Just another manic monday....=(
she had a heart attack and died.
The mother and the grandmother started screaming, and crying, and singing... I felt I was so close to tears... But I was very stressed, cause before that girl died, we got in a little girl of 2 years who was hardly reacting to anything, also anemic and had a hard time breathing. We gave her oxygen and started working with her at the same time. So for a while, we had two severely sick patients, both close to death. Then in the middle of it all, I think about just five minutes before the older girl died, the oxygen machine connected to the 2 year old, burst into flames. it started burning, jsut like that! An oxygen concentrator!! How good is that, may i ask?? Anyway, I tried to call our electritian at the same time I was taking a blood sample of the little girl, and the moment I hung up the phone and turned to the older girl, she was dead.
What makes me so completely pissed off, is that that girl died, because she had been poisoned. She had been taken to a witch doctor before she came to the hospital, and he had given her a potion of unknown contents. After taking this potion, she had gotten way worse. And her symptoms and the way she died, was a typical reaction to intoxication. It makes me so angry. These horrible witch doctors... They are killing people. It makes me wanna cry. and what is EVEN more annoying is that the hospital and the doctors and nurses get the blame for it, cause from the guardians point of view, she died in the hospital, while being treated with hospital drugs. She didn't die when she was at the witch doctor. So it was our medicine that killed her. And I tell you.... That is the worst part. Those beilefs are killing people. I mean, the patient died at the hospital, BEACUSE she came TO LATE. And because she had gone to a fake wizard that poisoned her! Aaaaa..... I have never experienced something more horrible in my life than these witch doctors.. I wish they could be forbidden, thrown out of the country, or something... Sent to jail, lifetime sentence.... Treated like any other murderer would be. They are horrible, and I despise them. If i could my hands on one of them.... aaa.... Today I had to pull a trolly with a dead 16 year old through the hospital becasue of them. A 16 year old is not supposed to die!!!
Now, i am home for lunch. There is no electricity today. either. So I am eating some olives and a dry piece of bread with peanut butter. yummi. not.
Soon back to work.
Homesick... =(
And I am tired...Menatlly. I feel that I work so hard with the prject. I am in OPD every single day... encouragning people to do the triage properly... It works, but as soon as some new clinician starts working down there, it all collapses again. Cause no one informs the new staff about what we are doing. I tell them to, but noo... Aaaa!
Sometimes I have to be nice, sometimes i have to be firm... Some are doing a great job... But I always have to remind them... If i stop reminding them, they stop doing it. Like last week. every patient had the wrong colour. Infants with 40 degrees in fever came in with a green tag, and planned patients coming for a simple procedure, liek removing stitchesm came in with red tags. Me and Florence talked to the staff in reception, A LOT. We talked, argued, we bought fanta, had nice chats... It is a long way to go to get someone do their job properly here... Anyway, now they are doing it great again.. But that is what is so frustratinng. the CAN do it. They KNOW how to do it. So why do they just sometimes stop it, and just randomly pick a colour.... Aarrghh I don't know. I don't know...
And the worst thing is, that everyone is asking for money. It si so annoying I want to cry. I really DONT mind when it is really poor people, cause i understand them. But colleagues??? All the patient attendants have asked me.. And one lady, the forst time i spoke to her, she said "Hi! My name is ******. Are you my friend?"
"Ee. Yes.. Sure, I can be your friend" I answered. "Ok! Good! Then I will give you my account number" she said. I mean WTF????????
STOP IT!!!!!!!! AaAAAA!!!!! And two days ago, a patient attendant i really liked, started asking me for huge amounts of money. It makes me so sad. I had another malawian friend, a student girl. I spent some time with her, we were like friends, and sometimes I bought little thing for her. Like peanut butter och shampoo. And then she started to ask about more things adter A while. And i said t her that "No, i am sorry, I don't have money for those things now". And then, I didn't hear from her again. Now she never calls me, never invites me.
It is just so sad. You want too interact with the locals, and be firends wiht them and learn their culture.. But all they want is your money. I talked to the other "muzungus" here, and they aall agree. They all tried in the begining, but then considered it to be to difficult with the money issue.
Anyway, I have a shitty day. I want to go home to Christian and have a normal life. I miss him so much.... shit.
Maybe this is what they call culture shock...... =(
small things thats makes your life golden!
*Sharing your food with vervet monkeys and baboons
*Fall asleep listening to the song of the hyenas
*Snorkel among beautiful ciclids, and then eat the same fish from the same water the same evening
*Watching the sun go down over Lake Malawi
*Discussing life and death with people you never met before, and most likely never will meet againg
*Fall in love with something new every single day
*Sleep on the beach, under the stars, no need for even a blanket- The warm, black sand on Malawi protecs you from the wind.
*Water so warm that you will be start sweating while moving to much in it
*Drinking and bathing in fresh ground water from a waterfall on 2000 metres altitude
*The smell of burned wood
*All the smiling, beatiful faces
*Children spontaneously hugging you on the street
*Discover your true strengthes and weaknesses.
*Sweet, malawian grils tuching your hair beacause they love the softness
*Watching the mothers care for their babies, and for each other...
