Here name is Ntombikayise
she is in preschool
she has no parents.
Info below
This is wonderful news - If we select a grade 1 student (first year of primary school) for next year, we would suggest one of our students from our pre school we run for orphans and vulnerable children. The neediest child is Ntombikayise who has no parents, lives with her grandmother and many other children in a homestead close to our centre. She is a bright, happy child and has been under our care for two years. She would need E600 for school uniform and E600 for school fees, banking charges E50 total being E1250 by January 2008.
*** if you wish to help out.... banking details below ***
Our banking details are as follows:
Standard Bank Swaziland Ltd.
Matsapha Branch
P.O. Box 90
Matsapha
Current account: name: Moya Trust
Current account no: o140022317601
SWIFT ADDRESS: SBIC SZ MX
Jane Cox
Moya Trust
P.O. Box 74
Malkerns
Swaziland
Regards
Jane Cox
Tel work +268 5282043
Mobile +268 604 8752
E-mail moya@swazi.net
janeswazicox@gmail.com
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Moneys to Moya
here's an email i receieved from the Moya Centre.
I am now awaiting bank transfer details. Why did it take so long, you ask ? .... it's Swaziland... everything takes so long
Hi Chris
This is incredibly generous.
This would certainly sponsor a child through to his primary school and part high school - Converted, your money translates to E11 000 and the current school fees for primary range from E600 - E1000 with about E600 per year for uniform etc. and then high school escalates dramatically to E3000 which includes stationery and another E600 for uniform per year ... each high school as different sets of costs ... and depends if you can get the child into a cheaper school ...
Are you still keen? Then will gladly send you banking details, but wanted you to consider this first.
Warm regards
Jane Cox
Moya Centre
I am now awaiting bank transfer details. Why did it take so long, you ask ? .... it's Swaziland... everything takes so long
Hi Chris
This is incredibly generous.
This would certainly sponsor a child through to his primary school and part high school - Converted, your money translates to E11 000 and the current school fees for primary range from E600 - E1000 with about E600 per year for uniform etc. and then high school escalates dramatically to E3000 which includes stationery and another E600 for uniform per year ... each high school as different sets of costs ... and depends if you can get the child into a cheaper school ...
Are you still keen? Then will gladly send you banking details, but wanted you to consider this first.
Warm regards
Jane Cox
Moya Centre
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Home... oh, Sweet Home....
We are back home. Sorry bout' the lack of updates... starting up ones life after it's been on pause for 2 months is more work than it sounds like
i won't bore you anymore with trivial 'home' stuff
Pictures:
www.picasaweb.google.com/eddy.chris
NOTE: I haven't finished organizing / labeling / updating the images... but you'll get the idea
thanks for following us through the trials and tribulations in Swaziland
questions / comments / concerns : eddy.chris@gmail.com
i won't bore you anymore with trivial 'home' stuff
Pictures:
www.picasaweb.google.com/eddy.chris
NOTE: I haven't finished organizing / labeling / updating the images... but you'll get the idea
thanks for following us through the trials and tribulations in Swaziland
questions / comments / concerns : eddy.chris@gmail.com
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
South Africa -> Germany
You now have photos ( SCROLL DOWN ) – proof that we are still alive !
The last few days in South Africa were primarily spent near the south coast of South Africa and in Cape Town.
Simon's Town, approximately 1 hour south of Cape Town is home to the African JackAss Penguin. These funny little things stand ~2 feet high, and appear painfully awkward when on land. They waddle around, looking like those inflatable punching clowns from childhood, wobbling back and forth. But their 'cuteness-score' more than makes up for their awkwardness. They are also quite territorial, attacking other penguins that encroach on their space... Morgan Freeman told me so. They also mate for life (again, Morgan Freeman), and strengthen their bond by cleaning each other ( Morgan). Their distinctive black and white colouring is a vital form of camouflage - white for underwater predators looking upwards and black for predators looking down onto the dark water (thanks Morgan), and have a life span of ~10 years (M.F.). Of the 1.5-million African Penguin population estimated in 1910, only some 10% remained at the end of the 20th century. The uncontrolled harvesting of penguin eggs (as a source of food for Morgan Freeman), and guano scraping ( by Morgan Freeman), nearly drove the species to extinction.
