New experiences
on Sally in Namibia (Namibia), 23/Mar/2009 14:02, 34 days ago
A visit from the British actor Mat Fraser which was organised by the British Council gave me the opportunity for some new experiences. Mat was a thalidomide baby and was here to explore issues of disability in Namibia. I wangled myself an invitation to some of the events which took me to places I hadn't been and was a real eye opener for me.The first evening was a meet and greet at Bennies Park– nothing new for me there apart from by the end of the evening my bottom was feeling slightly lumpy and itchy on which more later.I then went to an event being held with the Science Foundation students at UNAM (University of Namibia). We heard a potted history of Mat's life as a punk rock band drummer, actor and disability rights activist before the students were split into groups to discuss a series of provocative statements. The group I sat in on were discussing 'should disabled people be allowed to have children'. The general consensus was yes but sadly there wasn't enough time to probe their views more deeply. One student commented that it was fine as the children wouldn't inherit the disability and they all looked a bit pensive when I asked what they would say if the childcouldinherit it. Namibian concepts of disability tend to centre around physical disability such as lost limbs, disability resulting from polio or visual or hearing impairment. As other groups fed back I did wonder how much of what they were saying reflected the reality of beliefs and how much reflected what they thought the 'right' answer was– much the same as you'd find anywhere.We then went to the Oshakati State Hospital which is the main public hospital in the region to meet a group of people with disabilities. I hadn't had cause to go to the hospital before and we did a fair bit of exploring trying to find the right place for the meeting. It's not the most sanitary place, particularly after the rains, with pools of stagnant water in the grounds providing a breeding ground for disease and mosquitoes. People were sitting around everywhere seemingly just waiting although for what was anyone's guess. People were helpful in taking us to the right place although language barriers were a bit of a challenge, even seeing a white face didn't guarantee English as many of the doctors are Cuban. I think Mat slightly worried the man from the British Council in this meeting– he was much more focussed on disability rights and activism and was talking about protests in the UK where people had abandoned their wheelchairs and lain down in the road outside Downing Street, the BC man started making small coughing noises at this point in order to make sure that the BC didn't find itself charged with advocating civil disobedience in Namibia! People spoke of the different challenges they faced, particularly for people in rural areas where there are no roads so pushing wheelchairs in the sand is not really an option. One young man (I can't believe I've just written that, it makes me feel really old!) was an athlete and was saying how difficult it is to get funding for disabled sports. This is true but then it is also difficult to get funding for mainstream sports so maybe all the athletes need to team up!The meeting finished when Doris, my Zulu dancing teacher, brought her drums for a short singing and drumming session. We were all sitting in a circle and the drums were distributed around– those who didn't drum clapped instead and it was a really moving experience to feel part of this group that was singing and drumming together. It showed me the unifying effect music can have even among the most disparate groups and I felt very privileged to have shared it.This was the end of my participation in activities as I had to return to work. By this time I knew that my itchy lumpy bottom was showing signs of having provided dinner for some unidentified insect, probably a spider. I had bites all over the backs of my thighs and on the sides of my legs, I gave up counting at 50. When I got back to work I thought I'd just show someone a small patch near my knee, more for sympathy than anything else. 'Oh meme sally! You must go to the hospital! It could be poisonous!'. Now I should say that up to this point I'd been feeling fine, if slightly uncomfortable but of course now I start thinking maybe I do feel a bit weak and sick!!! I rush off to the doctor at the very nice Medipark in Ongwediva– I figured that as I was alive 18 hours after the bites were received it was unlikely to be a life or death situation. In contrast to the state hospital the Medipark is deserted and all nice and sparkly. Within 10 minutes I have two doctors inspecting my blotchy red behind – in my defence itwas looking quite dramatic at this point as the bites were getting a bit swollen (I'll spare you the photos) so I didn't feel like I was making too much fuss. The standard of care is measured by the number of drugs dispensed rather than any kind of patient interaction so I did pretty well with three different pills and a cream, I had to ask what they were for so when I got home I googled them all and made my own decisions about what I would take – luckily this involved me skipping the horse sized antibiotic pills. The other drugs did the trick and saved me any further discomfort and had the added bonus of temporarily curing the eczema that I've had on my hands pretty much permanently since I got here. Result!So thanks to Mat Fraser and the British Council I have now had a tour of the health care facilities in the North as well as having a deeper awareness of disability issues.