{"id":1237,"date":"2003-10-27T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2003-10-27T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/2003\/10\/27\/thin-girl-with-a-headscarf-by-richardmowell\/"},"modified":"2023-12-10T11:34:47","modified_gmt":"2023-12-10T11:34:47","slug":"thin-girl-with-a-headscarf-by-richardmowell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/thin-girl-with-a-headscarf-by-richardmowell.html","title":{"rendered":"Thin Girl with a Headscarf by Richard\nMowell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richard Mowll<\/b> is a civil engineer from Croydon,
\nwho travelled to Western Uzbekistan in January 2002 with
\nMSF to rehabilitate a 600 patient TB dispensary. He then
\nwent on to prepare a 100 bed facility for multi-drug
\nresistant (MDR-TB) patients, where he was Project
\nCo-ordinator of the 16 Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff
\nprogramme.<\/p>\n

\n“The dispensary building in Nukus was a mess –
\nthe result of the near collapse of the health service in
\nthis country over many years. Through my work there, one
\nincident stands out. A minor incident but one which left a
\nlasting impact…”<\/p>\n

To know what new pipework to order, I inspected the
\nDispensary room by room to measure sizes and to identify
\nthe fittings. As I was in one open room with just a bath in
\nit, a thin girl with a headscarf walked slowly past me and
\nup to the bath. She held on to the side with both hands and
\nwith apparently all the strength she had, she coughed.
\nWeak, pitiful, tiny coughs. She was clearly beyond just
\n‘ill’. A friend of hers came into the room and
\nstood beside her holding her shoulders from the side,
\nsupporting her as she coughed.\"<\/p>\n

What could I do? I’m an engineer who formerly
\nspecialised in road maintenance and concrete construction
\n– she didn’t seem to need either of those
\nspecialities just then. I couldn’t do anything, but
\nfeel out of place. I left the room. This was a private
\nmoment for them, and I wasn’t helping by being
\nthere.<\/p>\n

There were and continue to be so many like her –
\nsix hundred in the Dispensary itself (although in varying
\nstates of illness) and literally thousands of others
\nthroughout Uzbekistan. All of these TB patients were the
\nvictims of not only the infection, but also of the health
\nsystem that was not just in a state of decline, but near
\ntotal collapse, where doctors earn as little as ten pounds
\nper month (how could that feed, clothe and warm a family of
\nfour?). How could a health system so under funded help the
\npopulation overcome the spread of this disease?<\/p>\n

What could I do for the girl? Nothing, by myself. But
\nthe medical staff and the MSF project that I was working on
\nwas trying to improve the system of healthcare for TB
\npatients by using the World Health Organisation’s
\nDirectly Observed Treatment – Short-Course (DOTS) TB
\ntreatment methodology. This was where it struck me how
\nMSF’s work was truly a team effort. I know nothing
\n(or at least very, very little) about treating TB patients.
\nThe medical staff knew very little about rehabilitating a
\nTB Dispensary building. But this rehabilitation was one
\nlink in the chain, which was improving conditions for the
\npatients and helping lower the incidence of TB. The medical
\nstaff were more links in that chain.<\/p>\n

I never saw the girl again – perhaps she got
\nbetter and left, although I kind of doubt that that could
\nhappen. This incident made me realise two things. Firstly
\nthe total need for someone to help this girl and others
\nlike her – MSF are one of the few organisations doing
\nanything here – and secondly the way that MSF
\nmissions are based so strongly on teamwork. I guess I also
\nrealised a third thing – that I was proud that I was
\nworking for an organisation that was trying to make a
\ndifference.<\/p>\n

Today, Richard is back in Uzbekistan working with
\nanother organisation. The TB dispensary is part of a
\nnetwork of State TB facilities supported by MSF. It will be
\nhanded over to Uzbek Ministry of Health control by the end
\nof 2003. The MDR-TB programme will start treating patients
\nin the coming months.<\/p>\n

If you would like to contact Médecins Sans Frontières,
\nyou can e-mail them on: office-ldn@london.msf.org<\/a>
\nor visit their website:<\/p>\n

www.uk.msf.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Post Script:<\/p>\n

Kidnapped: our MSF colleague Arjan Erkel was abducted
\nmore than six months ago in Daghestan, Russian Federation.
\nWe still do not know what has happened to him. Please sign
\nMSF’s petition to President Putin asking for urgent help to
\nget Arjan released. Click here and pass it on to your
\nfriends: <\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richard Mowll is a civil engineer from Croydon, who travelled to Western Uzbekistan in January 2002 with MSF to rehabilitate a 600 patient TB dispensary. 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