*Creating something.
In Malawi, no one is alone. You have always someone caring for you. The mothers comfort and protects each other. If a baby dies, they all share the sorrow. If someone is in pain, everyone does what they can to help...If you are sick, everyone takes care of you...
But the best thing.. Is to get to know yourself... To find out what YOU are made for, what your purpose in life is... Or to find out that there is no purpose, there is only you, and you are free.
A friend told me something interesting.. I tolk him that since I was born I had been in a constant stage of confusion.. and he said that "Confusion is the only true stage of freedom". And I agree--- It is true. When being confused, you never know what will happen. You never know what decisions you will make, and which way you will go.. There are so many roads, and you are free to choose any one you like! Isn't that a nice thought? Confusion is freedom. I like it.
OH and I almost forget... The Thing that makes everything perfect, that makes life good.. Is to have someone waiting for you at home. Someone to share dreams with, to plan a future with. I think my stay here would have been soo much harder, without Christian, waiting for me at home. And tomorrow is his birthday.. I wish so hard I could be there with you, darling... Elsker deg.... <3
Now it is time to sleep.... I am so tired I almost feel high... crazy. worked 7 am til 7 pm today... but a lot of things happend at work at 6.50 pm---- Gaah. I couldn't go home until 7.30. aa well. Have had worse days, but aa.. Had a really sick diabetes patient.. Don't like that. Diabetes is a bit scary, I am a nazi when it comes to blood sugars! I check it so often I almost gets annoyed wiht my self... But I have seen to many times what can happen If you check it to seldom.... :S Here they just give insulin without checking the sugar before... Madness. Complete madness, If I can say so.... Aa well... T.I.A, This Is Africa. It is beautiful. But it is a bit wierd.
GOOD NIGHT!!!
(And baby, we can have forever.)
Nyathipa and Bertha is back!! =D
Also, for the last two days i have been writing a report on what we have done sp far in the project. It ended up with 10 pages!! Crazy.... It is stuck in my spine how to make reports now, I even made abstract and all that shit... Just like when doing a report for school, like the bachelor! god, it took ages! And now... Poof! A report! Wohoo!! It was actually nice to do something else than working, so I am not complaining. But so nice to know that it is not going to be judged, as in school.... =) Hihi.
And I have made a small summary text and some pictures for the Nkhoma hospital homepage... It will look somehow like this:
Norweigian emergency care project
We are two nurses from Norway. My name is Maria Svensson, and my colleague's' name in Linn-Kristin Hatlebrekke. We where chosen to go to Nkhoma Hospital, Malawi, to introduce and improve emergency care. This project is a cooperation between three parties, a) Nkhoma hospital, Malawi, b) Our hospital, Haraldsplass Deaconal hospital, Norway and c) ”FK”, fredskorpset, i.e the norweigian peace core. This project is an exchange programme between the two hospitals with two participants from each hospital going to the other, and it is sponsored economically by the FK.
The length of this project is one year, from may 2010 to may 2011.
The aim from FK is as follows:
"Improved quality of emergency care 2010"
-
Lead Partner: Haraldsplass Deconal Hospital
-
Countries: Malawi, Norway
-
Status: Active project
""The aim of the project is to improve the emergency care and to establish two emergency units at Nkhoma Hospital; one for adults and one for children. In addition the project is aiming at improving the quality of the high risk care provided in the maternity, surgical and general wards, and in this way reduce mortality among critically ill patients, mothers giving birth and children being born. The project should also promote internationalisation of Haraldsplass Deaconal Hospital.
// Fredskorpset, Postboks 8055 Dep, 0031""
What have we done so far?
-
We have introduced and established an easy and understandable triage system, using colour tags. Red for emergency, Yellow for priority and Green for queue. Before we came, the patients where assorted after what time they came to the hospital, which resulted in a lot of unnecessary deaths in line outside the hospital.
-
We have trained patient attendants, nurses, medical assistants, security guards and ward attendents in recognizing severely sick patients, and we have explained the new triage system to everyone at the hospital.
-
We have made protocols over how to do the triage, and put them up on visible places around OPD.
-
We have planned the renovation and furnituring of an emergency room for children in OPD. The room is now finished and we will start using it this week.
-
The area outside OPD is going through a lot of changes. Our intention is to build a floor, a roof and benches outside OPD before the rainy season starts. The benches will be painted in red, yellow and green, and the patients will be informed to sit on the bench that matches the colour tag in their passport.
-
We had a problem with patients not understanding what the colour tags where for, and this caused some confusion outside OPD when suddenly some pateints were brought forward in line (red patients), and the others not understanding why. But we have with help from our chichewa-speaking colleags solved this problem by a) every day explaining to the line of people what the colour tags mean, b) bringing the information about the triage system to the villages, using the deacons in the churches and the staff working in the clinics and health centers.
Things are going very well with the project. Before we started the triage, several patiens, babies in particular, died in line outside. Since we started the triage, no one has died in line. Every staff member in OPD have been working very hard, and everyone is doing their best. Every nurse, clinician and patient attendent in OPD have had a role to play in this project, and we are very thankful for all the support and help we have gotten from our fellow colleagues down here. Me and Linn-Kristin have now five months left here in Nkhoma, and we intend to keep improving the emergency care, and to make it strong from the very foundation so that it will be kept up even when we leave in april 2011.
