Its getting cold!

Hi Friends and family

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.

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.

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.

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.

First post

Sanibonani!

Welcome to all who are joining me on this exciting journey of travelling half way around the world to help care for some of the worlds most vulnerable people. Its 25 days till I leave the uk for warmer climates and I cant wait to get there. Ive never written a blog before so I hope I'm able to keep you informed and entertained by all that I'm getting up to in Bulembu. Its a charity that is very dear to my heart and I know that without the amazing work that they do, there are many children that would have died if it wasnt for them being rescued by Bulembu Ministries, giving them food, education, healthcare and a place to call home. The first time you go there you are overwhelmed by the sense of Gods love and presence in everything that goes on in the small town. Restore a town transform a nation, one of their slogans, is such a huge vision and I'm excited to play a small part in this vision.