Volume 11
September 6, 2004Hello, everyone. This week, we're going to start off by letting Allyson tell her own story - from an email that came in this very afternoon, while I was driving home from Allyson's parents' place in the North Carolina mountains. (And if you're wondering how I got the email on the way home, it's because I have my cell phone set to give me alerts whenever I get an email from her. That's how eager I am to read them.)
"I had a Third World moment today in the hospital," Allyson wrote. "I was taking the temperature of a baby and heard a sound that I thought was another baby crying in the room. I looked over in the corner, and there was a chicken. I really liked that. Chickens in the hospital. Only in Africa."
One of the things we all love about our Ally is how she can find the humor in damned near anything. A hen in the hospital isn't cause for alarm to her. Instead, it is cause for a laugh.
Allyson is firmly in a routine now, running the Therapeutic Feeding Center and doing work in the hospital in Garsila. Here is her account of a typical day. This from last week:
"Well, my long day is ending. Long but good. This is the first time I've had a moment to myself. Work started at 8 a.m. and was busy with many admissions at TFC. Another malaria patient, who I'm praying doesn't die overnight. It is a major bummer to show up in the a.m. and find one less kid. Then home at 6 p.m., then a quick break at home, then back to TFC at 7 p.m. for another hour to check on the malaria patient and two others. Then home to eat a delicious meal of rice and lentils, then working on the statistics with Ellen the nutritional coordinator."
That schedule holds for Allyson about six days a week, Friday being the only thing that resembles a day off. The good news is that she is wrapping up her sixth week in the field, which means that next week, she gets an entire week of R&R. She'll go to Khartoum, Sudan's capital city, on the 13th for a week. Not exactly a garden spot, but in MSF's house there, there is air conditioning, satellite television and hard-line phones.
It'll be a nice respite for Allyson, I'm sure. She needs it. In Volume 10, I told all of you about Allyson's happiness over the little white kitten, Kawaga. On Saturday, Kawaga died. Allyson said she felt bad crying over the death of the kitten, with everything else worth grieving over going on around her. But I think - and I told her - that she could forgive herself a few tears over Kawaga.
As she goes into her last week before R&R comes, let's all wish an unexpected happiness or two for our gal. She needs it.
Until next time,
Chuck
Links to Aid Organizations
Doctors Without Borders UNICEF International Red CrossInformational Links
CIA Sudan Factbook United Nations Passion of the Present New York Times (Africa section)
NPR "Fresh Air" program on Darfur The Guardian's Darfur Diary
Last updated Wednesday, January 19, 2005