NB; We would love to show some statistics over our progress here, but unfortunately there where no statistics from before, and we have not yet managed to get a system working for making statistics. We are now hoping to get a column in the computerized registration system, where we can document what triage colour the patient had when coming in to the hospital and in that way create statistics.
Many thanks!
Maria Svensson,
reg. nurse.
Pics =)
Me looking at mountain crystals
Zomba
Mitt hus
Jenny giving blood! =)
From Jenny with love! =)
From jenny Nordberg:
"My thoughts rush trough my mind. How can I verbalise and put down in words what lies just beyond my reach? My trip to Malawi has been so full of contrasts. Malawi is called “the warm heart of Africa”, I would say that you in Malawi can find all the feelings and thoughts that is typical to all humans, not only a warm heart. I have seen hope and hopelessness, joy, happiness and sorrow, materialistic shallowness and philosophical depths, understanding, loyalty and helpfulness, egoism, lies, bigotry and narrow-minded people. I’ve seen some of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen but also some of the most horrible. I’ve seen poverty and luxury, clean and filthy, eagerness and indifference. I will not ever in my life fully grasp it all. I’m grateful for that. It means that I will never know everything, I hope that never, ever will. I want to be surprised, blown away and filled up with new insights, both wonderful and devastating.
I’m so glad that I went there. I’m so glad that I came to visit you Maria. I’m so proud of you and what you’re doing. I’m impressed by your patience when you need it, by your efficiency, by your professionalism and compassion. I now know what the hospital smells like, I know what the corridors look like, I know where you by your Fanta and I wait with excitement for the travellers guide “100 ways to open a Fanta”! So, what have we done besides been to the hospital? We found out that I was anaemic, that was a surprise...not!
First we went to Lilongwe and met these two wonderful guys, Jelmer and GJ and had a lovely time, talking, laughing, great guys really! And we can’t forget Drooley (the dog). After that we went to the beach, to Senga Bay by Salima, to Safari Beach Lodge (everyone needs to come here!). We took the bus to Salima and rented a truck from there out to Senga Bay. The bus trip was hot as hell and the driver played music so fucking loud I seriously thought that my head was going to explode! But...it was totally worth it =)! We had a wonderful weekend! Bathing, some canoeing, snorkelling, watching sunsets, lying in the sand in the dark watching the stars and “The Belgium Highway”, monkeys in the trees, birds by the pool, trees covered by flowers, lizards glistening of every colour of the rainbow, a beach with black sand, proud fisheagles and making new friends.
After a couple of days back in Nkhoma, days filled with hospitalduty, a visit out to a village close by, dinnergatherings, wonderful people and a visit to a local school we went off again. This time headed for Liwonde National Park and Zomba Plateau! The night in some slumarea of Liwonde was...yes, awful but....once again, so totally worth it! We left early from that hideous motel and took a minibus to...Olongwe (not sure about how you spell that). One thing is for sure, I WONT miss the smell of sweat and dried fish...At least not yet, maybe when I start to get desperate I will miss that aswell ;). The bicycletaxi in to the National park was an experience! I loved it! So cool! Our drivers became somewhat nervous when we entered the park...elephants close by! So fucking cool! Matthews or Mr Wilderness, one of the guides picked us up by boat and took us to camp (very luxurious camp). Tom made us breakfast although it actually was too late for that. He was so, so sweet! That was probably one of the best meals ever! Matthews and Patrick took us for a gamedrive in the Rhinosanctuary where we among other things saw a very dead elephant! The gamedrive in the afternoon and evening was wonderful, the animals, the nature, the sunset, once again I’m hung up on the stars, the sunsets and the moon. One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen was when Matthews turned of the car and the lights, it was completely dark and the fireflies glistened in the grass and the heavens were filled with stars...it was extraordinary. I felt at peace with the world and with myself. Filled with the wonder of how beautiful the world can be. Once again...maybe you need the contrasts to really appreciate what you see and what you experience? I think so.
There is so much to tell. We went up to Zomba, smelled almost like Sweden. All green and covered with forests. Pine and palms together, some of the most delicious berries I’ve tasted and wonderful views! We went for a ride, yes, on horses, only for an hour but...oh my! That place is so beautiful! After all this we went back to Nkhoma again. For me it was time to pack. I could hardly believe it! I had just arrived? I felt the panic rise. I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to return to Sweden. I wanted to stay there, in the sun, see the rains that’s coming soon, sitting by the lake and watch the thunder and se how everything explodes from water and warmth and becomes green...Any way...
we went in to Lilongwe on Monday, I bought some coffee and spirits at Shoprite and some stuff at the woodmarket. We went to Jelmer and GJ again to spend the night at their house, easier to get to the airport from there. We had the most amazing night! We went off to this local bar, it was filled with these awesome people, playing music, singing, talking...wonderful really! I really, really, really didn’t want to leave the next day. We filled the night with emotional and philosophical questions and conversations. I loved it. I still love it. The departure felt so unnecessary. I’ve made some wonderful new friends here. Malawi can rest assure that this one will come back!"
