Politicians, Bishops and Criminals

Well into our third week and we've started to get involved! Heidi ventured through the doors of theatre flushed from the heat with a smile on her face, and emerged pale sporting a sickly grin. They have basic anaesthetics here and the patient has the habit of wriggling during the operation. To limit this they are strapped to the operating table in a crucifix position (perhaps in the hope for some divine intervention as well) and the drugs topped up if the wriggling gets too much. The medical wards were, on the other hand, a more sedate affair. I am working as a consultant here and do rounds with my junior team. The problems are largely infective in nature- malaria, typhoid, diarrhoea, AIDS, viral hepatitis, meningitis- but also many more familiar problems such as decompensated liver disease and stroke. Not a specialist in infectious disease I am spending most of my evenings studying tropical medicine text books. The management of patients is difficult as most have no basic observations performed and drugs are slow to be administered. Anyhow, we are here to try and improve things so let's see where we go from here.




The above is a photo from Sunday's church service. It was at the main catholic cathedral and there were A LOT of people there. With good reason. There was a new Bishop being made in South Sudan and a gang from the Vatican had cruised over to perform the ceremony. We arrived too late (45 minutes prior to kick off) to get into the packed church after our motorbikes took us to the wrong place! We did get to see the President of Southern Sudan stroll into church about 5 meters away from us, though we was too scared to whip out the camera given the multitude of heavy artillery pointing out from his crew.


Bull bars South Sudan style.

TV selling, South Sudan style

The photo above is taken with the White Nile in the background. On the left as you look at the picture is Father Joseph and on the right Dr Charles. They took us out to the band last week and joined us for beers on the river on Sunday. More about them in future blogs!


A picture of the huts outside our compound as described in the opening blog. To be fair this is not representative of the rest of town. Though there are collections of huts such as these much of the rest of the town is either NGO compounds in the centre with government buildings and locals accommodation further out. These consist of mud brick houses and create the image of Juba as a large African town rather than a capital city.

Our home. Very nice by Sudan standards in a compound with many others like it. We were returning from a stroll on Saturday when we rumbled a cheeky thief coming out of our room! He was well dressed with a Blackberry phone (I initially hoped he had been leaving gifts after viewing his smart attire) but no, he (and maybe a chum) had rummaged through all our bags, after using a universal key and screwdriver to break in! Fortunately we had disturbed him so nothing was taken and the scoundrel was apprehended by security. What followed I was not party to as he was taken to a locked office to be taught a lesson (and I don't think he was doing lines) and then the police were called. As the manager told me- This is Africa James.


And who'd have thunk it ai? Buried in the Government hospital in the centre of Juba and who should stroll in but John Mann MP, Baron David Chidgey, Baroness Glenys Kinnock and John Montagu The Earl of Sandwich on a cross parliamentary group visit to the country. They were looking round the hospital, maternity services in particular. The biggest surprise, however, was that Mr Chidgey had actually been under my care in Southampton General Hospital back in 2008! We recognised each other from the ward!


And yes, we have a motor! Lent to us by the hospital after our lifts in were getting later and later! The mud roads are so heavily pot holed that you drive slow- but I can't wait for the rains as the roads must turn into lakes. We shall see....
Anyway, enough writing. Next update in a week I'll wager- with a little more from the hospital and what we hope to achieve in the upcoming months! Over and out.

Juba Rocks

Well, we are now five days in Southern Sudan. The Entry permit was easy enough but we did have to leave some books in a lockup in Nairobi for collection at a later date. Anyone passing through....? The flight was smooth and it was only when we climbed down the aeroplane steps that the scolding dry heat of Sudan hit us. We strolled across the runway filled with UN planes and a collection of military helicopters and into arrivals. A tractor arrived with the luggage which was unloaded on the floor of the arrivals room and all bags were checked by customs and signed in chalk. Passports were stamped and we wandered back out into the heat. We had arrived in the Heart of Africa.