The African Penguin is listed in the Red Data Book as a vulnerable species. Their predators in the ocean include sharks, Cape fur seals and, on occasion, killer whales (Orca). Land-based enemies include mongoose, genet, and Morgan Freeman - which steal their eggs and new born chicks.
But ! One of the things Morgan Freeman neglected to mention to us ... penguins smell bad. In fact... they downright stink ! I was quiteupset at Morgan Freeman for leaving this relevant and critical point out. And then I got to thinking... what else did Morgan Freeman conveniently 'forget' to mention to us? we'll forgive Morgan, but only because he has the sexiest voice of any human being...ever.
The BEST attraction in Cape Town - a movie theater... named " The Labia". ( the official name is "the Labia on Kloof", which is even funnier for those of us who were in Swaziland, but it's an inside joke and would take too long to explain). I can now say i saw Pan's Labyrinth in the Labia. We entered the labia, and closely examined the inner sanctum of the labia........ OK. that joke is now totally used up. Historically, ( and i'm not making this up), "This theater was presented to the South African National Gallery by Count Labia in 1985 in memory of his parents, Prince Labia (1877-1936) and Princess Labia (1879-1961)". Oh, what a brutal childhood that must have been for all of them.
One thing that Swaziland was missing was alcohol. Oh, sure, we did find one or two places that sold booze. And, sure, we snuck alcohol into a missionary hospital surrounded by Churches. And, yeah, we broke every cardinal rule by doing so, and probably would have been detained, excommunicated, beaten, then beheaded if discovered. Imbibing should not be that challenging. It should be a worry-free, painless process of liver destruction. To Swaziland's Yin, was South Africa Wineries' Yang.
Nearly 60 officially declared appellations cover more than 100 000 hectares, and tragically, we only had time to visit 3 of them. Probably because we were too busy drinking wine to bother moving to the next installation. The only better than getting drunk for free is.....well, nothing, really. I kinda' remember trying to get some pictures, but they're all out of focus and skewed. South African wine is, in my mind, better than the Okanogan wine. But my uneducated, and inebriated, opinion holds little weight. It probably tasted better cause' it was free. So we bought, like, 15 bottles. You all may have to take up a pool to bail us out of
customs detention at the airport.
Germany :
We flew from Cape Town, South Africa to Frankfurt, Germany, and caugh a train to Friberg. Germany is Awesome! so efficient and clean and beautiful... the exact opposite of Swaziland !! yesterday is was 34degrees here. i actually saw people burst into flames in the streets. Friberg was recently featured on a BBC special as the most ecologically friendly city in the world. Their parking meters are solar powered. They have wind turbine generators on the outskirts of the city. The downtown core is basically car-free, and instead is populated by bikes and trams. There are recycling containers everywhere... and even though it was 34degrees here yesterday, there was zero stench of smog. David Suzuki would be proud... although... there are no penguins here, so Morgan Freeman might be a little upset.
Yesterday we went to Titisee ( pronounced Titisee ) that has a big mountain fed lake and is on the on the edge of the 'black forest' - the black forrest is where the Neuschwanstein castle is ( the famous white castle on the Disney introduction). But we didn't go to the castle, as their security is way too tight and they throw hot molten iron on people trying to storm the castle walls. It's also guarded by Orcs illegally imported from New Zealand.
we sat at the lake water's edge and got horrible sun burns. I now no longer match the skin tone of my passport photo, so reentering Canada with my 15 bottle of undeclared wine could be a bit challenging.
The last few days in South Africa were primarily spent near the south coast of South Africa and in Cape Town.
