The first month I was here, I went to a place called Misundu park. Whilst I was sunbathing and reading my book, I noticed a group of children all in matching tshirts and a man. I asked him where they were from and he explained to me that it was an orphange and they take the children out for day trips. I asked if I could get involved, so I spoke with the main carer who invited me to visit them sometime.

I went to visit them and was amazed at what I saw. I had never been inside an orphange before so didn’t know what to really expect, but it was so much nicer than I thought it would be. The children were so happy and given so much love.

I’d asked them to all write down what they would like for Christmas. Most asked for clothes or shoes. People donated me money from the UK and I was able to buy all the children what they had asked for plus a little more. The children were so grateful and happy with the gifts! I had such an amazing time with them and it really made my Christmas!

The mothers and the manger treat me so well and take care of me when I am there. I feel like a princess and can feel the love around the home. I am also makimg some great freinds with the mothers. I am so grateful to have found the orphanage! My Zambian family!

I can’t believe we have been in Zambia for 8 weeks already! It has been a full on 8 weeks and now I have a bit of time to reflect on my experience so far.

Visiting the clinics has been rewarding, exhausting, upsetting, interesting and such an amazing experience for many reasons. I have met some great people and amazing women who give birth in some of the most difficult situations! I have had many cuddles with the babies and had the opportunity to save lives. This experience will be with me for life and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Settling into Zambian life has had its own difficulties, but it has also been fun getting used to the differences from home, such as the food, nightlife, clothes shopping and making friends. 2 months in and its now starting to feel like home! I’ve made friends, settled into a gym and aerobics sessions, found a love for Zambian music and learning to appreciate what I have in life.

The next few weeks will be finishing the report on the clinics, having meetings and planning the next step, which will be based around teaching and training nurses and midwives. However, before the teaching starts, we have Christmas in Zambia to enjoy!!!

So this year I got to celebrate world prematurity day in Zambia. They make such a big deal of it here, I was really impressed. World Prematurity Day is specifically to raise awareness of preterm birth and the devastating impact it can have on families.

The day was very interesting, there was a symposium with presentations on the care and services available for preterm infants in Zambia, as well as teaching on resuscitation and skills stations for the nurses and midwives to practice.

I found this day very interesting and useful for understanding what help and support the midwives I am workimg with require, to give each infant the best care possible. It also made me aware of the problems that they face as a healthcare system and as a community. It really has opened my eyes that we can’t just come here, teach and then think things will be better. Theres so much more to it. Its a big task and it will take time, but I would love to have the opportunity to help make some of these changes.

The second day there was an aerobics class for 2 hours! It was so nice to meet so many people who have such a passion for the premature infants. It was a fun morning, but definitely needed a nap afterwards!

On Tuesday we had the opportunity to meet the CEO of the Zambia Flying Doctor Service. This is a grant aided service for providing health services to remote hard to reach areas and other places within Zambia. The aim is to contribute to the improvement of the wellbeing of the people of Zambia. This includes maternal and neonatal health, which is obviously my speciality and why Abbie and I are here in Zambia.

We had a very good talk with the CEO about what they do, what help they need and how we can be a part of the team. We were shown around the hanger where they currently have 2 fixed wing, which can be used for transporting staff as well as patients. They are looking into having 2 helicopters as even the fixed wing struggle to land in certain areas, especially in the rainy season. I am hoping I can help find funding or raise money to help with this. They also took us to two static health clinics that provide paying patients with healthcare access, such as investigations, surgery and seeing a clinician. The money made in these clinics is then put back into the company to help pay for outreach projects to vulnerable people in remote parts of Zambia. This is an amazing idea and the clinics looked great, with renovations starting to add more facilities.

I am really hoping to get more involved with this, and hopefully go on some of the outreaches during my time in Zambia.

