I'm sitting at the brand new, air-conditioned airport, remembering the 1st time I left Chad. The airport was little more than a hot and humid warehouse, with bad lighting and lots of mosquitoes. They had a turnstile gate-like thing, that you had to push and be pushed, to show your passport, pull your luggage and attempt not to lose a limb in the process. It was crazy.
Now it's organized, squeaky clean, with air conditioning which actually works. Today was 45°C and I was dying. Now I'm almost cold. *Almost.*
I'm sad to be leaving. Last time, I knew I was coming back, and even then, it was hard to leave. Now I know that I will probably *not* be coming back, or at the very least, not to Moundou. You see, Dr. Scott is leaving at the end of the month, moving to Sierra Leone. The hospital will be managed by a Chadian family practice doctor and a nurse/surgeon who will do the operations. No more western doctors or volunteers. If I do come back to Tchad, it will be to Bere, our sister hospital. But I'll feel like a guest there. It's not my hospital. It's not my African home.
Weird, I know. But I have too many memories at this hospital. Good and bad. Tragic and funny. Profound and silly.
I'm gonna miss Tchad, the hospital, the patients, and the people I worked with. I leave you with a few pictures of random moments.
Life in Chad.
Now it's organized, squeaky clean, with air conditioning which actually works. Today was 45°C and I was dying. Now I'm almost cold. *Almost.*
I'm sad to be leaving. Last time, I knew I was coming back, and even then, it was hard to leave. Now I know that I will probably *not* be coming back, or at the very least, not to Moundou. You see, Dr. Scott is leaving at the end of the month, moving to Sierra Leone. The hospital will be managed by a Chadian family practice doctor and a nurse/surgeon who will do the operations. No more western doctors or volunteers. If I do come back to Tchad, it will be to Bere, our sister hospital. But I'll feel like a guest there. It's not my hospital. It's not my African home.
Weird, I know. But I have too many memories at this hospital. Good and bad. Tragic and funny. Profound and silly.
I'm gonna miss Tchad, the hospital, the patients, and the people I worked with. I leave you with a few pictures of random moments.
Life in Chad.
The OR crew
Tite, our dressing changes expert!
We did a first-aid refresher course
Surgery w/ Dr. Scott
Suturing
Cute patients learning
how to walk again
Riding a donkey
Football/soccer game
Hanging out under the mango trees
Patients with cute kids 1
Patients with cute kids 2
Amputations
Puzzle with peds patients
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