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Once upon a time, in a Tanzanian hospital….

Technorati tags: tanzania, hospital, utengule, ngozi crater lake

Hello everyone!

Sorry in English again, I’m getting annoyed by writing everything twice. And English is easier for Dutch, than Dutch is to the English speaking.

Think my last post might have been a bit depressed; guess that was just a matter of writing in the wrong time.

Anyway, all is going well.

This week was our last in the hospital. We had a really good time in the hospital. Seen a lot, learned a lot, and everyone was very friendly. It’s like you said Marianne, a whole different world compared to home.

Actually it’s quite interesting. Sometimes it’s all so different over here, but it can be so similar as well.

I’ll give a short overview of my impression of the hospital. As you could read last time, things are far from perfect. There are always at least a few women who have to share a bed. A lot of the staff is unmotivated; they don’t take their work serious. I mean why would you go through all the hassle of measuring a blood pressure if you can just make it up? Even in women with pregnancy induced hypertension/pre- eclampsia. The same for foetal heart rate, making that up is easier than actually listening to the baby’s heart. The labour ward is another example; they have a stick there to deal with uncooperative women. This, and other things that show lack of compassion, can be quite frustrating. I have to mention that not all the blame comes to the staff. They really work a lot and long hours. Fortunately there are some motivated people who want to change things to the best. Although the hospital lacks some resources they are aware of what is possible with what is available. The professor is one of them, though his efforts are not appreciated by everyone. And compared to small hospitals, this one has heaps of facilities. After all it’s one of the 5 referral hospitals Tanzania has. The hospital leaves mixed feelings, with despair and hope.

So much for the hospital; when I’m back I’ll be happy to tell more about it.

Last Sunday we went to the church of the driver. (The Germans where we stay work for a water project sponsored by the EU and Germany, they have a driver for work purposes) Well actually, I skipped the serves. I’ve already seen one here, the dancing and singing is very nice, but the preach, all in Swahili… So they went, and I stayed home. After about 2.5 hrs Axel came to pick me up. Lunch was served in church and we’re all invited. That was really nice. And the food was good, local but good.

Now some pictures.

Look at arrow, someone is walking there.

Ngozi Crater Lake. (in the crater of volcano)

Locals have a lot of stories about this lake; it’s supposed to host a Which or a monster. Some stories tell it’s a magic lake etc etc.

The scientific explanation is that the volcano underneath is leaking gas bubbles. Sometimes people on the lake get inside a bubble that’s just above the water. They die or drown suddenly because of lack of oxygen…

The pool in utengule

                                 Coffee beans, drying in the sun.

Lots has happend..

As I said, lots has happened lately,

 Let me start with something not so nice.Last Friday, 20 July, Esther was hit by a Dala Dala, a mini bus.I was walking right behind her, was quite of a shock for the both of us. Esther was lying there on the street, screaming (lucky) and I was trying to calm her and finding transport.Now I could make this a very long story but I’ll just cut it.Her foot is not broken, and except from soft tissue injury in her foot and some bruises she is fine.Although she’s not able to walk yet/still. Due to several problems with the immigration office we decided to book our flight 2 weeks early so we didn’t needed them anymore. The bastards took us to a very doggy room and try to make us pay 300 US  etc etc. So new arrival date is 30^th of august. Further more we’ve seen some pretty cool places (when es could still walk ). A crater lake, a coffee plant (we could see the whole process). A platform with amazing view, and other waterfall. In the hospital things go pretty well. Last week I performed a evacuation (for those not familiar with the term, it’s some kind of abortion). This is done to woman who miscarried and of whom the cervix is closed already.  Abortion is illegal here in Tanzania, whether you agree with that or not, it results in some pretty nasty situations. The other week a woman was brought in who had an illegal abortion with a stick…. The result was that she expelled the fetus but her uterus was ruptured as well. She didn’t wanted the baby cause the father left here and it would be a shame to have a baby, besides the fact she lacks the financial resources to take care of the baby. Sigh…   I could tell a lot more horrible stories, about woman sharing a bed in the hospital, young girl that has been raped, a woman who was abused by her husband in a terrible way, but I won’t finish with that. Good things happen as well. They have sterile equipment for everyone f.e. Next time more pictures again,

I’m not working from my own computer now.

love to all!

