It’s been a long time
March 18, 2010Well, it’s been a couple of months since I last updated my blog. Sorry about that but as you will have seen from my last blog things have not really been too settled here. That is not the only reason I have written, it has also been laziness as well and as time went on there became more and more to write about and that made the thought of writing it even less appealing. So I have eventually got the motivation, made the time and managed to put down a few thoughts about the last couple of months. I have made a separate page about the Jos Crisis – you can see it at the edge under Jos Crisis 2010. I have made it like this as unfortunately it is an ongoing story and may need adding to later. So have a look at that if you want. Then below I have written about the medical outreach that I went on with Dustin, a fellow SIM missionary, from 6th-14th February. I hope you enjoy.
Medical Outreach to Ondo State
At the beginning of the year whilst he was on a trip to Obudu, Dustin happened to meet the director of an NGO called Family Care Association. They got talking and realised that they do some similar work, albeit on quite a different scale. As part of his outreach work, Dustin does some medical outreaches to the small villages he visits with a nurse and few other staff doing basic health care. Family Care Association do medical outreaches with over 40 doctors, doing general practise, dental work, general surgery and eye surgery. Dustin was intrigued to see how they manage this and when he was asked to join them on their next outreach in Ondo State he was very keen to go. He asked me if I wanted to go along as well and the opportunity to see a different part of Nigeria and to see a different way of doing medical work made the decision to join him very easy.
So we packed our things ready for a tough week-long medical outreach in the hot and sweaty south of Nigeria and on Saturday 6th February we headed to Jos airport to board our flight to Lagos. The people who run Family Care Association are based in Lagos and so we had to go there to meet up with them before heading to Ondo State. We arrived in Lagos with no problems and were picked up by Josh and Stephen in a nice air-conditioned car. They welcomed us and told us we would be staying at a hotel that night. We were expecting a basic hotel where we could rest before the week ahead, but as we pulled into the gated compound we began to get the idea that this hotel was going to be anything but basic. Family Care Association has a number of contacts in Lagos hotel businesses and they arranged for us to stay at the Protea Leadway Hotel for free. The water fountain by the doorway, the marble floors in the lobby, and the smart and tasteful decoration throughout the rest of the hotel made us have to pinch ourselves. I was trying not to have a silly grin on my face but it was hard work, and when they showed us to our room it was impossible. There was a big flat screen TV with a range of satellite channels, comfortable bed, air-conditioning, then a huge bath and an amazing shower. When the porter left us in the room Dustin and I just looked at each other and burst out laughing. We couldn’t believe it, and it was all for free!!! We sat down on the beds trying to gain some composure but struggling somewhat. We turned on the TV and flicked through the channels, then got our computers out, logged on to the wireless broadband connection and surfed the internet. Then we decided that we shouldn’t keep all this luxury to ourselves and we should share it. So we took some pictures of our room and then in a spirit of sharing sent them via email to our friends back at Challenge in Jos. We needed their prayers to help us to survive the harsh environment we had found ourselves in on this rural medical outreach!!!! After smugly waiting for replies from them we flicked through the channels again and I was ecstatic to see that the sports channel was showing England’s first match of the Six Nations tournament. So whilst giving Dustin a lesson in the rules of rugby I enjoyed watching England beating Wales. Just when we thought things could not get any better it was time to go for dinner. We went to the dining room and were ushered into our seats by the attentive staff and then we opened the menu. What a choice! Fish, meat, seafood and to top it all Steak!!! There was no choice really. Having not seen a proper steak let alone eaten one since being in the Nigeria it had to be that, but which one, which toppings and dressings did we want!! I eventually decided and when the plate was brought to the table I was not disappointed so I sat and ate the succulent meat, drank the ice cold water and watched another rugby match on the TV. It was heaven!! We then returned to our room and despite the temptation to watch TV all night decided we needed to get some sleep as we probably had a hard week ahead of us. Morning soon came and although we had to get up quite early, we were still motivated by the thought of what breakfast had in store. We went to the dining room and were greeted by a buffet of all the breakfast items you could think of. There was cereal, toast, fruit juice of different kinds, fruit, cheese, cold meats, bacon, sausages, baked beans and even the option of having an omelette of your choice made while you waited. We were overwhelmed once again, but that didn’t stop us from tucking into the food that was on offer. After having our fill we had to head back to our rooms, collect our things and then make our way over to Josh’s house from where we would head to Ondo State.
