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How are you? Everything o.k.? - Everything o.k.
Come on, start it!
I’m a flying handyman. Flying handyman.
Yes, I do a bit of everything. Yes, you could call me a mechanic.
Well yes, in fact, the main part of my work is training.
Trying to pass on the knowledge. For them and for us. If you will.
So, everybody gets his money’s worth.
The people you train, are happy to receive training.
And also the institution MSF gets its money’s worth.
Because it has got more reliable cars.
So, my career is very simple. I left at the age of 14.
I did an apprenticeship as a mechanic.
After that I served 4 years in the navy and then I met my wife.
So I wanted to have a little bit more stability. I left the navy
and came to the gendarmerie, in the profession of a gendarme.
I fulfilled the tasks of a mechanic. Mechanic, workshop manager.
And after that, as a pensioner, I wanted to do something.
I left the gendarmerie. That was at the age of 53.
Somehow, I had been running out of the steam.
Near Bordeaux there is an organization, which is called Engineering without Borders.
I called them and they told me, they didn’t need anybody with my profile.
But Doctors without Borders (MSF), I was far from believing, that a medical organization -
because for me, MSF is a medical organization -
well, I was far from believing they needed a mechanic.
I did my eight days of PPD, and after that stayed another week or maybe ten days,
to get to know the wheels of MSF, the logistical part, the mechanical part.
And after that I left for my first mission to the D.R. of Congo.
That was in 2001, October/November 2001
And now I am at my thirteenth.
And I’m still as enthusiastic.
If you have got a power failure.
Would your injection work? - No, no.
Exactly, you see, if you don‘t turn it on… - Yes, yes.
You understand what I mean.
If you didn’t ... Got it? All right? - Yes, yes. - O.K.?
And the brakes, what do you look at, at the brakes?
I check whether the oil is low.
Yes. Whether it has diminished. If your oil level is here, what do you do?
As for the technical part, the mechanical part,
I take care of the vehicles, of everything concerning
the training of the drivers, the repairmen, the mechanics and so on.
And above all, not trying to act as a mechanic myself.
This is not the purpose, is it?
It's about finding people who are able to manage the maintenance
and that these people pass on the knowledge to others.
Because the goal, that is, my personal goal, is, well, I know how things work,
that is, if I did it myself, maybe things would be resolved more quickly,
even though this is not sure.
But after that, things must go on, that’s how it is.
The most important thing is, that when I'm gone people must know how to help themselves.
O.K., that’s it. Got it?
Everything in the box? Yes, yes.
I think, it was near Bandundu that I had one of my first missions.
I did a round tour of the hospital, they were renovating the hospital of Bandundu.
With the surgeon, in his operating room,
yes, in his operating room,
he was operating. Well, he was quite small and the operating table was quite high.
So, while he operated he stood on a wooden crate. So I said to him:
What is this thing?
And so he told me, well, the table cannot be lowered anymore.
So I said to him: Can we have a look at it?
Well, and together with the driver, we have ...
Well, there was a lever for the height adjustment.
The leg of the operating table has got a lever for the height adjustment.
So what did I do? I removed the oil, that was there underneath.
I performed a classical maintenance, drained it and cleaned everything. And then I tried and it did work.
So I called the surgeon and – cross my heart, raising, yes he knew the table could be raised,
and as I pedaled with my foot, it’s like at the hairdresser,
if you push the pedal of the operating table, it will go down.
And as he saw the operating table going down,
the look he gave me, I swear, it will stay inside here, for the rest of my life.
I will never forget that look.
Cross my heart. I will keep it inside here, I have achieved something.
That was good. And that’s it.