Mary in Malawi

Got confirmed that we can flyt to night instead.... 22:50 nairobi time (20:50 swedish time)... I hope, I hope I hope that it will work out!!

Summary of the incident: Fucking annoying that that they did'nt let me on the flight on sunday..My connection was not even cancelled, and yes, it left as scheduled on monday morning to Gothenburg.  So if KLM had let me on the plane, I WOULD HAVE BEEN HOME long time ago!!! Grrrrr! Anyway, they did put us on a great hotel, the finest in Kenya. Extremely luxurious. The bed was amazing, and the food to. So thanks for that, but youu can't relax, no matter how nice it is, if you don't know when you're going home...aaa Please please please let everything work out nicely today.....

x x x  Maria

Stuck in Nairobi for an unknown period of time. I am so disappointed and annoyed with KLM for what they have done. They are treating us as if we were luggage. You know what? Yes, a lot of planes and flights were cancelled. But not mine!! My flight  was not cancelled. The plane came to nairobi, but just before boarding, they stopped us. They had simply taken us of the list. Everyone that were going to chagne plan in Amsterdam got kicked of the flight!!!  Because the airport in amsterdam is so crowded because a lot of planes are cancelled from amterdam! BUT MY PLANE ARE NOT CANCELLED!!!! But I was not allowed to get on the plane. Only people with end station amsterdam could go. So I said I could stay with a friend in Amsterdam, which is true. I wouldn't even be at the airport! But no. The had their guidelines, and I was not allowed on the plane. I SAW PEOPLE GO ON IT! IT WAS HERE! AND MY CONTINUATION FLIGHT TO GOTHENBURG WAS NOT CANCELLED!!! I would have been at Amsterdam airport for 1 hour. 1 HOUR! But no. They refused to let me on the plane. HOW CAN THEY DO THIS????

Now more and more planes are being cancelled. Everything is lookinng as if it is becoming worse. Maybe this plane was the last chance... =( And hoe the HELL are they going to fit all these people  in to other planes anyway?? It will take many days to find seats for everyone!!


SO I am stuck in fucking Nairobi for an unknown period of time. I had longed so much to go home... =( Now I don't know if I even will come home before christmas. =(

I am not angry with the snow are anything. I am angry with the fucking decission toi kick me off my flight, even though it was going, and even though my connection was not cancelled!! My flight was perfect, no problems with it! But yet, they kicked me off, because therre were to many people at the airport in amsterdam. I CAN BELIEVE THIS!!!!!!


Anyway, all glory to the hotell. We were sent to a hotel, and it is  great, beautiful. Supposed to be the bestt hotel in kenya. So that's good. But honestly, I would so much preferred sitting on that plane that I know an moving somewhere above my head now.... On the way home, with my seat EMPTY.

aaaa fuck it.

Still on malawian number if anyone wants to call..

Thank to my mum and chrstian for all support... =)

Yes!! It is true! I am going home over christmas to visit my family, friends and my Christian! =D It will be wonderful to get a little break from bugs, brown tap water and everything... I love malawi so much, dont get me wrong. I am incredibly happy to be here. BUT it is not always nice, and to start up emergency care from scratch is a very hard job, especially in a place like this... But to sum up the past six months, the project has been very sucessfull. We have introduced Triage, which was ectremely challenging to begin with. The over worked staff did not really appreciate changes and even more work. But when result started showing, people got poositive. And now, everyone is doing the triage and takes it serious. We have alsoi manage to put together en emergency room, started using it 27 of november. It  is now one of the most busy rooms in the hospital, which is a very good thing. Many children that passed through would not have survived without it. So,as of now, patients are no longer dying in the OPD! Whoch is amazing!!! =D

