Bahai Beach 72

Bahai Beach 72

Farewell party

June 24, 2007

Has it been a year?
Indeed I am off on July second and I came July first. Yet I have another mission under the belt. There were ups and downs. There was the good fortune to work with fantastic, inspiring people but also difficult folks. At times I wanted to explode and at times I have been laughing so much tears popped up. It all came bye over the last 12 months.

Tropical medicine is my training but I seem to be a sand lover. Last night’s party was in a beach atmosphere. Nothing better than sharing a beer, dancing the night away barefoot. Eating a sheep prepared over a grill. And then there were the speeches from partners, colleagues and friends. Many emphasized the mad hatter approach. Chasing people in the car in the morning with a whip like approach. Existentialist Angst over the broken wheelbarrow. The level of frustration I can cause for others but also the joy of working with one who forgets easily irritation and can apologize for quirky behavior.

Alphan talking about my action plan to take 50 kilo of sand and 50 liter of water home to prepare a mini Chad on my balcony but first and foremost to punish IRC for pissing me off (or being vexed, thank you Alphan never knew it meant the same as being pissed off) that the truck had already left (Thanks Marc, you know how to trigger me!)

Or Fabrice the pharmacist rolling in the fore mentioned wheelbarrow imitating a slightly irritated Ashis abusing the logistical department. Making fun of my crack up French, insisting that c’est pas serieuse is understandable in French. Threatening to go to Marc to complain (which I never did leaving the threat pretty feebly hanging in the air)

Mohammed Macousse who clearly had kind words to say about our time together.

Melel our Midwife made a beautiful speech and then invited the health team to take control of the dance floor. That they truly did.

Or that the entire IRC team but mainly the Health Team consists of bandits et bandites. This is what I truly believe bye the way (quote Marc). There is a level of joyfulness in the medical team which makes the work in 55 degrees Celsius, with monotonous food, sand mountains, swarms of flies a plenty, without restaurants or clubs, with a host population that is not always very welcoming a charm.

O yes the party: Tim took the first price for best chicken dancer. Sadjina (assistant health coordinator) the price for biggest fruitcake and Celestine was a superb dj.
Highest percentage of staff members showing up: SOS with a 100% percent score.
The sheep was tender. Merci Francois and Opportune. Despite curfew Audrey and Balde of UNHCR popped.

Given the nature of the place the party was over at 12:00 at night. Yet for a full three hours the dance floor was not empty. What made me happy is to sit back a bit and watch the crowd go wild while hearing the song Guantanamo. It is the nickname for our two compounds. Guantanamo 1 + 2. Although at times with all the restrictions and curfews Bahai may feel a bit like a prison at the end of the day it is the staff that makes this place brilliant.

Sitting behind the turn table after all had left I played a chill out set and pondered on what a great opportunity and blessing it has been for me to live, work and learn here.

Namaskar,

Ashis

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56208021@N00/

Bahai Beach 71

Bahai Beach 71

Tribute to Sancho Yoda

June 17, 2007

My first meeting with my buddy Sancho was at the airstrip in Bahai. He had come to pick me up and on the first 25 minutes back to the camp I am quite sure he managed only to slip in his name and two – three other words. My random generator was happily producing noise and statements in form and shape as where is the nearest camel shop I need to buy one, or rather two to start a breeding program. If there is no milk available I will buy a cow as I cant drink this phony powder milk. Yoda sat through this rant with am ever increasing smirch on his face. He must have thought finally a like-minded fool has been sent to the desert.

What became clear to me directly was that Sancho was full of quasi-philosophical useless tidbits of information and that every conversation with a doubt ended up in two giggly two year olds (mentally). I was duly named Dr Chewbacca due to my sexy hairstyle and apelike beard and to Strike back I called him Sancho Yoda. Sancho, the sidekick of don Quixote, but perhaps the real main event. Yoda because he looked like a midget about 1000 year old and he had the tendency to spread messages of intense perceived wisdom.

As neither of us is interested in being a hero we considered each other to be the eternal sidekicks. Born to remain in shadow. Despite fluffy beard growth. Schemes to conquer and dominate the world. It was he who introduced me to the greatest tribute to a rock song by Tenacious D.

The highlight of our meandering journey through Chad must have been the night spent underneath a truck watching I love Huckabees. Instead of the overrated stars in the Chadian desert we spent a night looking at the nuts and bolts of truck.
This is a far mightier sight than the Milky Way and the basis of the greatest conversation in our history.

