Bahai Beach 64

Bahai Beach 64

Oure Cassoni updates

May 27, 2007

The story of the prisoners escaping jail with the use of a spoon I will surely not forget. Yesterday I walked by the prison and found to my great surprise that the hole in the wall is still in place. Although I must add a big rock has been shoved into the hole so that escape is hard.

In the camp I visited the boy who was chained to a wall in very dire circumstances. As I visited his room now has a door and a roof so he is not exposed to sand and sun and he does not have to be attached by a rope. He also follows creative therapy twice a week and is improving week by week.

Hagar our old friend (4 years old) has returned from a stay in Sudan and is eating at our breakfast every morning again. He looks happy and talks a lot nowadays. Pointing out when we should go and eat (11.00), that he needs water to wash his hands and that we should be quit while eating.

In the village arms a plenty. Looking at the soldiers one wonders at times how old some of them are? They can look like 14 or 15. Small banditry may be less these days but now we have bored young guys running around time looking for a good time.

My chickens seem to have recovered from the loss of their brothers and sisters. I am still awaiting renewed production of eggs. But they whispered to me that 45 degrees is not a good temperature for them to be very active in that field. I am happy of late to be in contact with several other chicken farmers. So experiences can be exchanged. As I will be leaving soon I am making travel arrangements for the chicken as well. If I leave them here I am sure the will end up in the chicken soup. I like my chooks too much for seeing that happen.

In the market the old Mimi is happily limping around. When I call her she comes to be stroked. She looks well fed. Our two Mimi’s in the compound tend to spend copious amounts of time in my room. I sometimes wonder if they read my books there?

At times even in case of a medical emergency it is not possible to arrange an airplane. Luckily there is a hospital with a surgeon in Iriba, 100 kilometers and about a 4-hour drive away. A pregnant lady presented to the hospital with all signs of an extra uterine pregnancy and she was very pale. In Bahai two blood transfusions could be given and this morning at 05.00 Dr Ponce escorted the lady in an ambulance to Iriba. There with his colleagues he operated on the lady and despite losing more than 3 liters blood she pulled through the operation. She received another blood transfusion and is now stable

Tomorrow a weeklong campaign will start to register all the children born after October 2005. It is important for them and their families for several reasons. Receiving an official registration by the Chadian government is one reason and it will also lead to an addition on the ration cards. There are families where there are 5 children but rations are received for 3 only. It may seem simple to register an estimated 800-1000 children but witnesses need to be present at the registration. Most of the midwives and traditional birth attendants will be assisting.

Amongst other things we are preparing for the rainy season. A cholera contingency plan is being rolled out, constructions are being sped up, and materials are pre-positioned. And it seems we will have a generator in the health center next week.


Namaskar

Ashis