Life in Farafenni

Sunday morning a car full of hospital staff (and me) left Banjul to go to Farafenni hospital. We had to take a ferry to cross river Gambia. The river is not wide, but first we had to wait for the boat to come. It was a struggle to get on the ferry, as there were many car, buses and people that wanted to get over to the other side. We drove a government car and we were prioritised, so we did get to go with the first ferry. (After 1.5 hour wait). It was the slowest ferry I have ever taken and the little crossing took an hour. We got to the other side (Barra), and the road to Farafenni was in a good shape, so the rest of the trip went fast. We drove almost half way into the country so I got to see a lot. The first stop in Farafenni was a visit to the director of the hospital. He is an extraordinary man. He knew I did not have cooking possibilities, so he suggested that his wife would cook for me, and the driver would come to my room with dinner every day- an irresistible offer. I have been to the market and it is like I have said, basic. I am glad I am not cooking for myself, because I wouldn't know how to do it. This solution really saved me, and the food is good (luckily I love rice- cause 90% of the plate is rice).

My room was a disappointment at first. It was not washed and insects were crawling around, so the first thing I did was to clean. I called my contact at the hospital and he sent the cleaning personnel and they cleaned it again. There were worms in my toilet, and I was not able to handle that, so I was very glad to see the cleaner. (Han vasket hele badet med toalettbørsten, så jeg sa jeg kunne vaske selv fra nå av..) Anyway, after a spray with insect killer and a wash, I was satisfied. The room is light and almost insect free, so I am very happy with it. I cannot say it is clean, but it is cleaner. I have electricity 9-16 and 17-03. There is no running water in my room, so I carry water from the labor ward which is the ward under me.. That is interesting! I have to walk through the ward to go out. The midwives want me to conduct deliveries, and I hope I get to do so soon! Showering and toilet flush is done with the help of my bucket. I haven't seen a rat since I got to The Gambia and I am sure that not even a mouse can enter my room, which has been a huge relief! My contact at the hospital is my savior. Everything I ask for or mention, he has a solution to it. He makes some calls, and it is fixed. His hospitality is unbelievable and makes my life so much easier. Living at the hospital is a new adventure. There are 400 people working here and a large part of them know me already. Every time I go out people shout my name, asks how I am, how the morning is, where I am going and so on. It is not possible for me to learn all of their names though. They have given me a Gambian name, which is Maryama. I have never seen such a hospitality and friendliness as I see here, it is overwhelming and I am very lucky to be here and experience it. Everyone from the hospital director to the washing man come to check on me too see that everything is fine. 

 My room, office and laundry. (Johan: jeg har vært flink og skaffet meg myggnett!)

My fieldwork is not conducted in the hospital, but at the RCH (reproductive and child health clinic) which is situated right beside the hospital. The staff is amazing. The managers are very interested in my study and they do everything they can for me to succeed. They have given me two people from their staff to be my research assistants for two months, and these days I am training them in conducting interviews. Abdou, a Gambian ph.d. student at my institute in Oslo will be here for field work and he just knocked on my door. He will be my neighbor the next days and he has agreed to support me in the training of the assistants. Baba will also come here soon. It will be fantastic to have some people I know well around for some days!

I went with the RCH team to an outreach clinic on Tuesday. We drove to a village where there is no health center, so the team goes there once a month to vaccinate children, treat minor diseases and conduct antenatal care (svangerskapskontroll). They used a big empty (and dirty) building with a hall and two small rooms, they were eight nurses and community health workers. They brought two small boxes of equipment which were used for all of the activities mentioned. When we came there were about 80 mothers and children waiting. I joined the antenatal care team and they showed me how to estimate the week of pregnancy by measuring the fetus with our fingers. It was amazing to see how they worked. No doctors and a minimum of equipment. Within four hours everyone were examined and treated, some were referred to the hospital. One can ask about the quality, but everything is relative. Thinking of the standard of the hospitals I have worked at in Norway makes me feel bad. The world is unfair.

Forresten! For dere som vil sende meg meldinger men ikke har google konto, send mail!! priler@gmail.com er addressen. Jeg håper alt er bra med dere hjemme og jeg vil gjerne høre hvordan dere har det..