15th May 2009 Finally, the moment we have all been waiting for and the reason we are here: the hospital (or rather Intensive Care Unit for malnourished children - CRENI in French) is now open.
Luckily it is only ten minutes' walk (in beating heat) from the office, so I keep on finding excuses to go up there. The first day it opened we got 17 admissions. First the mothers go to a day centre (CRENAS) where their children get weighed and measured. If they are deemed to be critically malnourished they get sent to the Creni. If the children are too weak to drink milk they get a tube through their nose and are fed this way until they can progress onto milk. After the milk they are put onto a food called Plumpynut, which has apparently revolutionised nutrition projects. This food is a kind of paste made with peanut oil and contains all nutrients and vitamins required for growing children.
The first night the Creni opened there was a power cut (naturally) so we went up to see what we could do. When we got there a nurse shoved a torch in my hand and said follow me! I shone the light on a little baby whilst she put a tube up its nose. It did not like it at all. All the babies try to take the tubes out, so in order to prevent them doing so, they bandage up their hands. All the babies look like little boxers. It is so cute! There are a few critical cases, where you can count every single vertebrae on their backs, and there are some babies that are so tiny you can't believe it. One woman brought in a baby who was 40 days old. Its twin had died a couple of days beforehand, but luckily we were able to save this one.
Monday was the official opening ceremony of the Creni. We invited all the officials of the district to the ceremony, and the head of the mission (visiting from the capital Niamey) made a short speech. For the occasion we bought two whole sheep in Maradi and grilled them in the village. Mmm, it looked really appetising, especially when the local staff ripped them up with their hands in order to serve it. The expats politely declined to eat it (I am sure my stomach would not have taken it), but in any case as soon as we put the plates on the table, the local staff fought amongst themselves for a serving. I am not sure a lot of them get the chance to eat a lot of meat.
After this I went round taking pictures of the mums and their babies. The mums are so proud to get their picture taken, especially when you show it to them afterwards. This meant that I had to take about 50 pictures of every single mother. They all wanted a copy as well - it's a shame I didn't bring my little photo printer.
Today is a Friday which means everyone is dressed in their best - weird to think that in Europe it's dress down day! Here the men all wear a garment called a "boubou" which is trousers with a dress over it, and the women wear a veil and the traditional African dress. Apparently Friday is a very religious day. Speaking of religion, just around the corner of our office there is a little mosque. Only men are allowed to pray at mosques, the women have to pray at home, as they could be a distraction to men whilst they are praying. As a woman you are not supposed to walk in front of the men whilst they are praying either. The disparity between men and women here is definitely worth thinking about. Women work all day in the fields, for about 20 cents a day, often with a baby strapped to their backs, whilst a lot of the men seem to relax by the roadside.
Power cuts are something of the norm here - at least once a day we get one. There was a massive storm last week, the rainy season is approaching. It rained for about three hours and the courtyard of the office was completely flooded, luckily the areas where we keep the stock of Plumpynut, syringes, and medicines was not damaged. However the house we are in also suffered a lot of damage, in fact all bedrooms were affected apart from my own! I chose wisely.
I think about home a lot and miss everyone very much, I am so glad that you are all keeping in touch. We were ordered by the head of mission to not work this weekend and to take a break in Maradi, which I think is sorely needed. Ivan the logistician says it is like being in a prison in Guidan Roumdji as there is nothing to do. There is not even a bar... although there is a cinema, which consists of a television in a courtyard. On Monday it showed Minority Report. Due to the heat I fall asleep really early. Oh and due to the rain and humidity, all these yucky beasties started appearing - flying ants and massive beatles and earwigs. Eurgh.
I don't have much time to spend on the internet which is why I write blogs - I would love to reply to all individually and will try to do so!!!
Emma lavorava a Bruxelles nel reparto delle risorse umane in una delle tante aziende finanziarie. Un giorno ha fatto richiesta ai Medici senza frontiere, una delle organizzazioni più difficili in cui entrare.
Qualche mese dopo era sull'aereo per il Niger per una missione di un anno come responsabile delle risorse umane nel villaggio di Guidan Roumji.
Dopo tre anni nei MSF tornerà in Europa a un lavoro normale.
Il Blog di Emma e i suoi racconti usciranno ogni settimana su Gwen.