To go home over  christmas was for a week ago noot 100 % certain...! Doctor Rhona faced problems when leaving the country last week, the immigration guys at the airport wanted to put her in jail!!! Reason: She only had the papers of her permit, not a stamp in  the passport. Just like me! And why is that? Cause immigration said, when giving out the permit papers, that no more stamp was needed, it was enough with the paper (???). Which was, obviously, pure bullshit.
So in panic, I had to try to get this stamp. I went to immigration for the 7:th time, showed my work permit and all the stamp on IT that I had paid the fees and bla bla bla. I met the same guys that gave it to me and signed it in november. BUT to get the stamp in my passport, they needed confirmation from BLANTYRE (a city in souther malawi) that I had paid. Even though these two guys were to ones signing that I had paid! Anywat, I had allready faxed tha papers to balatyre a month ago, so there shoulld be no problem. I thought. But when the guys called the office in blantyre, they had all my papers, but they could not see that I had paid the fee, ehich is extremely wierd, because it says on every paper that I had paid! Anywa, I had to go to an internet cafe and fax the papers AGAIN. And then I had to wait at immigration office for several hours. Took a walk in town aswell while waiting. Reason for waitíng: the guy in blantyr who was responsible for the FAX-ROOM had not shown up for work, so they could not get the papers from the fax! Off course! Anyway, after a lot of wating the guys in Blantyre could finally call back to the lilongwe office and tell them that yes, I had paid.  Is it not incredibly stupid?? The guys in Blantyre had to tell the guys in lilongwe, whom I paid to and whom had signed all the papers, that I had paid. The blantyre guys looked at the lilongwe guys signature, and called the same guy that had signed, and told him that he had signed! It is just... Stupid. Anyway. I did not freak out. I pulled off the greatest charm show I had ever made. I was SO nice to them, talking, smiling, using all my chichewa... It ended well, they loved me and they bought me fanta. They even, finally, gave me the stamp. So it all went incredibly smooth, even though the system was incredibly stupid. So now, accordning to my passport, I am allowed to travel as I wish in and out of Malawi ffor 2 years. Jippi!!! =DDD

Seriously, what kind of country is this... A doctor who has worked here for a year, saving so many lives, and the thank her by in her last minutes threatening her with prison???? It really makes me start reconsider why we are here... This country does not make it easy for us.  We had to go to immigration 7 times, everytime a big struggle. Why is everything so  difficult in this country???? A well, I guess I learned a lot about corrupted byrocracy....

***

Clock is now... 01:12 am. I am very tired. I had to leave my room cause it was invaded by mosquitoes (and in fancy, luxury hotels like this, it is obviously not classy enough to put up mosquito nets) so I had to go to reception so they could DOOM the room. And I am a bit allergic to DOOM, so now I'm wating for the smell to disappear. It is strange. I have slept in so many diffrent, low standard places here. But never got more than one or two bites. But now, this night, I am allready haft eaten. Shit. Jaja, good thing i bruoght LA (malaria medication) with me. I doubt the doctors at home know how to treat malaria. They would probobly lock me up in an isolation room and take a lot of scary tests, when I just could lay home in my bed taking LA.

Well, hopefully DOOM has done the job, and went away... I will go check. Til then, Good night!! Write again tomorrow maybe, while being bored at Nairobi airport for 6 hours..........

Kiss kiss good night!

So, I survived the night even though I had black mambas lurking around...

Yesterday Rhona and Jessi had their goodbye party. It was a great party, we ate real meat that Isabelle magically found, and the best home made burgers (also Isabelles) I've ever had. We stayed until 1.30 pm I think, and the last hours we played "Cranium". Really fun game, a mix between pictionary, "trivial pursuit" and "sketches" =)

I tell you, Rhona and Jessi will be so missed here in Nkhoma. Rhona is without competition the best doctor with the warmest heart I've ever met (and I have met a lot of doctors!). The hospital really suffers a great loss, losing her to England. But she must continue with her own life, just like  the rest of us... She has been a wonderful freind, and she always supported me and helped me out when everything at the  hospital was a shit...And I have learned so much from her!

Jessi has been a teacher at the ebenesser school. She is a wonderful person, and as Rhona will be missed in the hospital, I bet Jessi will be missed at the school!

