Change is a constant

More than a month has passed and there have been some social activities to wrap up the dry season before the rainy season is really hitting us now with its heat, humidity and sun. With it comes a busier phase at work, as malaria transmission increases in the humid season and as holiday season is over, too. Have a read.

Saturday, 31 August: This afternoon I got exciting news! My “niece”, Stéphane’s daughter, was finally born. Welcome Creeshna to the world. In the evening we had a Beach Party organized by some colleagues. As in dry season, there is a lot of sandbanks at the river, every year they take the opportunity to set up benches, a bar, games for children and adults alike, provide a meal, later in the night karaoke and a bonfire… It was a really nice alternative to the usual pastimes, and we spent quite a lot of time there.

Sunday, 01 September: Once again I went with our soccer team who had a match for a tournament in Bindo, which is within a palm plantation and thus was really interesting for me to see. Luckily, I got a space in Rodrigue’s car, as the bus was even more overcrowded than usually.

Tuesday, 03 September: During lunch break I finally got to meet my little niece and hand over her literal birthday gifts (romper suit and pacifier). Little girl You’re a blessing.

Wednesday, 04 September: Today Tatiana arrived for her second stay in Lambaréné – and she came with lots of parcels! Thank You thank You thank You to Sarah, Lilith and Tatiana for showering me in chocolate, pictures and love.

Thursday, 05 September: Finally, after holiday break, Journal Club started again. It’s good to be forced to educate Yourself a bit beyond Your daily work.

Saturday, 07 September: Cyriel took Nathanael and me to see a Bwiti ceremony in the village next to campus tonight. The occasion was a passing away. Again, I won’t dare to go into a lot of detail as I cannot say I understood, but basically there’s an area reserved to those initiated into the cult, which obviously we stayed outside of. The men present were to please spirits with their singing and dancing, which involved lighted brushwood which makes quite an impression at night. The spirit then came and went again depending how pleased it was, apparently not so because soon the whole thing came to an end and dissolved. Apparently in between people need to rest and the whole ceremony went on for quite a while, but we only stayed for one. I don’t have pictures at it is forbidden, apparently telephones don’t work when the spirits are present.

Wednesday, 11 September: It was high time for me to have dinner with Dearie again. And, you won't believe it, we cooked! There were "meatballs" (which fell apart) with green beans and mashed potatoes. It was really good to eat a pretty German meal again. And there was strength because we had to continue working in the evening.

Friday, 13 September: This afternoon we had a training on (or rather against) stigmatisation of HIV-positive people, in regard to a new study on HIV-positive pregnant women starting in our team. After this, we said goodbye to Saskia who has finished her year, leaving me as the only German on the team. As we’re with the same doctoral supervisor and based in Hamburg, it’s a sure thing our paths will cross again.

Saturday, 14 September: Fallowne has invited Christina and me to her place for brunch and we spent pretty much the whole day having good conversation and being spoilt by her. Afterwards I headed to the little Beach Party at the same spot as last time to meet Jana there. It was a relaxed little round with food and drinks which ended with burning all the chairs and tables that has been improvised on the sandbank, as water levels were expected to rise soon.

Sunday, 15 September: Christina has a study on Point of Care Ultrasound, and I was excited to be her test subjects. It must have been a delight to see our geeky pleasure in seeing some blurry grey lines.

Wednesday, 18 September: After just having spoken to one of our fieldworkers, Freddy, yesterday, today he brought me a friend’s keyboard to rent. It shall be great to have a hobby. Again, I had the great privilege to receive guests, thank You Valeriya and Maya for making all the way to see me! They didn’t get their suitcases at the airport and the road is bumpy as ever, but they took all the inconveniences with so much humour. We cooked dinner with Jana which was super yummy as always when cooking with her.

Friday, 20 September: This morning we departed for our weekend trip to TsamTsam. The boat picked us up from Schweitzer at 9am and going west on the river, into the wild and out of phone network, already on the way we got to see an abundance of birds and my first hippos since I came to the country. TsamTsam is an ecotourist reserve on Lake Oguemoué, a two-hour motorboat ride away from Lambaréné. The tents and the chill and eating area rest on wooden platforms overlooking the river, with no electricity or running water whatsoever. We spent the time with the owners, a Gabonese-US-American couple, their baby, and four employees. Today we already did a short pirogue trip (a pirogue is like a canoe made of a tree trunk) to the surrounding areas admiring the beauty of this strip of land. The meals were traditional meals made in the next village and much more varied and less oily than what we usually get.

