by Sunday Magaji

22 June 2010

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo: It was taxing working at Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital, Banjul, the Gambia. I was there from 2004 to 2006 as a Technical Assistant in a foreign assignment for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja, Nigeria. My service there reinforced bilateral co-operation between the two countries, with my giving voluntary service to the Gambia yet being paid my allowance by Nigeria.  

While there, I taught procedures such as microscopy, culture and sensitivity of various human samples to the first set of medical students to graduate from the University of the Gambia in Medical Microbiology. I also lectured to biomedical technicians in training. In addition, I served as a resource person in different workshops and seminars in the hospital.

By the time I returned to Nigeria in 2006, I had clearly seen the need for volunteering. That challenged me to go in September 2008 as a UNV volunteer to what is now the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO, formerly MONUC).

My assignment and experiences as a UNV volunteer Laboratory Assistant at the Cotex Medical Laboratory in Kinshasa are also taxing. Apart from the routine bench work, I assist the head of the unit on delegated work and when he is out of the duty station. When the management of the laboratory is my responsibility, I give priority to getting lab results ready before doing administrative work like writing emails that are not urgent.

Also, I am responsible for receiving and distributing human red blood cells (from Amsterdam) meant for transfusion to MONUSCO staff in need. These go to all MONUSCO hospitals in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  

This task is big and involves some international travel with the blood to ensure cold chain compliance in case of a flight cancellation.  In such situations it is my task to move with the blood to the appropriate available MONUSCO blood bank to ensure that the blood is safe for transfusion until its expiration date.

Where the blood supplied is not used and it expires, a writ is made for authority to incinerate (burn to ashes) the blood according to specific procedures. A destruction unit inspects the incinerator beforehand and once the approval is received, the samples are destroyed as prescribed. Incineration is carried out and photographs are taken in the presence of witnesses who later sign the destruction certificate which is forwarded to the appropriate units.

Another one of my tasks is staying up sometimes up to 4.00am to accompany human blood to the airport when it is sent unaccompanied to MONUSCO hospitals outside Kinshasa. I have to wait at the airport until the aircraft takes off.  Again, this is necessary to ensure that when flights are cancelled I can bring the blood back to the office without delay and guarantee that the cold chain is maintained and the blood will be safe to use later on.

To ensure that things are done accurately, I sometimes have to work late. But one thing is certain.  I love hard work and meeting my deadlines.