Live

This week we did two live radio shows to get the word out about VVF in this country and to tell about the AWC. On Tuesday we went to the first station. I went with Bernadette, one of the screening nurses, and Fatmata, one of the patients. We arrived at about ten to four. Our on-air time was 4-5pm. I had money in hand and we were ready to go...until we got there and they looked at us and asked what were we doing there. The actual station was an hour away. It would have been nice to have been told that when we set up our date last week in this office. They said they could put us on at 6 instead. Fine. We went to that station and walked up some stairs and down this sketchy hallway. It was dark except for light coming from under the doors we were passing. Another moment where I just think...what am I doing here. At the end of the hallway was the production room. A table with two microphones coming up out of the middle of a padded table and some radio gear. Fatmata is only a girl. Still in school and I was afraid she would be too afraid to talk. I never really saw her talk much on the ward. Put her in front of a microphone...she did great! I was proud of her. Bernadette talked for awhile about VVF and the clinic and all that stuff but Fatmata told her story and she wasn’t afraid. She was even able to talk a bit in Temene, the dialect she speaks at home. It was a call in radio broadcast. Flashing. Flashing is something done a lot here in Sierra Leone. If you want to call someone but not use your minutes, you will flash them. You will call them. Let it ring once and hang up. The person you are calling will see you called and hopefully call you back. The only call-ins we got were flashes. The radio station isn’t going to call you back! So no call-ins that night. That was fine though. The program still lasted an hour and I was so proud for Fatmata!

Yesterday we went to another station. One that reaches the entire country and even a bit into Guinea and Liberia. The frustration with this one came when we went to pay. It was more expensive but I was expecting that. So we paid. We were about to start when the person who was going to run the interview wanted to know how much we were going to pay her. Huh? We already paid. By now we were running late and they were trying to force us on but I know that unless you get money issues sorted before you start something then it just gets messy. Finally the producer came in and said whatever money we give is fine and we need to get on with it. I think that is one of my biggest frustrations here. Money. There is always more and more and more that is expected. There is never an end. If you rent a taxi for a day and take it to the beach, the driver expects you to buy them lunch and after he drops you off to pay more for him to get home and on and on and on...But back to my story... So we gave her a small small amount, and moved on. OY. The show went better than expected. I figured that since we had made our moderator angry that we would have a bad show. It went well though. Again, Fatmata was incredible. Bernadette didn’t come this time. The other screening nurse, Fatmata-a popular name here, came. The callers that called in called from all over the country. From Kenema to Bo to the far reaches of Sierra Leone. It was really encouraging. There was one man who called in after Fatmata, the nurse, had made a comment that after surgery a women can’t have sex for six months. This man called and said that the woman would do whatever the man said. OY, again. For real? After comments like that I look at Fatmata, the patient, and I am so thankful for her. She is headed home tomorrow. I asked her today if she is going back to school and she said yes in a way that made me feel small. I have gotten that feeling from a few of the younger patients here. After this they really know what’s important. Fatmata is headed back to school next week. She is so happy. I don’t know how many times she thanked me today and hugged me. I wish I could see her five, ten, twenty years from now. I have a feeling she will do something big with her life. Driving home from the radio station Fatmata, the patient, got a phone call from home. They had heard her on the radio! She is going home dry, but also a celebrity.