One day in Burundi -2005- I had to set out with a small team to start one site of a massive meningitis vaccination campaign. I was the only Muzungu(white guy) on the team in the car, and when we arrived at a fairly remote village the crowd above was waiting to receive whatever care we could deliver. I was a little scared and overwhelmed for varying reasons. Luckily my team were all Nurses I knew and liked. The crowd erupted and rushed the wooden/tarp covered classroom once we started sticking the needles in arms and crowd control was managed (as usual in Burundi and other places) with big sticks deftly wielded (NO not by me !)
I sit here in the safety of Chelsea NYC and wonder, what exactly awaits me on my new mission? I received the Job Description a couple of days ago, and some of it reads familiar. I looked over it and my brain -of course -searched beyond the words and created images. The truth is I really have no idea what truly awaits( Truly: in the psychic, interpersonal and spiritual dimension) and that is a huge part of the reason why I am going.
But it does sound like that this particular Burundi experience will be echoed in Chad. We basically are going to refugee/IDP camps to triage and supervise healthcare, taking the sickest people to the town of Goz Beida. There will probably be also the frustrating work of deciding who can fit in the car for transport. In Burundi one of our more memorable 'moments' at a remote health center was turning around to find our landcruiser packed over the legal limit with mothers, grandmothers and babies all wanting transport to our hospital. We had to physically pull people out as they would not budge. This particular situation was valuable in that it showed our team that when you lose your temper and curse and scream it always unconsciously manifests in your first language. So I guess no-one understood "get the fuck out of the car mama, there's nothing wrong with you".
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