Routine?

Life is beginning to settle into something of a rhythm now, even though we have actually been in Gimbie for only a fortnight. The garden is becoming established, and so far we have kept the monkeys off anything edible though they are eyeing my Nasturtiums a bit. Having hinted that we wanted some fresh eggs, last night we were presented with three chickens, one allegedly laying and other two soon to. The laying chicken however, temporarily named Betsy looks suspiciously male in the light of day and is making very male noises especially at 6.30 this morning. Karen is currently demanding instant removal and Danish neighbours are suggesting Sunday roast, which may distress Karen’s sensibilities so that he may survive another day. Certainly they are, given their shut in status a little noisy and egg free at present though enjoying a diet of pop corn and left over pizza. Film night last night was not an unqualified success given that the film was slow moving and with strong welsh accents, given it was about Dyllan Thomas who was according to this a bit of a shit. If film night is to continue we will need an action movie and I think we may have to reprise the Bourne Movies. Mat Daman here we come. The donors of the androgynous chickens were visiting with their adopted daughter Bella, who it appears was born here in similar circumstances to baby A and subsequently adopted by her mother who was working here as a midwife some 5 years ago and had returned to show Bella something of her roots. This has produced intensive local speculation that we will take on baby A which is a little concerning and we may have to sponsor him for a while. They are also concerned about our impending visit to Addis for car and daughter collection as feed preparation is a feature of Karen’s duties. We do now though have a few clothes and some feeding bottles. More rumour is now emerging about the run away mother, who now appears not to be the victim of personal tragedy, dead husband etc., but the unmarried mother of two, this one not wanted. Feckless parenting it seems is not the complete prerogative of the western world. Baby A cannot remain Baby A for ever and my suggestion of Harpo has been vetoed and Jabbo which means strong in adversity or some such been mooted. Sounds a bit like a star wars character to me but might be appropriate as that is where he is likely to end up living. More details and local agro are also emerging about the breech induction that polled up when I was on duty in that it appears, fully dilated she was given a piece of paper and then told to make her way by bus to the hospital and it was lucky that one was running that late. Driving in the dark in these parts is not to be recommended. Anyway both mother and baby remain well so tragedy averted more by luck than judgement. For those of you who know about the three delay model of care in the developing world, what one can say is the third level of delay is very low here, it is possible to set up a Caesarean section as fast as a category one section in the U.K which is indeed commendable.
I have spent this morning, the internet being down and all, reading Wasihun’s specialist training dissertation which is remarkably literate all things considered and has made some interesting points. It might be possible to caste it into a publishable paper and contribute to the rather sparse body knowledge on the best way to deal with uterine rupture (the real thing, not just boring scar rupture!).
In the mean time, the impending arrival of the American prolapse team and the ability to have a free consultation, rather than the 10 birr one (26.5 birr = £1) has opened the gynaecological flood gates, producing a rich crop of vaginal discharge (usually physiological but treated with cephalosporins), inoperable cancer of the cervix and uninvestigatiable infertilty which is a worrying personal problem but of little consequence to the country. So with the rumble of thunder in the background and at best patchy weather I go to find some hay for my androgynous and barren chickens in the hope that they might produce an….egg?