Back in Nairobi, Kenya

Dear friends and family,

I’ll continue this website in English, considering a more international audience I’ve met during my project with MSF-Holland.

I wrote my last message at the end of January when MSF colleagues were attacked in Kismayo and all MSF expats were evacuated from Somalia. Before this evacuation I had a great time both in Kismayo and Marere and even a safari-holiday in Kenya.

So first a step back.
Near the end of November our team from Marere was evacuated to Nairobi related to a security incident. Since we had a specialized surgical program planned for vaginal fistulas at that time, we decided to move our patients from Marere to Kismayo, based on the coast of Somalia. Since I had another 2 weeks before my holiday started, I offered to go to Kismayo to help out with the logistics for this surgical program. So together with a colleague from Marere we made ourselves useful on the shores of Somalia. Some of the pictures posted along with this message are from Kismayo. It was really a great experience. Where our project in Marere is based in a very green area with a small community, Kismayo is a real town with tarmac roads, multiple level buildings and a large and important port. The project in Kismayo is completely based on surgery. The project is operated from a hospital formally operated by the Belgium branch from MSF who left the project in 2001. About half a year ago the hospital was reopened by MSF-Holland. It was nice to be able to see another project and to have to comparison to Marere. I even got to swim in the sea and eat freshly caught lobster! And the hospital has 4 pet antilope-kind animals that follow you around all day.
From the expat house in Kismayo we had a clear view on IDP (internally displaced people) camps, which was really a sad sight. For me this was the first time to so directly see the misery brought forward by the ongoing war within Somalia. In Marere we see a lot of patients that need immediate attention but the living conditions for the Somalis are quite ok and the results of ware are only seen indirectly.
Kismayo also gave me a chance to go shopping for tools and construction materials. In Marere there are pretty much no materials locally available and we ask our supplier from Kismayo to truck us all the items we need. Than it’s always the question if you get what you want. Being in Kismayo I went to large construction market to take lots of pictures so now I can finally explain my supplier in Marere what I needed by handing him the printed pictures of hammers, timber, screwdrivers, gloves, sinks etc.

After the trip to Kismayo it was time for a well deserved 2 week holiday in Kenia. First a couple of days safari (lions, rhino’s, cheeta, leopard, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, jackal, buffalo etc.), cold beers and five days at the beach of Lamu with a lot of sailing, fishing and swimming.

Near the end of December, when elections started in Nairobi, I went back to Marere. After 4 weeks of absence, the project was still running smoothly and the expat team showed a lot of new faces. It’s fun to see how happy all the national staff is when I (or any expat for that matter) returns to the project.

Back in the project we finalised a lot of the constructions we were building on. The fuelstore was finished, where we store our barrels of diesel, jet-fuel, kerosene and patrol. Our logistic warehouse was finished and taken into use and I finally planted my home-grown mango tree in the hospital. Hopefully it’s still alive since the dry period kicked in half of January. Farmers in the area are burning their farmlands as fertilization but as a result of the drought and strong winds, many areas and houses were accidentally burned to.
We are currently planning to build a new TB village, which required clearing of some areas of bushes and old concrete blocks. For this we hired a bulldozer (picture) which probably had his last maintenance check-up in 1971. A huge rusty squeeking machine, but it got the job done! For only 50U$ per hour, your own personal bulldozer to boss around!

On the 28th of January we heard the news on the attack in Kismayo 10 minutes after the incident. Many of our Marere staff have relatives in Kismayo so communications go quickly. That evening we landed together with the Kismayo team in Nairobi and later the other team from Galcayo joined us. Not a good week for MSF.

After 3 days of Nairobi I left for my scheduled holiday to Holland to attend my brothers wedding. Although a bit of cultural shock, a really great wedding and a good occasion for me to see lots of people in very short time.

So now back in Nairobi! The future of the MSF-Holland activities in Somalia are quite unsure at the moment and for the time being expats in Nairobi are assisting the projects where necessary. In the field, the projects are operated by Somali staff who are all doing a great job in keeping the hospital functional. I am currently assisting, remote-control, the Marere project as best as possible for the time being. Where I’ll be in 1 or 2 months is still uncertain but hopefully back in ever green Marere!

Cheers from Nairobi,
Anton