So, hello again everyone. Welcome to our last blog…… We are now officially on our way home! The last 2 weeks have gone pretty quickly all things considered. I’ve been rushing around trying to get everything done in time and eventually, we’ve both managed to hand over all our little projects to the new volunteers. The health centre remains water-less, but at least I have started a new project with the new nurse volunteer Bev to get some proposals for the future. At the moment we are weighing up the idea of digging a new bore hole, pumping water for the [View Full Entry]

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So we’re now really excited about seeing everyone again. We’re also pretty excited at the thought of real food again and I think Rach would like a few hot baths so that she can show her feet in public again. She keeps complaining that they’re “disgusting”, but they look the same as everyone else’s round here (i.e. black). We’ve both been really busy but I guess I’ve had the more interesting time lately. By interesting I really mean intensely frustrating, but am not complaining. I have spent the last 5+ months at Kachere trying desperately [View Full Entry]

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Hello Everyone, Well we are in our last month and conscious of the fact that we have to tie up all the loose ends (or attempt to) before we leave. Marc continues to battle with the water tank/ water pump/ electrics and securing the microscope for the Health Centre. Problem is, we need a room with running water for the District Health Officer to release the Microscope to us. Sounds simple? Oh no. You've heard the palava about Marc trying to keep water in the tank for the Health Centre which entails battling with the locals. They would rather pick the [View Full Entry]

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Hello everyone, So as usual, all is well in Malawi. The rains held off for a week so it got pretty hot again, but a big storm last night has sorted things out again. We’re sort of on a wind down now. Rach and I are the longest stayers in camp at the moment and we’ve just had 5 more volunteers arrive in the last few days so it’s back to work after an excellent Xmas and NY break. I saw about 90 patients in clinic yesterday morning - Malaria and Dysentry probably accounting for 90% of them - but was [View Full Entry]

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Hello All, Well I'm sitting here at the internet cafe in Chintheche while Marc is doing the ward round at the hospital and I thought I's post a Christmas Blog to you all. Last week was a busy one as the Pre-school's finished last Friday so I was busy with the Co-ordinator Jimmy (otherwise known as Super Jimmy) making the final rounds before Christmas. I even managed to get Marc to come with us on Friday to join in with the little ones which always put a smile on anyone's face. After they got over the initial shock of having another [View Full Entry]

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Hello Everyone, Well Christmas is drawing near and we are beginning to wind down and have a little break from our schedule. Things are pretty low key here, so much so that the staff wanted their Christmas Party on the 25th December! We have insisted that they should probably spend the day with their families, but they are still trying to convince us that it’s a good idea. We have arranged our meal for the 25th. Reuben is looking into a variety of different animal options. Reuben and Harry (the cook) had a long and involved conversation yesterday about how they [View Full Entry]

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Blog for Ripple Africa Well we’ve been here for nearly 4 months now so I guess it’s probably about time we told you where all your hard earned donations have gone. You’ve probably already seen from the website the sort of things Ripple are doing here. Essentially, they split their work into 3 sectors: Health, Education and Environment. Probably the least well funded for a variety of reasons is the Health projects, but that’s mostly because it’s very difficult to fund projects here that are ‘self-sustaining’, i.e. they wont require ongoing fu [View Full Entry]

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The next installment from Malawi. It is so hot, we think we might just melt away at the moment! Temperatures have been soaring into the high 30’s with high humidity and it’s really making all our walking more difficult. We walked 10kms yesterday in the heat of the day to do the Under 5’s Clinic and spent the rest of the day recovering. We have been assured that the rains are on the way, and it rained all day last Sunday so I am thinking of getting Marc out to do the rain dance every morning, for all our sakes. We [View Full Entry]

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Hello again, So the Mango season has arrived and we’re pretty happy about it. One of the local boys dropped off 31 mangos today and at 5 kwacha each, it worked out about 60p for the lot! We also have some new volunteers here who are really nice and have fitted in perfectly to our little team. Within 1 day of arriving here Henry had already set up a touch rugby club on the beach and has been running it every evening so far - gotta love Kiwis! I also got to chat rugby again which has been a bit of [View Full Entry]

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Well my Mum and my sister Kristie arrived from Oz last week for the adventure of their lives which was very exciting. They landed in Lilongwe quite jetlagged but wide eyed and bushy-tailed for the fun ahead. We left Malawi behind for five days and ventured to South Luangwa National Park in Zambia last week. It was well worth the 3 hours drive over the worst possible roads in the worst possible car. But once we arrive the Wilderness Camp was incredible and nothing but 5 star service all the way. We did 6 game drives in total and the wildlife [View Full Entry]

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