Good things, good things, good things.

 

Sharing bread is a symbolic mark of the new community of life in Jesus and it is God who supplies the loaf as we pray ‘Give us this day our daily bread. True sharing goes deeper than this as seen in the Acts of the apostles, after receiving the spirit at Pentecost the new community of believers shared in an unparalleled way so that no one was in need.

In Chad the government has continued with the francophone tradition of a subsidised national loaf, probably more inspired by events surrounding the French revolution than by the bible. It is imported wheat in a stick like baguette rather than local maize or millet boule which is the true national staple. I find that a baguette at 125 CFA/20p is a good way of giving to people asking for help on the streets in the city, it makes sure that the help is eaten by those asking for it. Locally produced gas is also subsidised, smaller bottles which take a burner costing less per kg of gas than larger ones that you attach to a cooker. This helps the less well off and discourages the use of wood and hence deforestation in the Sahel region. Sharing resources and meeting peoples need is a good thing whether it is the government or individuals who are doing it.

 

It is said that an army marches on its stomach, perhaps the French long loaf was even invented so that Napoleon's troops could carry it inside their trousers, which may or may not be true, but all the same is a funny image. Anyway 3 meals a day keep the troops happy and ready for action. What is the equivilant for a hospital? I guess a hospital works  through its stomach too, and th pharmacy has to meet the need for drugs. Four regular drug rounds and filled prescriptions mean that patients can take what they need to get better.

 

 

We have always prided ourselves at GII on having a much better availability of essential generic drugs at affordable prices than many other health structures. We have bought the vast majority at the Central Government pharmacy but lately that supply has become less regular and for various reasons we have been having to send more people to buy their drugs in private pharmacies at much higher prices. This is both a loss for the patient and for the hospital.

Realising the essential need for medication Elizabeth, the pharmacy technician, bought the subject up at a morning prayer meeting and prayed for an improved supply. God had already heard and answered her prayer before she spoke, I had a phone call from Campus Crusade for Christ who had a supply of essential medicines that they wished to give to us so that the hospital would be better able to serve the people of Chad and show Gods love. It was a substantial gift, about 3 months expenditure on medicines, mainly antibiotics and painkillers, but it will free up resources so that we can restock other lines too. A real blessing.

The Director for Health of Ndjamena talking to the press

The small ceremony was transmitted that evening on Chadian National TV and radio which along with an unrelated article on BBC Afrique this week will have raised again the profile of the hospital which may make us even busier than usual.

And so to the next problem, do we have the medical staff to cope? This is even more important than the pharmacy and probably more difficult to solve. Our Chadian Doctor, Antoinette, has unexpectedly been recruited by the government and is leaving at the need of the month. A joy but a mixed blessing. She will hopefully come back and help with night and weekend sessions. Andrea and I will be away from the hospital in July and August. It is a quiet time of year, with the rains impeding access and people wanting to be planting their fields but we still do need adequate cover. Dr Michaela is returning to Germany as her husband has gained a University teaching post which means that for the moment the only sure medical practitioner for July and August is Dr Isaac and that is not sustainable. We need to find new permanent and temporary staff urgently, is it possible to find a solution? We are urgently asking BMS and CEF for help in this and we have faith in our Father God, as His Son said

Is there a man among you who would offer his son a stone if he asked for bread?

No.

A snake if he asked for fish?

No.

How much more will your heavenly Father give you Good things, Good things, Good things.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Godspell after Matthew's gospel

 

 

 

GII. What does it mean?

 GII, What does it mean? To all of you who said Guinebor II, congratulations but that is not the right answer. It might have been, perhaps should have been, but I have decided that everyone who answered GII, Guinebor II, will get no points and everyone who said GII, Gender inequality index  will get full marks. ( see footnote). That’s surely unfair, it is arbitrary and unjust as both answers are equally right, and that usefully illustrates the point: why does the possession of a functioning Y chromosome help about 50% of the human race to be privileged above those who have only X chromosomes.

The UK has changed a lot since I was a child, there are many more women doctors and this year for the first time a female president of the Royal College of Surgeons, Anglican women priests and again for the first time this year a female bishop. We had some time ago a women Prime Minister, and I hope that in the election next week people will vote only on policy and party and not due to the gender of candidates. In the last parliament only 22% of the seats were held by women which indicates that although things may have improved we have yet to eliminate GII. In reality female surgeons and pastors/priests still have to struggle with it, which is why the UK comes in at number 35 on the world list. This is quite a bit worse that the overall UK Human Development Index of 11^th position again showing we still have room for improvement

Chad is very near the bottom, number 150 on the same GII list, so what are the differences between the UK and Chad?

 

	UK	Chad
Maternal Mortality/100 000 births	12	1100
Adolescent (under 20 years) Pregnancy/1000	26	152
% women aged over 25 with some secondary education	99.8	1,7
Share of seats in Parliament %	22	15
Labour force participation (aged 15+)	56	64

But as Bob Dylan sang ‘the times they are a changin’ , just as they are in the UK. It wouldn’t take much for Chad to have more female MP’s than the UK, that’s partly up to you next week. There has been a massive investment in schooling and at the same time a narrowing of the historic 6 fold secondary education gender gap ( female 1.7% male 10%  in over 25 year olds)

At GII we are working to improve the first and second on the list through access to safe childbirth and family planning by community outreach, training of midwives and building the new maternity centre.

 So where are the human faces in this mass of statistics. I could tell you difficult stories about young women in a patriarchal society, such as being married at a young age and having to get her father’s permission for a caesarean section, but let’s look instead briefly at two young women at GII, (Guinebor II) and how they bucked the trend of GII (gender inequality) and hope that overtime their stories will become less extraordinary.

 

 Dr Antoinette is our first Chadian doctor, she joined the team in January as the best of the 3 candidates for the job. She trained in Russia and this is her first permanent post and she has already made an impact with her gentle patient manner and her ability to converse freely with the patients in Chadian Arabic. As a young doctor she has plenty to learn but she has had a good education and is keen.  

 The second is a bit more surprising, Clemance. Did you spot her in charge in the top photograph? She is the on-site engineer for the maternity building.  She works with the foreman, the masons and labourers to make sure the building meets specifications. Again it is her first job out of university, but she is already making a contribution to the improvement of gender inequality in Chad in more ways than one. It is exciting to see the new building taking shape.



Building site foundations dug



Foundations taking shape

The working day, plenty of workers.

Dr Antoinette and Helen ( Midwife/trainer) look at the progress.

The buildings really taking shape now
 (Andrea is in charge, she's holding the camera)

Where we were last Monday, door frames and window bars in place  



The walkway that will link the new building once the wall is breached



We have been away for a week and are looking forward to seeing the progress at our return, on both the maternity building and the long awaited perimeter wall, which so far looks like this. We will keep you informed.

 

 

*Gender inequality index is part of the Human Development Index ( UN stats). It is calculated using Maternal Mortality, Adolescent birth rate, Share of seats in parliament, Education and work force participation.