Typical shower routine.... ;)
"Hmm.. No. But i did it two days ago"
"Ok.. And I showered at least one day before you..So 3 days.. Maybe should do it now"
.....
....
....
Fuck! No water!
well, waits a little while...
2 hours later... still no water. Fuck.
Ok. Goes to sleep, can shower tomorrow morning.
*Sleeeeeeeeping*
Beep beep! fuck! Late! Need to go to work. work from 7 am til 7 pm.
Dinner at guest house.
Home at 10 pm. Sleep.
Morning. Awake. But no water. well well. try again to take a shower tonight.
Crisis at work. Late home. Exhausted. Shower..?? What is that? asch, no need.
Sleep.
Next day. Wash most necessary things with wet towel. Not enough water for more. And honestely doesn't care anymore.
Work. Fuck, gets a lot of blood on my leg. really should remove that..
hmmm....
Try to take a shower maybe! hmmm when was last time.. fuck 5 days ago! Ick!!! I have become an object of my own contempt... Groose!!!
Shit. No water.
Aa well.. Osadandaula!! =D
;) /Maria
Wondeful, Wonderful People!! =D
I don't know how to describe the feeling im haviing right now.
It is just amazing.. It is like my whole world has been turned up side down and in side out one hundred times during a few weeks. It all started with the dutch man Piet Lake of Stars. We had such a wonderful connection and the talks we had really made me reconsider a lot of things in life... And now I have met these wondeful guys in lilongwe! Jelmer and Gerrit-Jan. They are just so.. Adorable! Me and Jenny spent a few days with them, and they are two really interesting persons and we had so much to talk about.. And when talking with and meeting people like this, your worlds turns around so much cause you see and meet so much other perspectives and ways of living.... One thing that was particulary interesting (Okej this might sound very stoned and crazy, but it is not) was to meet my self, in a male version. Gerrit-Jan. I can't explain it, but also Jenny said that ”the two of you are so similar it is scary!” And we had all the same problems... And ok, wise from past experiences when telling in my blog that I like a male human being; No one have to worry, there will never be anything else then a very good friendship, none of us would want that cause both of us have our hearts given to other people, so no worries! =) And also, I would never stand to be involved with someone that much alike myself.. I would hate to be my own girldfriend! Hehe. But, back to subject, I saw a reflection my self and my own feelings and problems and visions and dreams in another person, and it was really really cool... And it was really good for me, and maybe for him as well, to see this reflection in a way... You learn a lot about yourself in that way... Anyway, Jelmer and G-J, I Love you so much guys, you are incredible!! See you soon for paint ball!!
And that is the absolutely best part with this whole thing, without competition, to meet all these amazing people.. Also here in Nkhoma.. All the wonderful people passing or staying.. Liz and Becka... Hannah and Clair.... Floor and Kim...=) Hendrika... Marlieka... Gervim.... ! And those who are here just as long as we (or longer).. Isabelle, Rhona, Jessie.... Dorothy.... Ngari.. All such amazing and interesting persons, I love them all so much, and I will have all this wonderful memories of them and our time together here... I am a bit sad about this though, cause Rhona and Jessie and Dorothy is leaving in december.. =( I dont know what will happen at female ward without Rhona... But I will keep an eye on it for her =)
And Jenny has now, unfortunatelyand after at least 25 wedding proposals, left the country. It was so incredibly nice to have her here, a little breeze from home!! And we had a great time, going to the lake, to Liwonde and to the beautiful, beautiful Zomba plateau... =) She is really a great friend, and I love her so much!!! =D I have asked her to make a blog entry here, and she will do that when she comes home! =) So then you can read and see her experience of the time she spent here.
And Christian, you wonderful wonderful man... Thank you for existing, being there for me anytime I need you... you mean the world to me.. I tell you, this guy is just the best of the best.. I've never met anyone that loyal or that loving and carirng as him... Christian, I love you so much!!!! =D
Life is GOOD!!!!!
//Maria
Zomba!
Finally i am at Zomba Plateau! It is ca 2100 metres high, and the beauty is no less than breath taking! According to the locals, J.R.R Tolkien got inspired by Zomba before he wrote "The Hobbit", and i can tell you, I see why... The natur is magnificent! Pine trees mixed with palm rees, amazing flowers in every colour you can imagine, and delicious berries, berries, berries everywhere! Black straw berries, little yellow "mulunguzi" berries, black berries.... Aaa it is wonderful! The air is clean, and the smell is undescribeble! It somehow reminds me of Sweden, of the mountans near my home town. I think it is the pine trees, It is a wonderful smell, and it makes me feel sa at home... I think I could stay at Zomba Plateau forever!! =D
****
Sunday
Today we went for a horse ride around the mountain. Amazingly beautiful horses, in an amazingly beautiful landscape! Then we walked to the mandala waterfalls! Completely stunning! I obviously lacks survival instinct, and
decided to swim, shower an climb in the falls. It was magnificent! The water was cold, almost as cold as home! And it tasted fresh and metal! We stayed by the falls for quite a while, eating wild berries and enjoying the water and the view. we also wanted to visit "chingues hole", where they in the olden days used to sacrifice humans to the ancestral spirits that are supposed to live here... But we don't have time. I will deffinately do iit next time!!!
