I ran through the village trying hard to memorize landmarks which weren’t many so I would not get lost. Many women were already on their way to market carrying heavy loads of reeds and hay. Breakfast was “milk-tea” and two small pieces of fried dough. When we arrived at the Mirmir Clinic, the unpaid staff had already set up tables and chairs for us under the Bieh Tree and the patients were already waiting. Despite not being paid they apparently continued to open the clinic even when there were no foreign visitors. Rose, the WR Manager of Nutrition and Health came to visit in December last year and told us that the whole place was even trashier. She told them that she would not come back again if they did not clean up. In January she called them to tell them she was coming and when she arrived they made a great effort to clean up. This was the third visit and the place was trashy again but not as bad as when she first visited in December.
Johnson found out that the dispensers in the pharmacy were not giving out the correct amount of medications and he spent some time with them. Bonnie continued to teach the pregnant women about the birth of low-weight babies, hemorrhaging and resuscitation. One woman decided to take upon herself to teach the other village women what she had learned. She held the baby mannequin proudly as we left. One of my last patients was a young boy bitten by a neighbor’s dog yesterday, apparently unprovoked. The dog was killed. Mother and child rode on the cruiser with us back to Leer to get rabies immune globulin and vaccine. He would have to come back for a few more shots, how they were to arrange transport would be a huge obstacle as there is no public transportation here, they will have to rely on their own two feet, probably a three to four-hour walk under the hot sun one way.
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