Tuesday morning March 6
The suitcases are packed and Margreet has distributed the
leftover staples from the kitchen. In two hours’ time we’ll be picked up to
start our travels home. Seven weeks have come and gone quickly.
Monday morning Henk was picked up to visit a mission’s
hospital on the other side of town. It is geared toward the Muslim patients and
has a very good reputation with people travelling 200-300 km. As in so many
countries here there has to be a strict policy of only one person staying with
the patient when they have been admitted to the ward otherwise the custom
dictates as many as twenty people per patient crowding the wards. The hospital
is out ‘in the sticks’ and relies on the generator for electricity.
Henk did a
quick assessment for them to give the staff an idea of the feasibility and cost
of using solar power. The house of the doctor had been already set up for
solar, but some time ago the panels had been blown clear of the roof (remember
us talking about those ferocious winds?). Last week somebody had mentioned that
they had some panels for sale and Henk was able to get the two parties
together.
One small project had come up last week and Henk discussed
how to go about making a steel grate for the well (after scouring the center
for available parts) . At the moment it has a piece of plywood across it, but
that is too small and is deteriorating to the point of being a hazard
especially for the small children here at the center.
Outside of town there is a large area with woodpiles like
this one:
A few years back the president outlawed the making and selling of
charcoal. People now depend on foraging for dead trees as no live trees are
allowed to be cut down….out in the countryside not too much of a hardship, but
in the sprawling capitol city it is a different story.
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