Alex Aiken's blog, started when I was working in Gambia in 2005...

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Fieldwork

I've pretty much work out what I'm going to be doing out here over the next six months : it will mainly consist of organising follow-up for Tuberculosis patients and their families, trying to see who develops TB amongst the family members.

So, all this follow up is going to involve me doing lots of driving round to various peoples compounds (collections of houses), and asking about everyones health and asking them to come to the MRC if there are any problems. As few people speak English as a first language, most of the talking is done through a translator, who also doubles up as a navigator and mechanic on the fieldwork trips...

This is my fieldwork assistant : Mr Abdoulie Cham with our trusty MRC jeep



Abdoulie (which is pronounced "Ab-lay") is great company and knows all the roads around MRC like the back of his hand ... though many of the roads are semi-submerged at the moment because of heavy rains the last few weeks ... He also gives me advice on Gambian driving etiquette (eg "If you see a space, just go for it!"), and on lots of other useful things, like how to get through deep puddles (basically go as fast as you dare). He is a big Arsenal fan, which is quite unusual out here : everyone else seems to be a Manchester United fan ! I think he speaks about five languages, and doubles up as one of the public relations officers for the MRC - quite a guy.

Abdoulie is very curious about British many things : he was fascinated that British women were mainly trying to LOSE weight, as Gambian women are generally keen to PUT ON a few pounds. He explained that a lady who is "a bit more round" is more attractive and probably a happier person ... I don't think the concept of going on a diet exists here... He reckons that I need a Gambian girlfriend to feed me up a bit, and I'm inclined to agree : I seem to be getting ever thinner since I got here. Must be the heat and all the swimming.

I'm not actually able to view the weblog becuase of filtering by the MRC site, so I'd appreciate any email feedback about this weblog : you could email me aikenalex@yahoo.co.uk ... or even give me a call on 00220 7015784 , there are some cheap call options for the Gambia at www.niftylist.co.uk .

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