Unsung Heroes

This week I was finally able to make it to Port Loko where we have our Ebola Treatment Center, which currently employs over 300 people.  This center has been the biggest piece of our Ebola response and has definitely gotten a lot of press.  However, I didn't even see the treatment center while I was there.  I was there to observe the OICC Training Unit that I supervise do a training at an OICC in the area.

I think in my earlier blog posts I talked about how OICCs started popping up all over the country with extremely varied levels of expertise and experience.  Not to mention the fact that everyone was figuring things out as they went along since no one had ever built and OICC before.  That situation was the catalyst for the creation of our training unit.  They travel around the country (often on a moment's notice due to the unpredictable nature of the ebola response) and do training and mentoring with OICC staff.

I arrived at the Lunsar OICC around one pm from Freetown and met two of my training staff at the OICC.  The staff were on lunch so we had a chance to chat a little bit about a training we are trying to schedule in a place called Kumala.  Unfortunately, this training has become a logistical nightmare due to the isolation of the town and a lot of inaccurate information passing back and forth.  I was at my wits end as I spoke with my team and said we may not even be able to do the training when one of them said, "Listen, this training needs to be done and we will find a way to do it.  If we have to go down there and sleep in the car, we will get it done.  Don't worry about it, boss."

After that little conversation, they gave me a tour of the OICC.  This is a follow up training, so they were telling me about the things they had addressed in the previous training like implementing a cohort system and handwashing stations.  I was feeling pretty pleased with the progress until I saw three caregivers working with the children without any gloves or PPE (personal protective equipment).  And then I watched as one of the caregivers walked out of the red zone where she had been working with the kids and into the green zone where I was standing and watching without watching her hands.  My heart dropped in my chest as I realized that I was at higher risk in that moment than I had been at any point during my three weeks in Sierra Leone.  The caregiver didn't come anywhere close to touching me and none of the kids were symptomatic (Ebola is only contagious during the symptomatic stage), so in reality it wasn't that much of a risk.

Anyway, my internal freak out isn't the point of this post.  What I realized from that experience is that the training unit that I work with is much braver than I had ever realized before.  They walk into these OICCs with no fear because they know that this training is essential to keep the kids there safe as well as prevent the spread of Ebola back into the communities.  You'll never hear about an OICC training team for a variety of reasons from politics here to the fact that it's just not as striking as an Ebola Treatment Center doctor in full PPE.  However after spending some time with this team and seeing their dedication and fearlessness, I wanted to share their story.

On the personal front, things are going pretty well.  I've realized that it's very important for me to define my own social life rather than just going along with what other people are doing, which is really easy to do when you live in a house full of people.  I've also realized that when you work with a pack of workaholics (and have some workaholic tendencies yourself), it's pretty easy to get into unhealthy habits like skipping dinner a lot and eating shawarma every day for lunch.  I'm trying to get a handle on what things I can actually cook here so that I can eat better and also trying to set boundaries like limiting work talk at home.  I know that this is an emergency situation and my life here won't ever be quite normal, but I need to make it as normal as a I can or I won't be able to cope.  This weekend I was able to take up my favorite sport again: boxing!!!  I had no hope that I would be able to do that here, but someone had a number for a boxing coach in her phone from the last person who had owned it so she gave it to me and I set up a lesson for today.  It just takes place on the beach, which is kind of cool... except that people kind of gather around to watch you, which is mortifying.  I realized two things during my lesson: I'm in awful shape, but the team at South Shore Sportfighting taught me well because my fundamentals were spot on :)  Watch out for my left hook, y'all, it's a knock out punch.