Ollie's Interviews
Question & Answers (Q&A) with Sheik Conteh, MSF Field Nurse
In October, we were very lucky to be invited to the Young International Festival of Authors in Toronto.
Over 200 children participated in our session! Together, we learned more about “Ollie’s” journey and her campaign to Spread the Peanut Paste Prescription. But the highlight of our session was talking to MSF field nurse, Sheik Conteh, who joined in the session from Uganda. (Here a map of Africa that shows where Uganda is....)
We are happy to share with you some of the questions the children at the Festival had for Sheik – and his very inspiring answers.
Q: Could you tell us about the project you are currently working on in Uganda?
A: The project I’m working on in Uganda is an emergency nutritional intervention in the Karamoja region, North-east of Uganda. The objective of the intervention is to reduce excess morbidity and mortality related to malnutrition within the under five population in two districts (Moroto & Nakapiripirit) in the region. We provide Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food to the severely malnourished children (from 6 – 59 months) and provide medical treatment for any underlying medical problems.
Q: What does your workday look like?
A: The project here has two components, the ambulatory therapeutic feeding programme (ATFP) and the inpatient therapeutic feeding centre (ITFC). The workday therefore is like the ATFP team goes out everyday (6-day-week) to as closed to where the mothers with severely malnourished children live to screen the children, admit those who have severe acute malnutrition and provide them therapeutic food (Ready-to-use) peanut paste, provide medical treatment to those with simple medical problems and transfer those with severe medical problem to the ITFC for 24-hour-care, providing therapeutic milk equivalent to peanut paste in kcalorie value, while treating their medical complications.
(Ollie comments: I have a translation lesson for you. ☺ Niger, where I visited, is a French-speaking country so in Niger an ATFP is called a CRENA – Centre de nutrition thérapeutique ambulatoire -- and an ITFC is called a CRENI – Centre de réhabilitation nutrionelle intensif.)
Q: Why did you want to be a nurse without borders?
A: I worked with the doctors without borders in my country during a civil war, 1995 - 2002 from which time I developed instinct and inspiration of humanitarianism hence the desire to work as a nurse without borders. I have the experience and the expertise, which I deemed necessary to utilize to help people suffering as a result of humanitarian crisis in other part of the world.
Q: Is it had to get the ingredients for Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food? (What “Ollie” calls the Peanut Paste Prescription?)
A: The ingredients for Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (Peanut Paste) are hard to get from here. However, if there a good harvest of Sorghum, maize, and other crops, which can substitute for some of those ingredients, the children will receive the right food if the mothers know the right combination. With drought, climatic conditions (global warming), insecurity, epidemic of animal diseases, and poor harvest, it is impossible to get the right food for the family in this society most of the time hence the endemic of severe acute malnutrition.Q: Do adults ever suffer from malnutrition?
A: Adults do suffer from malnutrition mostly in disasters where is acute food shortage. The impact is greater in children than in adults though as the children are grown, their bones, muscles and brain are developing they can have a life long if effect when they become malnourished in childhood.
Q: What is the smallest baby you have ever seen get better with RUTF “Peanut Paste Prescription”?
A: The smallest child I have ever seen get better with RUTF “Peanut Paste Prescription was a 9-month-old child with 3.4 kg who was discharged cured with 5.7 kg (2.3 kg weight gained).
Q: How do you feel when sad things happen to the babies? How do you stay optimistic when your work is difficult?
A: I feel like I have lost my day especially when a baby dies following a lot of efforts to keep that baby alive. I feel completely dejected but looking at the many cases with which I have success stories I will soon pick up courage and continue the work to help others survive.
Q: In the book “Ollie’s Field Journal,” Ollie discovers that “mothers make the best doctors” … Do fathers ever make good doctors?
A: In my experience from this project over 99% of the children we treat are brought to our clinics by their mothers. A very few fathers ever bring their kids for treatment. I would support Ollie’s discovery that “mothers make the best doctors” in most parts of Africa.
The CRENI Photographers Sing!
It's me – Ollie. Let me first introduce you to some of the children at the CRENI (nutrition hospital) in Zinder, Niger.
It isn't really one of my interviews (those are still being prepared for the JGCC) – but I think you can get to know the children a bit through their singing.
I hope you enjoy it. I did.
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Popular Music in Zinder
And here is some audio of some more music from Niger.
The band's name is Dagana which means "patience". Dagana is the favourite band of Geoffrey, a logistician that helped me a lot in Zinder.