Life in Aweil

Wow. It looks like Saturday may be the only day I can be in touch with the rest of the world!  The hospital is very busy with an average of 12 deliveries a day, and there is only one midwife/nurse practitioner in the labor and delivery rooms. The nurses can be very helpful and do vaginal exams, suturing and often deliveries as no one else is available.  Unfortunately, a lot of them aren't proficient in any of these skills. This midwife/NP also covers postnatal mothers and infants. There is one other midwife/NP who covers the steady stream of patients in triage many of whom lie on the floor when bench space fills. This provider also technically covers gyn.  Nurses help with all of these responsibilities, but in the end the midwives and NPs are responsible. And MY job  as the clinical coordinator, is to supervise the midwives, NPs, nurses and other staff. The place is so disorganized that I’ll have my work cut out for me.

Today I got to move out of the guest room and into my own private Tukul. I’ll post a picture later, but it’s essentially a little hut with a bed covered by a mosquito net. I’m not going to lie, I love how the mosquito net makes it feel like I’m sleeping in a shitty canopy bed.  The weirdest thing about living here isn’t that we’re in the middle of nowhere or that the market smells like shit. For me, it’s the fact that the MSF compound (where we live) has 4-5 security guys and is surrounded by double barbed wire. I guess I feel safe, but escaping might be tough.

I haven’t seen too much of Sudanese life because I’ve essentially been traveling from the compound (which I prefer to call the house) to the hospital. Even though the market is on the way to the hospital, I haven’t had the opportunity to stop and browse.  Because of security issues the only place we can walk to alone is the hospital. To browse the market we have to go in twos. Hopefully I check it out soon. I’ll keep you updated on the shopping prospects. I’m hoping to buy some pants. Should be interesting  ;)