I will soon come back here again!! A friend of mine in Lilongwe has promised me that we will go camping here soon, that will be just magic!! =D
Uff, I really have a problem. I love Malawi to much. I love the work, the people, the nature... I could seriously stay here for ever... But then I would need a lot of breaks to be able to go home, and I would need everyone to coome here to visit.... And I would miss everyone so much... Just like now. Even though I love it here, off course I miss my home, my friends and family... But the more I see of this country, the more attached I get... Aaa I can't leave malawi!!!
Mulunguzi berriesAdventures
So we went to bed hungry, woke up hungry, and sat on a minibus to Ulongwe, and then from ulongwe to mvuu camp in the national park by bicycle taxi. Like coming to heaven!!! Wonderful service, breakfast, frinks, shower.... mmmmm!!!! Only bad thing: I forgot my toothbrush at home!! Uff.
We found a dead elephant! Pictures will come later. He had been drained of fless by hyenas, but all the skin was intact. His feet had been ripped loose and emptied of flesh, so you could try then on like shoes... Kind of morbid, but had to try... Very big shoes!!! ;) But i will not recommend it; the smell of dead elephant will never leave my nose.... Horrible!!!
Now time for finner. Good night!! =)
Soundtrack of Malawi
First:
U2 - Bad
Rolling stones -Faraway eyes
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
These three songs makes me happy and relaxed, and reminds me of wonderful nights by the lake, and about some very special people I have met down here..
Neo - Human frontier
I know, a little bit silly, but I heard this song the same day I found out that I was going to Malawi! So it really means a lot.
Best of the best - Warm heart of Africa
Shakira - Waka waka
Malawi in a nutshell! Warm heart of Africa, wonderful song and really catches Malawi in a nutshell! And being in Africa during the worldcup, gave waka waka a very special feeling for me.
Johnny Cash - ring of fire
Train - Hey soul sister
Don't really know why, but damn good are they! =)
And Off course;
The reggaes! =)
Morgan Heritage
and
Bob Marley
When going to the lake, it is all about reggae. Just so amazing realxing! =)
***
And as ALWAYS, My favorite song in the entire world and actually quite a good soundtrack for my entire life... :
Queen - To much love will kill you
The text goes straight to my heart... It always comes to my mind. No matter where I am or waht I do. Love it.
Malawi, always beatiful..... =)
Life in Malawi
And the best thing; I meet so much nice people! =) Last week Jenny came to visit me (she is still here, living, breathing. So noone has to worry! =)). On thursday we went to lilongwe to stay with two friends I made at the lake of stars festival. Jelmer and GJ! Jelmer is from Holland and GJ from Malawi, but he is a muzungo. They live in a BIG house, with a big garden. It was so beautiful! Lilongwe in general is quite ugly, and very scattered and noisy.. But this place was lika an oasis! So quiet, so beautiful, and wonderful company! Me and GJ sat up talking all night, about everything between heaven and earth, and i though the clock was around midnight, but suddenly it was 4 am! So we decided to stay up until me and jenny had to leave. Also Jenny was up all night watching the stars. We had a campfire in the garden and some rooibos tea... It was an incredibly nice night!! =)
Then on saturday me and Jenny took a minibus to Salima, and the a truck to senga bay! This time to safari beach lodge. AWESOME place!!!! We lived in little stone chalets up on a hill, somehow in the jungle, with baboons coming to visit you, rock rabbits, thusands of birds adn a wonderful wiev of the lake!!! The beach was privat, and the water was warmer than ever!! I tell you all, you cannot die without visiting Lake Malawi.
I am seriously thinking of staying here for another year... That possibility is there, and i am really considering it. I love Malawi... I love the lake, the people, the everything!! Most of all the lake. They tell you to not swim in lake malawi before you come here.. but when you see it.... I mean....! Eva and tree. You just have to, it is so wonderful! =) and if you just take the prophylaxis drugs for bilharzia 3 months after, you'll be perfectly fine.
So everyone, be prepared to come down to visit me next summer!!!! =)
Hoy.
Malawi =)
"A place so scattered,
yet Whole
So Wet
yet so dry.
You walk alone
being close to your soul.
listening to
the Hyenas cry
Colour and laughter,
green leaves on the trees.
Purple spot people,
cry for relief
Singing their pain,
embracing their grief.
a short short moment,
until by singing released.
Beautiful country,
So happy, so sad.
I love your sorrow,
though it hurts me so bad.
Under the sun of Malawi
kissed by waves from the sweetest sea,
Have I finally found,
the true place to be...?"
Visitor!!
