Am I really halfway?!

I’m sitting on the lovely veranda watching the sparkling Zambezi as the sun reflects off it, after going to church this morning. It’s so lovely listening to the amazing African singing in the local languages and trying to follow the words, then the sermon also in the local language which is usually translated which is nice. I love listening to them singing – the other day I went with Grace to the nearby school and before she taught her lesson they sang a couple songs – the sounds that filled the room were just amazing!

The class were very welcoming

There have been a few busy days at the hospital and I am continuing to learn so much about medical work as there is such a range every day. I so admire all the people who are such a witness who work at Chitokoloki, from the doctors and nurses who work long hours to those doing maintenance who work so hard to keep things running. There are some very sad cases that you see most days but I know it would be a lot worse without the work that goes on at Chitokoloki. It’s just inspirational seeing a vital service being provided; medical care to the people of rural areas here and places far away (even patients from Angola – some walk for a few weeks to come here for treatment) and seeing them hear the gospel while they are here. It gives me a smile when patients ask for bibles in their language!

I love helping out during surgery, from setting up IV fluids and filling in anaesthetic charts to passing different instruments to the surgeon and adjusting the lights, I even got to hold an instrument that was holding back the trachea the other day because there weren’t enough hands for that moment. When not in the theatre I’ve done a range of other jobs. In a busy hospital there isn’t much time for the doctors and nurses to sort and tidy all the time so I’ve tried to do bits here and there; the other day Grace who is a teacher who visited and I spent a few hours till about 9 in the evening sorting and tidying one wall of a little cupboard. Although time consuming and tiring we had a good laugh and were proud of the slight improvement by the end. When on ward rounds, although a lot of it goes over my head I have learnt a lot about the different illnesses and the doctors and nurses are very helpful with explaining things. I go around with a little notepad so I can write down little jobs that they let me know I can do like changing dressings or simple physio or giving out toys and reading glasses – it’s great getting stuck in and getting hands on jobs!

Lydia and I doing our bit in saving lives - sorting the kitchen cupboard

Cleaning a little child in ICU

Seeing the masterpiece of a colour by numbers I gave this little boy

Helping the doc

The last two weekends have been so much fun and its been great seeing other places around Chit. The first weekend I was here we drove up river to the only bridge till the Victoria Falls – Chinyingi bridge. It was a narrow swinging footbridge in a beautiful setting. One of the scrub nurses, a Zambian called Kayombo, had never been there before and his shout of glee when he saw the bridge was brilliant – he was worried it wouldn’t hold all of us so I enjoyed running and bouncing across to scare him and the other adults a little – don’t worry I only did it for a moment. We then looked around on the other side at an abandoned mission station, which was pretty and a little overgrown. Then back over the bridge to have a lovely picnic in some shade before heading home. When we weren’t on the long straight tarmac road us ‘young’ folk sat on the roof while the car drove through the bumpy sandy off road tracks through trees and long grass and by villages full of happy waving people. It was so fun and funny riding along on the roof (don’t worry mum, the driver was very careful and we held on to the roof-rack tight!).

In mid-air over Zambezi 

Horay for Chinyingi Bridge! The whole group of us

What a picture by Doctor Paul!

Confused and happy waving onlookers

The next weekend we went on another trip, so the truck was filled with me, Lydia, the two medical students and some patients who needed a lift and it was driven very well by Nathan – the ride is a lot of fun as it bumps about so I was surprised when a few of us had a little snooze on the way back! We got to Dipalata which is a smaller mission station with a hospital – the few nurses have to deal with about 400 births a year – and there we set up to go fishing for the day by a very pretty little tributary which flows into the Zambezi! It was such a sweet relaxing day and was so lovely getting to know the family who work there – they are such a witness and were a great encouragement. We also found out that one of their sons was in my brother’s year at RVA – a boarding school in Kenya – love hearing about connections like that. We didn’t catch any fish but as Jeff said ‘we caught a good time’ and we still had fish and chips for tea then a fun game of dutch blitz to finish off the day.

