Sannu, Sannu

There are still certain words that I find funny that I have to talk about in my daily life. Today that word was viper. Snakes get talked about quite a bit but even less since most people know my fear of them, but today the word viper can not stop going around and around. There is a pretty good reason for this.

Nancy worked the night shift last night. I ran into her this morning and she told me that at about 2am she opened the door to let a woman out to use the toilet. Right outside was a snake lying across the walkway. She thought it might be dead because it wasn’t moving. She called for the guard but no one came so she got a broom. I still can’t believe she did this, but she flung it off the walkway and threw a cinderblock on it. It was alive as it started flailing around. The guard showed up and beat the life out of it. No one here likes snakes. A lot of people have been affected by them, knowing someone who has died from a bite so when a snake is found, it is quickly killed. This snake, Nancy told me, had the triangular head as vipers do. Ugh. It wasn’t just a snake. It was a viper.

On another note, I drove to a nearby village today, Madarumpha. I’m sure I butchered the spelling of that. We went in search of nurses to hire. It was a fabulous trip! I drove and it was the first time I drove off the compound. I miss driving. Basically I drove to the main road and kept going across the street. I didn’t know anything was out that direction but before I knew it I was driving through the desert. Thick sand for the whole 30 minute or so drive. It was like driving on snow. I haven’t really been anywhere besides Maradi and here so this was a good adventure. We drove through a Fulani village where I saw some storehouses I had never seen before. They looked like very large water pots, like the size of a hut which came to a narrow opening at the top. They put them up on large rocks to get them off the ground. I was told the only way in was from the top so I wonder how they get the grain out. I will have to stop sometime and see. The same village had probably ten camels just chillin’. Tied to their camel poles. Past the village was a wooded area. Massive trees! Camels just walking through, eating from the trees. I was in awe today. Eventually we came to a dry river. During rainy season there is water but it’s so dry now that this river is completely dry. It’s a pretty wide river too. Lots of reeds were put down to make the road so cars can drive across it. You can see the reed road in the picture. The most random thing though, was the bridge. There is a large steel bridge, looks like good construction too, that is the bridge to nowhere. It just stops in the middle of the river. I only got stuck in the sand once. I thought I was going to go through a big sand pile so I drove off the track made by previous cars because it looked like the ground was more solid. Nope. It wasn’t. I learned how to put the car in four wheel drive though, and get it out of four wheel drive.

The bridge to nowhere

We now have three women in the ward. We have a full surgical schedule but we are having to start slow, which is great. We are finding that even though we would love to have full days of surgery, there are so many things to figure out that we just need to take it day by day. Lately my phrase has been: sannu, sannu. Little by little.

Sannu, sannu…