Thorsten Kirsch
On assignment as a nurse in Somalia
Name
Thorsten Kirsch
Age
47 years old
Profession
Nurse
Country of operation
Somalia
Duration of mission
6 months
My everyday life in the project
In Ainoba, Cap Anamur is currently expanding a small hospital with currently 40 beds. There, I worked in the medical field as a supervisor. This means that I have led training sessions in the area of hygiene and with associations, provided education on the misuse of antibiotics and the correct way to take medications, served as a liaison between physicians and the nursing staff, and was also responsible for our pharmacy.
My spare time at the project:
Besides sports my living quarters and listening to music, making music myself did me a world of good. I had my guitar with me, so I was able to write three new songs and learn new plucking techniques. Otherwise, I read a lot, meditated, and set up a small fireplace at the house where we sometimes sat by the fire in the evenings.
I especially appreciated:
… that I had a lot of freedom to contribute where I felt my potential lies. So I had a lot of opportunities to develop myself and also to learn a lot.
I especcially missed:
The forest, the large bodies of water – especially Lake Constance – the rain, fresh apples, oat milk, various vegetables, and the green nature. After the time in dry and dusty Somalia, Germany seemed particularly green to me.
But what I missed most of all was my daughter!
My plans for the future:
I live in a community, and since we are planning a major remodel, this community needs my strength and attention in the near future.
I also promised my daughter that I wouldn’t go that far away from her again for the next two years. She is eight years old.
If I need a bigger challenge again, I can well imagine working with Cap Anamur, once more.
My fondest memory of working on the project:
That I now feel a connection to the people from Somaliland. And that it is possible, regardless of skin color, religion or any other beliefs, to make this world a little bit more livable together!
I have particularly grown fond of some of the people there and continue to keep in touch with them.
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.