Yeah, Nkhoma is for sure losing two great persons.. But where ever they go, they will make the world a little bit better at that place, where ever it is.. =)

* * *

I am extremely tired of the bug/insect/snake invasion the rainy season has brought!! BAM! Black mamba in the bed room, BAM! GIANT centipede in your shoe. BAM! Scorpion in the bathroom. Turn around, and BAM! 1000 GIANT Flying f*cking termites attacking you! BOOOM! Something falling down from the roof, hitting your head and digging into your hair. Shaking your hair in panic, and SCWHOSS! TREMENDOUS bug of unknown family, disgusting and freaky enough to get a staring role in Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or something.. I actually think the one I just saw was in a harry potter movie! You know that scary bug that gets tormented with the three forbidden curses by mad eye moody? Looked just like it. I google it, It is called "Tailless Whip spider" or "Tailless whip scorpion". Eats their own children. Yummie...

Want this one in your hair.....?


Tailless whip scorpion

Millipedes (same sort as in our house....)
 centipede (same as we have)Crab spider (very common in the hospital)

(pics from google. I don't stay around long enough to take photos.... ;))



So we are going berserk with the DOOM spray. DOOMing DOOMing all day long! I am seriously going to DOOM my brain out soon! If the bug invasion doesn't stop soon, I might even do it on purpose!!! Grrrr.....

One extra disgusting thing happend last week. I had "Shelob" herself in my room (I mean, a giant spider REALLY big and disgusting). I went to get the DOOM, and the moment I doomed it, it realeased a waterfall of thousands babyspiders. They must have been hiding under it's belly, and now they just spread everywhere. It was horrific!!!

YEAH and the flying termites...!! One day our gardener came in, asking "Please, I need a bucket of water. A lot of meat out here".. Meat?? What is her talking about? We went out to take a look, and the verande was covered of flying termites! Big, everywhere! In the air, on the wall, on the ground... He collected them in a bucket, I think he got at least 5 litres! They call the Mgumbi, and the malawians eat them! They are considered a delicacy here. Mgumbi.

Honestly, I am so glad I came here in june!!! If this bug invasion had been while we came here, I would seriously not stayed five minutes in this country. now I am used.. It started slowly with crab spiders in june, then cochroaches in augsut, and then centipedes/millipedes in october/november, and now the whip spiders and termites.... And now we have it all at once! ICK! But Had all these creatures been here when we came... I would have turned in the door.

Now, time to sleep. Have had diarreha for four days, with abdominal cramps... Link had some metronadazole at home, so I am now taking that...  Hoping to be cured before I go home for christmas! ONLY 6 days left til I fly home for christmas!!! AAAA!!!! =D=D=D=D Away, away from the bugs, the dirty tap water (it is completely dark brown and somewhat thick.. ICK!!!).... aaa. TO BE CLEAN!!! Wow. I think I forgot how it feels!!

Kiss kiss goodnight!!

//m.

Came back late from Rhonas och Jessie good bye party (tell you more about it tomorrow, it was great!! But sad...) and found a black mamba in my bedroom!!! =(

I caught it with a knife and cut it's head of.. I am not afraid of snakes, but this is really scary. They are known to be the most deadly snakes in the world. The venom is very powerful, one bite produces enough venom to kill up to 40 people. If you get bitten, you will most likely die within 20 minutes from suffication.. The mortality is 100 % if you don't get antivenom quick, and we do not have antivenom in Nkhoma. There is a stock in Lilongwe, but the hospital management has decided that it is to expensive to buy... (????) On monday I will ask them to reconsider....  I will do it in the morning report, so that they have to answer before everyone.... ;)

The one in my bedroom was a baby, it was not more than 20 cm long. It is dead now, but Wikipedia claims that they mostly travels in pairs or small groups... Uff, I don't want to go to sleep tonight. I cleaned out my entire room, and sprayed it full with DOOM... I hope it helps.

Good (???) night....

//Maria

This "trolly" we built (or we arrenged some people to build it) for our emergency room! =) We are using it to transport babies from the ER to the ward. this wagon is actually a great improvement, and the mothers love it! =) Always laughing when we pass by with it.