Simon's Town, approximately 1 hour south of Cape Town is home to the African JackAss Penguin. These funny little things stand ~2 feet high, and appear painfully awkward when on land. They waddle around, looking like those inflatable punching clowns from childhood, wobbling back and forth. But their 'cuteness-score' more than makes up for their awkwardness. They are also quite territorial, attacking other penguins that encroach on their space... Morgan Freeman told me so. They also mate for life (again, Morgan Freeman), and strengthen their bond by cleaning each other ( Morgan). Their distinctive black and white colouring is a vital form of camouflage - white for underwater predators looking upwards and black for predators looking down onto the dark water (thanks Morgan), and have a life span of ~10 years (M.F.). Of the 1.5-million African Penguin population estimated in 1910, only some 10% remained at the end of the 20th century. The uncontrolled harvesting of penguin eggs (as a source of food for Morgan Freeman), and guano scraping ( by Morgan Freeman), nearly drove the species to extinction.
The African Penguin is listed in the Red Data Book as a vulnerable species. Their predators in the ocean include sharks, Cape fur seals and, on occasion, killer whales (Orca). Land-based enemies include mongoose, genet, and Morgan Freeman - which steal their eggs and new born chicks.
But ! One of the things Morgan Freeman neglected to mention to us ... penguins smell bad. In fact... they downright stink ! I was quiteupset at Morgan Freeman for leaving this relevant and critical point out. And then I got to thinking... what else did Morgan Freeman conveniently 'forget' to mention to us? we'll forgive Morgan, but only because he has the sexiest voice of any human being...ever.
The BEST attraction in Cape Town - a movie theater... named " The Labia". ( the official name is "the Labia on Kloof", which is even funnier for those of us who were in Swaziland, but it's an inside joke and would take too long to explain). I can now say i saw Pan's Labyrinth in the Labia. We entered the labia, and closely examined the inner sanctum of the labia........ OK. that joke is now totally used up. Historically, ( and i'm not making this up), "This theater was presented to the South African National Gallery by Count Labia in 1985 in memory of his parents, Prince Labia (1877-1936) and Princess Labia (1879-1961)". Oh, what a brutal childhood that must have been for all of them.
One thing that Swaziland was missing was alcohol. Oh, sure, we did find one or two places that sold booze. And, sure, we snuck alcohol into a missionary hospital surrounded by Churches. And, yeah, we broke every cardinal rule by doing so, and probably would have been detained, excommunicated, beaten, then beheaded if discovered. Imbibing should not be that challenging. It should be a worry-free, painless process of liver destruction. To Swaziland's Yin, was South Africa Wineries' Yang.
Nearly 60 officially declared appellations cover more than 100 000 hectares, and tragically, we only had time to visit 3 of them. Probably because we were too busy drinking wine to bother moving to the next installation. The only better than getting drunk for free is.....well, nothing, really. I kinda' remember trying to get some pictures, but they're all out of focus and skewed. South African wine is, in my mind, better than the Okanogan wine. But my uneducated, and inebriated, opinion holds little weight. It probably tasted better cause' it was free. So we bought, like, 15 bottles. You all may have to take up a pool to bail us out of
customs detention at the airport.
Germany :
We flew from Cape Town, South Africa to Frankfurt, Germany, and caugh a train to Friberg. Germany is Awesome! so efficient and clean and beautiful... the exact opposite of Swaziland !! yesterday is was 34degrees here. i actually saw people burst into flames in the streets. Friberg was recently featured on a BBC special as the most ecologically friendly city in the world. Their parking meters are solar powered. They have wind turbine generators on the outskirts of the city. The downtown core is basically car-free, and instead is populated by bikes and trams. There are recycling containers everywhere... and even though it was 34degrees here yesterday, there was zero stench of smog. David Suzuki would be proud... although... there are no penguins here, so Morgan Freeman might be a little upset.