More pics

Suuz, gefeliciteerd !!

               

 

In the labourward, here woman give birth.

Believe me; you can fit quite a few in here.

Took the pics when no one was there. A rare occasion

                  

                  (Pap, je jassen, we hebben er veel aan!)

                 

 < We climbed this!!

Loleza peak, on the border

Of the city.

(2653 m, mbeya is 1700 something) 

                        swahili lessons >

 Bedankt voor al jullie aandacht op m’n verjaardag!! Heel fijn!

Matema beach

Hallo Iedereen,  

Het weekend van 16 en 17 juni zaten we aan lake malawi, op matema beach. Heel mooi, hutje aan het strand, maar ook wel heel afgelegen. Zo hadden we er bijvoorbeeld geen stroom….

Ondertussen heb ik zelf al een bevalling gedaan, jaja, intraveneuze lijnen gezet en geassisteerd met een keizersnede, zelfs gehecht ook! Het onderzoek gaat ook z’n gangetje, officieel niet, we hadden uiteindelijk toch geen toestemming (en dan denk je alles geregeld te hebben) maar gelukkig is er onofficieel heel wat te doen .

Voor dit weekeind staat lekker luieren in de planning. Maar vanavond eerst uit eten en stappen in “Mama Land”

Liefs van mij.

Hello Everyone                          

Last weekend (16th and 17th of June) we went with Axel and his colleague (Older man, also German) to Malawi lake. We stayed in a hut that was right on Matema beach. Its so beautiful there! And it is as remote as beautiful there. For example, there was no electricity.

In the hospital everything is going smoothly, i did my first delivery , placed some drips and assisted with a caesarean section, i was even allowed to stitch! The research is another story though, officially we’re not allowed to do a research (and we were thinking everything was well organized ……), fortunately unofficial a lot of things are possible anyway .  

Love and Cheers from Mbeya

 from the car

view from our room –>                                                                        

                                   

new dress

Waterfall and the first days in the hospital

Sunday (10th) we went to a waterfall; that was really beautiful! And the road to get there was inconceivable. Really of road! I think describing it does not make sense, its impossible to capture some things in words. just like the experiences we had the first few days in the hospital. Anyway, we went there with our German friend. Underway, of the real road on a sand track, we didn’t know how to go and of course there are no signs ( i mean who would waist fuel just to make a trip for fun?) So we asked some locals in the village…. our Swahili is not great but we were wondering if they spoke it at all. Hand symbols seems to be the same all over the world, so when they were pointing in the direction we should take. One of the locals must have felt sorry for us, he put his bike! in the truck and showed us the way to the waterfall and even showed us some nice spots there. We spend the day along the water with fresh fruits and drinks.

De eerste dagen in het ziekenhuis waren heel indrukwekkend. De vrouwen liggen echt heel alleen te bevallen. De zusters/vroedvrouwen zitten aan de kant en komen bijna alleen in actie al shet kind er uit komt. Zo’n 10 min na de3 bevalling moeten de vrouwen zelf !! uit bed klimmen, hun spullen bij elkaar rapen en naar een andere kamer lopen. Voor de geintreseerde nog wat medische dingen. We hebben 4 bevallingen gezien, 1 keizersnede, en een operatie om een ovarium cyste, ter groote van een voldragen zwangerschap, te verwijderen. Vandaag hebben Es en ik beide voor het eerst een vaginaal toucher gedaan. de vrouw die ik onderzocht had 2 cm ontsluiting. Echt super gaaf om te voelen!!!! en dat allemaal in 2 dagen. de eerste twee dagen gingen geheel verloren aan het ontmoeten van de direteur en een hele horde andere mensen. Je hebt er werkelijk geen idee van hoe weinig je kan doen op een dag, en toch komt ie vol!

The first days in the hospital were great, quite shocking to see how different it all is. Woman are really alone with their fears and pains during delivery. their are nurses and midwives but they only do what is necessary. For any one who is interested, i’ve seen 4 births, 1 cesarean  section and the removal of one ovary cyst which was as big as a full carried pregnancy. It contained 8 liters of liquids. Today i did my first vaginal examination, so cool. The woman was 2 cm dilated.

Cheers/groetjes!!