The beautiful setting for fishing 

Jeff cheated by putting a freshly bought fish on his hook to trick the 2 boys who had been patiently fishing without success

Evenings have also been very well spent over the last couple of weeks, when we’re not inside chatting, laughing and playing games (usually dutch blitz) we’ve been outside looking at the stars (Doctor David got his telescope out the other day and we were able to spot Saturn and Jupiter which was cool) or around the campfire with some local boys. It’s been really interesting getting to know the local people and about their culture. One night they showed us how to cook ‘tshima’ which is the staple food in Zambia made from kasava and maize pounded into a powder then mixed in water till it becomes a thick dough. We then ate it with fish (eyes and all) from the Zambezi – they were amused at us questioning whether we should eat the whole fish including the head. After it was all eaten up I was stuffed full! The other night around the campfire they showed us some dancing which was quite impressive and they taught us some local games. As Graham and Lydia were leaving the next morning they sang a song in their language, which they explained wished them well on their travels and that God would bless them. They are very sweet and very good at catching animals I might add – in just one evening they caught a little mouse, a few fish and a crab (which we put in the sink to scare Grace and Rachel in the morning – was funny waking up to them gasping). I’ll not forget to mention the fun we have playing outdoor volleyball which the locals play every day – they are so talented and it’s brilliant watching their games – they are very gracious to let me play!

Lydia's farewell gift from the boys?

The winning team - the result of which I made little input to

Saying goodbye to the fish before cooking

Bon appetit!

I was sad to see people leave, they’ve all been such a blessing to have around. It makes me admire the permanent missionaries here who are so hospitable and see people come and go all the time. I am now sharing the guest house with just a few frogs and gheckos as Grace and Rachel have left, the laughs they gave us will be missed! As nurse Tanis is away for a week I am alone in this little corner of the mission station but I am coping well especially with the practice I had in Warwick and the fact that all visitors are invited to different permanent missionaries here every lunch which is just so lovely – delicious food and great company! I got on very well with Lydia and Graham. Graham was so helpful around the hospital, explaining things to me and making me feel settled around the hospital and brought a lot of fun to the group. I spent most of my time with Lydia who really helped me settle here and loved the chats and laughs we had. She will be starting her nursing this year and it was so lovely seeing her excitement about coming back to Chitokoloki as a nurse – God has placed a love of this place in her heart and I know she will do so well!

Saying goodbye to Georgia last week

Rachel, Grace and I looking snazzy in our scrubs

Will miss Lydia's reckless driving - our mode of transport on the mission station - very fun!

I am halfway through my time at Chit which is strange because it feels like I just got here despite all I've seen and done already - hoping I'll be able to take advantage and embrace the next few weeks before heading off to Loloma.

'He heals the broken hearted and bandages their wounds. He has decided the number of the stars and calls each one by name. Great and mighty is our Lord; his wisdom cannot be measured." Psalm ch 147 vs 3-5

Hello Chitokoloki!

Such an amazing first week, I only have time to talk about the first day so watch this space and I’ll write about the eventful first weekend!

I arrived into Lusaka after 5ish hours sleep on my 10 hour flight from Heathrow. After getting my visa and clearing customs – thank God my luggage got through – it was about 2 hours before I was up in the air again, who knew it was so slick in Africa! So my travel arrangements from Lusaka to Chitokoloki was on a 6 seater plane flown by the amazing Canadian pilot Don! I was so excited as we walked by the large British Airways plane I had arrived on, to the tiny plane in comparison. It was such a cool flying experience and as co-pilot for the journey, Don let me steer the plane a bit. He also showed off some of his tricks, I felt like I was back on a rollercoaster in Alton Towers except with amazing views of rural Zambia – it became clear how remote we are at Chitokoloki! The services of British Airways were topped by Don’s interesting stories about his life and Zambia (brilliant tour guide) and from the in-flight refreshments of sugar peanuts and coke provided by Don!

Plane I arrived on

Transport from Lusaka to Chit

co-pilot

view from above

We landed into Chitokoloki after 2 and a half hours and I met some lovely people and was shown to my cosy guesthouse, which I share with 2 brilliant, hilarious ladies. After unpacking and playing with 2 wee girls next door Tanis, a permanent nurse here asked if I wanted to go up to the hospital then and I thought why not, so went along. Straight away I was shown where to go and get stuck in so I whipped on my scrubs and went to the operating theatre where I saw 2 operations and a breach birth back to back. I was so amazed that firstly, I was already watching operations (having never seen one in real life before) and secondly, that I was able to do more than just watch but help out quite a bit. I found it so interesting as the surgeons and nurses kindly talked through what they were doing; I have learnt so much from them.