Being a logistician and for that a logistical coordinator of a complex country which went through plenty of human resource gaps means that you are often seen in my eyes as the human waste manager of the project. ‘No one else will do the job, bring it to logistics.’ Despite evacuations, crises, shortage of staff, financial constraints, theft, violence he kept is cool for over a year.

His commitment to Purchase tracking sheets was legendary. For those of you less versed in IRC jargon it is a document showing the physical whereabouts of all purchased items including their administrative status. Every Sunday Yoda spent hours behind a computer slowly scraping and tweaking the system until his department was up to shape and it no longer took 120 days to buy items on average but 13. Given the dearth of available items a formidable task. Whenever an unhappy coordinator or manager would write an e-mail to complain about such and such a cheerful, cheeky e-mail would be received the same day taking away all fear and putting a smile on the face.

For me, being moody having a buddy in the form and shape of an American Idol addicted to Florida Flowery shirts has made a huge difference. Whenever I felt my patience had been tried be would sooth me with his wicked psychobabble.

As I write he is and always will be the person I have missed most when absent.
Where are the nights when he was my neighbor and we could keep awake the entire compound with our schoolchild like giggling?

Sure we will giggle again soon when we meet in Los Angeles. And where does this sidekick live?

Hollywood! As if there is another place in LA.

Being a storyteller means picking up the pen. A lot has happened and I hope to read about his dreams, experiences and life soon.

Thank you Yoda for being you.

Namaskar,

Ashis

Bahai Beach 70

Bahai Beach 70

A smile a day keeps the doctor away

June 17, 2007

Weeks of grumpiness seem to have disappeared overnight. I guess I am truly enjoying my final weeks here. Drawing in as much as possible the scents, the colors, the people and the environment as whole.

Parfait an UNHCR staff member has the fastest shoulders of the Northern hemisphere. It means he can shake faster than a supernova. Before he gets into the shoulder mode he starts of with a chicken dance routine, scratching the earth with his toes, rolling his eyes and wobbling his head as if struck by an epileptic attack. As today a priest visited town for the first time in months the national staff from the Staff were elated. A sheep was slaughtered and a special celebration for the arrival of their spiritual guide was organized where the choir sang and others danced.

Not all ngo staff was as lucky as I was today. Two friends I looked up were either plastifying the new ration cards or in meeting. While waiting for an audience for one of the queens I bumped into Parfait. This one-man cabaret show was telling about the time he was interviewed for a job with two of Chad’s most well known comedians. The assignments were simple and two fold. One minute of laughing in front of a camera and one minute of crying. As Parfait relieved his act deep belly laughter was heard all around. At first apparently he had been shy but while seeing the face of the comedian we roared out in laughter and ended up rolling of his chair. Round one: won.

Round he started to demonstrate how we cried. I happily joined in and 15 seconds later wails and sobs were heard and tens of people came to see what was happening. As we crashed to ground in deep sorrow he ripped my shirt leaving me half nude. It was all the more reason for me to burst out laughing.

As we moved on through the village we stumbled into a local bar where we met the local secretary of the district with his finance man. A fine discussion opened up about the responsibilities of the different players in Bahai. Topics passing along the evening; the legal status of the refugees and the capacity of the government to help them and provide security for the refugees and humanitarian aid workers.

A small girl who was sitting in the house was terrorized by my beard and light skin. As the parents insisted she would give me a piece of cake she turned away and hid under the skirts of her mother.

The local ants have found a good pastime as well at night. The game is to sting Ashis as much as possible. Yet I cannot move into my room as I am used to sleep outdoors. I do wonder how I will handle it in the Netherlands and Canada/USA. Perhaps I will take my hammock and search for two trees where ever I want to sleep

Despite the invasion of the ants (living in the cracks of my porch) I am sure over the next 2 weeks I will keep on smiling making sure the doctor can go away.

Namaskar

Ashis

Bahai Beach 69

Bahai Beach 69

Eggs & Kut Kuts

June 9, 2007

Surprise, surprise! It seems my chooks have noticed my nearing departure and in a ploy to keep me here they are working on my conscience. Fourteen eggs have been produced in two days. They know that when I leave there will be a rush at their house and they will end up in the cooking pot. I have therefore applied for passports and visa so our chook emporium can happily expand in the Netherlands. My parents have a nice garden and I am sure they will feel at home there. And the weather is much less extreme there as well.