Our luxury bubble was soon burst when we saw the taxi that would take us there. We had to pay for this one so we had gone cheap!! It was just like the ones in Jos, held together by bits of string and just about making its way down the road thanks to the coaxing and tinkering of the driver after a number of stops on the way. Then we made it to Josh’s house and it was time to head to Ondo State and the village of Okitipupua. It took us about 3-4 hours to get there and then we made our way to the accommodation. We were once again expecting pretty basic accommodation but it turned out we were staying in a pretty nice hotel albeit at the end of a bumpy dirt road. It had air-conditioning, satellite TV and even a swimming pool. I guess you may be wondering now how all this was paid for. The outreaches are funded by big business in Nigeria and this one in particular by DOCAG (Deep Offshore Community Affairs Group) a group of oil companies working in Nigeria. As the doctors on the outreach give their time for free they like to be able to rest in the evenings and so there is a budget set aside for accommodation. So although Dustin and I had to share a double bed, we were definitely in better accommodation than we had expected, but not as good as the night before!!! Once we had arrived the rest of the day was just spent settling in whilst the doctors and other staff arrived from their various locations around Nigeria.
Monday was the day when we had to set up all the equipment for the work to be done. We were based in the Ondo State Specialist Hospital so most things were in place but we had to unload the truck full of equipment, drugs, IV lines, tables and other equipment that was required for the outreach to run smoothly. This took us most of the morning and whilst this was going on Solomon (one of Family Care Association’s Nigerian workers) was giving out the first of the treatment cards that the patients needed in order to be able to see the doctors. He had an easy job that afternoon as the crowds were quite small and under control so he gave out the cards with no problems. More than could be said for the next few times we gave cards out.
On the Tuesday we had decided to show the Jesus film at the hospital before we gave out the treatment cards. So, Solomon, Dustin and I left for the hospital at 4.30am so we could show the film before the sun came up and then give the treatment cards out. We eventually managed to set the film equipment up and find a suitable power supply and so we started to show the film. As this was going on the number of people waiting for treatment cards was beginning to rise so Solomon decided that we should start to give them out. So he handed me a bundle of cards and then I began to give them out. I managed to position myself on a mound of earth by the front gate of the hospital which gave me a good elevated position in order to arrange the crowds of people wanting the cards. After a bit of shouting and gesturing we managed to get them standing in line and could give the cards out in some sort of order. There were still people that pushed to the front of the queue and begged for cards. It was amazing how many times I had to say get to the back of the line, before they gave up begging and went to back of the line and then got their cards after only a few minutes wait. When it got to about 8.30 the cards I had to give out were finished and so I had to explain to people that they had finished and they should come back tomorrow for another chance to get a card. They were pretty disappointed and even more so when I told them what time people had been at the hospital that morning and that they needed to be there by at least 4.30 the next morning to get the best chance of getting a card. I eventually managed to persuade them that I really didn’t have any more cards and their begging eventually subsided and I could leave and go back to the hotel for some breakfast and a rest. The rest of the day we spent helping out wherever we could around the site. Some of the time we spent in the pharmacy counting out tablets and putting them into bags ready to be dispensed by the pharmacists and the rest of the time just doing the odd jobs that needed to be done. The day then came to an end and we went back to the hotel briefly before then heading out again to do a film show at a local school field. We chose the area because it was right next to the main road so hopefully we would get a good number of people coming to watch the films. We started by showing some football goals and then we put on the Passion of the Christ. The crowd seemed to be interested but then the generator stopped working. We tried to fix it and Richard got to work with his tools, but it was no good. The local people were more than eager to help and before Richard could stop them they started pulling the generator apart. Before too much damage was done he managed to stop them and then we realised the generator was beyond hope. One of the local people offered to get his own generator so we agreed but when it started up the voltage was over 300 volts and so we decided not to risk blowing up the film equipment and had to call it a night. We then headed back to the hotel, had some food and then after a very long day happily went to bed.
