Africa works!

Pic 1: Whats left of the arm of the mining accident guy.
Pic 2: Closing up after a C-section.
Pic 3: The very bad open fracture of the mining accident guy.
Pic 4: The very bad spine fracture of a 12 year old girl that fell down from a mango tree. We reduced it and but cast on it and amazinglt she can still move her legs.
Pic 5: Dr. Per and anesthesia nurse Vigdis

Africa workds, but very slowly! And now I have started doing some work as well! And I like it! But the injuries here is not like home where the old people fracture bones falling on the icy rods and kids fall on skateboards and trampolines. No, here the patients fall from mango trees and fracture their spine, get kicked in the stomach by donkyes and perforate their bowels and get arrows shot in their heads.

In the weekend I tried to get myself some operations, but it wasn't that easy. Went on rounds on saturday and it was ok. But no operations and there was no deliveries either. And every time I went to the orphanage the kids were sleeping.

Sunday I just chilled and tanned in the backyard with 3rd year med. student Mark from Sweden and doctor Johan from Denmark. Not bad either, but I prefer my surgeries!

Monday I decided to not miss ANY operation. I wanted in on everything! So I ended up waiting in the operation theatre for hours and hours... Everything is in African time, which is very very slowly and inefficiently. I think they would have been shocked if they came to Norway or Europe and saw the speed people are working at there. But in the end of the day when eveything is delayed by 4 hours they start to speed up since they want to walk their 20 km home before it gets dark.

There's this amazing anesthetist in the operating theatre. His name is Victor and he is pretty damn good!! I went home on monday at 4pm but I gave my number to Victor since ha was on call. 30 min later my phone called and it was VICTOR, my hero!

There was a evactuation of a missed abortion and a laparotomy of a 20 year old man with volvulus (tarmslyng). Started off with the young man and I have never seen anything like it. His intestines just popped out of his abdomen when we opened him up, and it looked like 6 meters of really thick good smoked sausage!! (I was hungry, I actually missed my dinner that day). No wonder he was in pain... Everthing went well, untwisted the volvulus and emptied his intestines. But the next day we got to know that he had died during the night due to aspritation of vomit... so unnecessary and sad.

After that there was 2 curettages (utskrapning etter spontanabort). The doctor on call was buzy so Victor asked if I felt comfortable doing it. And I said yes. And it went very well! So i did one today as well!

Monday night was my roommate Meredith's last night and she had planned a night out at a pub in town. But I totally forgot about time and when I got home from the hospital at 9pm everybody was gone. Its not really safe to walk alone in this village at night, so I called up my favorite tanzanian Victor, and he wanted to come with me. He got an ambulance car to drive us up to town where we met the others! It was a good night and I was completely high on adrenaline after my night in the operating theatre.

Today there was 5 cesarian sections, and almost at the same time. One was actually twins and they didn't know it until the 2 babies popped out. Crazy! One of the tanzanian doctors wanted me to do the whole thing and take the baby out but in the end he did it. And I am really happy he did since that baby was really stuck and the nurse had to push the baby back up through the vagina.

There was also this really nasty case today where a young man got blown pretty badly up by an explosion in a gold mine. Poor man, open fractures all over the place, amputations, wounds...

So I have seen alot so far! A good beginning of this week! Hope it continues like this! And its really best to stick with the Tanzanian doctors. They actually let us do things, compared to others...

I'm a surgery junkie...

I'm hunting surgeries like crazy! I'm actually hoping people will get ill so I can scrub in! I want to see some blood here!

I’ve had my first few days here at the hospital and there hasn’t really been that much for me to do yet. But I am sure hunting! Was really hoping to get my hands dirty here! But it will come, I’m sure!

I’m trying to scrub in on as many surgeries as possible but so far I only managed to scrub in on two. That’s why I decided to stick to the doctor on call this weekend as glue! I am sacrificing my beloved sleep to hang out at the hospital just in case there will be an operation!

The doctor on call this weekend is Dr. Nuwas. He finished medical school 3 years ago and now he is doing all kinds of surgeries, even brain surgery! He is really good. So now I am just waiting for him to give me a call, most likely there will be a laparotomy of a 6 year old boy with intestinal obstruction and possible perforation. I really hope so!! (Not for his sake of course, but for mine!)

