Today the exams were taken and all but one passed the course... I am so proud of them all so here are the guys and gal with "Anita" their very own resus doll.... its been a great week, a massive eye opener, people can tell you about Sierra Leone but until you experience it you can never prepare yourself for what you are about to see... it really is the ugly duckling, War, Poverty and Corruption. All these people in this picture grew up in a war torn country and have many tales to tell, some were evacuated to the Gambia and some were forced to be child soldiers and they are all very patriotic and want nothing but the best for their country. They are all grateful for the teaching's they have received and have ... read more

We left the branch a bit later yesterday (15/5); leaving just 10 minutes later can make a world of difference. It took over 2 hours to return to the hotel suddenly appreciating the congestion charge in London. 2 hours of driving through the slums watching how people live, women washing clothes in water running down from the hill, children playing around the drains, men sitting drinking their beer and playing chess and older women sweeping the piles and piles of rubbish that just is never ever going to end because everywhere looks like a landfill site. Men are burning the rubbish and the people are trying to clean it up but the next minute they are dropping it again… It was 6.45pm and I noticed many school children, all in lovely school uniforms looking very smart. ... read more

My Flight into Freetown was delayed by 3 hours due to technical difficulties... this is becoming a habit with me! On arrival we were delayed getting off the plane as the truck that has the stairs on it broke down.... and we are back in Africa :) I came through customs and immigration wanted to check my suitcase, this was fine as I had no dodgy dolls in it this time "passport" he announced in a rather gruff voice. so I said "sure" and I chucked it on the table in front of him... he told me off, apparently I should have passed it to him with my photo ready to be looked at. I apologised and he chalked a red mark on my case and I left to find Abdul, Abdul found me easily - ... read more

Ella is a tall and beautiful fashion concious Nigerian lady who works in our offices in Lagos, she wears shoes that I would not only need ladders to get into but I would also need stabilisers to wear them but she wears and walks in them with finesse. I taught her last year in first aid and I consider her a friend. she approached me this morning to complain that I had not blogged for a few days... Sorry Ella x "Do you fancy a chinese tonight? I know this great place" Mike made a suggestion for food on Saturday and I thought hmmm why not - he asked Henry (driver) to drive around a bit because he couldnt remember the name of it but he could sort of remember the location. it was dark and ... read more

Hi all, for the past two nights I have been staying in Port Harcourt, it is filled with hustle and bustle and complete Chaos and no one follows any rules or maybe its better to say they make up their own rules - it reminded me of Back to the Future "Where we are going we dont need no roads" everyone driving on the pavements, driving up and down the wrong side of the road at high speed to get there before everyone else and you cant help but fear for the cyclists! why would you cycle on these roads - are you crazy? no just Nigerian - crazy is in the blood! the last few nights I have had an admirer at the hotel, his name is Prince - not to be confused with Prince ... read more