We had yet
another busy day, today, here in Basankusu. After my morning wash in a bucket
of rainwater, I set off on foot. First I called in at the new centre to follow-up
hospital treatment for Mama Julie - she's from Baringa, 120 miles away, where I
worked in the 1990s.
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| Francis with Mama Julie |
Next, we
welcomed Sr Felicity and Sr Petronella, to our original centre for malnutrition,
on the other side of Basankusu. The sisters are local nuns, both with
experience in health and community development.They werevery impressed by our
work in feeding malnourished children and teaching their parents. We’ll share
our experiences another day with a view to developing a common project.
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| Srs Petronella and Felicity |
On the way back,
we called in at the wake of one of Judith's grandmothers. The all-female
meeting had women chanting and dancing mischievously in a traditional ceremony
that distracts people from their grief.
This
afternoon, back at our new centre, we made a further follow-up of the woman
from Baringa. In her seventies, she has an enlarged spleen because of suffering
from malaria so many times, throughout her life. We’re trying to convince her son, that she should
stop working in her vegetable garden. Typical work in a garden includes
chopping firewood with a machete, digging, and carrying huge baskets of wood
and vegetables on your back. It’s not very good if you have a medical condition
like hers!
Then, a woman
arrived with four small children and a pair of new-born twins ... she needed
help to get back home, 140 miles, after her husband died.
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| The mothers with their poorly children |
At the same
time, a woman appeared with a 6 year old child, who looked like he was two years old, who'd had severe diarrhoea for two weeks
and decided to come to us in the evening. We took her next door to our hospital
and they decided he needed a blood transfusion. We had to go and get the nurse
from his house and watch the transfusion by torchlight. Then we went to find
medication for three of the malnourished children at a nearby pharmacy kiosk.
Just as we
were getting served, a motorbike pulled up beside me on the dirt track; it was
Fr Franklin, one of our local priests, who asked if I would be opening our
internet this evening ... I climbed on the back of the bike and soon found
myself back at Mill Hill opening up the internet room for local priests and NGO
staff.
Our Chinese
shopkeeper arrived and asked to charge all his gadgets, one in each room, while
our generator was running, and then talk a little business.
Finally I've
been able to grab a sandwich and write this ...