It’s kind of special here. Before every surgery we have to pray. So we are standing there all scrubbed in and dressed up with our masks,gloves and hats with our hands folded, praying. Don’t know if it helps, but its just a rule here! No one died during the surgeries I was in on so far, but we nearly lost this 9 days old girl that was operated for occipital menigocele. But she is still alive, but kind of unstable. Hope she will make it!

Really bored today… My two roommates Meredith (U.S.) and Mark (Sweden) were going on safari this weekend. But Meredith ended up going alone since Mark has foodpoisening. So I’m kind of one my own here… Not so many people. So I am killing time with walking between the delivery room checking if there is any deliveries for me and visiting the orphanage. But somehow I always come when the kids are sleeping. Was there today and only 1 child was awake and crying. A newborn little girl, gave her a bottle of milk and then she slept again. So not much for me there either.

Haven’t been able to take so many pictures yet, will do better in the future. But I will add some! Otherwise I'm good and today its pizza for dinner! Cant get any better! Guess they are just making up for the fact that we had rice and beans for lunch! (But I should not complain, beans is my new source of proteins!)

Finally I'm back in the bush!

Finally at Haydom Hospital! Took some time to get here!

Took the bus from Nairobi to Arusha on Monday, it’s was a long trip. On the bus I met a guy from America and a Norwegian couple actually. I really tried to hide my identity as Norwegian as far as I could. The reason for this was that I saw that this couple was Jehovas Witnesses, or most likely at least. They had this sign on their jackets and there was really no doubt…
But I had to change seats in order to stretch my legs and avoid DVT and ended up next to them. So I thought I might as well talk a little bit to them. And believe it or not, they were really really nice. AND (most importantly): They didn’t try to save me! So I am still the same old Kristin, not a “Witness” yet!

Met up with Ingar Kvia in Arusha. He is… well, lets say he is a very active man! He talks a lot and he never sits still. So a day following him around was kind of exhausting. But got to see some new places in Arusha and not just only Impala Hotel!

Missed the landcruiser from Arusha to Haydom so I had to stay one extra day in Arusha, but that was ok. Went out to dinner with Ingar and this other Norwegian guy and had a good nights sleep.

The landcruiser… that’s a chapter I would like to forget! It’s a normal Toyota Landcruiser and somehow they managed to put in 12 seats. Which is a lot in that car. But on that 7 hours drive we were 17 people, I reapeat 17 people in the car. NEVER AGAIN! I have decided to fly when I am leaving this place. Found out that every Monday there is a flight from Haydom to Dodoma. So I am saving my money for that flight.

No pictures this time. We are not allowed to upload photos, only during night. So I will try to upload some photos this weekend and write some words about my work at the hospital!

Life on the upper west side of Nairobi

After surviving a night with a kenyan horndog in the "slum" I was off to Scripture Mission. Thats a Norwegian christian organization (I think). At least there's mostly Norwegian people here and a Norwegian school for the kids. It was like coming to heaven! I had my own room, clean sheets, running water, a real toilet and a shower. The standard is simple but more than good enough!

That day I had to wake up at 6am at the "African experience guys's" place. We left his place 6.15am and arrived at Scripture Mission 8.30am. It was on the other side of town and traffic here is just terrible. And the roads even worse. It seems like all the 31 million inhabitants have a car, but thats probably not the case... Did I write in last blog that the William, the son of the "African experience guy" actually asked: "Can I call you mummy?" Crazy... well, like father like son!

The reason I came to Scripture Mission in the first place was actually because of another coincidence. A few days before I left I found out my old secondary school teacher was going to Nairobi with his wife 2 days after me to visit his son. So we decided to meet up. His son and wife and 3 sons have been living in Nairobi for more than a year. They work in an orphanage outside town. I met up with this son, Bjørn Kjetil, at lunch the day I arrived and he told me he was actually on his way to the orphanage in a few minutes and that I could join in.

In car he asked me if I could hold a first aid class for the kids. 60 kids from 4 to 16 years old. Of course I said yes! (What could I say!) I just talked about basic things like bleeding, faiting, fractures and stuff that the kids could actually remember. And it went ok! (The snake bite lecture wasnt exactly my strongest one!) After the class I had some balloons, pens and caps I gave out to the kids before we went home.

