Getting to work

Alright, it's been two weeks now, and I'm settling into sort of a routine, although one of the first things I ever learnt on a mission is that whatever plans you have, God probably has other ones, so you learn to be flexible :-).  It's actually incredibly refreshing to be able to wake up in the morning and simply be open to doing whatever is needed, because that is when amazing things can happen.

Thank God, I seem to have found a balance between medical work and other service, which I'm really glad about.  I have to cover the Hope Centre (HIV unit) on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and I have one day on call a week.  I'm still only scratching the surface of learning about HIV but it's getting a little easier, although I still have to call the Infectious Diseases specialist at least 5 times a day for advice.  On call is crazy, cos anything can turn up through the door and like i said before the resources for investigation are severely limited.  You get by, and it hones your clinical skills to know that there is no other way to find out the answer most times.  In the end though, I still need a lot of help, and it's a team effort so we all tend to discuss the tricky cases together.

The rest of the time I help where and when I am needed.  Somehow saying that I have done a bit of Paeds has made me the person to call to resus the babies from Caesarian sections.  Thank God, all so far have screamed as soon as I got them so no work for me :-).

The great thing about this set-up is that it leave me time to take on other projects or just helping out members of the congregation with little things.  Something I'm working on at the moment is to have a health surveillance and health promotion program for the kids at the school for orphans and vulnerable children.

Today we visited one of the villages near the city and it's amazing the transition from the city to the village.  It is incredible poor there and a lot is needed to help support the people there.  It was eye-opening and a great experience, cos the people there are really lovely and so glad to be able to come to church for encouragement and fellowship.  Their voices are amazing, and as with most African people, they love to sing.  We're planning to go there soon with a supply of medications and people for a medical campaign to help where we can.  There are obviously far more and longer-lasting projects that need to start so pray for us to be able to.

From tomorrow it will be a whole new experience again because a group are coming from the US so we'll be in a different area of Zambia with them and I'm sure that the energy they bring will transform things.  Then later in the week we'll go on a 12 hour drive to Congo.  Apparently the border crossing can be a bit tricky so it should be pretty exciting :-).  Don't know what to expect at all in Congo but I know that the infrastructure there is vastly less developed so it will  be a very different experience.

Anyway, enough blogging for now I think.  Before I forget though, thank you to all those who prayed for my UK medical registration exam; I received the results today and I passed thank God.  Still have the second part to go when I get back to London.

Almost 1 week down, 12 to go in this beautiful place

Wow,

I think I may have started my last post like that, but I am still so overwhelmed.  It's only my 6th day here and it has already been beyond what I could've imagined.  I don't really know where to start but I think I'll have to break it down into categories

General life:  Day to day here has been great and I'm starting to feel a little more settled, but it's still early days.  We generally have a pretty early start waking up around 6.30 to spend some quiet time in prayer and reflection before the day kicks off.  We spend a bit of time sharing together in the morning before we go to do what we need to do.  I'm staying with some really lovely people, all of whom have a different job or service here. 

 

We have doctors, pharmacists, accountants, a teacher, a handyman, and general missionaries, and I wish I had time to tell you about each one of them but maybe another time.  We get together again from 1-2 for lunch, which the 'mama's here make for us.  It's basically the same rice, chicken, salad and soup every day but it's still lovely.  Back to work and then each evening we get together for one meeting or another.

We're nicely set up here and the surrounding are beautiful.  We are still in the capital city though so the nearby shops are actually pretty big and have almost everything (including milk-shakes) Every Sunday there is a market and I went today with Fr. Abraham & Dalia his wife who go there every week, which was a laugh cos they love to bargain.  Over my time here I will probably be going on various outreach trips to the villages, which should be pretty great, but we'll just have to wait and see.

There are quite a few families living and working here with young kids and it has been hilarious hanging out with them, they are all such little characters.

Medical Work:  This has been a massive learning curve.  It is all so different here and I feel pretty humbled seeing what they have to deal with on a daily basis with so few resources.  The clinic runs Monday-Saturdayand basically involves churning through the masses of patients, admitting those who are really sick and treating and following up the rest.  We are really lucky to have a lab that actually runs very efficiently so we can see a patient, order tests, get the results and prescribe the appropriate treatment all in the same day.  The caveat to this is that the finances are very limited.  Patients need to pay small fees to help cover costs (e.g. $5-8 for a test) and often if they can't but still need it the church covers the cost.  

But this means we have to be very restrained with tests and often have to treat empirically without confirmation.  This extends to funding beds for patients so I have found myself treating patients that I would usually admit, by seeing them daily in clinic and giving IM injections.  Still, despite the limitations, there is so much to learn and you feel like you are making quite a difference.

