night at half past midnight it came. I was awake anyway twitching and turning from a bad stomach ache. It was fascinating listening to the rain on the zinc roof making a great noise, sounding heavier than it probably was :) It stopped about half an hour later and the morning after you could not even see that it had been raining. There has been small rains during the night and a little during the day for the past week, usually accompanied by lightning, thunder and fresh winds. I almost forgot how the rain freshens up everything and brings a lovely scent to the day. Some calls the rain the mango rain because it is typical with small rains at this time when the mangos ripen.

This past weekend we had an offer to get a ride early Sunday morning, with a Danish guy in Makeni to a nice beach outside Freetown, going home the same evening. So at 7:30 pm we were picked up went for a three hour ride to a great beach with a hotel and a restaurant. Here we had the most delicious lobster and thinly sliced barracuda marinated in olive oil and lime juice. This was accompanied by a choice of water, whiskey, wine, beer or Savanna (strong dry cider). The place is called Franco´s and I am definitely going there again before I go home!

I have also been to a wedding or part of one anyway. I was invited by the bride whom I got to know during one of our screenings for cataract. We were invited to come at 12, we were there at 12:30 am and at 1 pm the couple entered the church. And then it took forever; there were several churchly acts that I recognized, and in between was a lot of music, singing and dancing lasting half or full hours. It was very optimistic and cheerful with all the happy dancing and singing people. A pastor did a lot readings, some of it I recognized as the meaninglessness of fighting over a bed not made :) At 4 m the party left the church and started singing and dancing to the music (from the two brass bands that also played inside the little church) on the street. This was when my companion and I chose to go home. Since we were on a bike we wanted to get home before darkness, and the party did not seem to begin any time soon.

We have visited Mary Stope´s clinic in Makeni. The clinic treats STI, inserts IUD, performs sterilizations and treats infertility. Besides that they go on outreach to the villages in their district where they sensitize the people among other things about the fact that women should come and give birth at a hospital, about family planning and about what they can offer at their clinic. They bring a drama group who makes up songs and dances and perform small plays about the subjects they want to teach about. This is the best way to make information “stick” as this is a way they use themselves and because many are an-alphabets.

So long for now :) See you!

See pictures in the Danish version.

So here I am

On a chair provided to me by a nice guy who is a salesman at a local street shop. So here I am, looking at the traffic and the people going by. I am in Magburaka waiting for my driver to turn on his cell phone so I can call him and tell him to come and pick me up so I can get back to Masanga. I have been to a meeting with the DHN (District Health Nurse), went for a stroll at the marked afterwards and spend a while on an internet café. It is actually quite nice sitting here observing, people are as usual friendly, forthcoming, and eager to speak with you. At the marked I ran into a man that recognized me. I meet him at the surgical ward at Masanga Hospital where his father was admitted with a huge wound on his foot. The father died shortly after I saw him, probably because he refused feed for a long time so literally he was no more than skin and bones.

I have rented a bike from the local bike shop, so now I get around a little faster than usual. It is not a very good bike but it works, it is red, and it even has two gears :) I have missed biking so it is nice to have one again.

Pure luxury

A couple of weeks ago some of us went on a trip to a big dam near the town Bombuna. The dam has been under construction for a long time because the war slowed down the process. But now it is finished and it produces power for Freetown. The capacity is 50 MWat but it only produces 18 MWat which is what Freetown uses, this is because many people still have generators and because the power still is somewhat unstable. I was actually there once before, which is the reason why I decided to spend my afternoon by the pool with a good book while the others went to take a look at the dam. We were invited to stay for the night so we got each a room with power, air-conditioning, and warm and cold water. You could even put the paper in the toilet and the flush actually worked! Everything was for free even food and drinks. While I was writing this I sat by the pool with the most spectacular view over beautiful green mountains all the way around and behind my char was a mango tree.

The other night we heard news about a magician coming to the village. The main trick was to revive a dead man! We simply had to see that. It took place at the community center in Masanga village and there was already a party with a DJ playing way too loud African music as we arrived. The party took as always place outside the room with the loud music, probably because of the entrance fee of 1000 Le, and out there the music was actually ok. The children were already skilled dancers; at an age down to 6-7 years or perhaps younger they tweaked and turned their lower bodies in a way that to me seemed much too sexual for their age. But I guess that is just the way they dance here… The trick finally started, after multiple encouragements from our side and just as many “last chance to enter, we start right right now!” it was a show of patience from our side. During 45 minutes two men sat next to a third man who was covered in a large rough blanket. The two men held a piece of the blanket in each hand tugging it continuously. Afterwards the magician crawled in under the blanket and five minutes later the blanket was removed and the man was “dead” with “blood” on his neck. It was though a little hard not to look at his belly that went nicely up and down as if he were breathing… After having threatened the women spectators to give more money if they should not wake up in the night bleeding, the “dead” man was carried out. THAT was my cue to leave as I nearly fell asleep!

Today I attended my first labor case. It was exciting and everything went fine, even though the umbilical cord was around the baby’s neck when it came out. Afterwards I was handed the baby to dry and wrap in a lappa (a piece of fabric). It was a fine little girl who immediately was named Zainab Konteh.

Tonight I finally got to the third kind of animal I have had in my room and which I really do not welcome. A mouse started nesting in my desk drawer where it ate my papers and the drawer itself! I already tried to bring a dog to my room during the night, but that didn´t help much as it only growled at the mouse but took no action… Then tonight the mouse did something very stupid; it went down the bag in my bin, luckily I was up because it made so much noise, so I quickly grabbed and closed the bag and then I squeezed! Perhaps a bit disgusting now that I come to think about it, but I was just so annoyed with the mouse and afraid that is would escape the bag if I did not do something quickly!

So long for now.

Se pictures in the Danish version of todays blog post.