Bahai Beach 48

Bahai Beach 48

Green men with expensive toys in town.

February 28th, 2007

The heroine from Tomb Raider must have a huge following in Chad. Boys and men are flocking like pigeons on the Dam Square in Amsterdam. Is there something in the air?

Well as precaution we left the camp early today. While we left there was a class going on with as a topic recognition of diarrheal disease, its danger signs and how to treatment. Education was going on and that is a good feeling.

We also had a meeting with teachers from Zone A to explain our coming visit to their school to classify the children with ringworm in two categories. There are the severe and the simple cases, category one requiring tablets and category two requiring crème. Now I am hoping for a quiet day so we can visit the camp tomorrow to follow up here.

End of the month also means I need to take some time to write a report on the activities of the last 4 weeks. Our doctor is hanging out in Abeche getting training in HIV counseling and the treatment of tuberculosis. It means I am seeing patients again in the camp. As there is our one HIV positive patient who without treatment was doing reasonably well. Today I was informed he is dehydrated so I sent a nurse with perfusion and ORS. If he does not get better in his home environment we can always send him to the hospital for palliative care. It is the reality of Africa.

We lost another young man, most likely to HIV this week. Treatment for this disease in Chad in the district hospital of Chad is not available. Ben, my assistant public health manager has just come to tell me I have a big part in his play about ‘Prevention of HIV’. I am looking forward to do a little bit of health education acting. As we have been doing blood tests for syphilis we are finding this sexual transmitted disease in pregnant women. It is time to address this issue in the community. Both in Bahai as well as in the camp.

My chickens are complaining a lot about the sound pollution of helicopters and vehicles plying bye at high speed. They have written up a petition so I go out there to speak to these bad boys. Pip em down, less noise, eggs are being bred, chooks require rest. Talking about birds, one of the Zaghawa sub-tribes is called Anju. Anju is a bird with bright colors. This bird can never be chased from the houses of the Anju Zaghawa hence they are known as the Anju.

Today in the news; Chad to reject UN troops. Perhaps they have been looking at their neighbor too much, or the present regime thinks it can squash the ongoing rebellion easily. While I am reading a book on recent African history, including a lot of violence and chaos the scenario is repeating it self in Chad. Future historian may shine their lights on the situation of this part of the world. I was pondering how to get a hold of a book by Samantha Power on different genocides in the world when Sancho Pancho walked into the compound with exactly that book under his arm. Yesterday we got to hang out like the 6-year olds we really are and it does me tons of good that he is around. Another merry sidekick to rule the world!

Silly boys rule Bahai.

Two boys and a band of noisy chooks.

Namaskar,

Ashis