Yesterday we went to Titisee ( pronounced Titisee ) that has a big mountain fed lake and is on the on the edge of the 'black forest' - the black forrest is where the Neuschwanstein castle is ( the famous white castle on the Disney introduction). But we didn't go to the castle, as their security is way too tight and they throw hot molten iron on people trying to storm the castle walls. It's also guarded by Orcs illegally imported from New Zealand.
we sat at the lake water's edge and got horrible sun burns. I now no longer match the skin tone of my passport photo, so reentering Canada with my 15 bottle of undeclared wine could be a bit challenging.
Photos At Last !
here are a hand full of photos
1 & 2 ) Elephants at Addo Elephant Park (South Africa)
3 & 4) African JackAss Penguins at Boulder's Beach ( near Simon's Town, ~ 1 hour south of Cape Town)
5) Table Mountain / Cape Town
1 & 2 ) Elephants at Addo Elephant Park (South Africa)
3 & 4) African JackAss Penguins at Boulder's Beach ( near Simon's Town, ~ 1 hour south of Cape Town)
5) Table Mountain / Cape Town
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
South Africa continued
I suppose this should be called “SouthAfrican-Journal.blogspot” but you’re here now.
Our journey continues...We are making our way along what is known as 'the Garden Route'. An aptly named route, as it is very lush and green and beautiful – yet another stark contrast to the arid lands of the Swazi nation.
We have recently been to Port Elizabeth, which does not have too much to offer except as a jumping off point to the Addo Elephant National Park. A vest parkland, inhabited by approximately 430 elephants. I kind of assumed we would see a hand-full, since it is touted as being an ‘elephant park’... but we were amazed at the number of elephants we did see. At one point, we were heading towards one of their frequented ‘watering holes’ (read: man made pond), when a large heard of ~40 elephants emerged from the hill top and started making their way down to the pond. Our reckless driver decided to place us right in harms way, and the heard passed within less than 10 feet of our jeep. As you all know, elephants are very unstable creatures, and can snap at any moment, crushing tour jeeps with their feet and ripping tourists in half with their gargantuan ‘trunks-of-death’ ! They can also spray fire from their trunks… like a 15 foot flame-thrower.
Fortunately, we were not mauled nor burned in this escapade… so we went back for more. The park has paved roads where those tourist foolhardy enough to risk their lives without the accompaniment of an armed tour guide are able to drive their Toyota Cellicas around by themselves. So in we went, to laugh in the face of death by trying to stick our arms out the window and touch an elephant without it filling our car with napalm-like fire spray ( or worse ...elephant poop ).
Seriously, we did drive back in, and sat at the parking lot next to the watering hole and enjoyed one of natures most majestic ( and frighteningly huge) creatures.
It is also the location of one of natures most hilarious and awkward little creatures… ‘the flightless dung beetle’. See, because of all that elephant poop kicking around, the dung beetle thrives quite well. However, because of the dung beetle’s small population, is has the right of way on the roads. Imagine a 3000 pound car ( or 15,000lb tour bus) brought to a grinding halt and sitting there in the hot African sun whilst a tiny little beetle with a big ball of poo makes its way across the street. There are even signs warning against driving over mounds of elephants poo because the dung beetle lays it’s eggs in the dropping. Crazy dung beetles !
We are now in Cape Town. Home of... well, Capes! Well...where do you think Batman gets his capes from ? If only we were in Crepe Town.
This morning we hiked up Table Mountain. If you’ve never seen a picture, Wikipedia it. The trail was approximately 3.5km in length, but 1078m upwards. This puts it on par with the Grouse Grind. Our journey up was uneventful. No muggings or shootings. The view from the top was quite spectacular... and bloody cold. The winds were so strong, small children and elderly women were carried away on the breeze, never to be seen nor heard from again.