For those of you who wonder; kut kut is Zaghawa for chicklet.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday an information campaign was held for the women in the camp. Three days in three different zones community health workers, traditional birth attendants, midwives and doctors addressed the brightly dressed crowds varying from 150-450 women and 30-150 children. The focus was on antenatal and postnatal check ups and births in the health center. With a question and answer game about 40 t-shirts were given to those who answered most questions correct. I was the lucky one to be praising the women on their changes in health seeking behavior. Only 4 months ago the vast majority of deliveries took place in the home and now about 90% take place in the health center. Such a wave of warmth hit me after and during each presentation. To be called Papa of the camp or having 450 woman applauding every second sentence you speak is unique and something I will not forget. Our goal was to increase the knowledge of the women of our services. Looking at the numbers (>2200 attending women in 12 sessions) and the enthusiasm we must have done well. At the last meeting a very senior traditional birth attendant, not working for us took the megaphone and explained that now the services in the health center are so good she can retire in peace. Crashing waves of applause followed her spirited words.

All day long in the mean time artillery fire could be heard (about 16 shots) on the Sudanese side of the border. In one case the smoke could be seen. It remains surrealistic. Kids keep on playing, meetings continue, business as usual.

Part of the business is to hand over the responsibility of decisions to the refugees themselves. In our case it means to the elected health committee. For two months they have been meeting and last week their first formal decision, a choice between two candidates for the post of pharmacist. Let it bet he beginning of a string of decisions for the benefit of the community.

Yesterday I was trying to assure the transportation of my books and heavy items by truck to N’Djamena by truck. By air we are allowed to carry only 15 kilo so you can imagine that big bags needed to be sent en route. I ended up vexed because Marc told me the truck had already left early in the morning. I stumped out of the dinner and was about to start cursing when I met Alphan, our education manager. As we have the right to take quite a lot of luggage to and from the project I told him to punish IRC I would take 1 bag with 50 kilo of sand, as well as a bag of 50 liter of water. Like this I could recreate my sleeping condition in the Netherlands as it has been here. Sleeping on sand. One gets used to it after all. Both Alphan and I ended up crying with laughter and he set out to find me some prime sand that day. Tim has been asked to find me the water. Samples from bladders, the lake and random other places will be appreciated.

As it is a day not laughed is a day not lived!

Namaskar

Ashis

Bahai Beach 68

Bahai Beach 68

Osman Imam

June 7, 2007

His father was an imam and he himself is well versed in the Koran. While at university he tried to give the Zaghawa language an own alphabet. The Zaghawas have several dialects but no script. They use Arabic fonts or their camel marking system to write. As Zaghawa is a complex language the attempt did not completely succeed but it did result in Osman’s master thesis. And imagine he had only two copies of this thesis. One copy he kept in his house in Omboro and one in the university of El Fasher. The first copy went up into flames when janjaweed burned his house

When I fist met Osman, who works as the general administrator in the health program in Oure Cassoni I was straight away touched by his love for history and his way of working. One of the first tasks I was asked to do is to reduce the staff by about 20 people. Not an easy thing to do but with the help of Osman and Adam we selected the group and after a ceremony thanking them for their 2 years of service the health staff was reduced in number.

Osman has big 70’s styled spectacles, a beard and always is ready to take on any work required in the health center. I have seen him work as administrator, supervisor of cleaners, assistant pharmacist, translator, mediator, help to the finance department, tour guide, register, supervisor of guards, supervisor of constructions, delegate, Where ever there is a gap, because of illness he can double. Whenever I am too tough on the refugee staff he takes of the edge with a joke. He assures that meetings in the health team never take more than 1 hour and that nobody jumps outside of the agenda. It is with him I do all the verbal autopsies (the visits to the parents of the children who have died to examine the possible cause) & visit the families who have lost a relative. It is he who calls you Yasir Arafat when you are too late for breakfast

After fatur (breakfast) lentils with bread mostly we sometime stay behind to discuss work or religion. After all a meal is not complete unless you have drunk a cup of tea. Osman is a Muslim of the Sufi tradition and he has taught me a lot about Zaghawa history, proverbs, culture, beliefs and jokes.