Anyway, jenny comes today!! Wonderful..! We will go to the lake, and go to liwonde national park! And she wwill join me a little in the hospital =) Will be very interesting! =D so nice to get a visitor from a girlfriend, aa just relax and talk bullshit! Jippiiiiii!!!! =D=D=D
This sunday, I sutured a big wound in a leg! =D It was only me there, cause the clinician was busy in theatre. So i asked him "Can I do the suturing?" and he said yes. I have watched it many times, and tried a little a few times. But this time a got the whooooole wound for my self! So now I know how to do that. I'll put that on my CV. Would be awesome to get to do that also at home.
Also, I obviously don't have a place to live anymore in Bergen when i'll come back.. They suddenly had to sell the house and I have to move all my stuff (Telekinetic powers would be awesome right now)... I had no idea how to do that, cause i'm in africa! But luckily, christian and his sister Karen offered to help me... That's just wonderful.. Thank you so much guys!!!!!!!! I miss you a lot!!!!!!! =D I will make you a very nice dinner when I get home! =D
We have some visitors from Norway as well, Bodhild and Torman. Colleagus from haraldsplass =) very nice with visitors!! =D And they brought a lot of stuff from haraldsplass to Nkhoma, like some equipment and baby clothes! =)
Over and out!
Green mamba! And work..
Well, work has been busy this week.. Found a lot of sick children that I had to run up to peads with.. One of them, an 11 year old boy, is struggling with malaria/meningitis/pneumonia.. since thuesday. Still on oxygen. Im worried about him.. And yesterday I heard singing and crying and screaming from Peads. I thought it was him who had died, but it was another girl that came in today.. Also Malaria/meningitis.. She was 10. Adn she showed out to be the nieece of our gardener Wilfred. It was so sad to watch. Around 50 mothers were standing by her bed, mourning her with their own babies on their backs. I wonder what they tell their children.. They stay in this room, some of them for many manny days, even weeks. And a lot of children dies. It must be horrible to be there... Worried about your baby, and all the time babies dying.. well.. The father took her on his back and they tied her to him. When he walked out her legs where moving just as if she had been alive.. I bet she has been sitting on her fathers back so mamny times before, and this time she was dead... I can't imagine the feeling the father must have while carrying her... When I saw that I couldn't help me from crying..
The project is going well! We have gotten new, stronger triage colour papers! And thee carpennters have finally started removing the palm trees outside OPD so that we can start building roof and floor and benches before the rainy season starts.
Hehee yeaah and some fun things;
1) The matron decided that all nurses has to be called by their surname. Due to the fact that noone can pronuonce our names, Link is now Miss Heart breaker (irl: Hatlebrekke) and I am Miss Slamson (irl:svensson). Very nice names!
2) A lady today that was seen by doctor Rhona. Rhona asked for the name of the baby. The translator (a nursing student) asked the lady, and a long kind of angry discussion started. After a few minutes the translator turned to Rhona and said " The mother cannot tell you the name of the b-aby, cause she has fforgotten it"
3) A lady came in because she had went to a witch doctor to get help with abdominal pains. The witch doctor had told her to put a stick in her vagina. The lady did this, and then the stick disappered. so she came to us to see where it was. But we couldnt find it, not even on ultrasound. What we did found though, was that she was pregnant (= the reason for the abdominal pains)
***
And time for some photos! =)
When we where in Blantyre, we took a trip to the tea farms by Mulanje! =) I stole some leaves, and I intend to make tea from them... But we will see! =) I dont really know how, but i guess just dry the shit and boil it... right?
Here you can see me all covered in tea! =)Here you can see us standing with one foot in Malawi and one foot in Mozambique! =) The boarder in in the middle of this road.
Swimming at the lake of stars festival =)
More Lake of Stars...
Me and Link at the festival! shiny happy people! =)
To tired to reflect..
The woman wasn't breathing and her blood pressure was down to 60 / 40... Glucose in her blood was 2 mmol. That means she was almost in a hypoglycemic coma.... We gave her dextrose/glucose, and a lot of iv fluids.. We had to resucitate her twice.... we bagged her. The first time i bagged her (making breaths with a bag and a mask and oxygen) she came back, and started brething again.. But then she went away. I tried to bag her again, but it was to late.. She was already dead...
And all this before 10 am..... Can you imagine?
I want to recommend a blog; A friend of ours who is hitch hiking across africa wrote about Nkhoma hospital. It is an very truthful and interesting blogpost and I really recommend it. He describes the hospital with the eyes of someone coming from the outuside.. I'm starting to loose those eyes, so it is very interesting to read.
Anyway, this is the address:
www.goacrossafrica.blogspot.com Look for the post called "Weddingdress from the boss", from the 13 of october.
Here you can read a piece of it:
"I walked through the hospital, well hospital, It’s seems that it is for the Malawian standard a good hospital, more developed and with more possibilities, like the Xray. But furthermore try to forget the word hospital as you know it or as I know it. Imagine just a few buildings/stones, large rooms, old hospital beds, in and outside corridors and everywhere the smell of urine.people, many people sitting, laying, sleeping, crying, eating everywhere in the in and outside corridors, dust and dust outside where people are laying with sick children, waiting and waiting. The hygiene what I've seen and heard is not a issue, its almost not there, only as I've heard in the operating chamber. HIV, Malaria, TBC, Malnutrition are the main problems, with not enough qualified doctors, and other staff. So yes it is what they show on the TV in the west, but man o man its so devastating that its very hard to believe for someone from the west"
Lake of Stars <3
Can life be better?
