Desert Gills

Here you can see the finished 'Kitso' product. It's a common, although not universal, hairstyle among Hausa women and girls. I was looking around our group of Wessterners at Day of Prayer yesterday and could not help but be struck that I am the only American here now. At the moment, we have three Kiwis from New Zealand, two Romanians, two Canadians, two French, one German, one Japanese, and one (pictured) Swiss German. It's great to enjoy the international flavor. Usually, Americans are the most populous sub-group on the field, within this agency (where we make up just over 50% of the total), and here at the hospital.

We were delighted to have "Kitso" (braiding) put into Ir's hair, by my favorite nurse S, with Ir's recent compound best buddy R standing by. Ir had to sit still for two hours, and Saratou did not pull as hard as she usually does, noting that little girls usually can't tolerate it so well. As a result... the braids started coming undone over a matter of days... instead of weeks. But that was ok, we all had fun with it. At least Ir didn't have to brush her hair for a week!

Ir had the opportunity to join some ladies in making a traditional mud-based wood-fire oven at the CREN, a facility joined to the hospital where women learn about better nutrition and food preparation habits. Most families in the village use this kind of oven (not having gas or electricity readily available).

Being limited to only 20 lab tests certainly constrains the internist in me. But it's nice to be stocked with so many more meds and tests than I have had to work with in some other developing world clinics. Our pharmacy does a wonderful job to keep us well-stocked in such a difficult logistical climate. Of course, there are also the cases where you don't need a better lab, you really need a bigger brain. Dermatology cases are often like that... we see so many odd rashes and I often leave thinking I'll try steroid cream, than fungal cream, but "What is it?" I often miss having twenty consultants available at the dial of a phone.

Ir tends to be very attentive, but not always super coordinated. She's actually the most attentive at bedtime, when she reinterprets E's babble to let us know "E wants some water!" or "E wants the nightlight on!" It can make for a long bed time. In this picture, time at the playground has turned into a spell of sitting under the shade drinking water.

Here's the gang hanging out on our front porch. Note E's boots... they loved to rampage through the puddles this past Sunday, with our heaviest rain yet.

Recently two houses on the compound which had been condemned for poor foundations were torn down. One had stood since soon after the hospital's founding in 1950. It made for interesting explorations for the kids and me... contractors bid for the right to bring in a sledgehammer-armed team. It was a competitive bid because all sorts of things from the stones in the walls to the (pictured) plumbing could be carted off and sold at a profit. The Hausa mostly live in mud-based houses, so there are a lot of desirable things in the compound's more western-style houses. Nevertheless, it's backbreaking work.