This is a Journal entry by Icy North
Icy Naj 17 - The Jungle Midwife
Icy North Started conversation Nov 17, 2013
When I got home after work on Friday I prepared something to eat then slumped in front of the TV. The BBC were showing their all-night charity event 'Children in Need', so I rapidly switched over and found Channel Four just as their documentary 'Unreported World' was starting.
I'm so glad I did. It was the educational, shocking and deeply moving story of the life of Olga Yetikoua, a midwife based in Bria, a remote town in the Central African Republic.
Olga, one of only around 4 midwives in a territory the size of France, travels to the jungle villages to assist pregnant women with complications. It's not only manpower - drugs and equipment are severely limited, and if women have to be referred back to the hospital in Bria, it lacks facilities like water and electricity.
But the biggest problem is that a large part of the country is in civil war. A militia known as the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) murders villagers and kidnaps men and children to become soldiers. Olga deals with women whose husbands have been taken.
I won't say any more, as you can see the show on catch-up tv. It's about 25 minutes long:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world/4od#3608715
If you manage to watch this, I hope you find it as moving as I did. It gives a whole new meaning to 'Children in Need'.
Icy Naj 17 - The Jungle Midwife
Amy Pawloski, aka 'paper lady'--'Mufflewhump'?!? click here to find out... (ACE) Posted Nov 17, 2013
[Amy P]
Icy Naj 17 - The Jungle Midwife
Asteroid Lil - Offstage Presence Posted Nov 17, 2013
Ayi. I have heard about that army. Their leader makes Pol Pot (Cambodia) look like a missionary in comparison.
Icy Naj 17 - The Jungle Midwife
Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor Posted Nov 17, 2013
Thanks for this, Icy! To my surprise, we were able to watch it.
That's quite a story. What a brave woman Olga is.
Icy Naj 17 - The Jungle Midwife
Icy North Posted Nov 17, 2013
I'm glad you managed to see it.
As a network, Channel Four are editorially very odd. They push the boundaries of taste in their comedy shows, and they've run the tackiest reality shows (Big Brother), but their news and reportage is streets ahead of all the other UK broadcasters (BBC Radio 4 is the next best). It's the only 'internationalist' bulletin we get.
Icy Naj 17 - The Jungle Midwife
Asteroid Lil - Offstage Presence Posted Nov 17, 2013
Were they responsible for Father Ted? (which I loved)
Icy Naj 17 - The Jungle Midwife
Titania (gone for lunch) Posted Nov 26, 2013
*hates militiae pretending to act on behalf of God*
Key: Complain about this post
Icy Naj 17 - The Jungle Midwife
- 1: Icy North (Nov 17, 2013)
- 2: Deb (Nov 17, 2013)
- 3: Amy Pawloski, aka 'paper lady'--'Mufflewhump'?!? click here to find out... (ACE) (Nov 17, 2013)
- 4: Asteroid Lil - Offstage Presence (Nov 17, 2013)
- 5: Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor (Nov 17, 2013)
- 6: Icy North (Nov 17, 2013)
- 7: Asteroid Lil - Offstage Presence (Nov 17, 2013)
- 8: Icy North (Nov 17, 2013)
- 9: Titania (gone for lunch) (Nov 26, 2013)
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