Chris Houston
Chris Houston works in Papua New Guinea as a logistician with aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). Prior to joining MSF Chris worked as a Risk Management Consultant advising multinational corporations on fire, security and terrorism risks. He is from Glasgow Scotland.
Tari, the first weeks
In some ways it seems like Ive only been here a few days, things move so fast in Tari but in other ways it seems like Ive been here forever, it is so easy to understand the challenges in Tari they are often so similar to those in Lae. I have actually been in Tari for about 2 weeks. Since then Ive been woken by VHF radio most nights when the hospital staff need the assistance of the expat nurses, anesthetist or surgeon. Last week the entire team responded at midnight to a lady who had been stabbed, I dealt with the extended family, tried to persuade them to donate blood, ran errands for the medics, fetching oxygen or passing messages to the laboratory technician who was collecting the blood. ...
Saturday 18th July 2009
My day started well, I slept in until 830 and took a driver shopping. I had just learned that was going to move to Tari, in the highlands, where MSF provide surgery in the ministry of health hospital. Unlike coastal Lae, Tari is cold so I needed a jacket and a jumper so went to the second hand clothes market and got one of each. Arriving at the office I was surprised not to see either of my assistants. They dont normally work on Saturdays, but half of our medical cargo that should have arrived at the airport the day before did not turn up, so I told my Robin, my supply assistant that we had work to do and my admin assistant volunteered to help too. The airport is some 30km outside Lae and the road towards it is dangerous. We travel the road at high speed in the bus of a security company. Getting 1,200 kgs of medicine from the airport to the warehouse (that a friend has let us use for free) is risky business. Having to do the journey twice made me uneasy. ...
Shopping in PNG
Shopping in PNG is always an adventure. I try to encourage the other expats to go shopping for themselves so they can understand the difficulties that the buyers face. When I first arrived, I suspected that our buyers were taking breaks when shopping because it took them so long. Then I saw how the shops worked - if you want a discount you need to find a good sales person who will give you a formal written quotation for each item. Then, if you accept his price you need to get him to produce a picking list, then you need to negotiate the check out staff who require a code for every item. Its depressing. So we had a visit from one of the Canadian operations team and I was advised to tidy up the table I share with my 2 assistants in the very small logistics office. Letter trays were the recommended solution. So the next day I go letter tray shopping. ...
Did you have a nice day at work today?
We had to buy colostomy bags - the hospital emergency department performed a temporary lower bowel bypass on a client of ours, but it doesnt stock colostomy bags. I asked why and I soon wished I hadnt; she had been raped so violently that her excreta had been leaking into her vagina. It makes me wonder about the hell that the women here go through. What would havehappened if MSF were not here, what would have happened if she was not lucky enough to be within travel distance of our clinic? What the hell is happening in the world? It makes me upset and angry to write about it. Our nurse basically forced the doctor to take a lunch break today - she hardly ever takes a break. I went with her to get some food at the house. She was despairing that she has sent about 15 clients to get X-rays for broken bones this week and its only Thursday lunch-time. ...
The medics
I dont know how the medics cope. The stories I hear haunt me and I only hear so few. A women in last week with 2 broken arms. When I thought of domestic violence before I arrived I did not think that someone could break both their wifes arms. ...
