We have been back in Bardai for 2 months now and thought we
would share with you some of the joys of being here.
Sweet smelling flowers (and tasty
vegetables)in the garden
Imagine our surprise when we arrived back to see the sweet
peas we had planted in October sprouting
well. We have now had 2 flowers and there are many more on their way. Sweet peas
in April strange but beautiful. Not only that but the warm temperatures here although they have
not been too high just yet ,mean that everything grows so rapidly. We planted
green beans and courgettes when we arrived back 8 weeks ago and have already
eaten plenty of courgettes and some
beans. It’s amazing to see and we are also enjoying all the herbs and the
spinach that our neighbour watered for us whilst we were away and so kept
alive.
Living an ecological life
Living in the middle of the desert means that we have plenty
of sunshine and our house is completely powered by solar power. We have a solar
fridge which works remarkably well and
we also have solar oven. We also
don’t own a car so walk everywhere except for occasional lifts from people who
find it strange that we are on foot. It’s a much more ecological way of life
than when we are in the UK or Ndjamena.
Helping to treat our previous next door
neighbour
Our previous next-door neighbour had a major bleed after
giving birth and only just survived, when we arrived back she was still very
unwell. After admitting her to hospital we were able to diagnose that due to
the bleeding she now had another problem, where she was not making the
necessary hormones she needed to make breast milk and to maintain her blood
pressure. She is making a good recovery now and it’s great to see the
improvement and not only that but MAF were
able to bring us the drugs needed to treat her at just the right moment. |
| Our previous next-door neighbours |
Fresh vegetables and fruit
Life is full of surprises here and it was always fun to go
to the market and see what had arrived from Libya. When we first arrived back
fresh fruit and vegetables were in really low supply and weeks were going by
with no fruit. In the last few weeks things have dramatically improved and we
have been excited to buy green peppers and Kiwi fruit for the first time here
and plenty of carrots, apples and aubergines. It makes meals more interesting
and means our dried supplies will last a little longer.
Operating a man badly wounded in
the abdomen
 |
| Mark with the now recovered patient |
A few days after we started back at the hospital a man was
brought in seriously wounded by a gunshot wound in his abdomen. He had been
shot by someone robbing his lock up store on the goldfield 12 hours before. He
had somehow survived the journey but was now shocked and seriously unwell. After
resuscitating him he was taken for major surgery and his bowel , bladder and
his abdominal wall repaired. The good news is that we were there and he
survived the surgery to be able to return home tomorrow after his tooth has
been removed!
Celebrating the birth of our
next door neighbour’s baby
 |
| Food at the naming ceremony |
 |
| Helping with preprarations |
Having the toilet with the best view in the world!
A while ago my sister sent me a picture of the view from the
toilets in the Shard it is pretty impressive but I immediately sent one back of
our amazing view of the mountains and not only that but the clear skies mean
that every night we are surrounded by a canopy of stars overhead and can clearly follow the moon through its
full cycle often not needing our torches
as it shines so brightly.
 |
| The view from our loo |
Baptisms at church
 |
| Baptisms just outside the church |
Fondue in the desert
We received a message from our colleagues who are back in Switzerland for the birth of
their baby that we should check out their stores (as they had been unable to
return here after our time in Ndjamena)
and eat whatever was out of date. Great news when we found several
fondues and the first has already been eaten with home-made bread prepared by
Helen our Swiss midwife .
Easter sunrise over the mountains
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| Breakfast after sunrise |
On Easter Sunday morning we climbed up the mountain nearest
the town and watch the sunrise .We have done this now each year we have been
here and although it involves an early start it has been a great way to
remember the resurrection of Jesus . We
celebrated afterwards with a tasty breakfast and then the church service. It’s
great to be back and be able to do this again. In Ndjamena there were no
mountains and a ladder to look over the wall is just not quite the same.
 |
| Sunrise on Easter Sunday |
A taste of life in
Bardai -We hope that you too are able to experience in your lives the ‘joie
de vivre’ that we have here.