He has nine children and two wives and is the owner of a grinding mill, 2 donkeys and a camera. His youngest son is a fighter. In the first months of his life he broke his leg. Then he developed prolonged periods of vomiting. In the end he was so ill he became malnourished and had to be admitted for a blood transfusion, therapeutic feeding and anti biotic treatment in Bahai Hospital. There the young baby had the bad fortune to have fragile veins. All his veins were tried but no success. Even a needle in his bone marrow did not allow the blood to be given. That night the worst was feared, but starting the following morning he started to drink again, stopped vomiting and slowly recuperated so much he went back to the camp in 10 days. Then after a period in the supplementary feeding center he has now become a nice and chubby toddler. All the time Osman told me he had faith in our treatment. His family was insisting to take the child to the next hospital, a fore hour drive, but he believed in the recovery of his son and that is just what happened.

Osman cares deeply for his community. At night he comes to health center to assure all is well. Making sure that the guard is awake, the nurse and midwife are present and that there are no other problems.

Today I gave him a copy of a Zaghawa – English dictionary. He jumped in the air and gave me a big hug. Let us hope he hooks up with the man, David, who made this possible. Perhaps 20 years later that Osman expected but his dream of a script for his beloved Zaghawa language is possible.

Namaskar

Ashis

Bahai Beach 67

Bahai Beach 67

What makes the heart tick?

June 3, 2007

Human touch, a story, sharing experience all this and more makes the human condition worthwhile. Imagine a world without myths, folk stories, songs, dance and laughter. You might as well not live.

Here in Oure Cassoni I am delighted daily with the stories of the Zaghawa’s. Despite their plight live moves on. For 11 months and 66 Bahai Beaches I have been trying to share the ups and downs of their lives with friends, family and anyone who wants to know more.

On first thought it is easy to presume life is horrendous, hard after being victim of mass murder, rape, destruction of houses, theft of all livelihood. No one will claim life is easy in a refugee camp when you have lost everything. Yet for me my Sudanese coworkers, patients and friends do not give me a feeling of hopelessness instead I think it is here I first realized what the word resilience truly means.

Never give up!
Whatever is thrown on your path.
Is there a choice?

Colorful anecdotes of their customs, traditions are shared daily during our shared meal of lentils and bread. It gives to airy nothing a local habitation and a name. The stories sometimes shiver my spine and I so much wish I could share them with more people. Not as a spokesperson. There are enough refugees eloquent to slam home the message.

Advocacy and humanitarian do not always gel well. Ask Mr. Rubenstein of the Save the Darfur Coalition.
Yet the story of people themselves should be the starting point of any action or intervention. What is their viewpoint? All to often conclusion are drawn for refugees

People are people. Whatever their religion, skin color or nationality. All have sad, touching, funny and sage stories to tell. It is there where the deepest gap in communication lies. Reporters come for 3-4 days write a piece and whiz of to the next article. In depth and continuing communication is lacking.

The I-Act initiative with camera teams in the camps to have people tell their stories to a world wide audience via the Internet is something that has impressed me a lot. How can one not be touched when a personal story is being told? Having direct interaction would make it even harder for the world to not want to act in the reality that is called Darfur.

What makes a heart tick is an easy question to answer:

It is the real life story of any refugee.

Let us work on getting those stories out there

Namaskar

Ashis

Bahai Beach 66

Bahai Beach 66

Car stolen

June 3, 2007

Yesterday for the first time in three weeks I pretended I was fit enough for a desert kick about. In front of Guantanamo 2 (the nickname of the national staff compound) there is a huge desert pitch with two goals. It was just a matter of putting on my sliver boots and rounding up the boys for a match. The number of participants fluctuates a lot. The game is started with small goals and about 10 people and end with huge goals and 22-26 people. Every Friday and Saturday UNHCR, ACTED, IRC, SOS join to forget and enjoy.

An event not likely to be forgotten is the theft of one of our Toyota Land cruisers. Car thefts seemed to be less common but well there you are. One car less to work with and most likely increased security measures when driving around. For me being on foot is seems a lesser risk.

Our massive truck has finally taken 39 boxes of medication for the hospital and the camp. Besides that there were mango, beer and other food items in the truck. And for other programs there were items as well in the truck.

In the camp little by little constructions are being completed. Materials are being put into place. This week the reproductive health department will get 5 boxes full of material for safe delivery and motherhood. Both a plumber and an electrician have come to Bahai. With our new 2 KVA generator finally deliveries at night do not have to be done under torchlight or worse without light. It is so hard to recruit for people who are willing to come to our Bahai Beach.

