Alice in Sudan

Snake Incident

2008-12-05T15:20:00.000+03:00

In December I was back in Melut and back in a tent, I was quite enjoying going back to where I started off until one evening a black mamba also decided that my tent was a place he would like shelter. Thankfully I was not in my tent at the time, apparently their venom kills you in 12 minutes and it was quite a big one!

As you can see from the pictures someone spotted the snake going under my tent and after some destruction of my tent it was bashed to death with large sticks.

R and R

2008-11-16T15:05:00.002+03:00

In the first 2 weeks of November I had lots of visitors.. Rachel, Hels, Zac and Sarah, we had a great time on Safari and on the beach. It was wonderful to see them all and a fantastic time to rest and have some fun. The star fish and the beautiful beach were definately highlights.

Medical Workshop

2008-10-31T15:02:00.000+03:00

Some fun for the health teams!

Before and After pics of John

2008-10-18T14:00:00.001+03:00

John After only a few days in the centre

John When he returned with his Grandmother

John on the day he was discharged

John's Story

2008-10-16T18:21:00.001+03:00

The first day of our first week back in Maban I went to the SIM run clinic with Grace to see any patients who arrived with malnutrition. The first to show up was John. He was carried bundled up in blankets by his mother, at first look I didn’t think that he was still alive, he looked like a skeleton. He was severely wasted and had severe diarrhoea and dehydration, I didn’t recognise him but as we talked to the mother I realised I had met this child before.
6 weeks previously I had been in Maban county to carry out a nutrition survey, this survey showed high rates of severe malnutrition in Maban county. One of the houses that I visited on this survey was 2 year old John’s. When we had seen John he was still walking around but the signs of severe malnutrition were already there, he had very noticeable oedema on his legs. We referred him to the clinic for treatment but at that time they did not have the suitable drugs and milk formula to treat severe malnutrition. He had not recovered and he had returned looking close to death.
We were unable to offer the inpatient care required by John. The Medair team had just arrived and were awaiting supplies to set up our temporary wards to treat the sickest children with severe malnutrition. The mother was also unwilling to stay even the few hours we asked to observe him, she was heavily pregnant and anxious to get home.
We could only give him drugs and a special rehydration solution for malnourished children and urge him to come back in 2 days time when the ward would be open, praying that he would survive that long.
John didn’t turn up when we opened the nutrition village at Doro a few days later, so we went to look for him, thankful that as we had been to his house during the survey we knew where to find him. His mother has just given birth so we brought him with his Grandmother to the nutrition village for inpatient care. His condition was very severe with his weight being only half of what it should have been for his height. Thankfully the diarrhoea he had previously had improved on the treatment given from the clinic but his skin condition was really poor with open sores and a fungal infection in his mouth. With encouragement he took his treatment of milk and medications well. After a week in the village he started to improve and gain weight, we knew it would be a long road to recovery but we were hopeful that John might make it. Even the grandmother started to hope again for recovery, she told us that he would catch a fish for us when he was better!
Unfortunately in his third week at the village john took a change for the worse, his condition deteriorated, he became dehydrated and he started having seizures, the team tried all they could but they were unable to help him. Admitting that with our limited resources we could do no more we allowed the family to take John home to die.
A few weeks later at the outpatient clinic an older lady who I recognised turned up with a 2 year old boy who looked a little familiar. After a double take I realised it was John with his grandmother, he was alive and had gained considerable weight. I was shocked.
The grandmother filled us is on the miraculous story since we had last seen him, when he got home he was very sick for a couple of days but he did manage to drink the special rehydration solution we had sent home with him. After a few days he stopped having seizures and started to be hungry, he was asking to eat the food the family were having. He had a huge appetite and they gave him all he wanted and he started gaining weight. They had been unable to come back to the clinic due to flooding.
We admitted him back in to the outpatient programme and he started attending every week to receive plumpy nut and a medical check. He was discharged from the programme after exceeding his target weight looking chubby and happy! However he still needs help to regain his ability to walk which he lost due to his severe muscle wasting .. then maybe he will be able to catch that promised fish!
This story of John has really shown me how we can only do so much, the rest is up to God. We left John in God’s hands on several occasions as we realised there was no more we could do for him at that time. It has impressed on me the need to both act and pray as we try and help the children of south sudan. Even when we are unable to help God is able and we can trust his plan for these children.
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” 2 Corinthians 12 v 9
The name that the SIM team gave the nutrition inpatient wards was “The village of hope” (Ban Keeyan in the local Maban language). It has bee a privilege to see God restoring hope to families who thought their children would never recover and to hope with them that these children will grow up to make a difference to the future of South Sudan.

