MIDWIFERY GRADUATION

MAKENI, SIERRA LEONE

Activities at Fambul Tok are winding down in anticipation of the rainy season that is just around the corner.  We had a taste of a typical storm a few Sundays ago.  It was so unique I had to video it.  All I can say is, it was fun to see, but I cannot imagine day after day of that kind of violent rain and wind.

My days are somewhat in a wait and see mode.  Micheala and Reverend are in the US for a special workshop for peace making organizations for almost the whole month of May.  They are two of the major players whose activities drive my visits up country.  Another major player, Sheku, is out recovering from surgery.  Thankfully, he is doing fine.  The Bonfires for this season have been completed (not too wonderful in the rain!!!).

Through Annerieke Owen I have met a wonderful dynamic woman by the name of Isha Daraway.  She is a retired nurse involved in reducing/eliminating infant and pregnancy mortality which is a huge problem here.  Using what funding she can wangle out of the government, donations and much of her own money she has built clinics that are available for pregnant women to come stay towards the end of their term until the baby is born.  These women live in remote villages where many babies and mothers die in child birth due to lack of sanitation and medical help.

She is also very involved and an important part of the new (2010) Midwifery School located in Makeni in the district of Bombali.  At dinner last Wednesday night she asked if I would like to accompany her to witness the graduation at the school and visit one of her clinics.  I jumped at the chance.

We left Freetown last Friday afternoon for Port Loko District and the town of Lunsar where we will spend the night.  She was born in this district and still has many relatives living there.  We stopped to visit one of her aunts who was not well, and to pick up our dinner which we took to the next relative’s house; one of her nephews’.

Isha has her own room in this house she keeps under lock and key when she is not there.  This is where she will stay.  We shared the dinner with the many children and adults after which I was taken to a close by guest house.

The guest house is new within the past 6 months and was very lovely.  The bed in the room, actually the whole room, was painted pink and white.  I felt I was staying in a young girl’s fantasy princess room.  

The next morning we set out for Makeni and once there stopped to see another aunt, Madam Bomposseh,n’Silk.  This woman is still a powerful woman even though her 79th birthday is just around the corner.  She is a chief, was educated in California, and was married to a very powerful paramount chief.  In July 1975 15dignitaries who were thought to be forming a coupe against the then president Sikia Stevens, were executed, burned and buried in a secret place.  Her husband was one of those executed.  She told the story as she pointed to a picture on the wall of an extremely handsome man.

We had a delightful visit with her.  She insisted I stay with her the next time I am in Makeni and I think I will take her up on that if I go back with Fambul Tok before I leave for home.  She will have so many stories to tell about the political environment of old as well as currently.

One of Isha’s nephew’s little girls named Hadja came

Hadja

with us to the graduation.  Here is a picture of her

wearing a bracelet made by Sarah Mufson.  Isha was seated at the high table so Hadja and I sat down in the 3rd row for the 6 hours it took to graduate 59 students!!!  Except for the one hour she took a nap in my lap, she was content to stay with me quietly the whole time!  As much as I love all of my grandchildren, I cannot think of one of them who could sit like that.

The reason the ceremony was so long was due to the protocol and the repeated acknowledgment of the dignitaries at the high table.  Out of the 6 hours only

Isha is middle back row - High Table

about 1 to 1 1/2 was dedicated to handing out awards and certificates to the graduating midwives.  Sadly, most of the dignitaries making “statements” (really speeches) said the same thing just in different ways.  On the way home Isha said she will have a graduation ceremony postmortem and has many suggestions on ways to pare down the time.

One highlight of the day was a skit put on by the 2015 graduating class.  It depicted a situation where the husband forbade his pregnant wife to go to the hospital to deliver the baby.  He said the money was too great and the distance too far.  The wife and baby both died under the conditions in the village.  Then another woman did go to the hospital under the care of a midwife and the delivery resulted in a healthy baby and mother.

After the graduation ceremony we attended a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open a new hospital located on the grounds of the school.  At this time the midwives are sent to the field in remote areas without any hands on clinical experience.  This is less than ideal as you can imagine.  The new hospital will change all that and thus is a huge addition to the curriculum.

Next was a stop at Isha’s clinic in a village outside of Lunsar in Port Loko district.  There are no women there at the moment and it was a Saturday so it wasn’t open for everyday appointments.  The resident nurse gave me the tour.  It is a large facility that has three rooms with 6 beds each for housing the mothers to be.  There is also a clinic where people can come for medical care.  The place was spotless and very inviting.  I was so impressed.

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma Syrup/Sara