Met by Louis, Charles and Joseph, three doctors from the hospital, we were whisked to the hospital for some brief introductions, and then onto our camp. Now this place is nice. By the Nile with good food but perpetually loud music playing dawn until 1am daily. Are we getting old? The photo above is a misty morning view of the White Nile. Yes, that is a half sunk ship on the left.
Then there came the tour of the hospital. We will write more about the hospital later, when we have had more of a chance to see what is going on, but it was certainly busy and everyone was very friendly.


Friday night was spent cruising on the back of two motorbikes to the house of some ex-pats here, Sarah and Charlie, for some drinks. Saturday was spent preparing talks for the hospital. We strolled into the surrounds to get a feel for the place on Thursday evening. The first thing to notice was that people were very friendly. 'Morning' was chirped from young and old, accompanied by a smile. It was 6pm. What was striking was the poverty. Many displaced people who moved into the city years ago during the 4 decades of civil war now live in small camps on any available bit of government land in tiny huts lined with card board and empty food sacks. It is heart-breaking stuff, especially to be greeted with a cheery 'morning' from a tiny child poking there head round the corner of a burnt-out car.
Saturday evening rocked. Literally. Charles, one of the doctors mentioned before picked us up and drove us across to the far western reaches of the town. Here we picked up his childhood buddy Father Joseph and headed down the worst road I have ever seen to 'Rock City', a bar next to the stone works used to grind rubble for surfacing roads. It appears the irony is not lost on anyone. Here we sipped lager and listened to a live Congolese band play Congo rhumba- and even a rendition of 'Hero' by Enrique (that's right Tarry). What type of lager I pretend to hear you ask? I sampled Southern Sudan's only locally brewed beer- 'White Bull'. It seems that no-one here likes it, or drinks it, and the waitress even tried to save me by bringing a 'Redbull' instead, but this was sent back and the real thing sampled. And you know what- it aint dreadful. The others enjoyed a Kenyan 'Tusker'.
Sunday came with Charles banging on our door to take us to church. We were visiting the church in the part of town where he grew up. The service was in a mixture of his local tribal language, Juba Arabic and a little English (probably for our benefit). The singing and music was AMAZING, with beautiful female voices backed by booming male baritones and ululating women in the back. I didn't understand a word but it was stunning. As you can see, I got to try the local instruments afterwards.
Well, work will start in earnest tomorrow and we leave you with some anticipation and lots of excitement. Here we go.......

And so it begins...

Five years of mental planning, 13 months of vague chat, 4 weeks of intense organisation and 5 hours of desperate packing and here we are, Nairobi, Kenya. Sitting in a backpackers hostel, listening to reggae music, tipping back a cold Tusker lager and trying to sort the blog. We have a room full of 110kg of supplies- largely consisting of medical text books for the hospital- and an 80kg limit on our next flight. Smashing. Any way you look at it though, the fact is we are back on African soil and that rocks.
So how has this come about? After securing the time away from work in January 2010 it was time to find an agency to work for. The easy bit one might think. Two doctors giving their time for free for a year- there isn't a hospital in England that wouldn't take that on. However, for one reason or another many of the big names (Medair, MSF, Merlin, VSO,) didn't want\need us or didn't fit fit our set up as a couple wanting to work for under a year. It was at my annual assessment that a cardiologist dropped in the name of the St. Mary's Juba Link. A small charity based on the Isle of Wight who had close links with Juba Hospital. We contacted them and in no time the wheel was set in motion- we were going to South Sudan.
South Sudan is currently part of Sudan but with it's own government since 2005 after a peace deal brokered to end years of civil war with the north. Their referendum on the 9th January 2011 saw a huge turn out, in a largely peacefull vote and the decision was made overwhelmingly to succede from the north. This will mean on the 9th July 2011 South Sudan will become the world's newest country.
So that brings us back to the here and now. The reggae has finished and an acoustic set is on the speakers. How long until Jack Johnson begins? Tomorrow we head to the South Sudan Mission here to sort out entry permits. Hopefully. Though if they are in any way as friendly as the team in the London based Mission it should be fine. The flight is booked for Wednesday and then the adventure truly begins. Tonight we should again be lulled to sleep to the distant sounds of, no not crickets chirping or a lions roar, but the sulty beats of the disco next door playing African electric guitar. It's good to be back.