Christmas Gifts for Kids in the Nutrition Programme

2008-10-10T08:54:00.003+03:00

http://www.sim.co.uk//standard.asp?id=1594&cachefixer=cf65618886429707

This is the link to the SIM UK Christmas gift Catalogue, if you go there you will find a picture of one of the kids in the Nutrition Village here in Doro. Medair are supporting SIM to set up this project. I have been here in Doro for 2 of the last 3 months working to get this project up and running due to the emergency rates of malnutrition in the area.
There is a great story about how the nutrition village has helped children here and an opportunity to buy them a Christmas gift of a set of warm clothes, blankets and towels.
If you don't know why malnourished children need woolly hats in a boiling hot place like Sudan then send me an email to ask me!

Seeing them grow!

2008-09-28T11:24:00.002+03:00

Coming back to Maban after 4 weeks away it was really amazing to see the changes. The programme had really developed and was being taken over by the SIM team and there had been big changes in the children. How exciting to see kids who had been really sick when I left now well, fat and ready to be discharged!
Sebit was the first child we admitted to the nutrition village he had severe oedema on his legs and noticeable wasting on his upper body. Although he is 3 years old he was no longer able to walk by himself and he was very miserable. When I saw him 2 months later he looked like a different boy, healthy and happy. Its exciting to see changes like this and thank God for his care for these children and the opportunity to serve him by looking after them.

Birthday Celebrations

2008-08-25T11:17:00.001+03:00

I though that turning 30 was a great excuse for a holiday and it was wonderful to come home and celebrate with friends and family. We had a picnic on the Sunday at Chatsworth house. Thankfully the rain held off and it was great that so many people came to celebrate with me and had the opportunity to meet Nico. After a week at home I went to Italy with Nico for a week to meet his family and friends. We crammed a lot in to one week, met lots of people, had lots of fun and an opportunity to visit some of the beautiful places in Puglia. It all went by a little too fast and I also had the achievement of taking 10 different flights in one month.

Nutrition Village Set up

2008-07-31T11:03:00.003+03:00

We are back in Maban county, and I have the challenge of starting a programme to treat severely malnourished children from scratch. The results from our earlier survey showed there was a real need for this and so we are working with SIM to set up an inpatient ward and out patient clinic to treat children with severe malnutrition.
As usual with Medair the set up happens fast, we got the tents up on the day they arrived in the plane and admitted the first patients 2 days later. The centre is called Ban Keeyan, Village of Hope in the Maban language. The vision is that by caring for these children we can bring hope to the families that they can have a healthy future

.

Jubatastic

2008-07-06T10:50:00.003+03:00

I've had a few weeks to get to know Juba. Being stuck in the office preparing for our nutrition intervention is not my idea of great fun but I did get to be there for moving in to our new house and putting together the furniture with Rebecca, Sophia and Tal.

We had a great Sunday morning walk up the nearby mountain followed by a great breakfast of pancakes (with bananas and nutella of course.

Work in Melut

2008-06-16T13:40:00.002+03:00

I have had a few weeks in Melut to catch up with work at the clinic and to do some training for the community health workers. Fortunately the rain had not started in a big way yet – just enough to give me an excuse to wear my new stripy wellies to do my teaching session! However as I left there on Wednesday the heavens opened and I spent a very wet and very cold four hours on the boat to Malakal – I think the rainy season has started.