Tomorrow is the African Jack –Ass Penguins. Yes, I know it sounds like an oxymoron... but if God can invent beetles that push around spheres of poo, why not penguins that live in Africa. the African (Jackass) Penguins (Sphensicus demersus) are so called for the donkey-like braying sounds they make when on land.
there... you learn something new every day.
Our journey continues...We are making our way along what is known as 'the Garden Route'. An aptly named route, as it is very lush and green and beautiful – yet another stark contrast to the arid lands of the Swazi nation.
We have recently been to Port Elizabeth, which does not have too much to offer except as a jumping off point to the Addo Elephant National Park. A vest parkland, inhabited by approximately 430 elephants. I kind of assumed we would see a hand-full, since it is touted as being an ‘elephant park’... but we were amazed at the number of elephants we did see. At one point, we were heading towards one of their frequented ‘watering holes’ (read: man made pond), when a large heard of ~40 elephants emerged from the hill top and started making their way down to the pond. Our reckless driver decided to place us right in harms way, and the heard passed within less than 10 feet of our jeep. As you all know, elephants are very unstable creatures, and can snap at any moment, crushing tour jeeps with their feet and ripping tourists in half with their gargantuan ‘trunks-of-death’ ! They can also spray fire from their trunks… like a 15 foot flame-thrower.
Fortunately, we were not mauled nor burned in this escapade… so we went back for more. The park has paved roads where those tourist foolhardy enough to risk their lives without the accompaniment of an armed tour guide are able to drive their Toyota Cellicas around by themselves. So in we went, to laugh in the face of death by trying to stick our arms out the window and touch an elephant without it filling our car with napalm-like fire spray ( or worse ...elephant poop ).
Seriously, we did drive back in, and sat at the parking lot next to the watering hole and enjoyed one of natures most majestic ( and frighteningly huge) creatures.
It is also the location of one of natures most hilarious and awkward little creatures… ‘the flightless dung beetle’. See, because of all that elephant poop kicking around, the dung beetle thrives quite well. However, because of the dung beetle’s small population, is has the right of way on the roads. Imagine a 3000 pound car ( or 15,000lb tour bus) brought to a grinding halt and sitting there in the hot African sun whilst a tiny little beetle with a big ball of poo makes its way across the street. There are even signs warning against driving over mounds of elephants poo because the dung beetle lays it’s eggs in the dropping. Crazy dung beetles !
We are now in Cape Town. Home of... well, Capes! Well...where do you think Batman gets his capes from ? If only we were in Crepe Town.
This morning we hiked up Table Mountain. If you’ve never seen a picture, Wikipedia it. The trail was approximately 3.5km in length, but 1078m upwards. This puts it on par with the Grouse Grind. Our journey up was uneventful. No muggings or shootings. The view from the top was quite spectacular... and bloody cold. The winds were so strong, small children and elderly women were carried away on the breeze, never to be seen nor heard from again.
Tomorrow is the African Jack –Ass Penguins. Yes, I know it sounds like an oxymoron... but if God can invent beetles that push around spheres of poo, why not penguins that live in Africa. the African (Jackass) Penguins (Sphensicus demersus) are so called for the donkey-like braying sounds they make when on land.
there... you learn something new every day.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
The Bends
Yep – I think we’ve got “The Bends”. Not in the CO2-poisoning sense of the word, but in the ‘decompression-sickness’ sense of the word. After all the stress prior to our trip (organizing, donations, packing, exams for Jenn ) and the stresses and strains of Swaziland (RFM hospital, communal living, the ever-present lingering smell of burning creosote, organizing and executing weekend trips away ), it has literally been 10 to 12 weeks of energy draining stress. Of course, no one realized at the time just how much strain one is under until the strain is lifted
- and then suddenly, it was all over –
tragically, it was not a gradual decompression, but a rapid one. Hence, the Bends.
