More and more people are getting malaria these days. Malaria is a constant problem here, but more so during the rainy season, which we are in the thick of. Elizabeth has been on an IV drip with Quinine in her room for three days, the usual medicine not having worked its course. We are leaving the generator on later into the night so that we can be assured the IV doesn’t come out, which would cause her to bleed to death if she were alone in the dark, asleep, unaware. Moses has been being a good nurse, bringing her IV bags and medicine, and opening a new vein when the other gave out. That is when he’s not being called on by others. Our senior medical staff does not provide clinical services but rather oversee our in-clinic services and public health efforts. However, at times they are called upon by our employees and our friends who rightly so don’t want to go to the poorly run hospital, operated by another organization. Friday it was Richard’s baby (the one I wrote about previously who nearly died in the days after her birth) who wouldn’t stop crying. Moses believes it was a viral infection that came on as she was being weaned. When Moses went to Richard’s house the following evening as agreed, neither Richard, the wife or the baby could be found. Moses believed they had gone to a witch doctor. Then our operations manager’s sister had an earache. Next, a woman who had previously been treated by our former doctor for rabies was brought forth again by her family. Because no anti-rabies antigen could be found in town at the time, the rabies has set in. It seems now that not much can be done. However, our guard’s burns are healing well. He came to work last week with a swollen, charred hand and lower arm. A mishap with kerosene created a fire that burned down his tukul (hut-like home) and damaged his skin. In true stoic, Zande style, he didn’t bring it to our attention, but when we became aware he was promptly given a ride home and provided with a few household items we has in storage. Today, his skin is healing and he says he’s in no pain.
Note: I have yet to figure out the caption process on this blog. In this photo, Moses is on the left and Qu (Big Boy at Home) is on the right.
Note: I have yet to figure out the caption process on this blog. In this photo, Moses is on the left and Qu (Big Boy at Home) is on the right.