Survey in Maban

2008-06-01T13:34:00.000+03:00

In May I was able to have a great new experience working with the emergency response team. We completed a nutrition survey in this area which is close to the Ethiopian border. Rain, mud and transport were big problems but we got the data we needed and valid survey results. I will hopefully be back in Maban soon with the team to help support the set up of a nutrition programme and respond to what we found in the Survey. The landscape was very different from what I am used to in Melut – lots of trees and very green and mountains in the distance and lots of pigs running around.

Contract Break

2008-05-01T13:24:00.002+03:00

In April I had a month off from Sudan and a busy time catching up with everyone at home. Highlights were the snow on the first weekend I was home, a great trip to Wales with my family and a week in France with Nico visiting Zac and Sarah. I’m looking forward to coming home and a trip to Italy in August.

On my way

2008-03-31T20:47:00.002+03:00

Today I have completed the first leg of my journey home.... 3 and a half hours on the Nile from Melut to Malakal.

I'm starting to allow myself to get excited now, coming home after a year is a big deal and I can't wait to see people.

So I'm ready for my last unbearably hot night for a while ... I fly to Nairobi tomorrow and then on to the UK on Friday night.

Happy Easter

2008-03-24T17:47:00.004+03:00

We've been trying to make it a bit like Easter here in Melut. We painted some eggs and went out for lunch (a new place in town that does real chips ... very exciting!).

The clinic has been closed and we have been relaxing a bit for the bank holidays but its been really hot .. (up to 47 yesterday) so I have been melting a bit.

The countdown to home is definitely on ... less than 2 weeks now!

Beautiful Wellies...

2008-03-22T17:34:00.006+03:00

You may remember my pictures from the rainy season last year... if you do you will know that by June wellies will be essential footwear. I'm a bit fed up with my boring black ones that I was wearing for months last year so I was thinking of getting some more exciting ones while I was at home. I've found a few nice pairs on the net I'd appreciate your comments on which ones you think I should get!

Beautiful Feet

2008-03-17T17:28:00.003+03:00

One of the weekly routines of Melut life is a pedicure on a Sunday afternoon. Not only is it very pleasant to put my feet in a bowl of cool water on a hot day it also essential to look after my feet when I spend my life in flip flops. After a good scrub and some nail polish they look almost presentable again!

Interestingly when people were praying for me before I left for Sudan a number of people had words for me about having beautiful feet, a reference to being sent as messenger with the good news (see Isaiah 52 v 7).

I didn't know it would also be taken literally!

Countdown to home

2008-02-24T15:09:00.002+03:00

For those of you who don't know yet I'm going to be extending my contract in Sudan until the end of the year .. but I will be coming home for a month in April. Splitting my time between Sheffield, Solihull, a week in Wales with my family and a week in France with Zac and Sarah and Nico. ... so email me and book in your appointment ....

I'm trying not to focus too much on counting down to my holiday and still stay focused on being here and getting some work done. I'm staying in Juba this week for a course and hopefully some networking with other nutritionists, then its back to Melut.

Looking forward to seeing you soon.

A week in Uganda

2008-02-24T13:53:00.004+03:00

I've just got back to Sudan after a week in Uganda for a Medair course on HIV. Its been a really good week .. I've learnt lots .. met lots of people from other programmes and enjoyed a bit of luxury .. hot showers .. room to myself and beautiful views .. unfortunately it was a bit of a packed week so i didn't chance to see much of Uganda ... I'll have to go back another time ....