Saturday I went to a HUGE christmas fair with 20 year old Bardur from the Ferrow Islands and 17 year old Daniel from Iceland. Mostly white rich british kenyans there and it was all way overpriced. So all i ended up buying was a pair of Havaianas... very typical african!! ;-)

And I also managed to steal a hot dog. Fotgot to pay and didnt bother to go back...! After that we went to a big shoppingcenter, bought some overpriced icecream and went to the cinema and saw the craziest movie ever; "Gamer". In the evening I ate tacodinner with the Hellestræ family.

Thats pretty much what I've been up to lately... And I have actually gotten sick. Constantly nauseaus, been throwing up and I have no appetite at all. Got some anti-emetics at the pharmacy, domperidone. As far as I can remember, lactation can be a side-effect... so lets hope i dont start lactating here in Africa! I just hope I get well for the 6 hour bus-ride i have tomorrow. Going to Arusha in Tanzania. I think it must be because of the funky food I ate when I was with the Kenyan dude... From now on I will stick to beans as my source of proteins, meat here is disgusting.

Thats all for now! Stay put!

A true african experience!

Finally… my first blog! Africa here I am!

Arrived here in Nairobi Thursday morning. I had already booked a nice hotel in the center of the city, wanted to spend my first night in luxury and just relax and sleep! The same guy that arranged with my hotel booking was also picking me up at the airport. So I arrived, all my luggage was there, no problems. And the guy and his driver was standing waiting for me outside.

When we came to the car and started driving he told me that there was a problem. The hotel I had booked was not available after all but he arranged for me to sleep in another hotel. In the car he told me that he had people from all over the world staying in his private house all the time. And he also did some backpacking in south America some years ago. We arrive at the hotel he arranged for me. It was more or less in a slum area, far away from the center. And there was not a single white person in the hotel… (I know this is Africa but still…!) There wasn’t even a shower in the bathroom. And it was only 11am so what was I supposed to do all day?? Lock myself in the room not daring to go out??! So I tried to call this Norwegian place where I had booked to stay the 3 next nights, but of course they didn’t answer. Then the guy offered that I could stay with him. I was a bit sceptical, so I asked if he had a family, and he said he had a wife and 2 boys. So I said “OK, lets go!” Crazy… but i was thinking this might be an adventure!

On the way to his place we picked up his son at school, 7 years old William. His place was not exactly nice… To me it seemed like the slum but I guess it was more of a middleclass area. There was no running water, no shower, pretty much nothing. But I got a bedroom of my own, so it was doable. He cooked me some dinner and we ate. I asked where his wife and younger son was and he told me they would not come back today. They were in a village outside Nairobi. The next he said was: “For me and my religion its ok to have many girlfriends even though I am married. I once had 7 girlfriends. But of course I protect myself against HIV”. Hmm… I understood were this was going, and earlier I had been stupid enough to tell him that I didn’t have a boyfriend or husband.

After that he took me to a internet café so he could google his name to show me all the positive review people that had stayed with him had written on different blogs. Just so I could trust him! Well, that was ok. Then suddenly we had to leave. We had to make a short stop by his nephew that was having a graduation party. We jumped on this disco/cinema bus stuffed with people heading for the party! When we got there I understood that this guy was actually arranging the whole party. The party was for a 23 year old guy that graduated as a medical engineer. So I was stuck at that party for 5 hours because the guy couldn’t leave until everybody else had left. I had to hold a speech and I was fed cake by the graduate with a fork… I ate some crappy meat and some other random shit, of course with my hands. Thank god I had a raincoat on, because I don’t know how to eat with my hands. Food was everywhere! Finally we went home and I was extremely tired. Didn’t get much sleep on the plane the previous night. So I just went to bed straight away. Of couse he tried his luck and said that if I wanted company I could just let him know. I told him I was ok and that I didn’t need his company. I went to bed, fully dressed with pants, socks, t-shirt and a sweather with a hood, I don’t think his bed was very clean to be honest. And I don’t want scabies I have to admit! Then suddenly he knocked on the door and gave me a letter. And CHECK THIS OUT:

“Hey Kristin
I just wanted to ask if I could keep you company tonight.
I want to give you a true African experience.”

