Students and teachers from the International School of Paris which works in
partnership with the Foundation were due to fly out to Namibia on Friday 16 April.
However, due to the volcanic ash situation, their flight was cancelled.
They are now waiting to hear when they can fly out.
If and when they get there, they will camp in the Clinic compound and then spend
the next ten days re-decorating and tiling the floors of three classrooms
at Omuhaturua Primary School.
They will also be providing each pupil with backpacks for their school books,
metal trunks in the hostel for their personal effects and where necessary purchase shoes
for those who have none.
‘It’s completely different and extremely rewarding to help at the clinic’.
The above are Linda’s thoughts after spending two weeks at the Otjimanangombe Primary
Healthcare Clinic in March as a volunteer nurse. Here are some extracts from
Linda and Roger’s travelog which we hope you find of interest.*
* Please note that all Roger and Linda’s visits are self-financed and no charitable funds are used for this purpose.
Friday 5 March 2010.
Arrived at Heathrow with some trepidation as we knew our luggage was overweight.
With our personal belongings cut to a bare minimum we had to accommodate tee shirts
from the International School of Paris, nearly a complete suitcase of knitted blankets
from two Mersea ladies and football shirts from Great Bentley Primary School.
We had already made enquiries to the airline for an increased allowance without success.
At the check-in we were 9kgs over and the standard charge for excess was £40 a kilo giving
a grand total of £360. Explaining that we are a charity and handing over our business card,
the check-in lady consulted with her supervisor and they agreed to waiver the charge.
She asked who Catherine was and when we told her she burst into tears.
Later, we were to see her again when boarding the plane and she wished us good luck.
Monday 8 March 2010
Having arrived at the Clinic the previous day, we were woken, as we were each day at 06.00 by
the singing of the children of the Omuhaturua Primary School Hostel getting ready for school.
Later, we would see them lining up for their breakfast of maize porridge.
At 08.00, the Namibian flag was hoisted at the clinic to announce it was open for business.
While Linda went over to the clinic, I visited the school and briefed the headmaster
on the process for twinning with Great Bentley Primary School and made arrangements
to distribute the children’s letters the next morning.
On returning to the Clinic I met the Community Health Workers who are based there
and agreed to drive them on an outreach educational trip into the bush to give presentations
on prevention of TB, HIV/Aids, sexually transmitted diseases and the use of condoms.
A Community Health Worker instructing the San at the Voormansput settlement on the use of condoms.
During the afternoon, a girl suffering from dehydration arrived at the clinic.
She was 22 yrs old, the same age as Catherine. But at least the clinic was there for her
and Linda and the nurse managed to get her stabilised. Unfortunately,
our ambulance was not available, so her parents accompanied by the clinic nurse drove 80kms
to the next clinic to meet an ambulance and then onward for another 120kms to the hospital at Gobabis.
The whole incident was very upsetting and brought back lots of memories.
We subsequently heard that she was okay. The day finished with a beauty competition at the
school to raise funds, perfectly innocent, but not very 'PC', don't think it would be allowed in the UK.
Tuesday 9 March 2010
All hands on deck today to prepare for the three monthly Clinic inspection by the
Chief Medical Officer and his staff. So while Linda is sorting out the clinic,
I am outside tidying the compound. Its leading by example here and I soon have a
band of willing workers helping out. During the afternoon we received a visit from
the Malaria Control Department who carried out some spraying around the Hostel’s toilets.
At 16.00, I went over to the school to teach the children to play badmington with
the equipment we had brought with us. After a bit of confusion, things sorted themselves out.
Wednesday 10 March 2010
Inspection Day. Final tidy up in the clinic.
The last inspection noted that the Delivery Room for expectant mothers was cluttered.
The Community Health Workers were using it as a store for their literature.
So after some gentle persuasion and an offer of some shelves in the corridor,
out went their items and the room was thoroughly cleaned and tidied.
The Chief Medical officer arrived at lunchtime accompanied by a representative
from the main Ministry in the capital who was touring the clinics in the area and
is heading up a new trouble shooting department.
We had a very good meeting which was very constructive and the inspection went well.
Linda was congratulated on how tidy everything was.
Also on a separate visit were representatives from COHENA who co-ordinate the Community Health Workers.
Thursday 11 March 2010
Woken up at 01.45 am by shouting and headlights at the Clinic compound gate.
Got up and went with Angeline the nurse to the gate to find out what was happening.
Turned out to be a girl who had miscarried. She was taken into the clinic, checked out and stabilised.
Today it’s the doctor’s monthly visit accompanied by a dentist and optician which
has already been announced on the radio.
So we get over to the clinic to prepare for the visit and soon pick-ups
and donkey carts are arriving to drop off patients.
Linda with a baby that was born at the clinic with the mother who had come to visit the doctor for a check up.
Meanwhile Varaa and Sylvester from Komeho arrived and we left to visit the San settlement
at Voormansput to check out the goats.
Discovered that 38 are pregnant and will give birth in May and June.
We then returned to Omuhaturua Primary School to measure up the three classrooms
that will be re-decorated and tiled by the students of the International School of Paris in April.
Back at the clinic, Linda was surrounded by patients and saw 42 in total out of the 72 who attended,
the balance seeing the optician and dentist.
The pregnant ewes which had been separated for the count.
Friday 12 March 2010
Woken up at 05.20 by the clinic nurse calling for Linda’s assistance.
Our ambulance is on the way from another clinic at Eiseb which is towards the Botswana
border with a badly injured road traffic accident victim.
He is an Angolan and part of a road repair gang that went drinking and then ‘borrowed’
the bosses pick-up to get more drink. They lost control on a bend, the result being that one is dead,
two seriously injured and two walking wounded.
