February 3rd, 2012 by Guest Blogger
I don’t really have a translation for this one. When we asked, they answered…’it means cows, Boma Cows’. So there you are. Anyway, it is the name of the town we spent 1/1/2012 in and it was wonderful – a once in a lifetime experience!
On the bus to Witness' home
First of all, it was the dawn of a new year so, naturally, we were all hungover. The idea of going for a 1.5hr bus journey was not all that appealing but we managed to get to the station with minimal fuss and maximum re-hydration.
We were headed to Witness’ home village, Boma Ngombe. During the week she is chef and mother of the house and each weekend she makes the journey home to her family and 5yr old son. I couldn’t imagine being separated from my child like that but she swears that she loves her job and wouldn’t give it up for the world. Witness is amazing – she is about 5ft nothing, larger than life and a ‘rafiki best’ (best friend) to everybody!
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February 2nd, 2012 by Ruth (Communications Manager)
The Royal Society of Medicine are offering 2 students £700 towards their elective!
HIV leaves many Ghanaian children orphaned
The Global Health Award is focussed on HIV in communities with severely limited resources, so our placement opportunities in Ghana would be an ideal fit.
The Ghana Aids Commission is working hard to reduce the numbers of infected people, putting aside a budget and encouraging ministries to do the same, but there is an obvious funding gap. Stigma and discrimination are still rife and many people stll hide their HIV status, reducing their chances of obtaining proper treatment. The Government also struggles with the 140,000 + children orphaned by AIDS. Services have been scaled up, but it is estimated that only 7.4% of orphans and vulnerable children have been reached.
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February 1st, 2012 by Guest Blogger
I thought I’d give you a glimpse today into everyday life here. Pretty much everything is done by hand – there are no fancy machines to do the hard work here! I had my first experience of hand washing on the weekend. While I’ve soaked the odd delicate or two, I’ve never had to hand scrub an entire load before. I certainly worked up a sweat. And for someone who is usually quite particular about the way washing is done, this process was actually quite satisfying! I won’t be throwing out the washing machine any time soon though.
Washing by hand.... not so much fun!
Back in hospital I saw lots of wound washouts and cutdowns on the ward. Seeing them without anaesthesia is quite confronting but the big guys seem to be quite proud of themselves if they can get through it without crying out. What broke my heart was a little girl who came up to me on the ward to give me a cuddle. She was so sweet and her little face will stay with me for a long time.
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January 27th, 2012 by Guest Blogger
This must be one of the first Christmases where I haven’t woken up super early to see what was under the tree.
party hats!
What we have had today though is lots of laughs, fun, food and generally a lot of lazing about in the heat with drinks in hand. All in all it’s been a fantastic day. We made a big breakfast spread this morning, moved the Christmas tree out into the yard and basically set up camp in the cabana for the rest of the day. The girls then moved to the kitchen to make a cake for Emmanuel’s birthday which is also today. After ruining the package cake mix with a rotten egg we had to start from scratch with no recipe and only basic ingredients. It wasn’t the worst cake in the world but that’s about all the praise I can give it. It did look good though. Pimms and lemonade and a BBQ finished of the afternoon and now it’s beers and scrabble as the afternoon cools off and the sun starts to set on Xmas 2011.
I asked everyone what was the best Xmas gift they had ever received. Funnily enough no one could really come up with one. I think what really makes a great Xmas is the people you spend it with and the experiences you share. While I am certainly sad that I am not with family today this had certainly been a unique Christmas and one I am not likely to forget in a hurry.
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January 26th, 2012 by Guest Blogger
I have made it to Tanzania safe and sound!
Emmanuele and my new home!
I had my first taste of the Arusha town centre yesterday and today was my first day in the hospital.I have so much to say but I’m not sure where to start. I’m still so overwhelmed and struggling to adjust.
By African standards, I will be living in absolute luxury for the next 8 weeks. The house is in a relatively posh area of town with giant houses surrounded by large fences.
The hospital where I will be spending most of my time is a referral hospital for the region but is still quite basic. The entrance is always quite crowded – it’s a gauntlet of ‘Mambos’, ‘Jambos’ and ‘Taxi?’…. everyone wants to talk to the mzungus! Our Swahili is definitely getting better but I’m sure no-one is fooled. We are still tourists to them.
