Hi Friends
Its been a while since I last wrote and so much has happened, from training courses to a visit from dad and of course a wonderful trip home. Where to start? well I can tell you aboutmy adventures into Mbabane for my last trang workshop back in august for TB. Thos was a week long training about anything from diagnosis, warning signs, prevention to treatment. Of course being so remote here in Bulembu and not having a car of my own, transport issues can become tricky and have to arrange several different people to assisst. We had a team visiting from the uk who were coming to Bulembu from Hawane so I would head back with the minibus. ( literally said hi and bye to the team!). I then stayed overnight at Hawane and travelled to my hotel the following morning, only realising when I got there the venue for the training had been moved!!! eventuallly the hotel staff took me to the correct hotel, which was nice because then realised we had been upgraded to a 5 star hotel, very nice indeeed!!!!!! the training was very long and had so much information given to us, I made some new friends and really enjoyed the week. thankfully most of the teaching was in english :). As I got back to Bulembu I went with a friend to pick up dad the next day. We had him doing may different tasks, fixing electrical equipmnt, going out with the plumber, fixing wooden tables, fixing boilers. He certainly enjoyed his stay,and it was good for me to be able to show him where im living. We had a few invites for meals at friends houses, I must admit I saw more of Bulembu while dad was visiting than ive seen since ive been here. We were then also able to borrow a car and went to visit a bit more of the country. Was a bit surreal at times having dad with me here in Bulembu and also having a friend from Church back home here aswel ( was great to have you here Grahm Brewer). At the end of dads visit we stopped in Kruger park for 2 nights which was great and got to see the big 5. Our first night, while we were looking for our accomodation I didnt expect to be sleeping under canvas, what an experience but this was more glamping than camping as we had proper beds to sleep in :)
Going home was really lovely, although the travelling seemed to take forever. I really enjoyed catching uo with many friends a family, travelling from 1 side of the country to the other, i even got to see the sea, which i miss. I found 1 of the biggest challeges at home was everything seemed so compact wth no space, prefering to spend time out in the open countryside. Im so grateful for the many friends I was able to catch up with and soon time ran away too quickly so was unable to see everyone. Hopefully next time I will be able to catch up with those i missed. The most important person I wanted to catch up with was special hugs from my best friends little miracle. I cant believe I will miss her first few months, she will be 8 months when I see her again next :( but soo so grateful for answered prayers, even if they did take 10 years to be answered! Its all about Gods perfect timing though. I was asked to speak to the grand adults at their weekly coffee morning at church while I was home. I had no idea what was going to happen until 5 mintues before I spoke! they seemed to appreciate what I said and its so good to know the older generation are cheering on the younger generation.
Ive been back 2 weeks in Bulembu now, arriving home ( yes home :) ) to find there was another workshop to attend. Every 6 months the ministry of health and our friends in america organise a data review where every clinic in the country is invited to attend to discuss the progress of the countrys health services, hopefully coming out with awards for good practice. We as a clinic have won many awards in the last few years, but sadly this time we didnt get any, but generally speaking the rest of swaziland is improving their standards of care accross the board, leading to a healthier nation and less people dying. These sessions are always good for networking, as a lot of the time the best way to get things done is by buiding relationships and asking favours for our patients. This experience has given me some ideas of how to improve on some of our own practises, not that we are peforming under where we should be, but jut a few adjustments to make here and there. I love the fact that we work as a team in the clinic and we can implement the ideas we have together as a team.
With regard to rain in the country we have had a little bit but not enough to even make any difference as yet, please would you continue to pray for the rain this dry land so desperately needs. On a personal note, its good to be back but has been hard at times, missing home, getting back into a routine, knowing my next visit home wont be till next year. Ive been told a few times now that this is normal and the first few weeks back are always the hardest. Ive been reading an amazing book by Galdys Aylward a uk missionary to china back before the war, such an inspiration to hear her struggles, everything she went through and still she carried on fighting and doing what God told her to do.Its about being in the right place at the right time, all being in Gods plan. Im certain this is where im meant to be, in the middle of Gods plan for my life, and yes I do have days where I miss home and days where I miss my mum, and dasy where the workload seems too mcuh, but I know God is with me and has put amazing people around me ( here and at home ) to support and care for me as I support and care for my patients. I hope to add some photos if I can but still not great at this blog thing :) Life group and braai tomorrow looking forward to spending time with friends.
