So here we are at the end of another working week... It's all passing pretty quickly and I'm sure it'll only keep going faster from now on! Still having a really good time, three American girls arrived at the end of last week, who are staying with us and also working at the hospital, so it's been really nice having a wee group of five of us to explore and have fun.. they're really lovely girls so we've all been having a great time together, and we've got a night out or two planned for this weekend which is really exciting, I can't wait to get out and do some dancing! :)

So this week at the hospital has been really interesting and quite different to last week... I've still been in paediatrics a fair amount but we've also branched out a little more... So towards the start of the week we did some ward rounds on the male and female adult wards, where we saw a lot of problems, most of which were completely different to what we've been seeing on paeds. A surprising load of TB is a bit worrying, especially when there are no indications of any attempts to isolate anyone from anyone else. There was also a lot of cardiac and respiratory disease, a guy in a coma, some thyroid problems, diabetics and some really crazy surgical cases too. We also spent some time in A&E, where we saw some pretty scary stuff... One wee boy had been bitten on his upper lip by a venomous snake, and after his mouth had swollen hugely, it spread over his entire face and started blocking all his airways. It was really scary to see, and all just progressed so quickly. Everyone was really worried because, whilst snake bites usually occur around the ankles and lower legs so that the venom takes a while to move up towards the brain, that this wee boy's bite was on his face meant that likelihood of brain damage if not death was massively increased. In the end he was transferred to a bigger hospital in Mombasa; I haven't been able to find out what happened to him, but none of the staff seemed very optimistic at all.

Another guy made a really dramatic entrance with a massive entourage in tow - he had been in some kind of accident, and had some really severe injuries to both his arms, as well as lots of lacerations over his face and trunk. He was in a massive load of pain, and was an Italian - he was so happy to see us as he thought we were Italians too, and it was really sad when he found out we weren't... In a moment as scary as that it would be so reassuring to see a face from home and someone who speaks your language. It was pretty chaotic when he arrived, and his screams were just the most terrible ones ever - he was in an awful lot of pain. Another interesting one was a twenty-something, fit-looking guy who came in with his 3 friends with acute psychosis... It was quite scary - his eyes were bulging and his mouth was foaming, and he was really struggling; it took all 3 of his friends all their strength to restrain him, it was getting seriously violent but thankfully they managed to pin him to a bed so that a doctor could inject a really powerful sedative just in time to knock him out. Apparently it had never happened to him before, and more or less just started out of the blue, which must have been a shock for his friends at the time. The doctor suspected acute onset cerebral malaria, which would make a lot of sense... after he'd been sedated they sent off lots of blood for testing and hopefully he's doing much better now.

But as well as crazy accidents it's also been a week full of babies!! As well as spending a morning in the mother and child, antenatal and immunisation clinics, we've seen two beautiful healthy babies delivered which was just the most amazing thing ever. There are no routine ultrasounds done in pregnancy here, which seems very strange especially as there is a machine available. Everything is done by poking and prodding, which means that, quite often, there is some complication... most babies here seem to be born with their cord around their neck, which is just such a needless risk in so many cases. Anyway, seeing those little babies born was just incredible. The first baby was 5.1kg which is just ridiculously massive, especially to give birth to naturally. The mother was so calm and strong throughout though, I couldn't believe it! The other mother was much younger, having her first baby, and really really scared. To make matters worse, the labour room was really busy that day and, ridiculous as it sounds, there wasn't a bed for her. She was literally pacing up and down, leaning on the wall, screaming and crying and bent over double, and I seriously feared that I might have to jump to the floor and catch the baby, she was that close to giving birth. At one stage she had all her weight on me as I supported her, and it was just beyond belief that there was no bed to help her to. Finally one became free for her and after that the birth was pretty quick... as soon as it was over she was thanking God that she was still alive, and the smile on her face showed just how relieved she was for it all to be over. I got to be the one to tell her family outside that she and the baby were both fine and healthy, and I went back to visit her the next day on the ward to see how she was getting on... She gave me a massive big cuddle and introduced me properly to her beautiful baby daughter, and the two went home happy and healthy that afternoon. It was really such a lovely thing to be a part of.

