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From Juba to Scuba

Monday
10/19/2009

Well, I’m back from a very interesting trip to Juba in Southern Sudan...lots of stories to tell and some good work accomplished, I hope. Kind of a shock to come from 100+ degrees every day to 40 degrees and a cold, windy rain. I stayed in a “camp” that was right on the Nile, although it would be a stretch to call it scenic. A co-camper asked if I’d had a “mango bango.” “Is that a cocktail?” I asked. No, it’s when a green mango falls on the tin roof of your room in the middle of the night. O-o-o-h – that’s what that sound was!

I was visiting drug shops in Jebel Market, which has rather limited services and products available, although I could have gotten my dry cleaning taken care of if I’d had more time (ha). Practically every single thing in the country is imported – mainly from Uganda – even the fresh food sold in the market. Southern Sudan was practically wiped out during 22 years of civil war, and there is little infrastructure for anything, including growing food. The country is slowly trying to put things back together, but it’s a long haul.

So, right back into the kitten scene as soon as I arrived over the weekend (after 34 hours of travel – ugh!) The tabbies and Salem looked great. Dorothy is so fat, she looks like a badger. I’ve taken to calling her Mrs. Dorothy Porky.

We let them out of the bunkhouse for a little while, and like all other kittens before them, they spent most of their time delicately sniffing everything in sight...then headed under the bed where they wrestled with each other and played hide and seek. We had a heck of a time getting them all rounded up.

Poor Spikey, on the other hand, did not look so good. Although he’d been lapping BF before I got home, he regressed and started refusing to eat on his own. We began feeding him BF and Nutrical heated up together through a syringe. He’s not fighting it, but it’s a slow go 1cc at a time.

Yesterday he sounded like he was breathing from a scuba tank, so we took to tapping his back to get him coughing (a good thing), but it was when we started giving him subcutaneous saline injections in the afternoon that he started to perk up. He’s been holding his weight steady, but he’s still not eating much on his own today. It also appears as if his nose has gotten stuffed up and his eyes are watery; however, his lungs seem to be a little clearer.

Back in the bunkhouse, while Spike gets the ICU treatment, the others divide their time between between fierce wrestling (always led by Salem), shower soccer, and power-napping.

In other words, they’re thriving. Let’s hope that we can get Spike back on rails soon too.

filed by: ME

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