Whew...

So, I apologize for being out of touch for so long. However, in my defense, I was a little busy testing out the ins and outs of the Togolese health care from Mountain, to village to city. That is, I had a bit of an accident.

Do not fear, I am OK. Well my pride is a bit shot, but luckily I have plenty of that. Anyway, this is what happened...

Last Wednesday the 10th we (two other Duke in Togo students and my amazing friend David Fiocco who was dropping by to visit me Togo on his way from Sierra Leone to Uganda and the professor who is leading the trip, Charlie Piot) headed up North to begin our work up there for the summer. After the 6 hour drive on often-nice roads, we got to the mountain village of Kude where we would be spending the first night. This community welcomed us with open arms, local beer and a ceremonially killed chicken (apparently they like it when the chicken flails about after its throat has been cut...)

The night was coming to an end after a good meal as we were sitting around a small table at a dimly lit, rocky homestead. I had to go to the bathroom, which meant finding a suitable patch of dirt on the mountain-top. As I got up to make this happen, stepping over my friend, I suddenly felt a little light in the head. I stumbled up against the wall and regained my balance, but not for long.

The next thing I remember is waking up lying with my eyes shut, hearing people talking around me. I was cold, shivering actually. I had lost consciousness after that brief stumble, and fallen across the homestead, down two steps, forehead flat against the stone ground. My eyes were shut because of the swelling of that impact and my head hurt. But, the medical assistant from the clinic, who I had met on my way up the mountain was called and I was taken good care of. The cuts and swelling weren't (and still aren't) pretty, but I will survive. I spent a few days in my homestay recovering (this was their introduction to me) before heading back to Lome for some tests. The results were good, no brain damage but a little bit of a fracture and some blood in my sinus; nothing time shouldn't be able to heal I'm hoping to get back to the village early next week and really begin this trip.

It was a, if you will, rocky start to my summer and I am deeply looking forward to getting back on track. However, a silver lining was the chance to look at the health care of Togo at a few different levels. My cuts were cleaned and bandaged a few times up in rural Farende. The medical assistant was firm, very firm, but fair, making sure - with some elbow grease and tough love - that my cuts were clean. I probably could have used a couple stitches, but this wasn't in the cards. They gave me antibiotics and something for the pain and they refused to take any money for me for helping me. No infection to-date, so bravo.

The CT scan and EEG scan in Lome were brief and to the point. The facillities weren't fancy but were more than adequate. I was excited to see that the waiting room had some Togolese newpapers. Turns out there were two years old, but this didn't seem to matter - news included "President of Togo visits soccer match." This hospital, on the other hand, was happy to take my money.

Certainly an adventure but, hopefuly a one-off. I am currently resting up in Lome, the capital, which is an interesting city. More to come on that soon!

Hope you all are well!
Alex