Home Sweet Home

Arrived home on Wed. evening. A very long journey, 18 hours flying time with an 8 hour layover in Amsterdam. To add to this, a 3 hour drive from Pearson to Kitchener in bad weather.....oh well, home now and starting to find our way back to normal.

We were very busy our last couple of days in Sudan, visiting an established cardiac centre in the capital, Khartoum. We were pleased with what we observed and optimistic that we can help to create something similar in Medani. The physicians from the centre treated us to a nice meal, including camel and ostrich. Interesting.
Some of us visited a publicly-funded school for the mentally challenged, the only one of its kind in Sudan. It was wonderful to see these children in such a positive environment. They were so happy despite the bare basics they were working with - really makes you think.

I am sad to be finishing my blog entries as I have enjoyed this communication with all of the followers. However, it's time to move into action mode! We need to focus on the next steps in our goal to assist our Sudanese friends. I think I speak for the entire team in saying that we will all cherish this overwhelming, thought-provoking experience. I will forever be grateful for the personal and professional learnings that have resulted from this journey. To the family of my team members - THANK YOU! for "loaning" your special person to us for 2 weeks - I'm sure you're glad to have them home.
Yours very truly,
L

Sunday - Meeting the Minister

Returned from Northern Sudan, late, on Sat night. We were very tired after an 8 hour return trip (by bus) to Medani. The pyramids, sleeping in tents, under the stars, a full moon.....priceless!

The team was back to business on Sunday morn. Tim, or Mr. Tim as he is called by the Sudanese, continued his individualized program, moving from hospital-to-hospital giving lectures, reapiring equipment and hands on training of technicians. Tomorrow night the biomed group is having a party for him at the hotel.....we call it "the celebration of Mr. Tim". Other teaching and investigative activities continued throughout the day. The entire team came together late morning to meet the Minister of Health for Gezira State. It was very official. He spoke to us through the use of a translator and we responded - using a translator was a new experience for most of us. He talked about his duty to offer health services for the State and felt it could not be achieved without partnership with nations such as Canada. He applauded Canadian humanitarian aid in Darfur. He reaffirmed his commitment to our partnership and said that he would not spare any efforts to make our partnership successful. This was very encouraging to our group.

All is well but we are starting to miss our wonderful country and home. Not long now....love to our families and friends.
L
p.s. new pics below!
p.s.s. Hi Matt xoxo

Out of touch for next few days

Today-Thursday is like our Friday, end of the work week. Tomorrow we head to the capital, Khartoum, for a tour, accompanied by the Director of the new cardiac centre. It will be a good opportunity for us to ask him many questions in our on-going efforts to gather information. Midday, we are going North to see the pyramids! Check out www.italtoursudan.com to see where we are staying. We are all very excited. We will not return to Medani until late Saturday. It is unlikely that I will have access to a PC so there will be a lull in my journal entries - will get back to it on Sunday.
Hello to the Sisters, we are all so thankful for this opportunity.
L

An emotional day

Today we travelled through the rural area of Elmanagil to reach one of the very few hospitals in this very large region. U of Gezira sends their med students to this hospital for rotations. 15 primary care centres, that are the responsibility of one physician, refer to this hospital if he is unable to help them himself. The health problems in the rural areas are staggering in number and severity. The main problems are malaria and schistosomiasis (children you see on TV with the swollen bellies). The people bath themselves, swim, and in many cases, drink contaminated water - it is the only water source they have - this is how they become infected with the parasite. Today my heart was broken. On the bright side, the government is beginning to financially support development in these areas; and gradually they are brining electricity and clean water to these remote villages.
Hello to all who read these entries-
BTW - it is 39 degrees celsius today! Are you guys enjoying the snow?
L
p.s. I have added some pics at the bottom of the blog......

Busy, busy......

A good day. The clinical folks were at Wad Medani Hospital (very busy 400 bed hospital) for ICU/CCU and cardiology rounds. This is the largest general hospital in all of Gezira province. I know that the team members found this exercise very helpful. Tim, Linda were shuffled off to their respective areas to give lectures. Claus also presented an excellent lecture to the med students and faculty doctors. I am really proud of our team members; they are adapting so well to this very different environment, always professional and friendly in all they do - I like to think we are doing St. Mary's (and Canada) proud.

Medani's health system has many needs......the numbers of people requiring care is astounding. However, it is impressive how well they do given the many obstacles in their path. I would suspect that the leadership of the Dean, Dr. Ali Habour has much to do with their successes - he is truly inspiring.

It is 5 pm, we are back at the hotel, some of us resting, while Yves, Martin, Bryna and Vera head back to the university to give lectures. Don and I spend all of our spare time strategizing...my brain hurts!
Having dinner along the banks of the Nile tonight - better load up on the Deet.
We miss our family and friends but otherwise everyone is well (thank goodness for Cipro!). Thank you for all of your posted comments.
Bye for now-
L

A Better Understanding

Really got down to business yesterday; many hospital tours but most importantly, as chance (or fate) would have it, the Director for the new Cardiac Centre (a cardiac surgeon) was in town (he normally spends most of his time in Khartoum) and was able to meet with us. He had all of the history, current situation, and future plans for the centre -up to this point we were having some difficulty obtaining and/or understanding the situation. The group is starting to feel that this is where we can help most, and a good place to start. As a result, we are revising the schedule accordingly - instead of so many tours of different specialty facilities, the doctors are doing cardiology rounds, we are requesting any/all documentation that went into the develop. of the CC, etc. Gotta run, the bus is here for us-
Later-
L

Thoughts....after a couple of days in Medani....

We have just returned to the hotel after a full morning/afternoon of activity, including touring of the University Of Gezira medical facilities, listening to presentations by the Dean, Past Dean and so on. So much information to process. As a team, we are trying to see a vision for what we want to achieve for the Sudanese; typical Canadians...trying to problem solve and plan after only 3 days in this very complex country. Maybe the fact that I have just written, "what we want to achieve" is part of the difficulty; what we want and what they want will have to mesh...I suspect this will take some time. We might need to pause, continue to collect information, observe.......
L
p.s. all team members are in good spirits!