getting christmassy

2007-12-09T17:17:00.000+03:00

Once again i've been letting my blogging slide and find that i have lots to update you on ... its been 6 weeks since i last posted and quite a few things have happened. I had my last r and r in Nairobi and just relaxed and read books in the garden .. also stayed overnight at a nice hotel in lake nakuru national park .. it was a real treat and we had a great safari seeing rhinos and lions and the flamingos that the park is famous for.
I returned back from r and r just in time for the opening of the new clinic buildings .... this was a mixture of formal ... (with speeches from the minister of health etc) ... and crazy with dancing and singing and general mayhem, it was great to celebrate along with the local staff and community and its been excellent being in the new clinic. So much better than the tents .. i have a room for nutrition which we have tried to make child friendly with pictures and toys etc ... still very basic compared to what we have at home but a massive improvement.
We have remained fairly busy with new admissions to nutrition and carrying on the supplementary feeding programme ... i'm becoming a bit frustrated with mothers who don't seem to be bothered to turn up when there children really need help.
I've also been challenged by dealing with staff issues .... 2 of my workers have not been working much due to various women problems .... or rather getting beaten up by the girls relatives for getting them pregnant without having enough cows to be able to marry her! Also i never really appreciated how many problems bicycles might cause and seem to spend a large part of each week negotiating who can borrow them and sorting out what to do when they come back damaged .... and i thought i was here to do nutrition?!
Now i've only got 5 more days here until we leave for christmas ... we have a conference for all the team in kenya the week before christmas and i'm also very excited as lucy and ruth are coming out to visit. We are having christmas parties this weekend .. one for the staff yesterday which was fun with lots of dancing and today we are having a team party .. I iced the christmas cake this morning so maybe it will feel a bit like home ... we planning on carols by candlelight ...its a bit strange doing christmas things in the hot weather. I'll get some pictures up soon!

End of rotation

2007-10-28T19:18:00.000+03:00

I'm leaving melut tommorrow for r and r ... its been a busy 7 weeks but i feel like i've really done something this time ... it was really encouraging this week to see some of the kids who came very sick in august and sept now happy and quite fat .. also feeling like i'm coping a bit better with life here and all the organisation and management that I have to do .. really looking forward to a week of relaxing and eating well in Nairobi and when i get back it will be time for the new clinic to open. The pictures are off my nutrition team at the new clinic and one of the kids enjoying their plumpy nut ... as i am writing this my room mate sophia has just nearly stepped on a puff adder on the way from the latrine to our room ... luckily she spotted and one of the guys killed it with a stick ... a bit scary as they are very poisonous.. please pray for Gods continued protection from scary wildlife!

2007-10-14T16:56:00.000+03:00

My new house!
The compound looks quite pretty now .. you can see the new mess just by the nile.
Some crazy dancing!

2007-10-14T16:45:00.000+03:00

Sorry its been a long time since I’ve properly updated you on what is going on,
Life has got quite busy here and its more difficult to find time for long emails and blog updates.
Things have changed a lot in melut in the last few weeks, the buildings in our compound have been finished so now I have a room to sleep in and we have an office and a dining room. We still have no furniture so life is not much less basic than in a tent, it is nice to have a roof though. The disadvantage of houses is that now all the bugs that were outside your tent are inside you room .. I little unpleasant and we seem to have a giant grasshopper and beetle invasion at the moment.
So we are turning into a bit of a farm/zoo with hens, a cockerel and now lots of little chicks. We also have 2 goats. Unfortunately the chickens have attracted some less welcome wildlife and the guards killed a large black cobra the other week!

Social life in melut is still limited and people seem to be resisting my attempts to get them to play monopoly .. movie nights are the main social highlight of the week and apart from that its usually bed at 9 o’clock … it means that I’m getting through my books though.