My humble abode

View from the guesthouse

We had got changed back into normal clothes ready to leave, when a lady was rushed to theatre to give birth. I felt like I was on a special episode of ‘One Born Every Minute’. It was a breach birth so quite a dramatic one, but thankfully everything was ok and a sweet little girl was born and I got to clean her – what an amazing experience.

Lydia, Georgia and I buying coke in our scrubs

We then left the hospital at about 5.30 and got dressed and ready to play some pool volleyball, which is a very serious activity that goes on at Chitokoloki. I was put on team World as the British had a couple too many. However this may have been an unwise decision as the absent World members produced a protest that that was against the rules and may have been the reason why they lost that match! It’s all joking obviously but often enters into discussions even during surgery, which we find quite funny.

Later that evening a few of us met to play some card games, 2 of which are student doctors who just passed their finals and who are very helpful at hospital showing me where to go and talking through some of the diagnoses and treatments. Georgia who was hosting us is a very sweet American girl who is visiting, as her Dad is a surgeon temporarily working at Chit. We have many things in common as she grew up in Kenya and is about to start a medical course (BioMed) so I have really enjoyed getting to know her. She’s been such a blessing to me as she has shown me round and has helped me settle as she was in my position a few weeks ago, I will be sad to see her go next Tuesday.

I then made the wise decision to go to bed however it took me longer than usual to get to sleep. I was just buzzing off everything that had happened that day and so amazed that it had all occurred the day I arrived!

Other things I have loved about being here over the last few days: Sunshine and heat, beautiful singing in morning devotions, bonfires by the Zambezi river with cooked maize and sweet potatoes. It’s like I had forgotten how much I love living in Africa, I am in such a beautiful place here and I’m so excited for what’s to come.

A Fun Filled Few Weeks!

The last three weeks of my placement with Myton church have been brilliant and varied – hard to believe it’s ended! It’ll be a struggle to explain it all so I understand the teasing I’ve been getting about not updating this for a while. I thought I’d spend this spare time on the train home from Warwick to Sunderland to write it up.

I can’t believe in just 1 week and a day I will be reminiscing in the sky as I fly past my old home Sudan on my way to Zambia! I had a few days off a couple weeks ago so took the chance to get some things for my time there – (shopping in Birmingham is quite stressful!). There are a few more practical things that I need to equip myself with but I’m hoping my week back home won’t be taken up too much with that as I’m hoping to spend as much time as possible with family and friends.

I was very thankful for the days off I had halfway through the placement before 2 busy weeks as I was able to visit family friends in Birmingham with my brother which was fun – we took advantage of the March snow and went on a search for a snowy hill to sledge on! I then had a lovely day out with three sweet girls from Myton church who took me to the interesting town of Stratford and I spent a reminiscent Easter Sunday with a lovely Egyptian lady called Natalie and her family who have connections with Khartoum. It was brilliant being reminded about the amazing truth of Christ’s life, death and resurrection over Easter and I hope you had the same experience too!

Then the busy week began down south in Fareham at Duncan Road Church! I was part of a team of 5 from Myton helping out at the holiday club for 4-11s– Space Academy and youth club for 11-17s – iTruth. In the mornings I was team leader of the red stars who had the most points by the end of the week, might I say. My first experience of helping at a holiday club was very fun – I really enjoyed getting involved in the songs, games and crafts for the kids. It was great seeing their reactions throughout the week and this reminded me how important these events are for kids growing up! The youth had fun afternoons as on a couple of days we played games in the park then on the other two we had indoor activities, much to the relief of those who don’t like the cold – I thought it was supposed to be warmer down south! Then we were back in the evening for food, more games, a testimony, a talk and discussions – yes we managed to fit all that in! I really enjoyed getting to know the youth at Duncan Road church and was so encouraged by their responses to the teaching they got. I read Ephesians chapter 1 verses 17-18 during the week and it became my prayer for them.

