Mountain climbing

Hi  folks

Its been a while since I last wrote to update you all. Well what a month its been, and so much to tell. We have had 3 teams in bulembu doing various tasks around the town and being a massive blessing. Both teams have been from the USA and a couple from back home ( nice to have some English accents around the place :). I'm not sure if I added in my last blog my adventures in a lorry to the capital, of course this is how we travel in Africa! We had 1 team come to the clinic to do a great job changing the waiting area from a very plain white wall to a much more child friendly place which was fantastic. I also got to spend some time with them sharing my story and hearing about their stories aswel. I even got to scale the bulembu mountain Emlembe which is higher than Ben Nevis in Scotland! I'm so pleased as this was one of my challenges i wanted to achieve while I'm here. I cant say it was at all easy but with lots of encouragement from the team and an excellent Guide from Bulembu we made it to the top, and what a view! All the photos are below :)   The team we have had in this week have included 3 physios and an ENT doctor who have been very busy seeing many patients in the community, including myself. Its been great to be able to refer patients as they come to the clinic rather than having to send them to the hospital with muscular injuries.We have been very blessed. I had the opportunity this month to become a proper swazi, killing plucking and cooking my own chicken, of course it was a proper roast with roast potatoes and yorkshire pudding, with apple pie and custard to follow! I was very unsure how I would cope with the whole experience before hand but I'm open to as many new experiences as possible while I'm here. It wasn't as horrific as I thought it would be, thankful for my Swazi friend and colleague Vera who helped and taught me what to do.
The clinic has been busy with several visits from the ministry of health, from our partners who are working within the country to help clinics and hospital deals with the huge scale of HIV and TB. The country has recently introduced the Measles Rubella vaccine so we had a whole 2 weeks on vaccinating every child from 9 months to 14 years old. Eventually they will introduce the MMR vaccine but for now the introduction of Rubella will reduce the number of babies being born with abnormalities, of which we have seen a few of our children here in Bulembu suffer with developmental disabilities, deafness, cataracts. The vaccine campaign was interesting to see and be a part of and thankful we had a good uptake within the community. I think the kids have now forgiven me for inflicting pain on them!
On a personal note ive had a few ups and downs recently, really missing home and mum but so thankful for the people God has placed around me to help me through those times. God is always faithful even when the road ahead seems too overwhelming he slows things down, you just have to take life in small chunks. Its been frustrating with the remoteness and politics of the health services in the country. sadly we have had a few patients, including some babies with malnutrition but we are struggling to help them gain access to food on prescription, im thankful we don't see it as often as it would be in the rural areas but still, don't our patients deserve just as much access to food and clean water as the rest of the world? Its also so sad patients we know who come to the clinic who are HIV positive and yet they refuse to take medication for fear their partner will find out their status! they are married and continue to expose their partner to the disease and yet refuse to do anything about it. Testing for HIV is such a big thing because of the rate of HIV in Swaziland that ideally we should be testing every patient who comes through the door. There are some patients we routinely screen everyone say when they come for family planning, we screen all babies at 9 months old, and generally encourage everyone else to test. I remember the first time I tested a patient who was HIV positive, she was 17 and pregnant! The many stories I see everyday can take their toll on you if you don't constantly give everything to God. where would we be without him?

Its only 4 weeks till my dad comes to visit and 6 weeks till i come home for a visit. As much as i love it here i think I'm now ready for a little break. My next blog will probably be just before i leave to come home so until next time i leave you with some pictures. thanks for following my journey so far. until next time :)