Will blog again soon :) much love to all following my journey x
Friday 7 October 2016
Saturday 16 July 2016
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 :)
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 :)
Friday 27 May 2016
Its getting cold!
Its been a while since I last wrote and ive been so busy with several different things. Still settling in to the new job, and yes winter is on its way. I cant believe how cold it gets here and its not full winter till next month. None of the buildings have heating so during the day its nice to sit in the sun and warm up. Im heading shopping tomorrow for some more balnkets and clothes, the thing to do seems to be wearing plenty of layers, sadly this means more washing! Ive been trying a new skill of fire lighting, which ive discovered its not the lighting of the fire but keeping it going that is where the skill lies! It has been raining recently and because it was so loud (we have a gutter probelm at home so every time it rains we have a waterfall outside the front door! and also a dripping roof) it felt like I was in a caravan by the coast. I also had an atempt at doing some mosaic art to passs some time, which was fun. During the day im at work (730-4) and the evenings are spent watching TV or reading, sometimes researching different things, and once a week week we have started a bible study which is going great.
This year for me is all about trying as many new things as possible and enjoying life along the way. It has involved getting used to the thunder storms, meeting many new creatures -rain spiders, cameleons, many different birds, mongoose,snakes, walking past cows in the road most mornings (something you never see in the city!) including monkeys in the garden! Learning new languages - siswati, afrikans and Shona (from zimbabwe), learning new skills in my job -taking blood, giving baby vaccines, looking after pregant women and learning about HIV. Its been a huge learning curve for me and I believe I am rising to the challenge. It can be tough at times, thankfully not homesick too much, its just getting used to the way things work, and the system can be a bit frustrating at times. The challenge of being a nurse here in Bulembu is the difficulty of our location. Because the road either side of the town is not very good and public transport isnt great it can make things very difficult if patients need to go to the hospital, the other thing is if they also have no money for transport they are unable to get the the hospital, all we can do as a small clinic is to do the best for our patients with what we have. It can be heartbreaking at times, the first time I tested a young girl for HIV she was found to be HIV positive and also pregnant. How do you tell someone you have to take medicaton for the rest of your life and you are only 17? and pregnant? Each patient that tests positive reacts differently, some will be oblivious to what is being said, others it will be devestating, alot of counselling is needed to give these patients the right support to assist them in taking their medication to keep them well. Becasue there is still such a stigma attached to being HIV positive we often find the patients who are tested postive wont tell their partners, this is what I often find most sad. There seems to be an underlying perception that you cannot trust anyone even your husband/wife to remain faithful, Its then our job to convince them to tell their family of their status. Totally different to the western world where it is illegal to be HIV positive and knowingly infect another person!
Yes there are difficult moments to my new job but there are also very good days, where I know I am making a diffence to someones life, and only today we had 3 brand new babies in to the clinic. Below are just afew snap shots of what ive been up to. Thanks for reading and all your support.
Sunday 20 March 2016
Settling in
Hi friends and family
Sorry its been so long in updating my blog. I cant believe I have been here for 5 weeks now! wow time flies by! I'm slowly settling in to life here in Bulembu, getting used to the routine and the bugs. The first time I arrived at my new home it was quite emotional, seeing my room set up for me and a note welcoming me to my new home. Now my room is slowly filling with things from home, pictures on the desk and bible scriptures placed on the walls. adding a few things helps to make me feel more at home. Work is great at the clinic. I'm learning so many new things and trying to learn the local language at the same time. Theres a great team working at the clinic with 7 of us. Wiseman the nurse manager runs the clinic with his wife Sharon who covers the admin, Namile a swazi nurse who came onboard last year, vera a swazi nurse assistant, rose the cleaner, and jannie a nurse assistant from Denmark who moved in just before Christmas. I'm learning the ropes of baby immunisations, family planning and pre/postnatal care. I'm enjoying being stretched in a different direction at the moment. its also great that when we are not busy with patients we have time to sort through the mound of stuff that the clinic has been given over the years, a lot of which we don't really need but has kindly been donated, its just a case of sorting through stuff and thinking outside the box as to what we can use some things for instead! and if theres somewhere else within Swaziland that it can be used.
