Good runs and bad runs...

First, the good. It has been great over the past couple of months to get back into running. I think running was probably the main reason I first got interested in Africa, with the Kenyans and Ethiopians always dominating the distance events in the 90s. So it’s a real privilege to now be actually running in Africa!

One of my first runs here was with one of the male paeds nurses. He decided to take me for a “short” 10.7km run at 6am one Sunday morning. Back in July the mornings were still freezing cold here, however it quickly became apparent that this was a special time to be on the road. Starting in virtual darkness, we ran along the hospital road, before turning onto the main road into town. By now there was something of a glow on the horizon, as we made our way past numerous large termite mounds and thatched roof houses. After running through town we turned again and headed for home, this time running on dirt tracks. We ran past the soccer field at the local orphanage – complete with goals that looked like they were made from old mosquito nets. By this time, the sun was just about to pop over the horizon, however we ran behind the hills surrounding the hospital, obscuring what I’m sure would have been a spectacular sunrise. After a short run up the banks of the river, we were back at the mission compound (freezing hands and all).

Recently I’ve borrowed a running pram from our good friends the Tompkins, which has been great. I have never done this before, but it has quickly become quite a hit with the boys. My first encounter with pram runners was the 12km Bridge to Brisbane in 2004. I had done a full season of soccer training and was feeling quite fit. I thought I was running well in the race until I got to the 11km mark, and just overtook an absolute tank of a man pushing a running pram (I later found out that this guy had finished 3^rd in the pram-running category, so I had been beaten by 2 prams!) Anyway, we are enjoying the opportunity to get out in the afternoons and see some of the surrounding countryside. The sunsets here at the moment are quite special, and Zeke is getting good practice at greeting the locals (“Byepi mwane” – how are you?) that we pass along the way. It’s certainly a great way of exercising and spending time with the boys (Zeke keeps asking me why I’m puffing so much!).

And now for the bad runs. I became professionally acquainted with Entamoeba histolytica during my microscope time in the lab at the trop school in Liverpool. This nasty little parasite causes amoebic dysentery (bloody diarrhoea) and can also form abscesses in various body organs. It also has a fairly interesting life-cycle which makes it readily transmitted between people by poor hygiene.

Anyway, 3 weeks ago we became personally familiar with Entamoeba when Zeke started to have the runs. The bad kind that are profuse and bloodied. The poor little guy was really quite miserable for over a week, and lost quite a bit of weight. Fortunately the hospital lab staff were great and were able to see the amoeba under the microscope (example picture below). It still took a long course of antibiotics, patience and prayer but Zeke is now doing much better.

  

Well, that’s a bit of a run-down (pardon the pun), on a bit of what we’ve been up to recently. Hopefully the runs over the next few months will be more of the pram kind and less of the parasitic variety. - D