The leaders at Space Academy on Onsie Day

Busting out some moves with the youth in Fareham

We had brilliant discussion groups

I had a quick turnover on the Saturday back with Eileen to get some washing done and packed ready to leave at 7 the next morning to travel to New Word Alive in Prestatyn, Wales. I had been put on the 0-5s team, helping looking after the babies under 18 months. I soon realised how you really do need at least a 1 to 3 ratio of leaders to babies and to be creative and enthusiastic about playing and singing to keep them occupied and happy. Although tiring, I found it quite fun and learnt a lot about looking after the little cuties! I then had the rest of the day off which allowed me to take advantage of the many things that go on at New Word Alive including fun activities and brilliant teaching in the talks. Here’s a little shout out to the wonderful group from West Street Baptist church in Dunstable and all the others whom I met there, and spent the week with – cheers, guys! Was so thankful to have a really great time with a bunch of people my age. It was amazing to be encouraged by God in the worship and teaching there as well. I especially felt the teaching was helpful preparation for starting university in September. An unforgettable week to finish my UK church placement!

Great worship in the evening meetings

Hoping the babies want to play sleeping lions for the last session

Hurray for human pyramids!

Felt like kids taking advantage of the activities on offer

‘This power working in us is the same as the mighty strength which he used when he raised Christ from death and seated him at his right side in the heavenly world.’ Ephesians ch1 vs19-20

Miss Independent?

I’ve been at such a range of activities from toddlers and youth groups to a service for adults with learning difficulties. I’ve felt very welcome as I’ve been invited for meals, a messy church in Kenelworth with a family with 4 bubbly kids and a Housegroup. Met so many lovely people involved in different things in the church that I’ve had to concentrate on remembering names. It’s been a busy week; I’ll not bore you with all the details, just some of them.

As my host, Eileen, has been on holiday this week, she bravely entrusted to me the job of looking after her big house and little cat. This started with me probably waking up the whole of Warwick as I set off the house alarm. After that slight panic I managed surprisingly alright and Eileen has returned to a house still standing and Alfie who thankfully hasn’t run away.

This morning I even did some acting, which I haven’t done for a while! An organisation, who works in the area, called cross-teach are telling the Easter Story in a fun way to the year 7s in a couple of schools for a few days this week. The little groups have to be detectives and collect evidence at the different ‘crime scenes’. I was the sad, distressed then happy and excited Mary Magdalene and did my little act 8 times in a couple of hours having not seen the script till this morning, but by the last one I had just about enough practice to get it almost right.

I was very excited to hear my placement in Zambia is finally coming together! Relief and preparation mode sets in! At the moment it looks like I’ll be at Chitokoloki Hospital for 6 weeks and in Loloma for another 6 weeks so sounds like another varied experience to be had. I have started getting inoculations sorted for my travels, which involved getting lost as I cycled to the nearest health centre.

I’ve also enjoyed a couple of days off! Despite the freezing weather and occasional blizzards I have briefly explored the small town of Warwick. I even had friends visit and so it was nice to see some familiar faces and have people to play table tennis and pool with in the games room at the back of Eileen’s garden!

Part 2 of FirstServe has commenced!

I arrived at Leamington Spa yesterday and was picked up by the lovely Eileen, the lady I’ll be staying with while in Warwick. I’m looking forward to the programme organised for me for my placement with Myton church. It looks fantastic, there’s so much going on!

Thinking about the three others on the FirstServe programme. It was so great meeting them at Tilsley College up in Motherwell. We had a great two and a half weeks getting to know each other and the students at Tilsley, it was a lot of fun – my belly hurt from the laughter! We learnt lots from the different people we met and received a lot of helpful information and teaching as well – the whole Bible college experience was a brilliant one.

It was sad to leave but it’s nice knowing the others are in the same boat as me at different churches, Deborah in Swansea and James and Hannah in Barnstable, and it’ll be encouraging keeping in touch with them especially through our time on FirstServe.

Meeting my mentor, Jackie, today to run through my programme then I’ll be at a young adults event this evening so looking forward to it!

A lovely walk after a long day of lectures at Tilsley

Thanks for reading my blog, I hope to update it at least once a week. I’m not the best at writing, so bear with, I’ll try to make it interesting!