Saturday, 21 September: This morning we did a jungle walk. We saw more plants and insects than anything else, but we also came close to monkeys. We didn’t see them though, as they hid very well while being loud at the same time. Our guide could also explain us medicinal uses for many of the trees and plants, of which many are endangered e.g. by timber industry. In the middle of that forest we found a lake called “mystic lake” in which we could even see crocodiles. Being in this wilderness and just beginning the complexity of this ecosystem was an uplifting experience. At the same time, it was also very exhausting due to the terrain and the humid heat, especially for Valeriya and Maya. Thus, we ate and relaxed at the platform for a while before doing another boat tour, taking along also the dog and children. We went to see the village that gives the site its name where our food is prepared and that above all serves as an example for self-sustainability with more fruits and vegetable plants and cleanliness than I saw in other villages. We spent the evening talking and spending time with the staff.

Sunday, 22 September: This morning we already had to say goodbye to our little paradise and took the boat ride back to Lambaréné, even seeing the hippos again. Coming close to Lambaréné my phone got connection but realizing I would’ve preferred this getaway anytime and didn’t feel having missed out. In the afternoon we went to the tailor picking up clothes for Valeriya and Maya and buying some groceries before spending some more quality time at campus.

Monday, 23 September: Today monitors for my study arrived from Hamburg and Mirjam kindly brought a whole suitcase full of stuff for me and colleagues. Funny how some chocolate and Haribo can change Your day!

Tuesday, 24 September: Today clinical monitoring for my study began. This means that external people are coming to have a look at our study to check if we comply to the protocol and if patient and data safety is in place. Afterwards they would give feedback in order to help us working up to standard. Before calling it a day I spend a valuable moment with Yorrick and Lauraine, thank You. This was also the last evening for my friends in Lambaréné, so we went to discover a new restaurant in Isaac with the other expats. Also, I couldn’t wait to put up the picture print up I received with the suitcase from Germany.

Wednesday, 25 September: Valeriya and Maya left already this morning and after a busy day between routine work and meetings and errands for the monitors, I was happy to cook dinner with Jana and Christina.

Thursday, 26 September: You realize how big Cermel is when You meet dozens (okay maybe 5) people in the day, as it was the case for liaising my monitors with different responsible persons today. Vali and Maya had also brought me stuff, but their suitcase had been stuck in Libreville and arrived with Tatiana’s husband today. Thanks for the presents! I could even make Dearie happy with it instantly.

Friday, 27 September: One of the generous gifts they had put were soccer balls, and the Cermel Football Club is really grateful for it. In the afternoon we had a deratization at the study centre to get rid of our not-so-welcome little fury friends, which luckily, I spent at the administration to settle some more monitoring requests. Tatiana’s stay was already over, so we spent the evening out with her.

Saturday, 28 September: As it had been a long time since we offered some social activity, and Jana and Christina hadn’t had the chance to meet everyone from other departments yet, we invited our colleagues to a pizza evening. We decided to make all the pizzas and salads, bread, everything, ourselves and spent literally the whole day (eight hours) in the kitchen. It was nice to see everybody well served and we had a good time.

Sunday, 29 September: It had been rainy since Thursday, but today we had actual shitty weather. Hamburg, is that You calling me home? After the exhaustion of yesterday I just stayed in, but it was nice to have some people popping by. It’s funny how sometimes we feel so excluded from social life being located outside of town, but on the other hand there’s always somebody working or also living close by. We enjoyed sitting together outside just doing our thing, like reading, and Jana and Christina had just moved some puppies we had found to campus.

Monday, 30 September: Still within the scope of my monitoring we conducted a Site Initiation Refresher Training with the whole team today to recap the study procedures and Good Clinical Practice so the team can confidently go forward in the study.

