The past 5 months have flown by
and I now find myself in Lusaka
having bid farewell to St Francis’ Hospital. I arrived back at the hospital a
couple of days ago having escaped to Malawi
again for a much needed holiday. This time I spent 5 days in the Mulanje
mountains, walking between small wooden mountain huts, cooking on wood fires,
bathing in crystal clear springwater rivers and enjoying some solitude, seeing
only one other mzungu in passing the whole time. Yesterday I dropped into theatres
to say goodbye and was greeted very warmly, particularly because there were a
few extra cases on the list and there was an empty theatre. It made a welcome
break from packing to do some impromptu operating – making a skin graft for one
of my old burns patients and incising an abscess in another. A great way to
conclude one of the most valuable, challenging and eye opening experiences of
my life. It is difficult to sum up the time I have spent here, but here are a
few memories that will stay with me for a very long time:
Feeding ‘typhoid boy’ (he was
finally discharged just before I went on holiday – a transformed child,
smiling, running, cheeks filled out); weird and wonderful injuries secondary to
ox-carts/stray piglets/cows/goats/drunk drivers; baobab trees; trying to have a
shower in dry season (an oxymoron); ‘how are youuuu’s of children when
cycling/running into town; daily inspection of veg for growth progress report;
Zambian music – Organized Family especially the song ‘Potato Saladi’ in which the
singer compares his relationship with his girlfriend to his love for potato
salad; making a chitenga hammock using sign language and drawings in the sand
to explain what I wanted to the tailor; the smell of the burns ward; ‘talktime’
– buying phone topup in 12p chunks and wondering why it runs out so often;
public transport and the infinite patience required to survive it; extreme
kindness shown to me when travelling alone; snake bites; ‘kulibe’ (‘we don’t
have’) following a request at various times for strapping/sutures/sterile
gloves/sterilising solution/gowns/insulin/ceftriaxone/catheters/gauze/any
instrument you can think of especially the one that you really need for the
current job etc etc. but notably when it came to patients (not patience!)
‘kulibe’ never applies; cockerels crowing; cycling through the hospital
corridors when on-call at night; venous cutdowns; gin and tonic sundowners;
happy pants; greetings; outdoor dinners (until it got too cold); house
invasions by local children; cockroaches; stoical patients; laughter on ward
rounds (directly proportionate to the amount of Chichewa I attempted to
spseak)…
To all those who have encouraged
me, emailed, texted, posted letters and parcels – thank you for your support. I
am very much looking forward to seeing friends and family when I get home
tomorrow afternoon. For now I will soak up the last of the Zambian sunshine and
close this blog, at least until the next time…
(Photos to follow when I have a
decent internet connection)
