Ateba Bela Hedood or Doctors Without Borders

it has been quite a few weeks since my last update. During one of our trips back to the base our Landcruiser was hit by stones thrown by some kids. With the windows open we were lucky that we were not hit. Tarek the driver and Caroline went to chase the kids and ended up talking to the parents. Think they will not do it again with Ateba Bela Hedood.
We found out we had leakage in the watertank at the base. Every thursdays we get around 15 tons of water, 12 for the base and 3 tons for the other expathouse. On sundays we had only 7 tons left and with the weekend being friday/saturday thus no people at work we had to check inside. Apparently the connecting pipe from the main city water system the area was not sealed properly both internally as well externally. So we had to go in and plug and cement it. Real fun in the dark and the heat. Besides that i had to fullfill my promise to Caroline - our midwife from Kenia - that the outreach clinic and the waiting area in Ungwab would be renovated upon her return from RNR on 30 april. We hired Kallas our subcontractor to do the work and instructed him accordingly on how, what and when.Of course the taking down went great but the rebuilding not so good. The 2nd day upon checking on the progress found that it was out of sync, not enough pillars, nails sticking out, planks nailed wrongly,no system. Luckily i still know how to hold a hammer and a saw plus my eyesight not to bad yet allowed for 3 days of fierce working to get it all done in time. Actually showing the subcontractor working in 42C is not an issue pushed the envelope so that we were ready on 29th april Actually we worked during 3 national holidays. Just in time.Caroline was very happy when she returned. We had also a visit of Amoury-COtl Khartoum to review what, where and when we are doing our with logistics / supply and construction works. Luckily he was happy what we have accomplished sofar. In meantime we were also repainting 3 wards at the Tagadom Hospital. Last painting was done 2 years ago and timing was right as they were empty waiting for internal movement of patients. 2 days of painting make a huge difference. Smells great. On 26th we received urgent medical supplies - by truck from Khartoum- which took us 4 hours to unload, unpack and store in our warehouse. The next day had to order the maintenance to review our aircons in the warehouse as the temperature inside was contineously fluctuating between 28-32C with 30C being the treshold for the medicines. Now it is back to around 24-25 showing we did the right thing especially in view of the hot summer with temperatures of 50C approaching fast.Early may we received a visit of Deputy and Head of Mission to review the project and must say they seemed very happy with the oveall status of the project. Yippie for the team. This week the Adminco from Khartoum paid us a visit to review the administration side of the project. Sofar all well except that 2 staff not happy with change in jobprofile and job grade although their pay has not been affected. It seems that people everywhere around the world are the same. Interesting how this will play out as my predeccor made a booboo in this and now local labor office and court are involved. Just reminds me of some issues i encountered in the past.