Temporary House, Temporary Garden - Pictures

This is my temporary house. It's HUGE compared to my new house, probably about 6 times as big. I'm really looking forward to moving though, so I can settle in and start my garden. And have a fridge!

If anyone ever wondered how mangos grow, this is one of my mango trees! Yesterday I caught a man stealing them. I didn't really mind (I'm sure he needs them more than me and I have far more than I could ever eat), but what was hilarious is that when I went to talk to him about it he then tried to persuade me to hire him as a gardener and his wife as a cleaner. I'm not sure that catching someone stealing is really the best advert for employment!

And this, unexpectedly is how papayas grow! 

I have literally no idea what this is, but they look cool!

While I was sat in the garden writing this two women came and asked me if they could take some mangos - much more polite! I asked if I could take their photos in exchange ("asked" is a bit of an exaggeration on both parts, it was mostly sign language!)

The mega sticks live in the garden, presumably left by one of the many people who've been helping themselves!

I better go - it's getting dark and the critters are coming out. 

Oh and I had my first day at the work, which was a whole lot of fun, but I think the hospital is a blog for another day! Sorry, I'm sure no one really cares about my garden, and would much rather hear interesting stories... 

First Couple of Days

I've made it to the hospital! I had a bit of a confusing time in Lusaka, where Isaac kept changing his mind over when the hospital driver was coming to pick me up. This resulted in me sitting around for half a day waiting for them and then being told it was actually coming the next day. Instead of sitting around any more I made friends with some people in the hostel and we went horse riding and out for a drink, and then came back to find an angry driver who'd been waiting for 4 hours... He then insisted on driving the 7h drive in the dark, something I'd been told under no circumstances to do, so we got to the hospital at 2.30am. It's very dangerous to drive at night because the animals wander into the roads and there are random ox carts lying around, on roads where the speed limit is 100km/h... They were actually much better quality than I expected, proper tarmac for 80% of the way (much better than any I've been on in Ghana and Kenya), but this probably makes them more dangerous as people drive really fast, with no fixed central division. But we survived and the horse riding was really fun! 

It was so peaceful out in the woodland area - hard to believe it was only 20min drive from Lusaka

I've had a quick look around the hospital, but don't start work til tomorrow, so have been able to relax a bit, which is great. I'm staying in this huge house for a few days until some Scottish doctors leave. It's a bit bizarre because there are 4 rooms with virtually no furniture, just a bed, one chair and a desk. The house I'm moving into is much smaller, just one room that has a kitchen at one end and a half walled off bedroom area at the other, but at least it has a fridge and plates and bowls and things, unlike this one. I'll put up pictures when I've moved in. The new house also has a reasonable sized garden in the back which is completely bare at the moment, but I'm planning on growing lots of things. The current tennants have chickens which is GREAT although they are probably going to someone else when they leave, but I'll get to keep the chicken wire fence, so I can get some more =) Which as anyone who knows me well will know makes me very happy!

Not a great picture of the hospital, but you get the idea...

That's the front, then there's this big round about which you can see in the foreground and then behind me there are about 100 houses where various members of staff live.

I think I'm going to really enjoy living here. It's obviously a very different life to back home, but I think once I've moved house and settled in a bit that it'll be really nice :-)

Welcome to Zambia!

As many of you know, I am about to take up a post at St Frances Hospital, Zambia, for 6 months in obs and gynae. SFH is a 350 bed rural hospital, just outside a little town called Katete near the Mozambique and Malawian border.

If you're wondering where Zambia is on the map:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Zambia/@5.8455545,4.191689,3z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x1940f4a5fcfc0b71:0xf19ff9ac7e583e45!8m2!3d-13.133897!4d27.849332

And cos maps are fun, here's the hospital:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/St+Francis+Hospital/@-13.6390326,25.0713965,6z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x191874bfce385f8b:0xe04b2a85046ced0c!8m2!3d-14.0657035!4d32.0147556


I arrived in Lusaka, Zambia's capital, last night after about 24h of travelling (via Johannesburg) and stayed the night here before the 7h drive to the hospital today. 

I was picked up last night by Isaac who works for the Zambian Anglican Council, the people I'm being sponsored by (I think it's them anyway). 

About 5 min into the drive from the airport to the hostel I witnessed my first head on collision about 20m in front of our car. It didn't look too horrific but the cars were going reasonably fast (maybe 30mph) and there was this awful time while we sat there waiting to see if the drivers would get out of the cars. One did but the other didn't. I was really torn - as a doctor obviously I wanted to check he was OK and if necessary offer some first aid, but having literally just landed in Zambia I had all my possessions with me including a considerable amount of money for the next 7 months. It was dark and didn't seem incredibly wise to leave everything unattended in  the car so Isaac went to check he was OK while I waited, ready to join him if there was a problem. Luckily he was alright and we kept going.

I'd heard a LOT of far worse stories about road traffic accidents here so wasn't surprised, just thankful everyone was OK. Isaac told me the reason they have so many accidents is because Zambians drive v aggressively. He said if someone is overtaking and is coming towards you on the wrong side of the road or cutting you up, Zambian drivers will speed up as though to prove a point that they are in the right, even though this obviously risks their life. About a minute after saying this we had an example of this - there was a parked car ahead in our lane and to avoid hitting it he indicated to move over into the next lane. Instead of letting him in, the car behind us in that lane accelerated, flashing his lights, forcing us to brake. 

But I don't want you to worry (mum!), I'm sure it'll be fine!!

I had a good time in the Lusaka backpackers lodge. One thing I LOVE about travelling is all the people you meet. I met this American family - a midwife who's working in Malawi for 3 months with her 3 kids in tow. Since they're only here for 3months they've been going to the local primary school, which I'm sure has been an experience they'll never forget. The only thing her 10 year old seemed to have to say about it was that it was great they had a lot more time off for break and lunch than back home!

Anyway I should probably go since my lift will be here soon. I'll put up some pictures of the hospital when I get the chance :-)