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!

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