Second week... and how to (and how not to) party in Vanga

We had the privilege of having a great cultural and language interpreter this week- Katherine Niles. She is the daughter of late Dr. Dan Fountain who is credited with decentralizing healthcare for this area, starting a nursing school to staff the outside clinics, and has written several book about it. Katherine grew up in Vanga and speaks the local language. For her, it is like a vacation to come from the city of Kinshasa and be able to swim in the river every afternoon and stay in the house she grew up in.

I, Shannon, started work at the hospital this week, malimbe-malimbe, or slowly slowly as they say in Kituba. Katherine said it is better to start slow and observe a lot because hospital work is endless and can swallow a person before he or she knows what to prioritize or the global picture. More on that later.

Household progress

Working at the house (she had just woken from a nap, that's why she has quite the expression :)

Our other large task was organizing our household. We moved into our house over the weekend, but without electricity save the 3 hours given by hospital generator from 6-9pm, and also without any appliances like stove or fridge. We spent time organizing and orienting househelp, although at times it really felt like the other way around. J We have chosen, for now, to ask several people to work for us that have worked for years and years for other missionary families, including families who lived in our house. So many times, I just asked them how it worked, what they would like to do, or what foods I needed to buy in Kinshasa vs at the local market. I think it might take me a long time to learn what they know so well. But that is the best thing about hiring well-known and trustworthy people.

Ryan spent a considerable amount of time coordinating temporary workers. We had carpenters come and replace a ceiling tile that was rotted, painters come to paint a very dark pantry a welcoming bright white (as well as the replaced ceiling tile), a tailor come to recover a chair that is over 100 years old, etc. Ryan also removed old electrical lighting fixtures and put up new ones, installed some child safety locks, and went with the maintenance man to see his workshop and discuss needs at the hospital and at home.

Yesterday, Saturday, was a huge day because Katherine’s husband and son came overland with our oven, washing machine, solar panels, batteries, and cables in their truck. They got 4 large panels installed on our roof by lunchtime. It really was cool to see! And we have had electricity for longer than 3 hours in our house today (Sunday) for the first time!

Solar panels going up!

Medical Work

Monday morning, Dr. Rice and I were introduced to the nursing staff at their morning circle. Then, we were given an extensive hospital tour (which Ryan joined us for part of) for more introductions and also a better knowledge of patient flow, where to go for X-ray, ultrasound, labs, etc, and where the pseudo-isolation rooms are located, etc. Ryan commented that he was surprised by the immensity of the hospital. It really is quite remarkable to have a 500 bed hospital in a village like this. I met with nurses in the maternity, a couple of doctors who are on the OB/GYN rotation this month, and also with Dr. Rice to sort out a temporary schedule. On Thursday, I attended “grand rounds”with the residents and staff doctors, observed the prenatal clinic at the local health zone offices in the morning, performed and taught ultrasound in the afternoon while consulting on some of the difficult OB cases.

A little more should be said about the prenatal clinic. They are held every Thursday all over the health zone at each center. Some are held under trees, but here there is a nice large open room with plastic chairs for each patient to sit in. Two exam rooms are at one end. The room was packed this week just as it had been in 2012 during my visit. The ladies were split into new patients and old patients. The new patients gathered around for a basic talk on prenatal nutrition, and it was great to see the interaction between the wise and experienced nurse and the patients asking questions. “What do we call someone who doesn’t have squash seeds or greens or peanuts to eat?”They responded, “Lazy!” (because they grow in the soil here) And the nurse then said, “But if you don’t have fish or meat, it’s not your fault.”And they all nodded in agreement.

After the general education, each patient is registered and pays a one-time fee. They are given an HIV test, iron tablets, and three times a pregnancy a medication for the prevention of malaria. Their blood pressure, height and weight, fundal height, fetal heartbeat, and expected due date are all recorded on a sheet of paper which the patient is charged with keeping throughout the pregnancy. In my opinion, it is a system that works very well here, even though there are a couple of things I think could be improved with very little effort.

I haven’t started doing surgeries yet, but I will plan to start the observation process this week. A new group of medical students and other temporary doctors start their work this week, so it should be a good transition point for us all.

And now, how to party (and not to party) in Vanga

Sydney is sleeping wonderfully since we received a pack n play which we will borrow until a more permanent solution can be found. We are so thankful for this. We were excited to move up to our house this past weekend, despite the paucity of electricity. The village seems quiet, and after the hospital generator turns off at 9pm, the lights are out as well except for those with battery and solar power back-up. It is a great environment to sleep in… we thought, until Tuesday. The first warning was the eerie sound of a microphone feeding back. Then there was a sound of some piano synthesizer that was turned up way too loud for the system, causing the sound to be very muffled/unclear. A few notes were played, repetitiously, and I thought, “do they realize that it is 10:15pm?? I hope Sydney doesn’t wake up because it sounds like it is right outside her window!” In France, we were used to quiet hours starting at 10pm, and it really was quiet. Here in Vanga, our annoyances had been just the rooster, and occasional loud conversations or a goat stuck in a fence bleating. Surely this synthesizer will stop.

But at 10:30pm, the horrible sound had not gotten quieter nor any different. It really was just the same few notes played over and over and over and over and over and over and over... and we asked a night guard what was going on. He had no idea, but said there were quite a few people and he didn’t feel comfortable asking them to stop. Ryan decided to just stay up rather than be frustrated by trying to go to sleep with that racket. But alas, when I awoke at 5:15am, it was STILL just as loud and still going on. I wouldn’t even call it music, just noise! Ryan had given up around midnight. The sound didn’t stop until just before 6am in the morning! Not a cool thing in a “quiet”village!

Thursday night, there was a bit of a racket again, but this time it was quieter and much more musical in nature. We didn’t really mind it so much. And anyway, we knew that there was a big graduation for the nursing school Friday morning, and that nursing school along with its student dorms are just across the path from our front gate. Friday morning before the graduation ceremony, we heard the sound of drums—not African drums, but big band bass drums along with flutes. The sound came from the soccer field close to our house. As it got closer, I went outside to see a parade of children surrounding 5 flute players and 3 drummers as they played walking down the road. They paraded onto the grounds of the nursing school, where I lost sight of them.

I continued to hear the flutes and drums just until the time of the graduation ceremony, so I’m thinking that they picked up the students along the route and paraded them to the church where the ceremony took place. I was outside the packed church (and I mean packed, with kids sitting in the windows and crowds outside the doors and windows!) when the ceremony ended. People were dancing (especially moms of grads), the drums and flutes started again, and then the flouring began. This we had already seen a bit in Kinshasa. When someone receives a diploma or a passing score on a big exam, the student as well as his or her family gets showered with a white powder, which usually flour. It shows up brightly in their dark hair. The application of the flour reminds me of coaches who get iced after a big win. There is a chase, but really the person is quite happy to have deserved the shower.

Friday afternoon, there were receptions throughout the village with dancing and food for friends and family of the graduates. It looked like a grand time! And Friday night, not a peep of loud sounds was heard throughout the village. They had probably eaten so well and danced so hard that they were plumb worn out the night of their graduation. Now that’s a way to party!