The last few days at RFM hospital were both frustrating and liberating. Dr. Linda ( the Kiwi) did a few days in the ‘labour ward’. I wandered over labour one morning just to say hi and see what was going on. What was going on, you ask ? Women in deplorable ‘beds’ ( I use the term loosely) pretty much doing the deed by themselves. The ones having difficulty were given some assistance, and the midwives (who do 95% of the labour delivery assistance, as there are only 2 obstetrics physicians at RFM ) seemed to be hard at work with various ‘problem labours’. So there I was, minding my own business in a room full of totally exposed women with the knees pulled up against their chests and in various states of screaming or crying and pushing or staring at the ceiling waiting to be screaming or crying and pushing, when I saw a baby crown. And… um… I was the only one there. With her baby about to deliver… the only person the poor women had was…errr… me. In my loudest man-voice ( which, in a ward full of screaming women, really does stand out), I boomed “ Linda ! Help!!”. As said baby was making its grand entrance into the world, it was evident that the cord was wrapped around the neck multiple times. And so with Linda busy untangling the umbilical cord, I got to catch a baby. They are very slimy when they come out – not like on Grey’s Anatomy at all. Oh, and they’re slippery too… I guess it has something to do with exiting the uterus easier, but it sure does make holding them afterwards more challenging.
That day, there were 31 babies born ( no, I did not catch the other 30) – and the statistics for the day indicated that of that number, 20 of the mothers were HIV positive. However, due to changing regulations, it was mandatory that all pregnant women get tested to find out their status. This way, should they be positive, neviripine can be given to both mother and child to reduce the chance of transmission during birth.
Oh, and 2 days before we were to leave, I found out the pulse oximeter, graciously donated by Dr. Jason Waechter and St. Paul’s Hospital, worked !! We were not sure of its functionality prior to departure, and there was some concern with the voltage ( we are 110volts, Africa is 220volts ) and the amperage of the volts (??). this device is used to measure the pulse and the oxygen saturation of the blood – if the saturation falls, something is seriously wrong. So, a major trauma hospital in the heart of Swaziland now has a pulse oximeter ! They have one in the OR ( connected to the anesthesia machine), but that was it. Patients in the wards… nobody knew if they were getting enough oxygen. I’m not sure why it took 5 weeks to determine whether or not this thing worked, but hey… that’s Swaziland. Ironically, the same guy who came to try and fix our lack-of-hot-water problems was the same guy who got the pulse-ox up and running.
The same day we found out about the pulse-ox, I was in emerg when a young boy of about 3 was brought in with a wound to his scrotum and perineum. He had been attacked by an ox. The ox’s horn had torn his privates. Fortunately, there was power ( hence, lights available) in the OR, so I got to assist Dr. Koshy with …errr… putting him back together again. Had he come in the day prior, there was no power in emerg nor in OR – so I probably would have been holding the flashlight for Dr. Koshy. I’ve got a picture of the ER by candle light – it’s quite surreal.
Jo’Berg Airport: the only major international airport in the world with an “Enter At Your Own Risk” sign above the front door. I would have gotten a picture, but I was much too afraid to take my camera out. We made sure Andrea caught her flight to Tanzania, and hit the ground at 120km/hr. They say Johannesburg is very dangerous and crime-ridden and uncomfortable. But really, at 120km/hr, one really does not get the impression of a crime-laden city. I was not about to slow down to test my theory… we just wanted to get the hell outta’ there.
A mere 7 hours later behind the wheel, we arrived at the edge of the Drakensberg Mountains. The outlying ‘hills’ of the Drakensberg looked much like Ayers Rock in Australia. Large, isolated mounds of stone, with tops so flat and demarcated, it was as if God came along with a Samurai sword and cleaved off any sharp, pointy or irregular mountain top. The primary mountains of the Drakensberg were snow-topped wonders. Again, pictures will not do it justice, but wikipedia “Drakensberg” , and you’ll get the idea. The things with snow-topped mountains… they’re freakin’ Cold! I neither bargained for nor packed for freezing cold weather in Africa.