Work in nutrition has been busy .. we had predicted that the numbers should be slowing down by now but they keep increasing, I’m out 2 or 3 days a week doing food distributions for the supplementary feeding programme and the rest of the time working with the severe malnutrition cases in the clinic, writing reports, looking after stocks, dealing with staff etc….
There has been ups and downs we have had a few very sick children die in the last few weeks, but also we are seeing more discharged better and doing well. There is a little story about some of my patients (and a fairly horrendous picture of me) on the medair website (www.medair.org) if you want to know more about it. I’m constantly surprised by the number of seemingly fairly well off and well fed mothers who have malnourished children … the main problems seem to be lack of knowledge on feeding children and disease rather than a lack of available food in most cases. Also had some challenging cases with children who just do not won’t to eat … which is more similar to work in the uk than I thought I would see!
I had an intersting week staying in an even more remote place called pariak to do some training .. it went well and there was a big celebration happening in the village as a very old and important man had died ... it was really amazing to see the dancing and celebrations as quite often here we are quite seperate from the normal village life.
The weekend when i got back from there we had a celebration for the opening of our compound buildings which we invited some of the un officers to .. it was good to see some different people and we had pizza! (it is possible in sudan when you have an italian on the team!)

Things like the heat and the insects and the lack of anything to do have started to get me down a bit the last couple of weeks so I’d appreciate your prayers for perseverance! Also the political situation in southern sudan is becoming more unstable with the SPLA threatening to withdraw from the peace agreement if the north do not fulfil the things they are supposed to do … this is quite a tense area due to the oil and being near the border so please continue to pray for lasting peace in sudan and protection over medair teams and their activities.
Can't seem to upload pictures today but will add some soon so you can see the new buildings and the crazy dancing in pariak!

Feeding the World!

2007-08-22T18:29:00.000+03:00

Its a few weeks since my last post so i should update you on all thats been going on. Thanks to all of you who sent birthday greetings ... i've recieved 3 parcels and several cards so far and i think there are a few more on the way. My Birthday turned out to be a very busy day with 6 new patients for nutrition in the clinic (the most i've ever had on one day!) I did have some time for fun in the evening though with a cake made for me and water thrown over my head (a medair tradition i think).

Life has been busy in the last few weeks, i've trained workers for the nutrition programme and started to do the supplementary feeding distributions 2 days a weeks .... this is basically a chance to see as many children as possible in one day and give out additional food rations. Today I've weighed and measured over 60 children and given almost the same dietary advice to each one ... quite tiring! Also as we have now started screening we are finding more severely malnourished children to treat in the clinic ... on the up side its really good to be started and to see there is a real need, also i have 2 nurses from the emergency response team helping me out which is great. Any how despite all this action it looks like i'll be going on holiday again next week! ... i'm not due yet but i need to go early so i don't clash with the nurses who are working with me ... i'm hoping to head to the seaside for some relaxation. The rain has held of a bit this week so I've not worn my wellies for 5 days! ... it makes life a bit more pleasant. Unfortunately the mosquitoes are still driving us to bed immediately after dinner but i'm enjoying my ER DVD on my lap top in my tent! ... thought i'd include some "action shots" so you can see what i'm up to.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers ... I had an interesting conversation with one of my sudanese colleuges yesterday where he said that when I first arrived he didn't think I would cope but was really suprised how quickly and well I settled in! I think its only by God's Grace and the support of all you at home!

Back in Camp

2007-08-05T19:32:00.000+03:00

I’ve been back in Melut for 2 weeks now …. It’s changed a bit since I left and it’s now very green. What was once just bare soil is now covered in grass … it looks a lot prettier but also means we have thousands more mosquitoes and a bigger risk of snakes (although so far I’ve only seen a dead one). August is apparently usually the wettest month (not too different from at home then!) and it’s raining every 2 or 3 days now … our compound is quite muddy especially at the clinic so I am barely out of my wellies. It is cooler especially at night which makes up for the annoyance of walking around in mud all the time. After some worries about safety due to troop withdrawals in the area things are getting back to normal … the troops haven’t gone but there are negotiations happening and it looks like there will be later date set sometime in November so maybe I’ll have to take holidays then as well!
We are back to a normal sized team and the building work has started again … I’ll hopefully be in a house by September.