Tuesday, 01 October: Today we had an exit meeting on the monitoring and I’m happy to say that in general everything is going well. Today’s weather was nice and clear so enjoy the view on our new annex to the CHU where I work.

Wednesday, 02 October: Second cohort of my study is full – this is how we roll.

Thursday, 03 October: It is more usual here than it was in my previous jobs elsewhere to dress up to work, at least if You want to, so why not go with the flow and confidently show my face? In the evening, after having spent several days not even leaving the compound, Prince and our new colleague Givina took me out for a moment, thanks.

Friday, 04 October: Today we had the big official inauguration of the CHU – Centre Hospitalier Universitaire were our department is based. Before the ceremonies I got to finish and submit an abstract of my study for an upcoming conference, I will keep You posted. The festivities started off with a scientific meeting this time not of Cermel researchers, but rather our group leaders and prominent foreign researchers who have been based here or cooperate closely. Afterwards we proceeded to speeches by our president Peter Kremsner from Tübingen, important local, national and international personalities such as even the Minister for Higher Education and Research. As he was apparently the highest ranking, we had to wait for him. And wait… until probably 2 hours after the scheduled time. Allegedly this is a habit of influential people… Afterwards we had a special evening event in several senses. The academic symphony orchestra from Tübingen had travelled all the way to give concerts during the week in Libreville and now in Lambaréné. This is said to be the first time having a full orchestra in Gabon ever and certainly the first time to listen to Mozart and Korsakov for many of our colleagues. Many of the colleagues seemed to be unfamiliar with classical music, which could also be seen in the fact that the church where the concert took place was not completely full. However, at the latest at the Concord, the Gabonese national anthem, everyone was on fire. For me, having worked in the Elbe Philharmonic hall before, it was so good to listen to some live music of this genre again. After the concert we were all invited to dinner at Ogooué Palace hotel, formerly the best hotel in town, where we got to see and take part in some traditional dances even led by our very own HR lady.

Saturday, 05 October: On short notice we had a meeting with my professor Michael who had come with the inauguration. And as the whole team was there and we wanted to use the opportunity to talk about general issues and status of our work, the individual studies, research and career opportunities… This took six hours plus two hours of work that would have had to be done anyways due to participants currently being in follow-up of their study. Like this I could only get a glimpse on what a nice and sunny day it was. Usually it is only one or two, maybe three of us, working on a weekend day, so today we spontaneously used the situation to make an after-work event and share a meal and some relaxed TV time at Lia’s.

Sunday, 06 October: After quite a while I finally went back to church (date with Jesus) and to Refuge (date with myself with a good book at the pool). Like this I was just in the right spirits to receive some new neighbours at campus – Welcome to Ruben, Theresa, Jacob, Lisa and Jette (one of these persons is a cute little toddler 😉 ) at Cermel!

Monday, 07 October: Sunday was luckily an actual day off, and today work continued. I got an individual talk with my professor which was just so helpful to guide me for my research and work short, medium and long term.

Tuesday, 08 October: For the inauguration we received a new signage, and this was the perfect photo space to finally get a full group picture. I had missed out on the last two team pictures by just a couple of minutes… We are the biggest team at Cermel, and it amazes me how at the end of the day we (almost) always get the job done with so many different activities going on. I also grabbed the chance to get a picture with my supervisors. To recap, Prof. Michael is my doctoral supervisor from the Tropical Institute and University Medical Centre in Hamburg, Dr. Ghyslain is my supervisor and Head of Department here on site and Dr. Rella is the principal investigator of the study. I am very grateful to say that despite this work by itself, and even more so because of me being away from home here, being really challenging – These three have my back in the work I do and provide valuable guidance as well as a whole lot of trust in the work I do. I appreciate You.

It has been said to me that life at Cermel has its “Ups and downs” and this is certainly true. I have given up on the idea of ever really settling professional and socially here, as there’s always people coming, people going, issues popping up and resolving. It is hard, and challenging, and I’m growing. I hadn’t really planned this project before I just jumped into it and by now, I can say that I really do enjoy clinical research and that this country is contributing to my view on “Africa” hugely in addition to my experiences from South Africa.

See You, take care,

Doro

244 days in Gabon