The most seriously injured one arrives by ambulance and has head wounds and a possible spinal
injury and is in a poor way. By the time Linda and Angeline manage to stabilise him
a further ‘ambulance’, just a glorified pick-up arrives with the other three victims.
Our ambulance takes the most seriously injured one, with one of the walking wounded
and they both head off for the hospital at Gobabis. (This all took place without any doctors!)
Our ambulance leaves for Gobabis. The two most seriously injured were then transferred to Windhoek the capital.
After the ambulance left, we had breakfast and then left the clinic to drive
for two hours to the Kalahari Bush Breaks Lodge where we spent the weekend for some rest and relaxation.
The pick-up involved in the accident.
Monday 15 March 2010
Left the Lodge and drove 80kms to Gobabis, the capital of the Omaheke region.
First stop was the hospital pharmacy to pick up X-ray request forms, drugs for the clinic
and a cool box for the Health workers specimens. Then it was to the local supermarket to
buy our provisions for the week. On the way we had called in at a Garden shop and purchased a
Fig tree for the ‘Bullen Park’.
Our next stop was to see Kathryn Blakemore at the Omaheke San Trust who we had
met a couple of times before on our trips. She is a VSO worker and was inducting
two more who will work for the Trust. After a quick lunch, we filled the pick-up with diesel
as this would be our last chance to get some and left to return to the clinic,
but took a detour to meet a very interesting lady at her farm in the bush.
We had been told about her by the owners of the Lodge and made arrangements for us to see her.
Dr Helene de Kok has been working in the bush for the last 35 yrs,
setting up a clinic in the family home, working in clinics and now running
a clinic and crafts centre at a San resettlement farm. We had a very interesting time
listening to her experiences and work with the San bushmen. We finally arrived back
at the clinic in the early evening after driving 200kms.
Tuesday 16 March 2010
Utility problems, firstly the drains had become blocked and secondly no power in
the nurse’s accommodation as the solar had cut out.
So it was over to the clinic to shower and go to the loo. Contacted the Ministry
of Works who promised to send someone out. They duly turned up but with the wrong equipment.
Just before dusk a pick-up appeared with a pump in the back.
Septic tank was pumped out into a nearby field (the tanker had broken down)
and the drains were cleared with rods as the rain began to fall.
The hostel children waiting for the rain to stop so that they can cook their meal of porridge.
Over at the hostel, the children huddled around the fire waiting for the rain
to stop so their porridge could be served. In the future a canteen and kitchen will make
this all unnecessary. No power again tonight so we eat our meal in candlelight.
Wednesday 17 March 2010
Today we are doing outreach visits into the bush to take medication and vaccinations to
the San bushmen settlements. First stop is at Voormansput where there are no medical problems
so we travel on to Eiseb Post 10 which is the location for another clinic some 169kms towards
the Botswana border. On the way we visited the camp of the Angolan road workers who had had
the accident. The two walking wounded are back in camp and very sheepish. Arrived at Eiseb
and visited the clinic which is larger and older than ours and needs some renovation.
Went over to the School hostel which is in a terrible state with broken beds and no mattresses.
The septic tank for waste water is a large hole in the ground covered by logs.
The children’s lunch was being prepared and consisted of a large bowl of tinned pilchards
with stock later being added and then cooked to make a sort of fish soup.
The School Hostel at Eiseb. This is run by the local community who cannot afford its upkeep.
Went on to visit the school and met the headmaster who believe it or not had been to Saffron Walden.
Requested our help to improve the hostel and school, but had to tell him we were fully
committed for the immediate future. If the opportunity arose we would try and twin his
school with one in the UK, but communications are difficult.
We visited two San settlements at Eiseb and distributed the blankets that had been knitted
by the ladies from Mersea.
The San children with their blankets which will be useful during the cold winter nights.
On our way back to the clinic we called in at another settlement where we distributed
more blankets and Linda and the nurse inoculated the children.
Thursday 18 March 2010
Last full day at the clinic. Went over to the school to take photos of the children
to pair up with the letters they had written in reply to the ones from Great Bentley Primary School.
At lunchtime we went back to the school for the free raffle of the football shirts which went well.
Prior to the raffle, we asked the children to sing for us.
They are natural singers and this was a very emotional moment for us.
At the end they sang the school song and the national anthem.
Lucky winner of one of the shirts donated by Great Bentley Primary School.
Teacher on the right is Mrs Kavari, the headmaster’s wife.
After the raffle, we returned to the clinic to draw up a ‘Disaster Care Plan’
which was outstanding from the previous inspection.
We then received a visit from Mr Matijela, a manager from the Ministry of Works to
discuss the re-siting of the septic tank to alleviate the drain problems and the
installation of a generator as a back-up for the Solar.
Meanwhile the school had finished one day early because of the Independence Day
celebrations and children started to leave the hostel for home,
hitching rides on whatever transport they could find such as donkey carts and the open backs of pick-ups.
Friday 19 March 2010
Its time to leave the clinic and make our way back to Windhoek. Our passengers are Ronaldo,
the nurses’s son who is coming with us all the way, the nurses husband and two children
who were dropping off at their village, and a girl with HIV and her mother
who we are taking to Gobabis Hospital for treatment. Dropping off all but one of
our passengers on the way, we meet up with Varaa and Bethel from Komeho, our ngo,
and proceed to the Ministry of Education in Gobabis for a meeting with the Director.
Mainly a courtesy call, she thanks us for our work in the region and we are able to
brief her on our current project. Although the Ministry cannot support us with funding,
they will approach the commercial sector for match funding. Leaving Gobabis after
having already travelled 200kms from the clinic, it is a further 170kms to Windhoek
where we stay the night before flying home.