Things have been a bit quieter in the clinic as we have had to reduce the number of patients we are seeing as some of the tents are flooded. I have had a bit of a hard week with one of my patients dying and a little premature baby who we were monitoring not coming back for follow up. I’m praying for some positive outcomes and then I can share with you some success stories.
I should be starting the training for the workers for the supplementary feeding programme next week … I’m waiting for the nurse who is helping me with the programme to come back … I’m a little lost without her!
It looks like we won’t be able to start in all locations at the moment as one of our cars is in need of repair … and we won’t get the parts for at least 2 weeks. It feels like things will never get started and its getting a bit frustrating.

On a more positive note I’m feeling increasingly more at home with the team and we have made some plans for more social activities …. This is currently limited to movie nights … card games and bible studies but it’s a start .. when our dining room is finished then at least we will have somewhere away from the mossys to meet.…
Also feeling a bit of a sense of achievment as I learnt to put in a nasogastric tube today ... might make me a bit more useful around the place.
Already making plans for my next holiday .. I’m hoping to go to the coast .. for some real chilling out on the beach. Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts … I feel the benefit of knowing I’m well supported back at home. Will post again soon xx

Not in Sudan

2007-07-18T18:13:00.000+03:00

Its been a little while since I wrote so I though I should update you about what I've been up to in the last 3 weeks while not in sudan ...
I earn R and R days due to working on saturdays in the field so I had 8 of those to take (plus weekends) and was flown out to Nairobi. I had a really great break .. the team house is really lovely and I got on really well with the other people there, we hung out, watched DVDs, went out for lunch and generally relaxed ... the weather was cold which made a pleasant change and I bought a new jumper at a fab 2nd hand market. We had some good trips out at the weekend to national parks when we could borrow cars and I got to see some exciting animals including giraffes (... lots of them), crocodiles, buffalo and zebra.
I then spent a week doing office work in Nairobi which was a little dull but useful as I had lots of planning to do ... now I'm in Loki and hoping to fly back to Sudan on Saturday. There are not many distractions here but there are lots of people around and we've discovered aerobics which is quite fun ... although I'm aching a little today. Please do add some comments or email me or I don't know that you are reading my blog ....
lots of love Alice x

Close encounters with giraffes

2007-07-05T15:52:00.000+03:00

House (or tent) mates

2007-06-25T20:07:00.000+03:00

On packing up my tent today I found ....
inside .... a large beetle, a cricket and several dead flies ....
underneath (thankfully) ... 2 geckos, 1 lizard and 3 scorpions (aaaahhhh!!) .... i'm just glad I spotted them first and stamped on them (only the scorpions .... i like lizards ..)
looking forward to sleeping in a bed for the foreseeable future and hopefully with some more friendly room mates ...!

Tiny Babies

2007-06-17T15:52:00.000+03:00

I've been back in my tent since wednesday after a wet and muddy time in malakal .... the roads and our compound turned to a bog after very heavy rain ... so I spent the whole time there in wellies .. its dried out again since I've been back here so I've been able to get back to flip flops. I can back to find the number of nutrition patients had doubled alongside the planning for the feeding programme getting underway properly then its been a busy week. Amongst the patients in the clinic at the moment are 2 of a set of triplets whose mother and sibling died at birth .. they are both tiny (about 3lb/ 1.6kg) .... so we have a full on job feeding them .. the boy is not sucking very well so he has an NG tube in and the girl is managing to suck milk from a syringe. Long term the future does not look bright for these babies without a Mum as alternatives to breast feeding carry lots of risks here where hygiene is so poor. I'm hoping to try cup feeding ... any dietitians out there with expertise please get in touch!!
The building work is progressing well after the deliveries of building supplies eventually arrived ... unfortunately on the day after heavy rain so the trucks got stuck in the mud. We may have some houses by the end of July if all goes well and the clinic should be finished in October. Then I should be off to Nairobi a week on Tuesday for my R and R ... can't wait for a lie in .... x x

