Let me first hasten to reassure you that it was not me that was bitten by a snake! I have had an incredibly busy day with some interesting aspects of the course which I shall undoubtedly discuss on a future occasion, but it is now almost 11.00pm and I must be at the classroom by 7.30 in the morning so time is limited for writing now. Therefore I will concentrate on the events of this evening. The two Davids and Marty and I were sitting at the table after dinner, drinking tea and idly wondering whether to play bridge or to retire early when we realized that Charles, our housekeeper and cook had returned to the house despite having said goodnight half an hour before and was hovering at the end of the khonde. He had a problem he said that Stanley's (the gardener's) son had been bitten by a snake and that Stanley was away and they needed help. I asked if he needed a lift to hospital and he said 'Yes'. David, not the one who works with me, but the other one who is going home on Saturday after a year in Malawi, offered to drive and I said I would go for moral support. We rushed back to our houses to pick up keys and money etc and brought the car round to Stanley's house. Charles' English must be a bit more limited than I realized because the victim was Stanley's 15 year old daughter Gloria. Her foot was rather swollen and very painful. No one had seen what kind of snake it was so we got her and her mum, Fanny and Charles in the car, and at least another three sympathetic friends and relations in the pick-up bit at the back and sped off to the nearest hospital which is private and run by the Seventh Day Adventists. This was my third visit here as I have been to visit and to pick up Jack previously. Before one can see a doctor one has to sign a form giving the name of the person who agrees to foot the bill. It costs K2900 just to have a consultation; any treatment is on top of that. As we didn't know what kind of snake it was and thus how poisonous I signed the form and handed over the consultation fee. Gloria was seen within about ten minutes and fortunately showed no sign of systemic effects although the foot continued to swell and to hurt quite a bit. She found it very difficult to put the foot to the floor and so Fanny swung her on to her back as if she were a much smaller child and carried her to the consultation room. The Malawian women carry all sorts of loads and seem to be very strong. The doctor explained that he did not think she was in danger but that he thought she should be kept in hospital overnight for observation in case there were further effects and he said she would need pain killers. He then said that in order for her to stay we would have to pay a deposit of K50,000 in case she needed treatment in the night and that the cost of an overnight stay if no treatment were needed was K17,000. Charles put his foot down, he said it was far too much money, and anyway, David and I did not have nearly that much between us, so the doctor wrote a note to Queens, the public hospital and we all piled in the car again. By this time Derek and Stella, other Malawian neighbours from Mitsidi, had arrived so we made quite a formidable force as we trooped into the hospital, this time with Gloria on Stella's back. David left the car mostly obscuring a notice which said 'Ambulances only'. I suggested that perhaps we should move it, but he said, 'let's get her seen by a doctor first', so we left it where it was. The doctor in the A and E clinic read the note and sent us straight off to the ward. He saw Stella preparing to carry Gloria again and produced a folding wheelchair as if out of nowhere. Charles appeared to know where to go and we set off along what seemed like miles of dingy corridors. The top halves of the walls were painted white and the bottom halves light blue but the illumination was only an occasional 40W light bulb so it was pretty dismal. Finally we arrived in ward 5B which contained about 30 beds, very close together, there cannot have been more than about two feet between them. Each bed had a mattress and almost all were occupied by women. I think it must have been a surgical ward as there were several patients with crutches and others with bandages on various bits of their bodies. We were directed to wait in the corridor. Twenty minutes later we were still in the corridor and the lights went out. For a few moments we were in pitch darkness, the only thing I could see was Fanny's necklace which must have been made of 'glow in the dark' beads. After a while a nurse brought candles. It was at least half an hour before the lights came on again. Long before then David got fed up with waiting and went to see whether an mzungu throwing his weight about would persuade them to fetch a doctor any more quickly. First of all he told them that it was just as well it had not been one of the really poisonous snakes because if it had been Gloria would have been dead by now! At this point the nurse received a phone call asking them to get us to move the car in case an ambulance came. David said that he would move the car as soon as Gloria had seen a doctor. Shortly afterwards there was another phone call from some official who insisted that David move the car. He said he would as soon as the doctor arrived. The official said that he did not have the doctor's phone no. All the Malawian's were hugely amused by David's performance, both our own party and sundry others waiting for treatment. Gloria was moved into a side ward, but when the lights came on again it became apparent that the light in the side ward was not working so the candle in there remained lighted. David eventually gave up and he and Derek went off to move the car. They were gone ages and before they came back a young woman in a Carlsberg T shirt arrived, she popped into the nurses' room and came out with a stethoscope. Hoorah, it was a doctor at last. She examined Gloria by candlelight and allocated her a bed. We saw her settled and Fanny stayed with her. She will be observed tonight, see a doctor at 7.00am and the consultant's round at 9.00am and if all is well will be home by lunchtime. So let's hope they have a comfortable night. I'm not sure that will be even remotely possible in that crowded ward, but there you are! Stella popped back to the side ward where she had seen a pillow and came back with it to raise Gloria's bitten foot, and Fanny covered her daughter with a chitenge and they settled down for the night. My heart was with Fanny throughout. It is always difficult to see someone in pain, but when it is your child it is so much harder to bear. Fanny put a brave face on things, but on several occasions she lowered her head in her hands and I am pretty sure she was praying for relief for her daughter. Gloria finally got painkillers about three and a half hours after the bite happened. The NHS may have its shortcomings, in fact I know from experience that it does, but it certainly also has its advantages. I am very glad that if I am ill in Malawi I shall be able to afford the Seventh Day Adventist hospital and to claim the cost back from my insurance. How lucky am I?
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