Orientation

Kora (Otjiherero for Hi!)

We ended orientation week with a couple of impromptu visits to the Ministry of Health and state hospitals. In our short meeting with the Head of Division of Rehabilitation we were explained the Ministry management structure, and what seemed most important, the procedure for formal communication. It appears all communication is done by letter, which must gain approval from four tiers of management right through to the Division Director (gone are the days of email!). We were given hospital and physiotherapy department tours. The state hospital physiotherapy facilities here are surprisingly equal to, if not better than, facilities in the UK. We met two of the three state physiotherapists working in Windhoek who cover everything including ICU, a spinal unit, a cardiac unit and paediatrics. There are only another half dozen or so physiotherapists working in the regions, meaning we make up a significant proportion of Namibia’s physiotherapy workforce! There are no physiotherapists other than us in Otjizondjupa region. There is also only one Medical Rehabilitation Worker in the region. There is no physiotherapy or occupational therapy training in Namibia and the MRW training programme has recently been stopped. Therefore we have many questions regarding the sustainability of what we do here. Hopefully we will get some answers over the coming weeks!

We arrived at our ‘home’ on Friday. Okakarara is a small town/large village a short distance from Waterberg Plateau National Park. The plateau makes for an awesome sight as you drive along the road to the town. Other roadside attractions include warthog, ostrich, kudu and many friendly goats! Okakarara appears to have more bars than shops lined along the dusty main street. However we are yet to brave the local watering holes! There doesn’t appear to be much going on in the town, although we did catch a local football match today, so hopefully we will make some friends. We can see ourselves having many weekends away exploring.

Our one bedroom flat is situated on the hospital grounds next door to Ernest, the Principle Medical Officer, and Clever, a Zimbabwean social worker. The accommodation is very new, boasting a TV (although with one channel) and a shower (however currently lacking hot water!). No washing machine though – we have just hung out our first load of hand washed clothes! The flies that lay eggs on drying clothes which then burrow and hatch under your skin are apparently not an issue here – fingers crossed!