Week 2 here we go!

Sorry for the lack of updates, but internet out here is really bad at the moment and I’ve also been up to my neck in the thick of things.

I can’t believe that today marks the start of our second week in Gambia, it also marks the departure of Dr Bella Noel who flew in last Wednesday and travelled up to Bansang with us and we will all be sorry to see here leave. As with most who come to Bansang Hospital (BH) I think it has touched her deeply and I’m sure she will be back…. Not least after a mere 24hours Bella was muttering that she would have to come for longer next time. BH has worked it’s spell once more.

Our other doctor, Tanya dived straight into the deep end the day she arrived by sitting in on a Caesarean Section on a 14 year old girl performed by one of the Cuban surgeons, who whilst very caring and skilled, appears to be lagging some years behind current practise in the UK with her techniques! Tanya will be here for about 8 months and a phrase that still echoes in my ears from Carolyn on the last Scoots trip come to mind; Baptism of Fire ! However I’m sure with her skills, talent and integrity she will be a wonderfull asset to the BH Staff and patients, she is also a very nice young lady who I think will endear herself to all she meets.

Work with the new operating theatre project is forging on a pace with me doing what I do best; being a right pain in the arse to all and sundry. As usual I think the so called maintenance team , who are doing a great job, will be glad to see the back of me by the time I leave in a couple of weeks… that’s if they don’t kick me out sooner! However in my defence, the work is progressing a a fantastic pace and Thursday should see us installing the first of the equipment into the Theatres; a bit of déjà-vu there then, as two years ago I was helping to install the new equipment into the newly completed Obstetric Theatre with young Callum at the end of the 2011 Scoots trip. By comparison, this project is huge, involving not one but two operating theatres plus a minor procedures theatre together with a complete suite on ancillary rooms all tiled and painted to a high standard by the boys from the maintenance team.

If I went on to list the other projects which Anita has tasked for me you’d still be reading this when I get home !!! Suffice it to say that Jeanette, Chris and I aren’t getting a lot of time for lazing around in the sun, which I should add has, now made a very welcome return to our skies. I have a trip to Banjul next week to visit the Uni with Sulayman whilst collecting a new team member, Nick Folley who flys in on the 5^th: a trip up to Basse to try to fix some equipment that I have never before seen and know nothing about… no challenge there then ! And a myriad of other things on my list, a list which Anita manages to add to on a daily basis. If it anyone else were to expect as much from us I would politely ( well not too politely!) suggest that perhaps they were expecting a little too much, but with Anita, I know full well that, were she here, all would be accomplished in half the time it will take me, with a serene smile, lots of laughter and better than I could ever dream of ! However, all we can do is to give it our best shot and pray that we don’t fall too short of her very high standards.

The maintenance guys should be back on the job in the theatres in about 15 mins and I will be there ready and waiting to crack my whip once more with words of encouragement and praise interspersed with lots of jumping up and down…….

Apologies for the lack of photos but the internet is so slow I can't even load the speed test to measure it!