Next week we will have a campaign to inform future and present parents in the camp to utilize the maternal health care facility. What is done there and why it is so important will be explained in big meetings in the different zones. I think I mentioned before in the past about 40% of the deliveries took place in the maternity, but since 3 months numbers have been rising and this month the number was 89%. Having a safe pregnancy, delivery and aftercare is extremely important for mother and child health. When I came 11 months ago I can vividly remember the mother that came to the hospital on her own with a placenta blocking the exit of the child. She had come after hours of labor and just when an emergency airplane was arranged it was already too late. She had died. Not all death is preventable but I am quit sure the abnormality of the position of the baby and the bleeding during pregnancy would be noted, an echo would be done and early reference to a surgical unit would be arranged.

The supplementary feeding program seems to have several benefits. As said more mothers come for deliveries and check ups now. But the ulterior goal is a healthy pregnancy, with a healthy baby and mother. That seems to be the case. Over the last months the average weight of the babies seem to increase. which in it self will lead to less risk of early illness and death for the newborns.

The clinical health department is doing well as well. With Dr Remy in the camp as a supervisor and the two new nurses working in the health post and health center the quality of the consultations is going up. Finally monitoring of our Sudanese nurses can take place and (examination) bedside is frequent. Protocols are being used as they are now all getting translated into Arabic. The best indicator is that the last 23 days there have been no deaths in the camp.

In the laboratory we have found an assistant to our lab technician so the laboratory is now manned 6 days a week and with the generator in the camp the light microscope works as well. An example of the increased capacity of the lab is the discovery through Widal testing that out of the tens of fever of unknown origin there are actually cases of Typhoid fever in the camp.

The public health department can then follow this up by house visits and mapping of the cases to see if we have clusters. Also health messages are sent to the community to come to the health center/post when there is a display of certain symptoms. I was happy to give a session for the community health workers on typhoid fever and the public health risks and measures to take. Next week we are focusing on prevention and treatment of cholera. Cholera from a public health perspective is a bigger challenge given the nature of the camp; high density of population, hygienic and sanitary practices, flies, slaughtering of animals and the cohabitation of tens of thousands of animals in the camp. Animals roaming around free are picturesque but also a health hazard.

Namaskar

Ashis

Bahai Beach 65

Bahai Beach 65

Adam-Yellow eyes

May 27, 2007

From the first day I arrived in the camp I have had a great time with Adam. He is my Public Health Community Health Worker Supervisor. On top of that he is also one of the Zone Leaders in the camp and teaches mathematics. He is one year older than I am. Last week we started joking around about a box match between the two of us for which we would invite the entire camp to watch. Let us see how we end this week. Punching each other black eyes or as little boys we are: Big words, little action!

In Sudan Adam trained as a mathematician at the university and he played a big role in his community. In the early days of the escape from Sudan he manifested as a man with endless energy, love for his community, great organizational skills and a wicked sense of humor. While the IRC was still working under the trees and the Sudanese refugees were dying in great numbers he was one of the first to help IRC set up health care. Till today he plays an important role in mobilizing the community.

As he has a gift for the gab his speeches at leaders meetings are sometimes inflammatory. Yet I believe he truly cares and will do everything within his power to make the camp as good as possible and more important we a temporary solution before the Zaghawas can turn home. Most journalists zoom in on him because he has lion like eyes and is a human beat box for snappy one-liners.

As a boy he was once challenged by a friend to kick a ball. A little later only did he realize that he did not kick a ball but a rock wrapped up in paper. His friend wanted to pull his leg. And the result was a broken foot. As his father was a very strict father he had to walk straight whenever his father was around and could only limp when around his kind-hearted mother.

Today I lent him a book he was interested in as he had me seen carrying it around. It was a Deepak Chopra book called ways to peace. I am interested to hear what he thinks of this Indian Ayurvedic doctor.

He trains the community health workers on integrated management of childhood illness and does pre and post test of these classes him-self. Every class I walk in to give a bit of in depth background. This week he was involved in the registration of the newborns after October 2005 in zone C of which he is zone leader. For two days the health center was devoid of his laughter and bright smile.

Today I shared camel meat with him. As I was wearing my black turban he was asking me if I was a Janjaweed or a Touareg. I told him that during meals we eat, after meals we can sort out these questions

Namaskar

Ashis