We have now been working in the clinics for the past 2 weeks and what a challenge it has been.  We have visited 4 clinics so far, the first 3 were quite similar, as in the resources they had and how they were set up.  They were actually better than I was expecting the clinics to be, however the 4th one was more how I was expecting it, in a very poor village with not alot of resources or staff compared to the others.   We couldn’t even walk to get a drink in the village as it was too unsafe for us as white people, we had to have an escort!! All the clinics need our help in many ways, which is why we are here, and hopefully can get the ball rolling.

The staff we have met have mostly been welcoming and happy to share with us what they do and what help they would like.  We have had a few difficulties with some staff, worrying we are assessing them, but as time has gone on, we have made each other feel more comfortable.  For example,  not using the word scenarios, they run a mile! The midwives in charge of the clinics are great and do such an amazing job!

They are very understaffed in the clinics (even worse than the staffing in the NHS!) but they do have a lot of students who rotate, so actually the students do a lot of the work!  This is good for the trained midwives, but also can be detrimental to the mothers and infants care.  Don’t get me wrong, the students are amazing, but they are new to this environment and are expected to do alot more than we would expect from our students in the UK.  There have been a few mishaps, that haven’t caused the mothers or infants any harm, but does show the students need more observation.  For example, thinking the correct way to check an infants startle reflex is to throw it in the air!!

We have also observed some very sad and disturbing situations, that I wont go into detail about, but it really does make us realise how lucky we are in the UK, even though things aren’t perfect. I really don’t know how the midwives and nurses deal with these things day to day, they are so strong! Speaking of strong, I have never met anyone as strong physically and mentally as the mothers here giving birth! They have to go through it alone, as they cant have someone stay with them, they get no pain relief and just get on with it! It’s both upsetting and amazing to see the strength of these women.

It’s not all been work though, we’ve had some nice days off! Trying different places, including going to the pool, restaurants, bars and even made some friends. It has been hard making friends so far. Alot of people here want to be our friends for the wrong reasons, so we are having to be very careful with this. We are still getting harassed, however its definitely less when we are with a Zambian!! We have also met 3 British people, so hopefully we can spend more time with them. We have joined a gym, and I’m slowly getting less anxious every time we go, which is really helping us. I have also bought a sun lounger! So definitely starting to feel more at home.

I hope I’ve remembered everything! I cant believe how much has happened in 2 weeks!

The first week is over and I survived! Just about! We had a very busy week, meeting all the management of the hospitals, nursing council and meeting the staff on the maternity unit and NICU.

The first few days were quite difficult as we weren’t always made to feel welcome by the staff, but this is to be understood, we are strangers coming into their work environment, and wanting to change their practice. Once they saw us a few times, and understood why we are there, they warmed up to us and actually asked us to do some training with them as well as sharing their experiences. Our project is more based on supporting the clinics in the smaller towns, however it would be nice to spend some time with the staff at the hospitals.

We spent time preparing our assessment paperwork for starting at the clinics in the next week. I have worked in Zambian hospitals before, but not in the clinics, so I’m really looking forward to starting.

We have also had quite a bit of stress trying to settle into the community and the Zambian way of life. We are getting a lot of unwanted attention, which makes going out daunting. However, we did manage to have a nice evening at the weekend with our neighbour. It’s so important to feel part of the community when coming to work somewhere for a long period of time like 6 months. We have also realised that coping mechanisms we use in the UK may not be possible here, for example, going for a relaxing walk or run. So we need to find new ways to help manage our stress levels. We plan on trying a gym next week!

I’m writing this whilst sat in my hotel room at Heathrow Airport. I have my suitcases ready and just thinking of what the next 6 months entails!

I have just spent 1 month in Mexico, visiting friends and having a very chilled time, ready for the next months of hard work!

I’m very excited about this experience but also a little anxious, but I think this is a normal reaction for what I’m about to go and do!

I think my time in Mexico has given me a chance to refuel mentally, physically and emotionally for my next adventure and I’m feeling ready!

Look out for my arrival post! See you when I’m in Zambia!