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10/25/2003: "Kandahar Chronicles #35 - 26/10/03"

Finally, after a two week wait, we got the BHU in Zhare Dahst operational again. Our reopening of the health centre was conditional on an improved security environment based around two checkpoints controlling the entrances to the camp as well as an increase in mobile patrols. Those elements have been put in place and we called the staff in to go back and get everything set up. The IDPs were very happy to have their camp secured and the resumption of convenient health care. It is also a relief for the medical team who are operating below capacity when there is no access to the camp.

Kathleen will come back from her holiday in Ontario straight into the hands of a thousand grubby kids and Ally, our new midwife, is ready to go. She’s been a trooper reading all the guidelines and visiting the Infectious Disease Ward but she wants to get to know her team of midwives and get the program going to its potential. Time is flying and Bertein is already preparing for her handover to the new doctor being sent to replace her in a couple of weeks.

It’s easy to get a type of tunnel vision when working on the logistical side of a medical mission. I get so immersed in all the bedlam of supporting this operation that I sometimes lose sight of what projects the others actually have going on. I’m pretty sure Ally will be dealing with pregnant ladies and newborns while one of Kathleen’s objectives is to fatten up malnourished kids. Well, I probably know a bit more than that but I think I might have a good chat to them and get a few more details before I try to put it into print. Bertein spends her time coordinating the medical program but likes to get away from the administration and do some doctoring too.

Mattias has a tough job coordinating the whole project. He has a couple of missions under his belt as a logistician in Mazur, in Northern Afghanistan, and Sierra Leone. I can always bounce technical questions off him when I get confused. It’s very unfortunate that we are going to lose him in a couple of weeks to a project in Heart but it will be good for his development as a PC to be able to deal with all the facets of a project equally rather than concentrating to such a large extent on security issues.

Right now, I don’t even know what I’m doing. Something to do with injector pumps, English teachers and asbestos roofs.

Replies: 2 Comments

After reading your recent posts, I wonder how you stay motivated. I know your work must be rewarding, but does it not get to a point where your willing to leave it all and return home?

a.b said @ 11/01/2003 12:40 AM EST

Do you ever get a sense of the big picture when you're working there? I mean, do you get to see how all of your efforts work together to help an area? Or are they too separate? I suppose I'm wondering because you're just one person, one among many and sometimes I wonder if you find your own work a little futile. Or are the results of your work usually fairly clear?

Tom said @ 10/28/2003 04:15 PM EST