White Man's Grave
on Freetown Blog (Sierra Leone), 06/Nov/2009 13:47, 34 days ago
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It was not for nothing that in the 19th Century, the area that is now Sierra Leone was known as the“White Man’s Grave”.A traveller to the area at the time wrote:“When you have made up your mind to go to West Africa, the very best thing you can do is to get it unmade and go to Scotland instead; but if your intelligence is not strong enough to do so, abstain from exposing yourself to the direct rays of the sun, take 4 grains of quinine every day ....and getan introduction to the Wesleyans; they are the only people on the Gold coast who have got a hearse with feathers“.(ref)Things are not quite like that now of course, but compared to my experience of East Africa, this is certainly not a place to take a cavalier attitude to health and hygiene (especially while you are still getting the hang of bathing in a bucket, which, incidentally, I am now excellent at). In East Africa, moquito nets were often regarded as optional, but here they are definitely not. It may be that I am acting on the cautious side (being here for such a short time, I really don’t want to waste any of it being ill) but every morning before I leave the house, I check that I have mosquito repellent (useful for when you get diverted to an outdoor bar for a sundowner on the way home – like every night), drinking water, antiseptic wash and sunblock.This weekend I am off up-country to Mile 91 (no prizes for guessing how far it is from Freetown) to visit a VSO who lives there. I am going with two other VSO friends, one of whom is an Australian nurse working in the office of the CNO. The other is also a nurse lecturer at the Teaching Hospital, whose previous job was Matron of the Emergency Unit at the Royal London. Considering the total number of qualified nurses in the whole of the country, I think my health care risks for the trip will be pretty well managed!I have been asked to go easy on the beach shots, so this is my health related picture for the day - my mosquito netted bed. Just be relieved that I have spared you the shot of me demonstrating my bucket bath technique.
