The workshop is now in business. The first piece of cardboard is in the press and attempting to dry. I say 'attempting' because we have now entered the wet season and boy does it rain. England has nothing on this! Some days you can get a few hours of dry but when it rains it comes suddenly and with force. It was decided that moving the press was not an option. The nice view behind the work area has been obscured by black plastic and the press is in front of it. It's not ideal as the board gets damp in the wet air overnight. Anyone got any ideas?
Tonight there is only one baby in an incubator. His mum bled for several days before giving birth then waited 9 hours before bringing him. His skin was a grey/brown and although he is feeding well, he needs continuous oxygen albeit only a small amount. It could be he just hasn't got enough blood. Tomorrow they will try and get some blood to send to test for anaemia. A HemoCue machine to test blood would be very useful here and something Mike would like to bring back next time.
There were nine people at DVD night yesterday. It is great fun, but cooking for that number is a challenge. We were lent a projector from a German couple who were on holiday. Marvelous. It was really small and there was a great deal of coveting going on by Mike!
Sue and Emily tackled both open markets this week in the hope of finding new kinds of fruit and veg. No luck. Apparently there may be courgettes from Rwanda in May. A couple of cauliflower were spotted in town but which lucky people got them? An interesting thing....We occasionally buy bacon which smells lovely whilst frying but has virtually no taste.....why?
Nurse Rosey has arrived back and Mike will appreciate learning from her neonatal experience. Jenny flew to Nairobi today to take Hannah back to Boarding School and Jo to a Neurology appointment. Just before she left she heard the school was not going to reopen due to feared backlash about the elections in Kenya. As the flights were booked she felt obliged to carry on but hopes not to be stranded in a violent city. Andrew, the volunteer Carpenter is converting a triangular cupboard into a lab for Mike. It has meant pinching a door from elsewhere as doors come from Kampala. We haven't discovered a room that is missing a door yet!
Creativity is all! This idea to make a spacer for an inhaler was given to us by Sarah who visited us a short while ago. She and her husband Kieran met Mike on the tropical medicine course and are both in Uganda for a year. This spacer was made for a small boy who would be too young to time his breathing to get enough medication in to his lungs. By melting a hole in the bottle and pushing the inhaler through, the open end is put in his mouth, the medication sprayed in and he breathes normally.
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