Church is great lead by a great couple, Pastor Musa and pastor waheedah, which I'm looming forward to getting to know better. I'm slowly getting to meet different people here, Ive noticed that Bulembu is a place where you can easily become isolated if you choose to stay in your own house and don't make the effort to connect with others. I'm going to as many invites as I get at the moment! have been to a baby shower, have had dinner invites, have been to a ladies conference, and have been to Nelspruit for the weekend (a 2 hour drive away over the boarder into south Africa). Ive even been doing some baking, very tempting and not very good for the waistline!
My daily routine is up at 6am, then a 20 minute walk to work down the hill and back up again. Work starts at 730am then finish at 430pm with a walk back down and then up the hill again. The 'hill' is more of a mountain to me and I'm certainly getting my exercise in! The first time I walked to work I had to stop several times to get my breath back, now I only need to stop 1 -2 times so I'm improving thankfully. The town is in a valley surrounded by mountains which is beautiful, not so good when the lightening hits. The mountains that surround us contain large amounts of iron and so we do get quite a few hits so its advisable not to be out walking when the lightening comes!
The evenings are spent chilling, watching tv or dvd and cross stitching, and our 'midnight' is 9pm, so early if I was back home but so needed here! Weekends are mainly washing(if its not raining!) and exploring or resting, unless someone is going out of town to get shopping then I might tag along. Sunday is church, then probably up at the lodge connecting with people back home. Missing home a little now as its sinking in that I'm here for a while, but at the same time its beginning to feel like home here too. Looking forward to exploring much more around town, theres a few nice walks to attempt just need to wait for the weather to cool down a little!
I will leave you with a few pics of what ive been up to and a few pics around town. Hope to update again soon. sending much love to all back home and thanks for joining me on this journey.
Sorry its been so long in updating my blog. I cant believe I have been here for 5 weeks now! wow time flies by! I'm slowly settling in to life here in Bulembu, getting used to the routine and the bugs. The first time I arrived at my new home it was quite emotional, seeing my room set up for me and a note welcoming me to my new home. Now my room is slowly filling with things from home, pictures on the desk and bible scriptures placed on the walls. adding a few things helps to make me feel more at home. Work is great at the clinic. I'm learning so many new things and trying to learn the local language at the same time. Theres a great team working at the clinic with 7 of us. Wiseman the nurse manager runs the clinic with his wife Sharon who covers the admin, Namile a swazi nurse who came onboard last year, vera a swazi nurse assistant, rose the cleaner, and jannie a nurse assistant from Denmark who moved in just before Christmas. I'm learning the ropes of baby immunisations, family planning and pre/postnatal care. I'm enjoying being stretched in a different direction at the moment. its also great that when we are not busy with patients we have time to sort through the mound of stuff that the clinic has been given over the years, a lot of which we don't really need but has kindly been donated, its just a case of sorting through stuff and thinking outside the box as to what we can use some things for instead! and if theres somewhere else within Swaziland that it can be used.
Church is great lead by a great couple, Pastor Musa and pastor waheedah, which I'm looming forward to getting to know better. I'm slowly getting to meet different people here, Ive noticed that Bulembu is a place where you can easily become isolated if you choose to stay in your own house and don't make the effort to connect with others. I'm going to as many invites as I get at the moment! have been to a baby shower, have had dinner invites, have been to a ladies conference, and have been to Nelspruit for the weekend (a 2 hour drive away over the boarder into south Africa). Ive even been doing some baking, very tempting and not very good for the waistline!
My daily routine is up at 6am, then a 20 minute walk to work down the hill and back up again. Work starts at 730am then finish at 430pm with a walk back down and then up the hill again. The 'hill' is more of a mountain to me and I'm certainly getting my exercise in! The first time I walked to work I had to stop several times to get my breath back, now I only need to stop 1 -2 times so I'm improving thankfully. The town is in a valley surrounded by mountains which is beautiful, not so good when the lightening hits. The mountains that surround us contain large amounts of iron and so we do get quite a few hits so its advisable not to be out walking when the lightening comes!
The evenings are spent chilling, watching tv or dvd and cross stitching, and our 'midnight' is 9pm, so early if I was back home but so needed here! Weekends are mainly washing(if its not raining!) and exploring or resting, unless someone is going out of town to get shopping then I might tag along. Sunday is church, then probably up at the lodge connecting with people back home. Missing home a little now as its sinking in that I'm here for a while, but at the same time its beginning to feel like home here too. Looking forward to exploring much more around town, theres a few nice walks to attempt just need to wait for the weather to cool down a little!
