Blogs from Eastern Province, Zambia, Africa - page 3

Again, there have been a shameless lack of updates by me lately...work is still very busy & I have also just got back from a four day weekend at the game park about 4 hours drive from here. But the good news is that I am staying on until October (in fact, I would be home today if I'd gone when I first planned). My visa is being processed, I have a repeat prescription of profilaxis, now I just need to get some more money together! The group of volunteers certainly fluctuates: at the moment we have 5 Irish & 1 English med student, 2 Canadian midwifery students, 2 Irish doctors, 1 english doctor & 1 swiss doctor. So mealtimes are certainly busy! However, all the students & one of the doctors will go by the ... read more

Tikondane is a community centre run for and by the people of Katete. It has a thriving community school and adult education programme and there are various income generating activities such as the garden and skill training initiatives, as well as important community development work, the implementation of which Tikondane has pioneered. Tikondane is a gem for the tourist interested in finding the real Africa outside the usual lodges or hostels. Tikondane began on the premise of helping local villagers to improve their literacy, which would in turn benefit the individual communities to which they belonged. There are now 30 villages and 4 compounds (townships) within Tikondane's catchment area and the activities carried out have far exceeded the issue of literacy; each has the same goal: Sustainable Betterment. The School The opening of the community school ... read more

Yes, I had a blood test this morning and it was negative for malaria...what a relief! I thought I'd better, as I had an absolutely stinking headache all day yesterday, not to mention the temprature, chills, aches and pains etc. Guess I must just have a bug. But it's not going to stop me going away tomorrow! When I come back, I should have loads of photos & details of my trip to add on here. I've decided that I want to stay on here until October...if I can get a work permit. Need to talk to my boss at the hospital about that, though. ... read more

I can't believe I've been here one month today (or tomorrow). The days have just flown; despite the odd trauma of being robbed twice, & the great inconvenience of losing my phone. Still, it's Friday afternoon, the sun is shining, and it's only another 10 days until I take off to Victoria Falls. I can't wait, not that there isn't a lot of work to get through before then. Two containers of stock have arrived that I need to go through & record next week, plus teaching the cooks here some new recipes (other than chicken stew & nsheema), measuring up some of the houses for new curtains...the list goes on. There certainly is a great deal to do here. Today I went to the immigration office and got my visa renewed, so I am safe ... read more

Yes, please note the above...you do not know how lucky you are to have uninterrupted power 24 hours a day, let alone hot water when you want it! Still, it could be classed as fun to have a cold shower in the dark at 6am- if you're insane! But at least it is sunny every day, I'm getting a tan, & new things are happening every day. Yesterday I wore scrubs for the first time ever. That was fun, I really liked wearing the green cap, but I'm glad I don't have to do every day I go into work. The worst thing was that I left my bag in a cupboard & found that someone had stolen some money out of my purse whilst I was in the theatre. It was only some small change, ... read more