Travels and progress

2007-06-09T20:47:00.000+03:00

This week has a bit more news than the last few as I've been out and about a bit more ... sorry aboout the lack of photos I will remedy this when I'm not under restictions of how much data I can upload.
I've been away from melut since wednesday and won't be back there until tuesday. I went to Juba (new capital of southern sudan) it was planned that I went to security trainng but in the end I went to a nutrition meeting which was more interesting from my point of view, it was good to meet people and get an idea what the agenda is for nutrition in south sudan .. a bit strange for me to mix with governement officials etc .. hopefully i didn't sound too clueless and I made a few contacts, there was also a very good lunch (including avovados and courgettes) which was of course for me a highlight. There was a small crowd of us in Juba at the same time so we went out for a drink on friday and i enjoyed my first beer for 6 weeks.
Now I am in Malakal staying at our base here as there is a state nutrition meeting here on monday, hopefully again a chance to meet some people who will be good sources of advice for me. Also good is that my manager is back from her holiday so I have been able to go through all the plans etc with her and things seem much clearer now... so all in all its been an encouraging week work wise.
Its been refreshing to go to different places and spend time with different people but I am actually quite missing my tent and my team so it will be nice to get back especially as I know my next break is not far away

still surviving

2007-06-03T15:47:00.000+03:00

Its about time I put a bit of news up on the blog .. sorry for the lack of communication by this means ... I am getting quite addicted to face book so I end up sending people random messages and not really communicating any news, that said there is not a lot new here ... we are gradually reducing in number, some planned departures for meetings and holidays others unplanned due to sickness. I'm finding the constant changing around of people makes it a bit difficult to get to know people. We are becoming increasingly nervous of surviving the rainy season in our tents, there was a short but very fierce storm on monday which left quite a lot of stuff damaged ... my tent survived with a few bent poles so yesterday I moved locations and strengthened it a bit. I'm realising that I'm never going to be very popular with the kids I'm treating .. apart from the usual suspicion of white people I also weigh and measure them and try to get them to drink milk that they don't like .. the little boy whose an inpatient at the moment starts to scream when I am still 10m away so I'm not going to get many nice cuddles.
I should be leaving the compound more this week (yipee) as I going to Juba for a training day on security .. for a one day course I'll be away for 5 days because of all the travelling time, I'm looking forward to seeing a bit more of the country. Then when I get back I should have just over 2 weeks before i have my first R&R .. so I think I should survive till then

A Day in the Life ...

2007-05-26T20:47:00.000+03:00

I've had a few requests to post something about what my daily life is like here... so I thought I'd fill you in .. things are fairly slow moving at the mo as the feeding project i'm organising is in the set up phase .. in a few weeks things might be a bit more manic...
I tend to wake up about 6.30, now I'm getting used to my tent i could manage to sleep in a bit longer but much past 7 it gets a bit hot inside the tent. So I'm off for a bucket shower .. usually the water is nice and cold in the mornings and I may even get to shiver with the breeze from the river which pleasing when i am usually hot and sweaty all day. Breakfast is usually flat bread with peanut butter (I don't need to feel guilty about eating it every day) We have team "devotion time" (singing, someone shares from the bible, then praying) at 8.
After that its time to start work .. I usually weigh, and assess any nutrition patients first thing... some come daily, some weekly and sort out the plan for the day in terms of feeding them ... then I mix up the milk. Last week I recuited 2 assistants so they will be doing a lot of the milk making from now on... and I won't have to stay around all day to make up 3 hourly feeds.
After that its generally off to the office tent to check emails and respond, and do some of the admin tasks related to the feeding programme set up. The rest of the day may vary .. maybe assessing new patients referred due to malnutrition in the clinic, training my assistants or once in a while visiting one of the surrounding villages with someone else from the team.
I need a bit of a sietsta at lunch time ... and so afternoon work goes on til about 6 .. then I try to relax near the river for a bit with a book or my Ipod .. before it gets dark at 7 ... then maybe some emailing .. dinnner at 8 then bed ...
Not always exciting !! seem to spend lots of time on the computer... and lots of time in our compound, I think in a few weeks time that should change and I should be out and about a bit more. Will post again soon x