This must have been the best weekend in my life (or at least one of them). Everyone that know me, knows about my passion for festivals. The freedom, the relexed feeling, the friendship.. The hippe-like atmosphere. Just wonderful! And here in Malawi, at the Lake of Stars festival (which is supposed to be the biggest in africa), I found the Perfect festival!
Not to much people, and everyone who where there was happy and relaxed. No fighting, no problems at all. Just happy people. swimming, listening to the bands, chatting, drinking, smoking, releaxing! There was only two scenes, one big and one small. They were both located straight on the beach! I've never had a better festival feeling! Mostly it was reggae music, and the whole festival was kind of reggae-inspired. Extremely nice!
First night i slept in our tent at a lodge close by. The second night, I didn't sleep at all. Or a little, when a nice friend offered me his tent. The thing was that the other girls wanted to go home, and they took the car. So me and Link stayed at the festival. But it was just lovely! I slep for two hours on the beach, but it was quite cold so I covered myself with sand and made a temporary tent out of my towel and my skirt. It was very comfortable! then i woke up again around 2 or 3 pm. And i danced with Link and met a lot of wonderful people!! =) Then I decided to go home to the tent. That was located 15 km away. Not a good plan. So, a friend of mine convinced me to take his tent on the beach at the festival area, while he slept outside. The tent was miniature!! I could hardly fit in. It was really the smallest tent i've ever seen. The funny thing is that the guy who borrowed it to me, was 2 metres tall! And he always slept in that tent. I don't get it...;)
I think I slept for an hour or two. Then I sat outside, looking at the sunrise. soft reggae music in the air. Vervet monkeys running around playing right next to me. Wonderful, Wonderful feeling.
And i made two new friends I would like to tell you about! =)
The first one, Pete, was a dutch guy who travells from cape town to cairo (from the south of south africa to the north of egypt).He was the one who borrowed me his tent. He is around 40, is married and has three sons. But he travels alone. He has all he need in a backpack, and he gets around by hitch hiking. He has no real plan of when he is going back to holland, just when he is finished. We met him in blantyre as well, and he hitch hiked with us to lilongwe. So I was very glad to see him again at the lake of stars. And we bacame very good friends. We were laying in the sand for about 24 hours, just talking and discussing about nothing and everything. Life, death, movies, music, food, his family, my family, politics, philosophy.. religion... everything! He had a passion for Lars Von Tries movies, so I think we ended up discussing his movies for hours. He had some really intersting points I've never thought about, and I had the same. We had a great connection, it was really really nice, and this really proves that you can make very good friends with people that are very unlike your self. Age, back ground, everything can be completely different. It is so nice, a few times in your life you meet people that you just feel like you known your whole life. This was one of those times. Maybe you will never meet those people again, but you will still always remember them. I am really glad I met Pete.
The other friend I met, was also someone I will never forget! His name was Peanut, and he was a 1 week old baby vervet monkey! His mother had died right after giving birth to him, and a nice old lady took care of him. She was carrying him around, and he was the most adorable thing I've seen in my whole life! I held him for a long time, and he grabbed my hair and wouldn't let go. He looked like a little prematura human baby (with fur) and he sucked his tumb. Just like a human baby! God, i could have spent the rest of my life holding him.
Me and little peanut <3
And talking about friends <3 My very good friend Jenny is soon coming to visit me!!! =D =D =D Im really looking forwaed to it. It will be sooo nice!!!! =D Jippiiiiiiii!!!
Internet is as of now pretty slow..Tried to upload more pics from the festival, but it failed... Will try again tomorrow. Tired now, sleeping needed.
Good night everyone!! =)
*Miss you Christian..Love you!*
Oh Busy day! And horrible witch doctors....
Today has been a really busy day. I was on a 7 to 7 shift, wich means that I work from 7 am til 7 pm. Usually we have a 3 hour lunch break between 1 pm and 4 pm. But today, we had a very interesting class to attend to Neonatal resucutation =). Our peadiatrician Barbara held a one hour course in new born CPR. We watched a dvd about it, and then we got to practice on little baby dolly. It was fun!
Dr. Rhona and dutch med. student Floor are resucutating dollAfter that, there were no time for lunch. It was a little bit of an emergency in medical ward, and Dr. Rhona needed som assistance. One patient had an interesting, but serious, condition: she had an Empyema. Shortly described, it is when you get a bad infection in one of your lungs so it gets filled with puss. This patient was HIV positiv, so any infection she gets will be much worse than for any other patient. This lady was as good as dead when she came to the hospital two weeks earlier. You can se her x-ray from admission day here....:
As you can see, her left side is perfectly normal. Her right side, on the other hand, looks like someone messed up the picture. But it is really the way it looks. Her right lung was almost completely filled with puss. It is being treated with antibiotics iv, but she also needed a chest drainage. When it is water, you can use a normal cannula. But when it comes to puss, wich is much thicker, you need a really big thing to get it out. "The needle" used for drainage is about 1 to 1.5 cm in diameter, and it is being pushed all the way in to the lung. This was done without any problem two weeks ago. Rhona and another doctor here drained the lung for, i am not kidding, 6 litres of puss. 6 LITRES!!, Normally a lung can hold as maximum 6 litres of air. They thought that it was empty, but later on it showed that she still had a lot of puss in her lung. We tried again, Or Rhona tried while I was holding the patient. We didn't have one of the drainage needles, so we tried with normal, green and grey cannulas, thinking maybe we could get it out. But the puss was still to thick, so it didn't work. We have to make a new try tomorrow. Rhona is estimating to get out at least 2 more litres tomorrow morning. I will SO bring my camera!
