This past weekend was cold! Well, not nearly as chilly as Canada (-47!) but really quite cool for African standards. Fortunately, we also took things at a bit of a slower pace. In a house with 24 other people, things get a little hectic at times. More than anything, I've been finding it difficult to find a quiet space for myself. (The sun did come out yesterday and things are starting to warm up again.)
The shelves are coming along slowly. Tools are not of the same quality as one would find in Canada. Finding a circular saw, drill bits, screws, nails etc. was also a bit of a challenge. The wood we purchased is fresh (from Senegal) ... it was cut and planed from new timber over the weekend for us. I've learned that fresh wood is a bit challenging to work with. We do have some shelves up along the perimeter of the room on brackets and have begun placing items on them. Half of the first main shelf was completed today. To the amusement of the pharmacy staff, I began the 'carpentress' today while hammering some nails into the top shelf.
Christina and I also helped start getting the inventory straightened out before we left the hospital yesterday. We found requisition slips from August onwards that have not been entered onto their tally cards. It's probably a 5 inch stack of papers that needs to be entered. Hopefully I can make some good progress on this aspect as well as moving stock back into the storeroom (once the shelves are ready).
Wednesday afternoon, our neighbours came over to tell us that a woman in the next compound was having a baby. The four nurses in our group, a grandma, Christina (the other pharmacist) and myself went over to help. The room was about 10 feet square with a single window and doorway with only cloth coverings. A double mattress lay on the floor and two wardrobe cupboards were against the walls. There was no light/electricity in the room -- only what limited light would come in through the window. Although seemingly minor, my role as flashlight and string (to tie the cord with) did play a role in the whole process. One of the nurses is here to teach at the hospital about neonatal resuscitation ... the perfect person to have around. After a couple of contractions, the mom figured out how to push correctly. It was complicated by the baby being born in posterior position. A good sized baby boy arrived at 5:10pm. There were a few concerns about mom, so she was taken to the local health centre. I got to hold the baby for a few minutes while we were waiting for the taxi to come. A beautiful head of hair and perfect tiny fingers and gorgeous brown eyes.
To celebrate Valentine's day, I grabbed some ice cream earlier and am now joining some others with some homemade cookies to watch The Lion King ... what else would you watch while in Africa?