The HIV centre (called the Hope centre) is an amazing place and a testament to what can be done between co-operation between various organisations.  Essentially it is able to provide complete HIV treatment with Anti-retroviral drugs and regular follow-up.  After sitting with one doctor for a couple of hours, I was thrown in to see patients and it is like a whole new world.  I have never really had any involvement with HIV in Melbourne, and there is a lot that I still need to learn.  Still, there are a few doctors away so everything is very busy and any little contribution I can make is needed.

The in-patient unit is relatively small (about 20 beds), but patients also present to the clinic at all hours and whoever is on-call for in-patients also sees the after-hours presentations, not all of which need admission.

Church life:  We essentially live in the church, which has been great.  There's a liturgy 3 mornings a week and loads of other services going on.  The congregation is wonderful and the fellowship is encouraging and inspiring.  It's such a great experience to be challenged every day and be pushed to grow.

The Sunday service particularly was brilliant.  The church was packed and there was a realy great mix between the traditional worship that I am used to and the local African tradition, I just loved it.

Anyway, thats enough from me.  For anyone who wants to know, my number here is +260978030114.  Also I get patchy access to skype here so if any of you have it please add me cos I'd love to be able to chat.

God bless

Zambia!!!

Wow, so I'm here.  And completely overwhelmed.

The trip was uneventful and arrived to find one of the doctors from the hospital waiting for me, which was so nice.  Then driving through Lusaka it all started to hit home.  I managed to do some reading on the plane, and all that I can tell so far is that I need to really commit to this and that God has something planned completely beyond what I can imagine.  I must admit that not really knowing how it is all going to work out is making me nervous and unsettled.  Perhaps that's another lesson I need to learn ... to trust.

So after stopping to buy a mobile, we arrived at St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church Centre.  It's a pretty big compound and incorporates

• A large church
• Two small chapels
• A small in-patient unit
• A busy out-patients department
• An Infectious Diseases and HIV centre
• A school for orphans
• and finally a guest-house, which is where I am staying.

Everyone here is so lovely and it's really cool having the school on-site cos there's always kids around smiling and laughing.   I spent today just trying to settle in and spent a short period with Dr. Moheb (who picked me up) in his rooms.  Made me feel quite nervous about having to step up to the plate and be a doctor here.

He's an infectious diseases physician who also see's everything else and is also the main ultrasonographer.  Anyway, I think I'll use the word overwhelmed too often if I continue so I'll leave it at that.  Off to spend a bit of quiet time and energise for a fresh start tomorrow.  I'll tell you more about what it's like here soon.

London Catch-up

Well, I'm in Zambia.  But for just one post I think I should pretend I'm not here yet and update the rest of my time in England cos I left a fairly big gap.

Actually I'm thinking back and even though I had a really great week, nothing particularly spectacular happened.  I went back up to Brum to catch up with a few more people and had a great Greek meal.  On the weekend we had a church fete at my church here in London.  It was great fun being able to help preparing for it.  We stayed up all night baking cookies and painting banners, hehe.

And then there was my usual crazily trying to organise everything before going on a big trip.

So that's enough of a catch-up.  Now I can write my Zambia post.

London cont'd

So, I'm actually sitting in my car at 1am typing this post. You see I have mobile broadband, but the reception in my flat is not great so I either have to perch next to the window or sit in my car, and the car seat is comfier. The reason it's 1am is that I've been constantly on the move and this was the first moment I've had to sit and type something out.

I had my exam for medical registration here on Friday and it was a bizarre experience being in a massive exam hall with hundred of overseas doctors. Hopefully it went well but I still need prayers. And if it does go well I have to do a clinical exam when I get back here from Zambia in August. The best bit about Friday was finishing the exam and having a whole beautiful spring afternoon to wander around London, It was so sunny and I was on the south bank of the Thames, which was buzzing. It's amazing how much happier this place is when there is a little bit of sun. Cheerful Londoners lazing on the grass, tourists swarming everywhere, buskers and street performers and artists vying for attention, it was really great. I sort of lost myself in the afternoon and ended up leaving late to go up North to Birmingham.

Brum was great. Saw old friends and caught up with a couple of Maz's old house-mates (for those who were at Maz's 21st, they were the crazy ones on the video). Then this whole weekend I've been attending talks by a priest called Fr. Dawood Lamaie. A lot of contemplation on having hope in God and how that really can change our lives. Really encouraging stuff, and he has a great way of dissecting the Bible to make it all seem so obvious.

Back in London now and have been having fun all afternoon/evening. Went to see Wolverine and then went out to dinner and just stayed out chatting all night - great fun.

As Zambia gets closer and closer I'm getting more and more excited to see what God has in store. I'm sure it'll be amazing, but not really sure what to expect, so feeling a tiny bit nervous. Still, as I expected, I'm finding out about more and more people who will be there around the same time.

Anyway, I'm blabbing and its 1.30am and I should sleep. Love you all & May God's Love be with you always :-)