Working away

Well the real work has begun...and I think the jet lag has caught up.

It's great to be down in the hospital. The lab is quite different to at home. We get to see some interesting disease such as sickle cell disease and some malaria on a daily basis. There are plenty of new tests to learn. The staff are so friendly to work with.

Patients roam the corridor. The kids are adorable and so friendly- just wish I knew more french.

At the moment there are a large number of fistula patients as the orthopedic surgeries have finished and some fistula surgeons are on board. The childrens ward is also pretty busy with bowel and bladder ops at present. Basically the operations are scheduled in batches subject to what specialists are on board when. The ward rings with song and dance and the sound of drums whenever the fistula patients are dry- that is healed. At the end of their stay they are given a new dress and a farewell.

I am still amazed how many kids are on board. 60 missionary kids attend the school on board and live on the ship with their parents who work in various depts.

Below is the hospitality centre where the patients are screened. Patients stay here before and after surgery once released from the hospital so that they don't need to travel home before their follow up appointments. The opthalmology team works in the Iglos or tents inside.

Tonight we had a dinner for all the aussies on board- about 15 people at the moment. We were up on deck 8 the top deck- i've included some pictures from the deck of the port.

I'm oh so tired so apologies for the boring blog i'm oh so tired...but heres some pictures that may tell a thousand words.