July 3. Saying Hello!

As I expected(?), I slept fitfully last night. I was so bored of lying in bed, so I wanted to go outside to get some fresh dawn air, but the entrance door was firmly locked. I was locked in! I had to go back to my room and breathe foul air. Please, Mr. Sun, I miss you!

In the morning, a sparrow twittered and pecked the window, and I was able to wake up from half asleep. I had Cassava root with Fish breakfast and went to work.

I visited several health facilities with program manager, Joseph Musa: Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS), District Health Management Team (DHMT), Mattru School of Nursing, and Mattru UBC Hospital. I made out schedules with the District Medical Officer, Dr. Kargbolabour, and District M&E Officer, Charles Lissa to have an in-depth interview (IDI). My first IDI will be with Charles Lissa tomorrow on Friday. Charles will meet Charles tomorrow.

Then, Joseph and I visited Mattru School of Nusing and Mattru UBC Hospital. Many nursing students who wear blue uniforms were walking around or in training. Joseph is a hero in this area; everyone knows him and say hello to him, “Mr. Musa!” He worked at this hospital for a long time, and he currently teaches Nutrition classes to nursing students every Saturday. I would like to attend his class this Saturday, so I asked, “Mr. Musa, may I join your class?” He said, “Sure!” I was happy that at least, I have something to do during the weekend. Joseph investigated Ebola fever case management supervision checklist with Mattru UBC Hospital workers. Fortunately, there is zero-Ebola case in Bonthe District so far, and incessant prevention of Ebola is necessary.

The checklist questionnaires asked them such as,

- Availability of Ebola coordinator, Availability of Operational Plan for the hospital,

- Availability of bleach/footbath/basin for disinfection of boots/hand washing when exiting isolation room/containers for waste disposal/body bags/gloves/eye protection,

- Number of doctors/nurses/support staff trained to work

- Total number of suspected cases to date/samples sent to Kenema

… and so on.

From this checklist, I realized that the hospital still needs many medical supplies to overcome poor surroundings. Bonthe District is not perfectly safe zone against Ebola; I truly hope that MOHS will keep devoting to prevent Ebola.

Mattru School of Nursing

Mattru Hospital was founded by missionary nurses from the United Brethren in Christ (UBC) in 1950, but it was shot down because of the threats of RUF rebels in 1994. Although RUF rebels destroyed the hospital during the war, Doctors Without Borders rebuilt and reopened Mattru Hospital in 2001. In 2009, the UNFPA funded hospital to refurbish and re-brand the hospital as a “centre of excellence.” I was surprised that many relief organizations have contributed to the development of Mattru residents’ health. Currently, Mattru Hospital is in reputation as excellent medical facility in Sierra Leone. 1^st year of nursing students were at every sector and department. There were 234 1^st year nursing students, and they were doing training at each hospital unit.

I said hello to many people at the medical service facilities. As usual, meeting new people at once confuses me a little bit, but it was a great day for me to see how medical personnels in Mattru Jong work for patients.