Football, Fire and Fireflies

My elder son seems to think I don't work much as he hears more about the fun stuff.  I have assured him that I am working plenty hard--5 and 1/2 days a week and on call the rest of the time. I have "formal" teaching duties with the clinical officers where I prepare handouts, discuss cases etc in addition to daily rounds.  I also consult in maternity which is generally fun.  The maternity structure is about 25 yards away from the hospital and the midwife supervisor calls me when they have any non-pregnancy related problems with their patients.   Hasn't been too much work until the last couple of weeks when we had 5 cases of neonatal sepsis, 1 of meningitis and 1 of congenital syphilis. Last week the midwife told me there was someone about to deliver if I wanted to catch a baby.  I ran over but missed the delivery. As I walked in the translator fainted and was heading for the floor so I caught him instead.

Waiting for the game to start

As far as entertainment goes here it is pretty much a make your own situation.  A couple of weeks ago we decided to have a staff football (soccer) game as football is quite popular. On the way home from work everyday we pass a group of young boys playing soccer on a dirt field with sticks tied together for goals and all barefoot. When we get closer to home there are a couple of other fields with older kids/young men playing on them where we were able to borrow a field.  The idea was to have one team from health staff and the other from folks that work on the compound and drivers. Well the idea was a huge hit.  Everyone at work was talking about our team--we got interrupted during rounds to make sure our goalie would be off that day. I got asked over and over what position I was playing.  They even put me on the roster which was quite a joke as our real team was young 20's men. I told them after they ran up the score I would come in. People discussed the upcoming game on the way to work, during work and on the way home.  I have to smile at  how little it takes to make people happy sometimes.  On the day of the big match we walked over to the mostly dirt field with goal posts, but no nets, and a herd of cows grazing on one side.  We had decided that one team would wear red and one white.  Not enough people had the right color shirts so players coming on and off the field had to change on the run.  Most of the staff came to watch and even more people from the village next to the field showed up. Many players were barefoot and very impressive runners. My team won 1-0 and everyone celebrated with a beer or soda after the game.

Dry season has arrived and with it very dusty roads (sometimes it is like thick fog). Tall brown grass is everywhere. The practice here is to set fire to the dry brush so new shoots will come up for the animals to feed on.  It's a bit uncontrollable what actually burns so I'm told it's not unusual for houses to be burned as well as grass. In addition to dust in the air now there is often smoke as well.  The other night the guards alerted us there was a nearby fire burning out of control parallel to the side of the compound where there is an above ground fuel tank.  We all left dinner to go watch the flames leap into the sky.  Every once in awhile there would be loud crackling and sparks as a tree exploded in flames.  It reminded me of brush fires in Malibu.  Fortunately it passed by without turning our way and eventually died out. I miss the daily thunderstorms and amazing cloud formations!

I'm not enjoying the various bugs that seem to come in waves but I did have one nice bug experience. I went to bed (under the mosquito net) and read for awhile the other night.  When I turned out the light there were fireflies all over the room but outside the net.  It was a magical light show until I fell asleep!

Murchison Falls

Mud challenge on the way home--
he's about to hit the deep mud hole

My fellow MSFers

After a crazy couple of days at the hospital (seemed like there was a new seriously ill child every time I turned around) eight of us set off for a weekend at Murchison Falls National Park.  As we approached the park we were going up a hill and suddenly saw a big truck and a car side by side, both stuck in the mud, completely blocking the road.  There were many men working on getting the car out which they finally were able to accomplish.  Our driver took a look at the situation and said we should all get out of the car but he thought he could make it through.  It was crazy to watch and at one point it looked pretty dicey but he made it!  At the park we had to cross several streams covering the road, which turned out to be good for washing all the mud off the car, and exciting as water splashed up on the windows!


In the park we took a boat ride up the Nile, which was quite broad and serene at the starting point. Hippos were everywhere standing in the shallow water, and we also saw a couple of crocodiles and a few elephants. Towards the base of the falls they let us off on a trail and we hiked up to the top.  The views on the way were spectacular when I wasn't gasping for breath trying to keep up with the young folks!

We spent the night in the park at a place where hippos come up from the river to graze on the grass at night making walking back to your hut after dinner interesting.

Murchison Falls

  Early the next morning  we took a ferry across the Nile to the area where there are "game drives" (higher concentrations of animals). Beautiful animals everywhere!  We left to come home at noon but the way we came in was blocked by flooding (rain during the night) so we had to go back the long way through the park to another exit.  On the way home we again got out of the car to watch the driver go through the deep mud patch. We made it through but a bit later had a flat tire.  Got the tire fixed and then there was a torrential downpour...  Eventually we made it home.