Ibhukhu Labantu

Ceri se boekwinkel is nou in volle swang. Sy maak skoolboeke beskikbaar vir die gemeenskap. Dit is bykans onmoontlik vir ouers om skoolboeke te kry want die naaste uitgewers is 5 ure van hier. Sy het in die biblioteek en in die gemeenskap sentrum uitgestal en sy het n klein winkeltjie agter die 'last hope car wash' waar mense kan kom kyk. Almal wil Bybels he en freebies soos penne en sakke. Ceri is ingeskakel by die education centre, die tribal authority(very important) en sy is besig soos altyd met die een en daai een. Besigheid is stadig maar dit is besig om op te tel

n jaar in die son

'ek soek net een wolklose winter
ek soek net een windstil seisoen
geen sopnat en snerpende koue
gee my n jaar in die son' - Koos Kombuis

party keer dan is dit wolkloos, windstil en warm ...
Ek het by Rocktail bay gaan snorkel en het saam met die walvisse geswem. Ek kon hulle hoor raas en hulle was om en by 3 voet van my af!
Die koraal rif is maar net 2 meter diep en dis hier waar ek versot geraak het op die see, alweer...
n Paar dae later is Ceri hier weg om te gaan snorkel en sy het n real walvis encounter gehad(groter as Kobus en Sumari se haai in die golf storie). Sy het in die humpback se oe ingekyk en sy is ook nou getoor. Sy se sy voel verreik want sy het nou in die 2 grootste mammals se oe kon inkyk in een maand...ongelooflik( die olifant was nie so naby nie, maar nog steeds)
Die fotos is Rocktail bay, n advertensie bord langs Mboza kliniek en ons boottrip op Shelly beach.

malibongwe

Pray to God-Malibongwe
Louis' school opens Friday morning's assembly with the Malibongwe or 'Higher, higher, higher, Jesus higher..' song. This video clip with the chickens really makes me happy to be in Africa. Ralph also likes to sing malibongwe. Ceri is very involved with the school and has helped them with environmental awareness. She helped them with an eco-pyramid and the kids received information about rubbish, turtles and fish traps when they visited local Kosi Bay mouth. They do regular trips to Manguzi library, a very well stocked book, cd, video venue which could do with a little coffee shop.

I have tried to upload the video but I think our signal out here is too weak. I'll do it next week in Johannesburg.

about work

People ask me about work, so here we go:
I started off in Paediatrics covering the ward which has 45 beds. It is divided into acute(very ill), acute 2(not dead yet), gastro, malnutrition ward and chronic ward(surgical cases- mainly burns-and then a hotchpotch of abandoned and other cold cases). Most of the work we do is around TB and HIV. I started a multidisciplinary team for the malnourished as they were quite neglected at home and on the ward mainly due to lack of time. I enjoyed paediatrics alot and managed to keep the death rate low(3-4 ward deaths per month, which is low considering this is a TB/ HIV haven). The nursery(neonates) is part of obstetrics and allocated to another doc- thank you.
I learnt all about peanuts thanks to nurse TS. Louis and Ralph often turned up to play in the dodgy play area with the kids. We taught the boys rules about proximity and germs and coughing and Louis now has the word MDR(multi-drug resistent TB) as part of his vocabulary.
I then moved on to Primary health care and I have been doing this for the last 3 months. We have 10 peripheral clinics and we visit 2-4 clinics per day. The travel distance to the clinics vary, the furthest being Mboza which is 86 km from the hospitals. Some of these clinics are only accessable with 4x4 , and some are in very beautiful and remote locations. I do general clinics(mainly hypertension which is the hard core type, so blood pressures of 240/120 are quite often noted. It is not just due to Aromat!), anti-retroviral clinics and antenatal clinics. I enjoy these clinics immensely as they cough up anything at anytime...
The patients are very ill most of the time and yes, we do see quite a few snake bites(some requiring anti-venom) and malaria. But HIV and TB dominates the scene and this is a pretty dreadful sight. These diseases are affecting not only the patients but also the staff, and this is often very tragic. One nurse's husband was tragically killed when he drove into a cow, very easy to do because the roads are bad and the cows are not on leads.
To cope with all this we drink heavily and I have started a bridge night.
The hospital has been in the news alot since the beginning of the year. Two stories dominate and both revolve around two of our senior doctors. For those interested, just google Dr Mark Blalock or Dr Colin Pfaff for the full story.

The top photo is a random footpath on a primary care clinic visit followed by some water carriers on the side of the road in Mozambique.

wasgoed ingesluit

Hier gaan dit wild. Ons swem saam met die walvisse, maar meer hieroor later...
Ons was vir n week weg einde Junie. Dit het begin met n Vrydagaand vertoning in Durban: Madame Zingara. Dit was 5 ure se pure pret en die seuns was vasgenael vir die hele vertoning. Die weird 'shadow' het op almal se stoele gespring en Louis was maar aarselend toilette toe. Ons het die volgende 2 nagte in Port St Johns gekampeer en dis hier waar ons begin koud kry het...
Port st Johns is n klein plekkie met lekker pizza, en ek is seker ons kampeer terrien kry n toerisme toekenning vir 'best spot out of town'.
Hoogtepunt was die rustige stappie tot by die strand(vol flotsam-dis mos die wilde kus) en die rit tot bo op die berg(lughawe) met n amper 360 grade view van die area om Port st Johns.
Ons is van hieraf deur die Transkei tot by Port Alfred waar Ceri se sussie tans woon. n Baie koue maar reus van n huis met meide kamers en buite geboue en n vlagpaal en n naam...ietwat van n kontras met ons amperse myn huisie en hospitaal sekuriteit wat die hele tyd by ons vensters en ja, wanner ons stort, by ons badkamer venster verbyloop.
Grahamstown is soos ek hom onthou, easy access en allerhande dinge ...
Fotos is vandie seuns by Madame Zingara, Cremorne kampering en uitkykpunt.