Ordinary hero: Maria from Burkina Faso

Today's story is from Maria, an Italian doctress who has taken part to our project in Burkina Faso

"You feel Africa immediately, since you get off the plane: the heat makes our jackets, vests, wool and heavy shoes ridicolous. I'm prepared for a long wait at passport control, but it turns out to be rather informal, with a final exchange of phone numbers, in which I end giving the customs officer - Daniel - my only contact number here in Burkina. Then I am overwhelmed by the circus of  "hunting the baggage". I curse myself for not having purchased a case of anotherr color, instead of a big black trolley, absolutely the same as everyone else, and I resign to run from one side to another of the delivery point as luggages are unloaded by hand, dragging behind a deadly heavy red suitcase, making my way among the crowd of people who is doing exactly the same. Recovered my "loot" [=baggage] (clothes + food + many other little things, much less important), I start the not so easy task of trying to recall the face of father Henry, the person who is supposed to wait for me at the ariport. But the father has decided to play me a trick and hiding to enjoy the scene: he finally comes out only when the taxi drivers offers are becoming overwhelming.
The rest of the trip is a rush through the outskirts of the city and then along a road through the bush. The first section is illuminated: in every lamp post there is a guy who studies. At the second village we turn left and leave the asphalt for the dirt. The aim is to spot the barrages (paved fords more or less improvised on a serie of dry rivers), before they make you hood off the road. My companion seems to know them by hearth, and  we manage to arrive at the hospital at 00.30 - Burkina Faso time. The perfume of the acacias in flower is something undescribable when I finally reach my room I'm tired, I'm hot, but I'm happy." (translation by Marco F.)

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Health pool has begun!

Rainbow for Africa just started the next "health pool" which can be found here in the right part of the page.

How does it work?

Simple enough: since most of Rainbow for Africa's staff is made by health personnel and our mission includes promotion of health in general, we will weekly discuss about a selected health topic which may be useful to everybody.

The style will be completely informal, allowing everybody to "ask every question you wish you would have asked to your doctor but you didn't dare to".

Topic of the week: "holidays at tropics". Summer is approaching, who is going to the tropics?

Ordinary Hero: Words from the front

Emergency is an italian NGO who has successfully deployed a medical team at Misurata; as they are providing cures to the civils wounded we managed to get in touch with Marina a nurse who has worked with us in our mission in Haiti.

Here is what she wrote us
"since this morning fights have intensified and we already have received 20 deads and 60 severely injured people - and it's still 3pm.
Security isn't great also because we can't manage to get sure informations and we aren't at the moment in our usual place. We believe this to be the only active hospital, since the other one was bombarded.
Locals can't get more of this: severely injured patients keep on arriving at the hospital, and many of them are already dead. too many of  them.
We are supposed to stay here for another week if nothing forces us to leave earlier, but even then leaving this place will be hard....
p.s. There is a desperate need of informing people about what is going on at Misurata, and an humanitarian aid must begin as soon as possible, or here there will be a massacre!
" (translation by Marco F)

Rainbow for Africa believes in mutual aid to reach concrete results; we therefore support Emergency NGO and send our best wishes to our friend and collegue Marina!

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