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January 23rd, 2012 by Ruth (Communications Manager)
1. From basic to proficient in one week – our course starts with the basics and progresses to include medical terminology. This will really help you in a hospital environment.
Learning Spanish helps you translate menus
2. Focus on your discipline – We make sure our teachers in Mendoza and Arequipa know each student’s clinical interests before you even fly out to your destination. By the time you start, they will have developed specific material that will help you learn the terminology needed for your placement.
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January 18th, 2012 by Ruth (Communications Manager)
We’ve been talking to the Society of Radiographers prize winners about how they felt when they found out that they had won the opportunity of a lifetime, and what they hope to achieve during their time away…
“I am so excited about this opportunity. I never thought I would win with all the other highly talented students out there so I am honoured. Today I got the call from Simon to start discussing what country I would be interested in going to – very distracting when I am studying for my exams next week! Work the World offers a variety of countries so I am looking forward to sitting down after my exams and going through each destination in detail to see which one appeals the most. A reward after the hours of revising and sitting exams. From first impressions I would like to travel to Peru or Ghana, but I need to do more research before I decide. I would like to experience a more rural hospital to see how radiography is applied there compared to the UK. While abroad I hope to spend time in the community and experience local customs and traditional meals.” Tasha Kirby
“On hearing that I was a winner of the competition I was ecstatic! It was the best Christmas present ever and for days it felt like a dream. It was so surreal – to go work in Africa has always been an aspiration and to think I was chosen makes it extremely rewarding. I have been in touch with Work the World, so it already feels like my journey has begun. Each time I speak with the team I get more excited – if that’s possible! I’m planning my trip for June time, which won’t come soon enough, but will be so satisfying after exams! I cant wait to go and experience the vast differences in culture, religion and ultimately healthcare. Meeting new people is something I love and although their healthcare systems may not be as privileged as ours today, I know there will be so much to learn from them and it will be a life changing experience.’ Tasha Jevdett
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January 17th, 2012 by Ruth (Communications Manager)
As everyone knows, Sri Lanka is an island. But there are few more other small islands around Sri Lanka that are not so well known.
“Pigeon Island” is in Trincomalee, in the the north part of Sri Lanka, a 5 hours journey by bus. It’s long journey but the trick is to travel on a Friday after placement so you save time travelling and have the following day on the beach.
The Trincomalee beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in Sri Lanka – white sand with blue water. There are no waves, so you can walk in to the sea for about 500m and still the water will be up to your waist. In ”Nilaveli”, which is about 10KM from Trincomalee, you have the amazing “Pigeon Island” and the best parts of the beach.
In Pigeon Island you can scuba Dive and do snorkeling – it is like the Discovery Channel in front of your eyes, only this time it’s for real…..
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January 11th, 2012 by Ruth (Communications Manager)
The most important thing I brought with me on my midwifery placement to Tanzania was equipment donations for the hospital. My friend and I managed to take out alcohol gel, goggles, plastic aprons, gloves, baby clothes and sterile needles and syringes. We also left the staff our scrubs and theatre clogs when we left. Giving the staff our donations on our last day really was the best part of our trip; they were so grateful and got so excited as they delved into the bags! They also insisted on dressing up every baby on the ward in a western baby grow. I have such lovely photos of that moment and the memories of it will stay with me forever, it was such a small thing for us but such a help to them, as they are very underfunded. I really would recommend bringing your own scrubs with you anyways, as the hospital did not have a lot of them. Plus it is safer for you and the patients if you are not transporting germs to and from the hospital- just as it is in England.
Newborn babies
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January 10th, 2012 by Kavinda (Programme Manager - Sri Lanka)
“Sigiriya” is one of the most recommended places to visit in srilanka.It used to be one of the 7 wonders in the world. It’s a fortress of a king who used to live in Sri Lanka in early days. Most of our students go to visit Sigiriya on a weekday since this can be done during a day. So they can save weekends for more beach time. It’s a 2 and a half hour drive from Kandy. And it’s a 45 minutes climb. If you go in an evening you can witness the Sunset.
Plus you can take some lovely pictures from up there. Even maybe some New Profile Pictures…..
Sigiriya
On top of Sigiriya
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