LETTERS TO IVANA FROM CALABAR
Edition: ISBN 0 - 934314 - 08 - X
Publisher: International Foundation for Biosocial Development and Human Health
Published: 2001
Place of publication: United States
Language: eng
Format: Hardbound
Number of pages: 142
Copyright date: 2001
Subjects: Calabar - Tropical West Africa; Nigeria - University Education; International Health; Travel in Nigeria; Tropical Rain Forest
Genres: LETTERS FROM CALABAR; LIFE IN TROPICAL WEST AFRICA; PERSONAL NARRATIVES; PUBLIC LECTURES; LETTERS JUNE  9, 1982   -  NOVEMBER 20, 1982
Other titles: Maps, Photographs, Documenta
Work titles: LETTERS FROM TROPICAL WEST AFRICA
First sentence: Wednesday, June 9, 1982: It is 6 AM of what has been a veritable nightmare of a night. The intense heat and the confined space of my room provoked nausea, vomiting, and a terrible claustrophobia, so much so that my first desire was to rush out and book the first passage home. The intense psycho-physiologic sensory reaction to the noise, smells, and reaction to the heat and humidity  had a sledge hammer effect. At 10 PM I did not think that I would ever get through the night! But finally, with the lights on, and following aspiration and exhaustion, I fell asleep. By Nigerian standards they have given me a luxurous room (!) and I am certain that in this country my arrangements would be considered most favourable. There is no question that I have been warmly received and very well greeted. I must make that clear. They have shown great respect and made much of my coming. The rank of Professor is respected, based on British tradition, in which there are few professors, and in which academic distinction is a reward itself. It is clear that they need me, and have already been asking me to stay four years.
Description: The text is the first volume of letters to his wife from Calabar (they extended over a two year period) and were written at a time when communication facilities in West Africa were very poor. Even telephone communication with Lagos, the capital city of Nigeria, was extremely poor. Letters could take not merely days but WEEKS between passage of a letter and its receipt in the world extant. This situation led to virtual isolation from informed news. These letters witness changes in the writer's life that brought contrasts associated with anxiety and risk in his determination to introduce into medical education in Nigeria a broader understanding that passed beyond pure academic methodology and enhanced the concept of the patient as a person; SELF HEALTH and SELF HELP. The writer brought the BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL CONCEPT to Calabar and introduced it into the curriculum of the Medical School. The letters cover every aspect of University Life; Work in the BUSH and RAIN FOREST, and in the SAHEL, at LAKE CHAD. They describe disease and life of the rural people in a region once called the "WHITE MAN'S GRAVE".
Notes: Text includes numerous photographic pictures of varying life conditions in the region; Extracts from Public Lectures including SAMA FOUNDATION LECTURES at the HOPE WADDELL TRAINING COLLEGE, CALABAR; University of Calabar Public Lectures, including WORLD HEALTH DAY, APRIL 17th, 1983 (MAN IN SEARCH OF HEALTH); Commendation To Professor Day from H.R.H. Edidem Bassey Eyo Ephraim Adam II, King of Calabar; University Miscellanea - Members of University Senate 1983/84 Session, etc. Two photographs of note - Return Visit to Calabar 1988 - with Dr Marie Gadsden, Exec. Director NAAFEO/USA, Prof. Charles Effiong, Vice Chancellor, and Former Minister of Health, Prof. Ana. Also photo of writer with Prof. Adesanya Grillo and his brother, at Magdalen College, Oxford, May 1994. Prof Grillo was Founding Dean of the University of Ile Ife Medical College, Nigeria, and a classmate of Professor Day in Dublin, 1949 - 1955. Frontispiece photo of Dr Ivana Day by the Kwa River, Calabar 1982, and facing page 20, with Prof Day before he left for West Africa.
Table of contents: title: INTRODUCTION; title: LETTERS AND LETTER WRITING; title: WHY AND WHEREFOR TROPICAL WEST AFRICA ?; title: OLD CALABAR; title: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SECOND NIGERIAN REPUBLIC; title: CALABAR IN 1982; title: A NOTE ON THE LETTERS AS THEY ARE PRESENTED; title: ENGLAND EN ROUTE TO CALABAR: THE LITTLE RED CHINESE DIARY; title: LETTERS  (JUNE 9, 1982 - NOVEMBER 20, 1982); title: APPENDIX; title: AN ADDRESS PRESENTED BY THE NTUFAM OBAN; title: NETIM IS GOD'S VILLAGE TOO; title: THE WAY OF A PHYSICIAN  (THREE PUBLIC LECTURES); title: UNIVERSITY MISCELLANEA; title: PUBLIC LECTURES; title: NEWSPAPER ARTICLES