 

This baby suffered from malaria + hypothermia. She has been laying in her home in cold and wet clothes, cause nothing is dry here in the rainy season. Her body temperature was very low, and she was almost dead when we got her in. But we managed to get her warm, and as you can see, while entering the ward she is awake =)

 Me and little Beatrice I told you about in the last blog entry =) She has swallowed a coin that got stuck in her eosophagus, and when the clinician were examining her she got very scared. She fell in love with the elephant I bought for the ER. When she was finished, I let her take it home with her.. She was so cute!! I wished I could take HER home! =)

Little Chikondi. The boy who recieved the blood I gave yesterday. Here just started the transfusion. He suffers from severe malaria, we are treating him with quinine. Malaria causes  anemia 'cause the malaria parasited feeds on red bloodcells.
 Chinkondi again, his mother standing beside him. Peadiatric ward.

Today, rainfall has been BAD!

Heavy raining all day. And to work in a hospital that is 50% outside.... Baaaaaad. Especially if you are wearing worn out crocs. Like me. I've been sliding around like bambi on ice today! And I fell 3 times  on slippery and wet floors. I have big bruises on my bum...  hehe. And there were so many malawians watching me! But they didn't help me to get up. Instead they just pointed at me and laughed.... hmmm.. Remind me, what am I doing here 
again...?? ;)
hehe.  But it is ok, I laughed as well.

 Muzungo in the rainy season...?


The whole hospital is located on a hill, like the offices on top, and then you go down down down to the wards... OPD is almost in the bottom. So all the water gathers around our facilities. I transported a patient from OPD to medical ward on a trolly. Had to go through corridores with no roof. Both the patient and me got soaked... Not nice. But yeah, what can we do.. Just laugh, I guess.

We also had a funny case today! =) A little girl named Beatrice. She had eaten a Tambala (a big coin. Money!!) Adn the x-ray was so funny. The tambalas are really big, and it was stuck right under her eosophagus. But she was completely fine, and so cute!! Smiling and talking. But she got scared before the procedure and started crying, so I intriduced her to Mr. Elephant (A teddy bear i bought on shop rite to keep in the ER). She totally fell in love with him. Hugged him, petted him, and it really helped her througout her fear. When she was going to leave, I couldn't bring myself to take it from her. So was so attached to it. So I tied it to her back, like the mothers carry their babies, and I told her to keep it. I've never seen such a smile in my life!! =) She was so happy. I have to buy a new elephant, though. But that is no big deal really. I guess that elephant will be very much loved! =)

On friday is Rhonas last day on work.. I don't want her to leave. It will be so strange to come back in january, and Rhona not being here... I will miss her so much. She was here when we came, and took care of me on medical ward my first days... And then I've worked together a lot with her, and she is such a talented doctor and such a great friend... We always ahve dinners together at her place... Uff... =(

So for the third time during this soon six (!!!) months I've been here, I donated blood. As i mentioned before, my blood group, 0 neg, is very rare, they call it "Emergency blood" cause you can give blood to everyone (but only recieve from others with 0 neg). Anyway, they call me when they urgently need blood, and today, just after hanging uop the phone after speaking to my boss in Norway, I get a text from the lab: "Come now, we need your blood URGENTLY"
So I went, they drained me, and I went back to work. The funny thing is that I did not eat anything before, not since 6 am this morning (donated at 4 pm). Wich is not really good. But I feel fine, I just feel... high. Or a little bit drunk.  Light-headed. Anyway, I am now relaxing with a coca cola in the ER. I work til 7 pm today, so need to get my brain back on track. It has been a very busy day, I think around 10 patients came to our room only before i went to lunch at 1 pm (it is actually on of those kids that are now getting my blood). The best thing is that this time, it didn't hurt! First time, It hurt so bad, the second time a little bit better, and this time I hardly felt it. They are using the same vein every time, so maybe I t hav gooten numb... But that is juuust fine with me! =)

 

So come on every one out there, be just as cool as me and donate some blood! =) I bet it is a lot nicer to do it at home, in Sweden or Norway, then it is here... ;)


(( would it even be allowed to donate 3 times over 6 months at home...?))

(((And SIX MONTHS!!! Imagine!!! WOHOOO!!! That means ONLY FOUR MONTHS TO GO! THEN I AM HOOOOOOME FOR GOOD!!!)))

