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 The Blandering Spirit
Paul Splint
Volunteer Engineer - the Netherlands
August 2005
On June the 4th Mr. Ian Parkinson welcomed me, at Lilongwe airport, showing a sheet of paper bearing the title, “Mr. Blandering Spirit “. Of course I responded to that text immediately, feeling relieved at the same time that indeed somebody from Saint Francis’ has bothered to collect me.
 Most of the staff of SFH know me more or less. As a retired, but not yet tired engineer, I keep myself occupied with tasks for the hospital; in The Netherlands as a technical advisor to the SFH- Medical Support Group and now for the third time in Katete as acting hospital engineer. Actually it was my GP, dr. Jan van der Werf who talked me into this and I do not regret it at all, having responded positively to his request to assist SFH in technical matters. Dr. Jan van der Werf has served several years as a GP at SFH during the early sixties in the past century. He is also a board member of the SFH / MSG and he initiated the yearly fundraising classical concert in Blaricum (www.zomerconcert.nl) in The Netherlands.
How do we achieve a Blandering Spirit? Well some Zambians pronounce my surname as “Spirit”, and “blandering” means not only fitting small wooden beams to accommodate ceiling boards, but can also be used for any vague technical activity.
As for now the technical staff of SFH tries very hard to continue the present projects such as the Trocaire house (which should be finished in a few weeks), the renovation of the wards Saint Monica and Saint Augustine, the Simavi water project, as well as small alterations in the Sandy Logie clinic, the Eye Theatre and St. Lukes (now used as the Out-Patient department).
 St.Monica and St. Augustine suffered some delays due to difficulty in obtaining the steel beams for the roof, and due to difficulties with the effluent water from the surrounding wards and public toilets. It appears that toilets are used as a dustbin, because it took the plumbing department 3 whole days of tough labour to get the effluent system going again! As for now the problems are solved by constructing 4 new septic tanks and soak-aways. The renovation project continues and should be completed in several months.
As for the Simavi water project, the workforce continued its job by cleaning, repairing and painting the main water tank. The 4 roof supports were corroded and they had to be replaced immediately. The remaining tasks - renewal of top-tanks and new water mains within the hospital - are to be carried out in the near future.
Meanwhile Mr. Dan Chisenga Claxton, VSO, arrived to take over the task of hospital engineer. If it goes as planned, the MSG may send two retired Dutch engineers (Mr. Bert Valk, civil engineer and Mr. Luc van den Tillaart, electrical engineer) to assist in technical projects during 12 weeks from the beginning of 2006.
 Together with family and friends I started a sports project. The management welcomed this idea wholeheartedly, and Dr. Shelagh Parkinson expressed the wish that not only basketball, volleyball and netball should be promoted, but also tennis. Well, funds are not sufficient to do all this at once but the basketball- annex tennis court are under construction. The court should get a cement floor, with removable tennis poles and of course lines in different colours for the separate sports. The rubble from the various building projects can be used effectively to create a good floor. The nursing students will play a significant part to arrange the rubble in a proper way. Their co-operation will be highly appreciated.
Meanwhile I keep myself occupied with new projects for SFH. Drawings and bills of quantities are being prepared for renovation of staff houses, for a self-contained 6-bedroom hostel for foreign students, for an administrative block on the existing slab between the Dr. Parkinson’s office and St. Augustine, and a small feasibility study to improve the effluent water system.
It’s been a great pleasure to be so well received by all the members of staff of Saint Francis’.
I wish you and your families all the best and thank you very much for your hospitality, friendliness and co-operation. Let’s meet again!
Yours,
the Blandering Spirit (Paul Splint)
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