Wednesday morning came all too quickly once more and we found ourselves on the way to the hospital at 4.30am again. We were planning to give out some cards and then show the Jesus film again. When we got there we got the feeling that things wouldn’t run as smoothly as previously. There were hundreds of people there waiting expectantly for cards. Dustin, Noel and I split the treatment cards between us and then decided the best way to give the cards out. I remembered from the day before that being in an elevated position had made giving the cards out pretty easy, so I positioned myself at the top of a stairway and tried to arrange the crowd in front of me into a line. Tried is the operative word as it didn’t really work at all. As soon as they saw that the cards were going to be given out the crowds surged forward and before I knew it I was surrounded by a mass of people and hands reaching out to take a card. I tried in vain to organise the crowd but people were too busy pushing and shoving each other and shouting for a card to listen to me. So I decided I needed to just start giving out the cards. So as I held the bundle of cards closely to my chest I gradually worked the first card out into my hand and raised it a little. Before it was even half an inch away from my body there were six or seven hands grabbing at the card. I did my best to keep a grip on the card and my composure and tried to make eye contact with the person I wanted to give the card to. Once I identified the person, I then had to identify their hand so I actually gave it to the right person. This was easier said than done so I had to resort to planting my hand on their head so that I could tell they had got the card when they reached up to get it. This system was not really working well. So I tried again to get some order. I refused to give any more cards out until the people arranged themselves in an orderly line. This didn’t really work well either and I was still surrounded by a group of people pressing into me and shouting and grabbing for cards. The most annoying thing was that at the bottom of the steps there was what looked like a pretty organised and well-behaved line of people patiently waiting to get a card. The only trouble was I had to get through a tightly packed crowd of people and down 6 steps to get to them, but is wasn’t working at the top of the stairs so I thought I might as well try to get to the ones in the queue. So I gradually started to push myself forwards and down the steps with people still reaching for and begging in various ways for a card. My plan didn’t really work and all I succeeded in doing was to bring the disorder from the top of the steps to the bottom of the steps, and now I had lost my advantage of elevation so the situation was worse. I tried in vain to give out some cards but as they were being torn to pieces as I tried I was glad to see Solomon return and say we were going to leave as we couldn’t give the cards out in an environment like this. As I was talking to him with a bunch of cards in my hand before I knew it someone ran up and grabbed a handful of the cards from my hand. I turned round and saw him running away and so I started to chase him. He was pretty fast but we had the advantage of two versus one. As he ran around, Solomon managed to cut into his path and made a tackle that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Six Nations rugby I had been watching on Saturday. I then caught up with him and helped Solomon to pin the man to the ground and then we managed to retrieve the cards he had in his hand. Unfortunately he wasn’t holding as many cards as I had had taken from my hand so someone had got away with quite a number of the valuable cards. Anyway, there was nothing we could do now so we just made our way to the van and locked ourselves inside. We were surrounded by the crowd of people but thankfully we were safe inside and after managing to persuade the people who had climbed on the back of the van to get off we were able to drive out of the hospital and back to the calm and safety of the hotel. There we were able to clean our wounds (literally – I had scratches and marks up my arms) and to compare our battle stories. Dustin told of how he had had to resort to sprinting away from the crowd, jumping over a wall and climbing up a water tower in order to be able to give out the cards in some order.
So, after having some food and a rest we then headed back to the hospital. We spent the rest of the day helping out in the pharmacy and then we began to help at the GP treatment area. Everyone who had a treatment card was now waiting to be seen by the doctors. The treatment cards were numbered and so the patients were to be seen in order. So Dustin and I now had the job of trying to keep the crowd in order and making sure that people were seen in the correct order. After a while we got into the rhythm of how to do this and then it became quite fun. The people were in a good mood and we could have a bit of a laugh and a joke with them. I was even found at one point singing ‘If your happy and you know it’ over the megaphone!! This didn’t stop them from gradually creeping forward and crowding the area so we had to keep on telling them to move back. We even learnt how to say ‘Get Back!!’ in Yoruba and that surprised them and seemed to have a better effect than our previous shouting had had. The doctors worked so hard in the GP clinic as I would be checking for when they were finished with a patient and as soon as the patient stood up I would send another patient to them. They pretty much worked non-stop except for lunch from 8.30-4 every day.
