Spending ten days in a sunny springtime London, where lilac and wisteria adorn the gaily pastel painted houses of Notting Hill. At Djenne Djenno other plants are flourishing such as this baby banana stock.
I am wondering what developments the future holds...
Spending my days trying to find out what can be done for Keita, and if anything can be done, how to pay for it.
It appears that an operation is out of the question after all- the NHS expert I talked to told me that the paralysis cannot be reversed through an operation; that can only sometimes be attempted in the first days of paralysis- but Keita has been unable to walk since the 29th of January. This was a hard blow, and I do not know how I will tell him and his family- they are waiting for me to come back to Mali and tell them he can have an operation which will make him walk again...
I have got an appointment with a leading hematologist next week. She will advise on the best way forward as far as his cancer treatment goes- will she recommend a stemcell transplant with high level chemotherapy? This will have to be done in a hospital in Europe. It is a gruelling treatment which can achieve a remission of the cancer for several years, and greatly improve Keita's life. But it will be a life in a wheelchair...
I am leaving for Africa again next Friday, via another 50th birthday party in Marrakesh. Never let it be said that I let myself be bowed down by misfortune,
although my heart is heavy, it cannot be denied...
The hotel has meanwhile been languishing without electricity because of a continuing problem with the generator, over which I have no control of course until I get there to find out what can be done.
But let's end on a sunnier note:
On Tuesday two very jolly things happen. My big pal Birgit who ran the hotel most of last winter when I was in Bamako with Keita arrives from Amsterdam for a couple of days, and later that day I am having a drink with Dmitry Bondarev, an Arabic manuscript expert from SOAS, who has been giving me advice on the Djenne manuscript project and my application for the British Library Grant. I will know in a couple of week whether we have the grant or not. This project now seems essential for me in contemplating the future in Djenne...