Man is but a drop of dirty water

So began out first ever physiology lecture at medical school and Marks recent teaching o
n fluid balance and dehydration. Thursday mornings at 8 o’clock is teaching time so far we have had courses on diabetes and malnutrition Malaria Hypertension and diarrhoea all things we see a lot of. This time it was back to basics and calculations on the blackboard borrowed from one of our staff who is having French lessons to help him be a more effective administrative aid.

Water has been in our thoughts these last few weeks as the dry and hot season is upon us. The water bottle taken to the hospital is now coming back empty and often more is needed We took a lot, about 80 litres with us on our recent holiday as we travelled   850 km to Zakouma Chads safari park.

On the road we passed many camels and lots of cattle and sheep and goats. What was most impressive though were the collections of animals and people around the water holes and wells outside the villages .Most of the countryside is dry and parched and it’s hard to see where they get enough for the animals to eat but the water sources are all too clear.

The dry season means it’s the best time to go to the park as the animals are looking for water and we had a great time seeing all sorts of animals including 100’s of giraffes on our early morning safaris and huge collections of cranes pelicans and Maribou storks gathering at the waters edge in the evening. At night we passed a leopard in the bush and several hyenas out hunting.

Our trip back passed through Bitkine where the water for the town comes from the Ouadi dry at this time of year but filling intermittently in the wet season. Time to consider how much water you use when it’s all brought up the hill by a heavily laden donkey.

Time too to consider where does our real source of life giving water come from as we sat on the hill overlooking the town and watched the sun go down.

We may be a drop of dirty water in physiological terms but we are also fearfully and wonderfully made.