Dr. Friederike Scheu
On assignment as a pediatrician in Sierra Leone
Name
Dr. Friederike Scheu
Age
30 years old
Profession
Pediatrician
Country of operation
Sierra Leone, Freetown
Duration of mission
6 months
How long have you been employed by Cap Anamur?
My first mission for Cap Anamur started on My 15th, 2022
What does your day-to-day work / area of responsibility look like?
In the morning, our driver took me and my colleague to the hospital. Depending on the traffic in Freetown, this took between 20-60 minutes. With any luck, we made it to the doctors’ morning meeting on time at 8am. In addition to current problems, critical cases were discussed and reports were given on the children who had died the previous day. Approximately twice a week, there was further training afterwards.
After that, we started our ward work in the High Dependency Unit, which is the hospital’s intensive care unit, but it is not comparable to intensive care units in our country. There are no monitors there, no facilities for ventilation and hardly any diagnostic facilities, such as a laboratory. There is oxygen equipment, but it only works as long as the power doesn’t go out (which unfortunately happens quite often) and an old ultrasound machine. That’s why you learn very well there how to assess children through anamnesis and physical examination, how to make diagnoses and how to treat them as best as possible with the few options available. The nurses support us in this process.
What do you like most about your work?
The atmosphere on the ward is mostly positive despite the unbelievable heat, completely overcrowded rooms without privacy and, unfortunately, always very sick children, so that the work there is still fun. The joy of life and the positive thinking of the Sierra Leoneans also contribute to this. Depending on the number of patients (our ward with 13 beds was occupied at peak times with up to 30 children at a time), we had time in the afternoon to give advanced training to local doctors. We also took care of the medication orders for the hospital. Actually, the medicines for children in Sierra Leone are supposed to be provided free of charge by the government, but unfortunately their supplies are far from sufficient.
Reasons why you work for Cap Anamur:
I always wanted to help in a developing country. Even during college, I worked in Sri Lanka for a while. The decision for Sierra Leone was made mainly because of the hospital. Since I am a pediatrician, the children’s hospital ‘Ola During Childrens Hospital’ in Freetown was an obvious choice.
Some memories or special moments:
The joint clapping and dancing of fellow patients, mothers and nurses on the ward when a seriously ill child survived and was able to go home after a long stay in hospital. As well as little Abubakar, he was very sick and we did not think for a long time that he would survive. But after a long treatment, he was then able to leave the hospital in a stable condition.
Team members in portrait
Thorsten Kirsch works as a nurse for Cap Anamur in Somaliland. His most important piece of luggage for the trip: His guitar. Being involved in areas where his strengths lie and having an incredible number of opportunities for further training - Thorsten has taken a lot away for himself from his assignment.
Pediatric nurse Simone Ross had great experiences in both Sierra Leone and Uganda. Working in the emergency room, in the infant and pediatric wards, training local staff, organizing materials for the laboratory - the varied and diverse tasks were what she appreciated most about her work in the project.
As project coordinator, Shabbir Ahmed takes care of the health care facilities in Bangladesh with which Cap Anamur has cooperation agreements.
Midwife Sarah Schütz worked for six months in the Central African Republic at our hospital in Bossembélé. There she helped deliver many children including twins and premature babies.
Nurse Nele Grapentin's first mission took her to Uganda, but it is by no means to be her last mission for Cap Anamur. The curiosity of the children, the incredible strength of the Ugandan women and such a diverse country - when Nele Grapentin talks about her mission, she quickly goes into raptures.
Mathias Voss, a nurse, spent more than a year working in our hospital in Sudan. His duties included ward, emergency room or maternal-child clinic rounds and continuing education for local staff members.
Above all, the strong women impressed nurse Karina Busemann in Somaliland. If she had to list all the fond memories she has of her time on the project, it would probably make an entire book. The laughing children will remain in her memory for a long time.
Pediatrician Dorothea Kumpf was in Somalia for Cap Anamur. For six months, the young woman worked in a hospital in Somalialand, an area in the north of the country. Especially the open nature of the population remained in her lasting memory.
The nurse Anika Wentz talks about her 6 month assignment in our hospital in the Nuba Mountains in the south of Sudan. There, she experienced many things that impress her to this day.
Andreas Tsukalas works as an architect for Cap Anamur in Somaliland. This is already his sixth deployment.
Afghan-born Faisal Haidari works as a project coordinator for Cap Anamur in Afghanistan. Since 2001, the Afghan, of Tajik descent, has been taking care of the progress of Cap Anamur projects in troubled Afghanistan.