Another great week of girls camp

August is the month for the annual girls camp, and we had a blast with the 50 girls plus leaders at the camp site by the Zambezi river.


Girls collecting water from the river



The staple diet, nshima with relish. And our 2 fantastic hard working cooks.


Nights of singing and drama around the camp fire. Beautiful singing from dusk to dawn.


Girls doing their hair in their free time.


And mine!


Fun games involving blindfolds.


Bath time at the river.


Goodbye girls, see you next year!

Standing on their own two feet

Bartholemew has been a frequent feature of my blogs... this month he came to collect his prosthetic leg, which will let him walk without crutches for the first time in years.


Chochu is another amputee who benefited from the work of flyspec


Two men awaiting dressing changes. The xray is for the man on the right, who has infected gout.


Diabetes is a neglected health issue in Africa. With good blood sugar control this newly diagnosed diabetic man could probably almost double his weight. I'm currently working out the right dose of insulin for him, the next issue is keeping up supply...


I admitted this family to my ward after learning that the mother and father had both received treatment for TB in Angola for just 2 months in 2008, after which the clinic ran out of medicines. TB should be treated for 6 months, and stopping early can cause a problem of drug resistance. We've restarted treatment, and are screening some of their 9 children!


Singleton on the day of discharge, so excited to be going home, alive, after several months in hospital due to 40% burns.

A new look team!


Thanks to either a stroke of luck or divine intervention, I was donated this full football kit while visiting London. My village ladies team is absolutely over the moon! (Note the ladies footwear in the photo on the right).


Our first scheduled game didn't work out as planned, as the opposition didn't show. But we scrambled some local boys together for a game. The actual kids we played were a bit bigger than the ones pictured on the left!

A slice of civilisation...


I spent 2 weeks in London doing a developing health course with Christian Medical Fellowship. It was a fantastic course and I also got the chance to enjoy some western comforts like pizza and ice cream, but most importantly, FRIENDS! It was so lovely managing to catch up with several friends while I was there and having a bit of a social life!

Hands on learning at the CMF course.

Always room for one more

Two trips this month, each maximizing the opportunity of transport

A full vehicle +1! And others hanging around hopeful to be fitted in...


The state of the roads - the worst patch, now with diversions around it


Shopping while in town (although the bulk of my town shopping was done at the supermarket, which isn't too different looking to home, hence no photos were taken!)


Mum and Dad have arrived and got busy at to work. Mum likes to visit the boys on my ward. Here we are having a picnic dinner at the Zambezi rapids with James and Ruth Atikinson

The linknet container internet cafe... introducing Kalene to the www.

A newly arrived internet cafe donated by a group that provides internet to rural African communities, a great development for the community


Football fever! Everyone is excited about world cup soccer. Here's some girls I organised a match with last Sunday afternoon. Hilariously entertaining!


Doug and Heidi with son Caleb, great friends who've been here for 3 months, Heidi as a midwife


Singleton - sustained burns to approximately 40% of his body after mistakenly using petrol in a kerosene lamp. This is 4 weeks on.


Cataract surgery - these men all had cataract surgery by a visiting eye surgeon and were issued with sunglasses to wear home.

The orthopod has landed

A huge number of people flock to the hospital for orthopedic consultation and hope of surgery by Professor Jellis, who visits at least twice each year.


It was lovely to see some patients return for review. Bartholemew came back for his prosthesis fitting, but unfortunately is now sick with TB.


This boy had a deep wound to his shin, exposing half his tibia. In an effort to save the leg, the dead bone will be removed and given time to heal before further surgery.



Another case of epilepsy and consequent falling in a fire.


My latest group of student nurses to be placed on my ward numbered 14... Needless to say, it's been a little congested at times!



A whirlwind trip to Solwezi to get my license, for which I had to reverse through some cones and do a hill start. Every trip to the nearest town with a supermarket (5 and a half hours each way) warrants some shopping, so we were fully laden for the journey back... but there's always room for one more!



Two of my drug resistant TB patients, one with his wife and child, who came to visit me at home after church last Sunday.