I will leave you with a few pics of what ive been up to and a few pics around town. Hope to update again soon. sending much love to all back home and thanks for joining me on this journey.
Wednesday 10 February 2016
Arrived safely, thunderstorms and different perspectives
Hi friends
I have arrived in sunny South Afrrica! After a long overnight flight I was ready for a shower and sleep which was much welcomed, and to be greeted at the airport by an amazing friend Encasn who not only is my host for the next few days but is also driving me to my final destination of Bulembu on Thursday. So very grateful to this amazing young woman. After much needed sleep on Tuesday, we went out to celebrate Encasn's birthday and met some lovely people. There has been 2 thunder storms in the evenings, wow! lightening galore! And the rain? now I know I'm in Africa!
Being driven around different places almost feels familiar like ive been here for a while, however due to crazy driving over here I cannot see myself behind the wheel! I was reminded yesterday of the difference between here and the uk, the house I am staying has a housekeeper/cleaner who comes once a week ( as do many households in South Africa) to assist with any chores around the house. I was struck by the fact that she travels 3-4 hours each way on a bus to get to work as there is no work available where she lives. She has to get up at 3am in order to leave her house to get to work for 7.30am. I mean 3am?. I remember how sometimes I would complain about getting up at 6am to be at work for the same time. It certainly makes you think! The fact that people have to travel for miles just to get any chance of a job. It puts a lot of things into perspective.
Off to do some final shopping today before heading on our road trip tomorrow to Bulembu. As much as I love spending time in Pretoria and with friends here I'm now ready to get to Bulembu so I can settle in, unpack and get into a new routine. Sorry no photos in this post but will post pic in my next blog. Signing off for now. Thanks again for joining me in my adventures join me again soon.
I have arrived in sunny South Afrrica! After a long overnight flight I was ready for a shower and sleep which was much welcomed, and to be greeted at the airport by an amazing friend Encasn who not only is my host for the next few days but is also driving me to my final destination of Bulembu on Thursday. So very grateful to this amazing young woman. After much needed sleep on Tuesday, we went out to celebrate Encasn's birthday and met some lovely people. There has been 2 thunder storms in the evenings, wow! lightening galore! And the rain? now I know I'm in Africa!
Being driven around different places almost feels familiar like ive been here for a while, however due to crazy driving over here I cannot see myself behind the wheel! I was reminded yesterday of the difference between here and the uk, the house I am staying has a housekeeper/cleaner who comes once a week ( as do many households in South Africa) to assist with any chores around the house. I was struck by the fact that she travels 3-4 hours each way on a bus to get to work as there is no work available where she lives. She has to get up at 3am in order to leave her house to get to work for 7.30am. I mean 3am?. I remember how sometimes I would complain about getting up at 6am to be at work for the same time. It certainly makes you think! The fact that people have to travel for miles just to get any chance of a job. It puts a lot of things into perspective.
Off to do some final shopping today before heading on our road trip tomorrow to Bulembu. As much as I love spending time in Pretoria and with friends here I'm now ready to get to Bulembu so I can settle in, unpack and get into a new routine. Sorry no photos in this post but will post pic in my next blog. Signing off for now. Thanks again for joining me in my adventures join me again soon.
Saturday 30 January 2016
8 days to go!
Hi all, its now only 8 days till I head off to Bulembu, time is going by so quickly now. Its been good to catch up with friends and family, but the closer it gets the harder the goodbyes become. Reality of what I'm about to do is setting in, the enormity that I'm about to move thousands of miles away from home, wow! what on earth am I doing? I know for certain this is the right thing for me to do but I didn't appreciate just how hard it would be to say goodbye. I'm so excited for what lies ahead though. My house has finally sold after months of phone calls and emails and lots of prayers. I am now completely debt free!!!! wahoo! I ventured into town today to get some last minute bits for my case including sunglasses. Who would have thought it would be such an ordeal finding sunglasses? well I guess it is still winter here! Now all I need to do is pack my case (after unpacking and repacking 5 times!). I will write again soon, much love to you all and thanks for following my journey.
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