Wildlife

2007-05-17T19:37:00.000+03:00

... with regards to the comments from the previous post .. (especially Dora's) There are monkeys .. one was in the compound the other day with a very red bottom .. and got chased away so it didn't eat the food. Unfortunately no giraffes ... not enough trees here for them I think!

There are lots of donkeys and goats, loads of birds, lizards and not too many mossies yet, no crocodiles or snakes spotted either. I will attempt to get some photos of the more interesting wildlife (unfortunately no giraffes until I go back to kenya .. then I will make sure I get a photo especially for Dora) you will have to make do with goats for the moment!

Camping Sudanese Style

2007-05-15T21:46:00.000+03:00

I've been in Sudan nearly 2 weeks now and I'm starting to feel more settled - I thought you might like to see some photos of where I am. The site we are on is fairly huge with the clinic in tents at one end by the road and the Nile on the other. I arrived on a little plane to Malakal and then a boat up the nile which was pretty cool ... we spotted a hippo as we sped past! Facilities are basic but I'm starting to feel more at home now. I have my own tent with a fairly comfy mattress so I' m sleeping well. I've been learning more about what my job will involve and helping out with managing the nutrition patients in the clinic, also been out and about in the last couple of days and got to see some of the towns and villages around here. ... was going to upload more photos but it doesn't seem to like it so at least this one shows you I'm alive and well .... i'll add more soon x

Pix of Nairobi - isn't it pretty!

2007-05-02T20:31:00.000+03:00

Stop off in Kenya

2007-05-02T18:50:00.000+03:00

I'm now in Lockichoggio (northen kenya near the sudanese border) waiting to fly to sudan tommorow. After a smooth journey on thursday night I got to Nairobi on friday morning and had quite a relaxing weekend. After going in to the office on friday afternoon I went out for Sushi in the evening (not very Kenyan, but very tasty) and nearly fell asleep in the resturant! After a long lie in on sat I was out again in the afternoon and evening - I arrived the right weekend for parties .... a garden party in the afternoon and a birthday party in the evening. It was great as I got to meet lots of medair people but also people from other organisations. I went to a massive pentacostal church on Sunday which was fun.
I had busy day on monday meeting everyone at the nairobi office and getting breifed, then we had a fire and ate pizza and drank wine on the patio of the team house. If i get chance later on I'll add some pictures of the house in Nairobi - its very nice will be great to get back there after my 8 weeks on the feild - as you will see i'm not roughing at all there!
Yesterday I flew here to Loki and I've been learning all about what goes on here .. i think its hot but everyone who has come from Sudan says its cool ... I'll find out tommorow.
I fly really early tommorow morning then get a boat up the Nile to the town where our base and health centre is and set up my tent.
The builders are on the same flight as me so should have some builidings soon!
would love to hear your news by email and value all your thoughts and prayers
Love Alice x

getting ready to jump

2007-04-23T18:44:00.000+03:00

I'm in the last stages of packing and sorting everything out ... amazingly quite organised and not too much to do before I fly on Thurs - just a few shots of Me getting ready with the help of Lucy and Ruth- Lucy thought she looked pretty good in the Medair outfit .... and I have purchased a very practical hat..

The Doors have opened!

2007-03-14T01:21:00.000+03:00

2007-03-14T01:09:00.000+03:00

I've set this up today - hoping to provide an easy method of communication as I head overseas, I had the exciting news last week that I'll be going to Southern Sudan for a year to work as a nutritionist for a relief agency. Its very exciting but also fairly scary ... watch this space for more details on my preparations and when I will be heading off.