Some of the other mothers, however, haven't been so lucky. One woman with a breech presentation waited for hours for an emergency c-section which never happened, so she eventually had a natural birth as she just couldn't wait any longer. We've been scrubbed up in surgery seeing some other emergency c-sections though, which have been really interesting to watch; there have been a few scarier moments when complications arose, but thank goodness the mothers and babies were fine in the end. We also saw surgery this morning on a woman who had a c-section 5 days ago, but whose stitches all burst open so that her small intestine was literally hanging outside of her abdomen. That was also unpleasant to see but the surgeons did a good job of cleaning out the infection before re-stitching through each layer right out to the skin. The bowel had haemorrhaged though, and did not look healthy to us, so I worry about that and imagine that some severe adhesions are a serious risk for that patient. I'll go back to check up on her on Monday.

All in all though, a pretty eventful week!! I'm still really loving it out here, and we've had some really fun times with all the girls! And I'm really excited about the weekend, I feel we've all earned a good rest... Sunday on the beach last week was definitely a good shout, so I think we'll be heading there again, as well as hopefully getting some shopping done at the market tomorrow and try out this Italian restaurant we've spotted by the beach... Although we've had some really yummy stuff out here, one thing we've all been having little pangs for recently is food from home! So that's pretty exciting. And the plan is to go for a bit of a night out afterwards so that will definitely be interesting and a lot of fun!!

I'd best be off now however as I think we're going to head down to the children's home nearby for a bit to play some games and football! Oh my me playing football this will be a sight to be seen indeed... sos!

With lots of love and hugs from Kenya!! :) xxx

Afraid it's going to have to be a quick one as I'm in a busy internet cafe which is pretty warm! Internet access has been very limited so I've not been able to update at all, but I'll maybe try to write a wee something every week!

So we arrived safe and sound in Nairobi last Friday morning after a 17 hour journey... We were met at the airport and taken to our transit house, where we just had time to dump our stuff before heading off to see the baby elephants and giraffes at their sanctuary! They were just so cute, the wee elephants were my favourite... they were so cheeky and splashed me all over with water! And the giraffes were fun too, we were able to feed them from our hands and they were so gentle :) we had a quick nap in the afternoon before going for a wee wander to explore our part of Nairobi a bit... and then headed to bed!

The next day we were up early for our 12 hour bus journey across a big chunk of Kenya to Malindi, the town we are based in for the month. Although it was pretty bumpy and warm, it was a really nice way to see a bit of the country, as we drove through loads of little villages and a couple of bigger towns and cities. We're staying with two sisters who are just great girls, they're fab chat and we've been so comfortable in our new wee home! Sunday was spent exploring Malindi a wee bit, it's a beautiful town right on the Indian Ocean, with cute little shops and so many kids playing in the streets! We're very much a novelty here, with practically everyone waving, shouting 'jambo!' and 'ciao!' (most of the whites in Malindi are Italians), trying to strike up conversations and lots of wee kids wanting to play. We're starting to recognise some people though and have made some friends which is fun, Tony from the corner shop is a particular fan of ours, alongside lots of the guys who drive the tuk tuks which we've been using to get around!

The first time we went properly into the town was pretty eventful... It's just so so different to home, and it's strange being such a big attraction just walking down the street! It's fun though, and down towards the beach is just sunning. We've wandered along the pier and seen some stunning sunsets, and loads of guys play football there every evening, so we've watched a couple of times and made friends with some of them too. They're all obsessed with football here! And rather too much with Chelsea for my liking. Although there's a decent bunch of Man Utd supporters too so that's good. All the boys play football, from the tiniest little league at one end of the beach right along to the mens' teams with proper strips and everything at the other! It looks like eventually we're going to be forced to join in, although it hasn't happened quite yet...

We've been really loving the hospital too, and I can't believe we've had a full working week already. We're based in paediatrics which I just love, as the kids are great and you really get to build up a relationship with them and their mums, who also stay on the ward. The hospital is big, with loads of different departments in separate buildings spread across the site, and this week we've also spent time in ICU, neonatal and maternity, which has all been interesting. Most of the kids are in with pneumonia, malaria, malnourishment, gasroenteritis... there are also a surprisingly large number with HIV and TB, which is a bit difficult to see. We've also seen some more unusual, interesting cases... snake bites, really severe fractures, psychosis with hallucinations, meningitis, measles, hepatitis, congenital defects... stuff we probably wouldn't see much of at home. We've also been able to learn about some of the cultural impacts on the health of some of the children... a few have come in with infected injuries from traditional procedures, such as a poor little boy who had ha his uvula ceremonially removed and ended up in intensive care. When he arrived, he had loads of herbs and stones attached all over with string, which were apparently natural healing remedies, but which the doctors did away with very quickly. These two lovely lovely young doctors have kind of taken us under their wing a wee bit which has been so lovely... They're such fun guys and the four of us have been having so many laughs this week! They've been explaining so many interesting things, and have been letting us do examinations, and generally help out with bits and pieces here and there.

