Dr. Ashnoor Nagji, MD: A typical day in a hospital tent

Bubukwanga Health Centre reminds me of the conditions depicted in the TV show M*A*S*H. Our Médecins Sans Frontières tents create a cocoon that offers confidentiality and a level of competency that attracts a considerable crowd. And while the landscape may tempt you to think of transience and bush medicine—along with the intermittent power failures, the tent doors that zip open and windows that roll up, and the Swiss Army knives and plastic camping plates that accompany lunch—the strategically septated sections for our pharmacy, areas for minor procedures, rapid diagnostic tests for malaria, and the clinic and wards create the air of a hospital setting. So much so that a queue forms at 6 a.m., 6 days per week. Congolese from the adjacent refugee transit camp and a fair number of nationals come carrying their concerns, confidence, and of course, their children.

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