On friday, we visited a scruffy bar outside Nkhoma.

Not a nice place at all. I stayed just a few hours, I don't drink beer and that was the only thing they sold. So I went home and went to bed. Link stayed longer with some other nurses.
There were a lot of prostitutes... scary. We were told that the price for sex is 200 kwatcha ( about 8 norweigian crowns, or 1 dollar).. Horrible. a little more expensive with condom, around 500 Kwatcha (20 norweigan crowns, or 3 dollars). But most people didn't wanna use a condom. They meant that because the ARV:s (HIV-medication)  is for free, it doesn't matter if they get HIV.... (????) It is such a horrible way of thinking.  If they started charging the ARV:s , people would not afford them and they would die. But when it is for free as of now, people do not take it seriously.... It is so horrible.  They don't realise the severity of the illness...
We saw the same lady coming back several times, bringing different men to the back of the house... If she is HIV positive... How many men will be infected by HIV every night?? And the girl her self.. if she miraculously is not HIV positive... How long until she is? It is so horrible to think about it... Let's say she has 10 costumers on one night... And assume that 5 of them gets infected.. Lets say she works 5 days a week.. That is 25 infected every week, by one person. That is 1300 persons per year. from one person. Imagine! How many prostitutes are there in Malawi? Numerous!! Impossible to count. How can we ever stop a disease spreading as rapid as that...? And look at all the orphans running around... Their parents , young men and woman in my age, are dying every day due to this disease. there are so many orphans here! Almost all of them are orphans becasue of HIV. And the children gets born with the disease... Aaa.. If not the people of Malawi realises the severity of HIV, it is unstoppable... No matter what donoring countries are doing. I spoke to to my friend and gardener Wilfred about this issue.. He is a church elder/deacon and he says that the only thing to do is to educate the chiefs in the villages. Cause the people listen to the chiefs more than anyone...

aa now I got sad again... =(

Today me, Jessie, Rhona and Isabelle went to lilongwe to go to a wedding! Our dear colleague Stella got married! =) She was (is!) So beautiful in her weddning dress... Oooo I also want to!!!!

The church ceremoni was nice, a lot of people dancing and a reaggae/gospel band playing. Stella and her husband to be danced up the aisle. So beautiful! =)

Then it was the reception...I personally don't like the malawian weddnings reception. They do something called "Perikani Perikani", wich means "give give". The bride and the groom stands with a big basket in front of them, and every ine else is audience. Then for about 4 hours, there is music playing, and everyone gopes upp to throw money in the basket and at the bride and groom. A man calls upp different groups, and when "your" gruop is called up, you go and give money. And you can end up gicing money sooo many times. They call for exampl "every one who is a nurse!"and then "Every nurse at peadiatric ward" and "every staff member of the hospital". So you better keep a lot of "small" money, or you will quickly get ruined.  Anyway, it is a a bit boring, and it feels strange that suddenly everything is about money, and who gives the most money.

Anyway, Stella was beautiful and they looked really happy! =) But during the wedding ceremoni me and Rhona had a hard time keeping serious, the priest held a firery speech about the womans submission to her husband, and that the wife had to know her place...... hmmmm........ (How's that for gender equality....?)

And yeah, cool. Link just came in through the door, a bit scared. it seems like we have a couple of hyenas right outside our house. So cool! I went out to look, but couldn't see them (they probobly ran off in horror when they saw my terrifying person..... ;))

* * *

Ooo and CONGRATUALATIONS to Christian who became an uncle for the third time yesterday!! =) And off course, to Karen, his sister who now have a little new born baby girl! =)))
I can't wait to meet them!! =D

And congratulations to Casper, my godson, who turned 2 yesterday... Crazy!! Two years????!? Can't believe it.

And congratualtions to me  for having the most thoughtful and loving boyfriend on the planet.. =D Can you imagine that his guy actually waits for me for a year, even though we hardly knew each other before i went to Malawi...  Love you  <3 Soon i am back home with you.

 Nighty night!

Maria