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!
Sunday 9 December 2007
Sunday 28 October 2007
End of rotation
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!
Sunday 14 October 2007
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!
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!
Wednesday 22 August 2007
Feeding the World!
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!
Sunday 5 August 2007
Back in Camp
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
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
Wednesday 18 July 2007
Not in Sudan
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
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
Thursday 5 July 2007
Monday 25 June 2007
House (or tent) mates
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 ...!
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 ...!
Sunday 17 June 2007
Tiny Babies
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
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
Saturday 9 June 2007
Travels and progress
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
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
Sunday 3 June 2007
still surviving
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
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
Saturday 26 May 2007
A Day in the Life ...
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
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
Thursday 17 May 2007
Wildlife
... 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!
Tuesday 15 May 2007
Camping Sudanese Style
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
Wednesday 2 May 2007
Stop off in Kenya
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
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
Monday 23 April 2007
getting ready to jump
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..
Wednesday 14 March 2007
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.
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