On Thursday we thankfully didn’t have to give any more cards out so we could have a bit of a lie in. We headed to the Hospital at about 8.30 and took up our place doing crowd control for the GP clinic. Whilst we were doing this we got a message from the surgeons that they were running out of patients to do surgery on so could we accelerate some suitable patients to them. The head GP made an announcement and a number of people made their way to the front of the line and then they had an impromptu assessment there and then. On one occasion one man just dropped his trousers as he stood in the line and had an assessment of his hernia done right there!!! The crowd remained in good spirits most of the day and then it came time to give some more treatment cards out. It was once again difficult to do this in order so we tried to subtly give cards out to those most in need – pregnant or nursing mothers and the elderly. Being subtle was pretty difficult though as everyone waiting for a card had eyes like hawks and as soon as they saw even a hint of a card being given out they would rush to the area and beg for a card to be given to them. The head GP then spoke over the loudspeaker and actually managed to get an orderly queue of people and then he went along the line giving out cards.
That afternoon we went to one of the local schools to do another film show. We took all the film equipment with us and set it up. Then we just had to start the generator which had been serviced by the hospital engineer. It started, but only lasted for about 5 minutes. So after trying a couple of other generators and watching some very African electrical wiring (bare wires twisted and poked in the necessary holes!!) we eventually managed to play the film we had chosen. The students seemed to enjoy it and Dustin gave a short talk at the end. We then headed back to the hospital and resumed our posts at the GP clinic.
Friday was just a half day at the hospital as we needed to pack everything up afterwards. This meant that there were no cards to give out. We just had to finish up seeing everyone else with a card, or so we thought. Like I said before, the GPs worked really hard and so they managed to get through all the cards and so we had to hurriedly photocopy some new cards and then give them out to the people who were still waiting. We gave the cards out and by lunchtime the last of the patients had been seen. In the afternoon we had a treat. All the staff from the outreach would be taken on a boat trip through the lagoons of the Niger Delta. After waiting a while for the boats to arrive, discussing the fact that SIM does not pay ransoms just in case we got kidnapped (the Niger Delta is an area where a number of foreigners have been kidnapped) and quickly sheltering form a rain shower we eventually loaded up and headed off. The scenery was amazing and like something out of a film. We headed along the river and breakneck speed in our huge speed boat and passed people on their wooden two person canoes and big groups on slow moving barges. It was amazing and was a real treat. One the way back we didn’t get to see as much of the scenery as it started to rain heavily and as we were uncovered in the back of the boat and travelling at speed, all we could do was to bend over double and try to protect ourselves from the rain as much as possible.
We then went back to the hotel for dinner and the final evening programme. Then we had to load up the truck with all the kitchen equipment and other things ready to leave the next day. So at 10.30pm we started to load the trucks and then ferried the equipment to the big van that was at the hospital. Although it was late and we were tired it was actually quite a nice novelty to be driving around the roads after 6pm like we are limited to in Jos due to the curfew. By 11.30 we had finished and then headed to bed.
The next day (Saturday) we headed back to Lagos and after a brief stop at another Protea hotel for a free breakfast we then hit Lagos traffic. Thankfully though we were in an off-road car with a driver who really knew his way round Lagos so we decided to take the beach road!! So we turned off the road and headed for the beach. It was great to drive along the sand and to see the palm trees. We then stopped and had a short walk along the beach, watched the sea for a while (that was great to see) and took a few pictures. It was great and we missed a load of traffic as well. Then we headed to one of the shopping malls in Lagos for Dustin to get a power extension cord (something you can’t get easily in Jos) and after that we had a brief stop at Josh’s house. Finally we then made the journey to our basic accommodation at the Protea Leadway hotel. This time we knew what to expect but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable. In fact, the thought of having another steak almost made it better. So we checked into our rooms, checked our emails, watched satellite TV and then had another great meal.
The next morning after having another great breakfast, we headed to the airport and almost before we knew it we were back in Jos. Although it had been a lot less rough a tough than we had expected (particularly our nights in Lagos) we were pleased to be home and it was good to catch up with everyone at Challenge.
What a trip it was – an amazing experience. Over 3000 people were seen by the GPs and given free drugs by the pharmacy. Over 70 people had surgery done and about 20 people had eye surgery, not to mention the 100s of patients who had free dental work done. It was amazing to be part of a project of this scale and definitely gave us something to think about on different ways of doing outreaches.
