My house, my garden, my friends

Thank God for good friends... I've felt totally blessed the last few weeks with the arrival of some exceptionally cool short-termers, including my new flatmate Anna Macky who'll be here for 6 months, and Charlie Shadbolt who's just here 10 weeks from Tauranga with Grace and Brian Johnston.


Adventures to the top of Kalene Hill with Anna and Charlie


Anna and I with the last remaining structure of the original hospital station - the single ladies house :)



Anna and I at work goofing around with "maglasses" at work (another way my scope of practice has expanded, eye-testing)



A trip to the village church where we were given a meal of nshima, and me greeting one of the kids who was doing some very cute dancing during the service.



Dreadlocks day... had a few girls over to help dreadlock my hair... note all the kids standing at the window watching! We combed them out again after a few weeks.


My birthday on the 14th, made super special by a number of people, especially Anna, who hid little presents around my room... I felt more like an 8 year old than a 28 year old finding them all! And the funniest thing was they were all things from around the house that she'd wrapped up, with a little note in each, very sweet.


My recording studio, recording voice-overs for a video I'll be sending home.


The local most popular hairstyle I had last month, but only lasted a few days because it was quite painful!!

The garden



My garden and some of it's produce (feta cheese in salad from Lusaka... not made locally!!)

Kids kids kids...


The girls that sit with me at church every Sunday



Saying hi to some of the children on childrens ward.


The boys posing for photos outside my house



The kids can be very creative and resourceful... this is one of the boys that often visits me, Albert, showing a few of his creations... the hat is made from beer packets pounded together with a rock. He also drew this picture of me... ah bless!

Get your groove on - a video of the boys introducing themselves and dancing

And they love to be videoed!


...and an old lady


I went to Lusaka for an AGM and shared a motel room with this lady, Sister Ruth Wallice. She's been serving as a nurse/midwife in a rural health centre for 40 years, never been married, has an amazing life story... she's inspiring! Oh, and she gave me this African outfit to wear :o)

Some interesting cases


The all-too-common problem of osteomylitis strikes again. The bone infection requires long-term antibiotics and usually surgery. I usually have a few of these cases on my ward at any one time.


Three children with lymphomas. The boy pictured with his grandmother has been on my ward for over 2months. He has paralysis of both legs, likely due to a cancerous lesion on his spinal chord, and came in with bad pressure sores that are still healing.


This man had some interesting symptoms including ptosis (drooping) of right eyelid, a paralysed right vocal cord, and other cranial nerve symptoms, indicating a brainstem lesion. As per usual, a CT or MRI would be wonderful, but instead it's a case of treating several possible causes to see if he responds. Most likely causes include TB, syphillis, or cancer.

Finally... a video!

Here's a video I put together about my time in the village learning Lunda... enjoy!

A few more pics from the ward and beyond

Each morning, I am welcomed to work by a small crowd of mostly happy young boys. They are pretty cute, although they have their moments, like any kids, when I wish they wouldn't all be hanging around me!! But they're great, and often make my days more interesting...



I know I shouldn't have favourites, but Bartholemew is mine... he was most upset when the visiting orthopedic surgeon decided the best thing for him was a below knee amputation. He'd been in and out of hospital for several years having operations to try to fix his leg which was badly effected by osteomylistis. Normally a very happy child, the day after his surgery he tried to hit me! The anger part of the grieving process... But as expected, he bounced (or hopped) back and the next day was giving me cuddles and smiling again, so darn cute!

The Rapids
The hydro project that provides the hospital with 24 hour power is about a 40 minute bike ride away. One day we went with a few of the families from the mission. It's a lovely spot.



The Hill
The original hospital was situated on the top of Kalene Hill. It makes for a good climb, often through very tall grass, to see the amazing but very flat views.



I've got a lovely bunch of bananas
We often have local vendors on our door selling fresh fruit and vegetables. This week was a particularly fruitful one! YUM!


It's funny how used you can get to creepy crawlies. I must admit to quite often picking them off food prior to eating (I'm told a REAL missionary wouldn't bother). I saw this family of ants carrying off a crumb one day and just had to use my macro...

Making Kalene home

I've been back at Kalene now for almost 3 weeks and am enjoying being in charge of the mens ward, challenges and all!




Walking outside the main hospital building


The office, and ward, with Bartholemew, back for more surgery on his leg... such a cutie.


Bartholemew, Gabriel, Josiah, and Godwin.
Josiah is a very short deaf intellectually impaired man who lives at the hospital for periods of time. He tries to make himself useful and is often pushing a trolley or wiping surfaces for me!
Godwin is epileptic and sustained severe burns when he fell into a fire while fitting. He is currently in having skin graft surgery. And along with the other boys, constantly asking me to give him a motorcar to play with.


Ngonga on the left, normally a quiet boy, on bed rest and traction with a broken femur... about an hour earlier had been coming out of sedation with ketamine and was shouting in Lunda at the top of his lungs, things like "be happy" and "hallelujah!" Quite hilarious!


This man is a newly diagnosed diabetic, and went into a hypoglycaemic coma after we gave him too much insulin. It's hard trying to work out the right dose when you don't have enough glucose testing strips to monitor blood levels! We gave him IV glucose, and after he came to, he grabbed my hand and cried, saying he thought he was going to die. I couldn't help welling up with tears myself!


In the office / treatment room. This wee boy had fallen off his bike, which he at the time had been sharing with 3 other children!

The office / treatment room also doubles as a resus, where we managed to resusitate a man who had a respiratory arrest after being bitten by a black mamba. It was not our efforts that saved him though I am sure there was an act of God in there, we were all surprised he survived! He walked out of hospital 3 days later.


My afternoons are often interrupted by a group of children on my doorstep wanting to chat, help me to learn Lunda, play football, or sing and dance.


My flatmate Gill, a physio from South Africa, and I, donning our lab coats for a quick trip to the hospital to sort out a small problem on the ward one Saturday night (how many people do that for fun?!). Our combined effort for making Easter more homely, and a photo from one of our bike rides to the Zambezi rapids, where the hydro is, with the group of boys that wouldn't leave us alone.