HAHA!!! I didn’t know what to say or do… of course I didn’t want to touch that guy even with a stick. So I waited a bit and I called on him. He came and I digged out one of my white lies: “I am so sorry, I know I told you that I don’t have a boyfriend but I have this guy that I really really like that I just started seeing, so I don’t think this is a good idea!” Didn’t want to make him mad either, suddenly he would rape me there. So I acted as nice as I could. Of course he pleaded and pleaded but I managed to turn him down finally and he left the room. Well… wouldn’t be that easy for me to sleep now I figured… And I needed my sleep and I just wanted the night to pass as quickly as possible to I could get out of there. So I swallowed a sleeping pill and slept all night!

So that was my first night in Nairobi! At least I got a “true African experience” but actually I should just be happy that I didn’t get raped, killed or robbed…

Well... what can i say... TIA - This is Africa!

My blog is back!!

My old blog is up and running again... at least for now! We'll see how long it lasts. Decided to write in english this time so all my friends can read it! 2nd of December i will be on my way to Nairobi, Kenya and after that to Haydom, Tanzania to work at the hospital there. Will try to post a little bit about life in Africa and also some pictures! Stay tuned!

...so, to be continued!

Lenge si sist!

Har ikkje våre så flinke å blogga akkurat. Nå nærme det seg året si sist... Facebook har jo erstatta alt så hette blogging. Men eg syns jo det e kjekt å lesa andre sin blogg, så kanskje der e någen der ute så lige å lesa min og!

Ja... ka e nytt?? Her komme ein liten oppdatering ka som har skjedd det sista året!

Itte ein hektiske eksamensperiode kom eg meg endelig heim. Då hadde eg, pappa og Dennis oss ein tur te hyttå for å slappa av litt!

Så måtte jo selvfølgelig meg, TK, AG, Silje og Ingrid ha oss ei spele-helg i Sirdalen! Utnytta kver mulighet te å spela Settlers og Risk!

Itte å ha våre i Sirdalen ett par dager heiv me oss i bilen å kjørte for å fortsetta spelingå på hyttå i Farsund. Ofra alt for å få oss ett slag Settlers. (Me spelte Settlers nesten kver kveld heile sommaren. Einaste grunnen me reiste te Sirdal og Farsund va for å få någen heile dager me KUN speling!) Neste mål e "Settlers-LAN"! (Kor blei det egentlig av Settlers-Lan, Silje??)

Innimellom fekk me toge oss ein tur te Farsund og inn te Åpta for å kjøba oss is og slikka sol!

I slutten av vegå, når veret endelig blei fint, stod den årlige danskebåt turen for orden! Silje og Ingrid reiste heim, og me andre 3 kom på Prinsesse Ragnhild itte å ha blitt ittelyst 2 gånger av Color Line. (Me va sistemann på båten og 1 minutt itte me kom på så va motoren i gang!) Turen te Danmark va ikkje akkurat någen hit... kun 10 åringa så sko te Dana-cup....

Så tok sommaren slutt å eg måtte tebage te Ungarn. Eg hadde fått låna bilen te Olav så e i militæret å sko kjøra ner. Helle og Sølvi blei med på turen! Enormt kjekke tur, og Helle fekk gjort ett kupp på barnavogn og barnasete. Her e me i Praha å e litt turistar!

1. semester på 5. året gjekk fort, å itte ein harde eksamensperiode hadde me ein koselige julaavslutning hos Ingunn med gløgg og grøt!

Dagen ittepå reiste eg og Carina te Budapest på shopping. Blei litt gløgg-drikking på julamarkedet! Kjempekoseligt julamarked, alle burde toge ein tur te Budapest i adventstiå! Så va det å reisa heim te julå!! Heeerligt!

Heima va alt det sama gamla! 12. januar åpna Kulturbyen Stavanger å då måtte me sjå på det vett du! Enormt fint fyrverkeri og masse liv i byen!

Og 20. januar kom Helle og Oddbjørn si jenta, Mia, te verden! Sååå søde! Så då fekk hu endelig tatt i bruk barnavognå og barnasetet me har slete på rundt halva Europa!

Det va det for denne gang! Ska prøva å ikkje la det gå ett år før neste oppdatereing!!