Thank you all for the concerns you have shown during these very difficult
couple of days for my family as a whole and myself in particular.
Bekai has been told about your good and get well wishes, and he is very
grateful.
Regards
Manneh
-----Original Message-----
From: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Luntang
Sent: 16 May 2002 17:28
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The Phantom Hospitals and soccer-crazed Doctors
I pray to Allah for a speedy recovery for your younger brother . Have
patience Allah is the omnipotent over all things .
Luntang
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Manneh" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2002 11:45 AM
Subject: The Phantom Hospitals and soccer-crazed Doctors
> If a young life was not in danger of being cut cruelly short, this comedy
of
> errors could be an Oscar winner, as it is the "real comedy of errors or
> rather of incompetence".
>
> This is the story of a 16.5yr boy from Brufut Manneh Kunda. Bekai Manneh
was
> sent on an errand
> by his mum sometime yesterday (Wednesday 15th May) evening. He diligently
> picked up his bike and cycled to do the errand.
> Unfortunately on his way, a "semester" (for those not familiar with the
> lingo, A semester is a Gambian from the West holidaying back home), lost
> control of his car and in the process nearly ended young Bekai's life.
> Bekai was rushed to Serre Kunda clinic by a Gambian-Ghanaian Samaritan who
> happened to witness the accident. They got him into Serre Kunda
> Hospital/Health Centre at 17:00GMT.
> Some police (as someone reported the incident at the Serre Kunda police
> post) and relatives of Bekai from Brufut, Sukuta and Bakau who either
> happened to be in Serre Kunda, were on their respective ways home from
work,
> or who Bekai's' mum had phoned crying that her young son has just been
> killed, all congregated. They were all asked to wait in the corridor,
> including Bekai who was by then bleeding from his head and mouth (as he
had
> lost two of his front teeth).
>
> There they waited for nearly an hour, as there were not enough nurses let
> alone doctors to see to everyone. Bekai's brother made a fuss that as his
> little brother had head injuries he should be immediately seen to. This
> unfortunately didn't go down too well with the health centre "big bosses",
> who accused him of being rude and insolent. Another hour passed, still
Bekai
> laid on a hard bench bleeding, and no doctor or nurse was in sight. By
19:00
> a young nurse came in and saw his condition and was shocked that he had
not
> been seen to. She immediately asked for him to be taken inside. She put
him
> on a drip and sat him on a chair. She went to find a doctor, and returned
a
> few minutes later to say that there was none. Apparently the doctor who
was
> supposed to work the evening shift( a Cuban) had gone to watch football
and
> as such was late in coming to work.
>
> Another hour passed and this soccer-loving Cuban finally arrived. My
family
> thinking that he would see to Bekai immediately took it upon themselves to
> explain to him what the situation is and how long they have been waiting
for
> him etc.
> The doctor asked for Bekai to be taken into the "theatre", but as it has
> always the case the whole evening, there was no specialist to operate the
> machinery. He then looked at Bekai's injured head, cleaned and dressed it.
> That stopped the bleeding. He then looked at his face and mouth and
> exclaimed how swollen it was, and that unfortunately there were no free
beds
> in the hospital for Bekai to stay overnight. One of my uncles from Bakau
> then told the doctor how ridiculous and pathetic they all were, how
hopeless
> the health centre was etc, and thus if he could kindly write a preliminary
> medical report, to enable Bekai to be transferred to Banjul hospital. The
> doctor made some phone calls, and later came back to tell him that the
> situation was not any better in Banjul either and as such he would not
> bother to give them a report. Much to his credit(if one can call it that)
he
> then asked for them to wait a bit longer for him to check what
arrangements
> could be made in having Bekai stay the night under medical supervision,
but
> sadly nothing came out of that.
> The family, now with a mixture of fear and fury on their faces, asked the
> doctor if he could take another look that Bekai's wounds as the bandage
was
> now soaked in blood and his face has ballooned up. Bekai was given some
> injections and some tablets to take. An hour passed and still the bed
> situation was unresolved, the doctor now asked them to take Bekai with
them
> back home to Brufut and to return this morning. My jaws just dropped, when
> this part if the whole sad saga was been recounted over the phone this
> morning. For a person suffering from head injuries to be asked to go home
> and return the following morning only happens in Jammeh's Gambia.
>
> Now am very mad, actually fuming with rage. Am mad not only mad at the
inept
> medical staff and the pittance of the medical services but also at my
family
> for none of them having the sense to phone any of us in EU or US about the
> accident, for I personally would have asked them to take him to a private
> clinic.
>
> Now, am no doctor, but I would have thought that a head injury would have
> been a priority, and that an accident victim especially one with wounds
that
> serious would have been ill-advised to have him moved about, but this is
the
> story of the medical services back home. The whole institution is
> incompetent, and lacking, lacking in every sense of the word.
>
> I did not decide to share this sad experience to score a point over the
> murderous, inept, regime (that is a fact to all, except the morally blind,
> the apologist and the "refuseniks"), but rather to put a stop to once and
> for all the constant blabbering of how many hospitals Jammeh has built and
> to see them in the only context that they should be seen is, as just "dogs
> bollocks".
>
> The whole experience has made me very sad, and made me do a lot of
thinking.
> Bekai is my own little brother, who I last saw in early 1994, when he and
> his cousins came out of the "initiation", and was jokingly telling them
that
> they would be returned back if they ever slip and didn't address me as
> "Koto". I recounted these events over and over again in my head and have
to
> admit I was nearly sick imagining that I nearly lost my baby brother and
> that I would not have had been able to see and speak to him. He was a
little
> boy the last time I saw him and he has since grown to be a giant of a man.
> He is bigger than I am, for I was told that he is 6'2" tall when am only a
> miserly 5'11".I am also so mad at the carelessness of the unlicensed
driver
> as he did not only put other people's lives in danger but his very own
too,
> but I know accidents do happen, as I am a testament to that myself.
>
> NB: If there are any people (Mr Gassama perhaps??), journalist(Mr
Sillah??)
> or any other concerned Gambian who would like to verify this story, pls
let
> me know and I shall provide you with the phone numbers and names of the
> people back home for you to contact, and then perhaps share that info with
> the L. I was told though that these incident are so rampant in the Gambia
> that people have resigned to it.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
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>
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