I've made special friends with a couple of the mums as well, who really have a hard time living in the ward for days or weeks at a time, and really appreciate a bit of company from us! Not everyone speaks English, but we've been picking up bits and pieces of Kiswahili, and a lot of the time just the company is enough for them. And when the kids are well enough, they just love to play! I've made a couple of special friends, most of them in the surgical area, where they're recovering from surgery for various accidents. There are three, a wee girl and two wee boys, who have in particular just stolen my heart! They blow kisses and smile and wave all the time! And love loads of cuddles, which is ideal because I do too! Some of the other kids, however, very much associate our white coats with being jabbed with needles and so are a bit more wary at first, which is fair enough! But they're getting to know us much better now and so are usually much happier to see us :)

There have been some more difficult times in the hospital. A severe and prolonged seizure has us all really worried, and some of the malnourishment cases are particularly sad. One in particular - a six year old girl - weighs little more than a baby, and her eyes just show so much pain. Although it's not fun watching the kids kick and scream when the staff are trying to take blood, it's somehow a lot more disturbing to see the children who are just too ill and too weak to resist at all. One little boy with meningitis has completely lot all tone and strength in all his muscles, to the point that he can hardly even swallow, and has difficulties breathing. It's these children you really worry about, and it's for them that the continuity of care aspect is so important... I just really hope he gets that here as he would at home. We also bumped into one of the mothers from the ward it town today. She told us that her baby died this morning. It really hits home when something like that happens. Another woman arrived at A&E, having given birth at home, she was crouched over double and could hardly walk. We tried to help her inside but she didn't want it; we found her shortly afterwards, practically collapsed outside, and eventually managed to find a wheelchair to help her inside.

But as well as the harder times, there have been some great moments. A lot of our children were discharged on Friday, and it's just so so wonderful to see their little laughing faces running around the wards, so much healthier than they were, and knowing that you did a little something to help hem get better. One of my favourite little boys was practically unrecogniseable, so excited to finally be going home to play football with his brothers and friends, and looking just chuffed to bits! The mothers are so grateful for all the help from th hospital, and you can really see how much it helps the people who come here.

Sooooo the internet cafe is closing and we are getting chucked out! But at least I've managed to get a little bit down here tonight. I'd really like to at least semi keep this thing up throughout, but for tonight that's it... We're safe and happy and loving it all so far!! Lots of love from Kenya, I'll update again asap!! :) xxx

Last Night at Home...

Oh hi J I’ve never done any kind of blog before, so this is me trying my best to be a bit of a techno-chick! But I thought it might be a nice way to keep a wee record of all our adventures whilst we’re away, and make sure I have something to look back on at the end of it all... I really have no idea what our internet access will be like once we’re there, or how much time we will have, but I will try my best to update this at least every so often J

So it’s the night before we leave for Kenya, and it’s all really exciting, although I’m also quite nervie! The journey tomorrow is going to be really long... 17 hours for me! I’m flying to Amsterdam from Glasgow early in the morning, where I’ll be waiting for a few hours before meeting my friend Aby, after which we'll wait a few more hours, then fly to Nairobi! I think I’m more or less packed, I pretty much feel like a bit of a walking pharmacy with all the medications, insect repellants, sun lotions, anti-viral hand foams and everything else that I’m taking, but it’s best to be prepared! I also went to Primark yesterday and bought loads of cute little kiddie bracelets, hair clips, rings and bobbles to give to the little girls there. Last year when I was in Uganda I wished I had thought to bring little presents like that, so this time I’ve made sure I’m well stocked-up!

We are spending a month living in Malindi, on the coast of the Indian Ocean. We’re working in the hospital there, which seems pretty big and is a general hospital, so I’m not quite sure what to expect! When I was in Uganda last year, it was a very small mother and baby clinic that I worked in, so it’ll be interesting to compare the two. I’m really excited about getting to see and explore a completely new place, meet some new people, try some new things and hopefully really get involved in local life! It’ll certainly be an adventure whatever happens, and now I’m just looking forward to getting started!