Another case was quite sad.. An old lady gasping for air at the ward. She was in urgent need of oxygen, but her guardians refused. They believed that the oxygenmachine was what killed people. Didn't matter how many times we trie to explain to them, they still refused. It is a part of a traditional belief. Some patients rather believe in the witch doctors out in the villages. This lady will probobly die tonight because she cannot have oxygen. That is so frustrating to know when you go to bed..
Last week we had a very sick boy in medical ward. He was about 16 years. During night time his guardians said that they just wanted to take him to the toilet, but they never came back. Not until the next morning, when the boy was allready dead. They had decided to escape from the hospital to get to a witch doctor. The boy had been on oxygen at the hospital, and he didn't even survive the way to the witch doctor. He was dead before they got there.
Another patient came to the hospital after being treated for a minor issue like migraine or something by a witch doctor. The witch doctor had given him some really horrible potion, no one knows what was inside it. He died of liver failure caused by that potion, only hours after arriving to the hospital.
I know that it is a belief and that that is what is true to these people... but i really get angry. There are so many people who wouldn't have to die if we could do something about this horrible witch doctors. They really mess everything up.
Check out this! These floors are not very clean i tell you..... Look at my feet, after ONE DAY of walking, WITH shoes (crocs) in the hospital....
12 october
Wohoo!! I am sitting at home, ON internet!!!
We went to Blantyre this weekend with Justice. It was a nice city, and we stayed at a cozy hostel close to centrum.
Blantyre is the commercial main city of malawi so it is much more modernized than the rest of the country. It felt more west-inspired, if you know wat I mean.
They had a great shopping mall called GAME where you could buy anything you wanted, like a miniature IKEA. Link bought some exercise machines, and I wanted to buy a playstation 2 for only 30.000 kwatcha (ca 900 NOK). But I didn't, I couldn't afford it. I have been broke since the vacation with christian, but today I get sallary again. Jippi!! And it was at GAME we found the salvation; Mobile internet!! Link went in again just to buy a bottle of water. And that's when she found it. Itt is for sure a miracle!! =) It is cheap and much faster then the connection at the hospital. Wow! wonderful. Especially today, cause I am home being sick.
We also stopped by zomba plateau and Mount Mulanje. Cool. High things. I don''t know how high. According to the guide book J.R.R Tolkien viisted mount mulanje before he wrote LOTR, and some claim that this mountain was his inspirationnt doom for mou. I don't know about that, Mulanje looked very green and friendly. But there Is also a river, the shire river, wich goes through, flat, green and beatuful landscapes. This river is claimed to be Tolkiens inspiration for "The Shire" in the books, where the hobbits live. That seems more likely, it really looks hobbit-like in these areas arounf the shire river. =)
Also, Bad news; I am sick. Ick. Not nice at all. Been vomitting and having diorrhea (how the h*ll is that word really spelled? everyone here spells it different. Even those guys with english as their native tounge). It was proboblly caused by antibiotics I was taking for a minor infection, cause I started on antibiotics (doxy) last thuesday, and i got relly sick. then I stoppen on thursday, and then iwas fine over the weekend. started again on another kind, erytromycin, on sunday evening. And I was a wreck all day yesterday. Vomitting bio (gall-bladder green stuff. Very unpleasant). Link took care of me, and got me water and went down to the hospital to collect some im anti imetics (kvalmestillende/ mot illamående). I got a injection in my butt. It didn't hurt very much though, guess i'm getting used to it... I must admit, i'm really a whimp. I can do anything to the patients, doesn't bother me at all. But when it comes to me, I hate needles and injektions. Ick! well, we are all hypocrits, are we not....
I gave blood again last week (monday, before I got sick). A little girl in peads needed rhd negative blood and I was the only one availible. It was a little to early really to give blood again, only five weeks since last time. But they only took 200 mls, just for that girl. So I was alright. 
Little Chinisi receving my blood =) They are having lunch, Nsima with dried fish.
Some photos =)
Sunset by Namchengwa lodge, Mangochi.
The bicycle taxi broke down on the way to Liwonde national park. christian got very popular among the children in the village =)
Captain Hafstad visiting the M.S Ilala, the horror of lake malawi.... ;)As described in the guidebook; "Children vomitting, a horrible smell, overwroded and awful. Cochraches in your hair and spiders on your legs"
Me in the kitchen, cutting up malawi ciclides for dinner! =D