What a place!

First time in Africa and first time to visit a leprosy hospital. What a place! The whole compound is a mile square. There is the missionary living area that is shared by some of the staff from the hospital, most of whom are Nigerian. The accommodation ranges from the traditional to the colonial. The generators and wells are on the route to the hospital compound itself. In the compound is a shoe shop, a dressing unit, an outpatients reception centre, a dispensary, a physiotherapy room, an operating room and the male and female wards.

The whole aspect of the hospital is more open than Galmi. Consequently the smell is not so bad, even though there is a fair bit of surgery with amputations etc. The administration block is a separate unit and also houses the eye clinic and mother and baby clinic. Nigel's office is here, as is the office of the evangelist and the lending library. The hospital is a tidy unit surrounded by the living accommodation of those tending to relatives receiving treatment in the hospital, the church and the school.

Most of the buildings were built in the 1950s and are still serviceable, though definitely not state of the art, but no one here notices - it's all they have, all they've ever had. The benefit derived from this place is obvious. One woman is having open sores on her head dressed by a medic. Nigel reckons she's got a worm infestation in her head, it’s not a leprosy problem. Some are awaiting attention, some are receiving medicines, one man is on the operating table having his foot swabbed in preparation for surgery to remove infected and dead tissue. He'll get to see the whole show - this procedure doesn't qualify for a general anaesthetic. On the wards some are recovering from eye surgery, the other main speciality of this place, while others nurse - in very good humour it has to be said - recent wounds from amputations and other surgery. I've shaken hands with politicians, wealthy businessmen, Bishops and Archbishops but none of those soft Western hands is one bit better than the deformed hands of the paramedics and staff extended to me today. Many who work here are themselves leprosy sufferers. It's quite remarkable that people who belong to us are so central to the operation of this place. It generates not merely a deep respect for them, but a profound sense of privilege that we have anything to do with them or can know them as friends.

To next part.
To journal from Niger.