After 2 days of lack of sensation in my nose and fingers, Jenn and I packed up and headed for the coast. They say ‘all roads lead to Rome’. However, in South Africa, this isn’t exactly true. Due to a severe lack of road signage, we’re not sure where most of them lead. But we eventually found our latest accommodation, and I can see the Indian Ocean from our room and they have movies in town. We went to a film last night, and simply prayed to the Gods of Fate to help us find our B&B in the dark… perhaps next time we’ll end up in Rome!
We’re off to decompress some more. Hopefully Andrea and Ryan are not as affected as were were - but it's a hard transition back to civilization after 5 weeks in Swaziland.
- and then suddenly, it was all over –
tragically, it was not a gradual decompression, but a rapid one. Hence, the Bends.
The last few days at RFM hospital were both frustrating and liberating. Dr. Linda ( the Kiwi) did a few days in the ‘labour ward’. I wandered over labour one morning just to say hi and see what was going on. What was going on, you ask ? Women in deplorable ‘beds’ ( I use the term loosely) pretty much doing the deed by themselves. The ones having difficulty were given some assistance, and the midwives (who do 95% of the labour delivery assistance, as there are only 2 obstetrics physicians at RFM ) seemed to be hard at work with various ‘problem labours’. So there I was, minding my own business in a room full of totally exposed women with the knees pulled up against their chests and in various states of screaming or crying and pushing or staring at the ceiling waiting to be screaming or crying and pushing, when I saw a baby crown. And… um… I was the only one there. With her baby about to deliver… the only person the poor women had was…errr… me. In my loudest man-voice ( which, in a ward full of screaming women, really does stand out), I boomed “ Linda ! Help!!”. As said baby was making its grand entrance into the world, it was evident that the cord was wrapped around the neck multiple times. And so with Linda busy untangling the umbilical cord, I got to catch a baby. They are very slimy when they come out – not like on Grey’s Anatomy at all. Oh, and they’re slippery too… I guess it has something to do with exiting the uterus easier, but it sure does make holding them afterwards more challenging.
That day, there were 31 babies born ( no, I did not catch the other 30) – and the statistics for the day indicated that of that number, 20 of the mothers were HIV positive. However, due to changing regulations, it was mandatory that all pregnant women get tested to find out their status. This way, should they be positive, neviripine can be given to both mother and child to reduce the chance of transmission during birth.
Oh, and 2 days before we were to leave, I found out the pulse oximeter, graciously donated by Dr. Jason Waechter and St. Paul’s Hospital, worked !! We were not sure of its functionality prior to departure, and there was some concern with the voltage ( we are 110volts, Africa is 220volts ) and the amperage of the volts (??). this device is used to measure the pulse and the oxygen saturation of the blood – if the saturation falls, something is seriously wrong. So, a major trauma hospital in the heart of Swaziland now has a pulse oximeter ! They have one in the OR ( connected to the anesthesia machine), but that was it. Patients in the wards… nobody knew if they were getting enough oxygen. I’m not sure why it took 5 weeks to determine whether or not this thing worked, but hey… that’s Swaziland. Ironically, the same guy who came to try and fix our lack-of-hot-water problems was the same guy who got the pulse-ox up and running.
The same day we found out about the pulse-ox, I was in emerg when a young boy of about 3 was brought in with a wound to his scrotum and perineum. He had been attacked by an ox. The ox’s horn had torn his privates. Fortunately, there was power ( hence, lights available) in the OR, so I got to assist Dr. Koshy with …errr… putting him back together again. Had he come in the day prior, there was no power in emerg nor in OR – so I probably would have been holding the flashlight for Dr. Koshy. I’ve got a picture of the ER by candle light – it’s quite surreal.
Jo’Berg Airport: the only major international airport in the world with an “Enter At Your Own Risk” sign above the front door. I would have gotten a picture, but I was much too afraid to take my camera out. We made sure Andrea caught her flight to Tanzania, and hit the ground at 120km/hr. They say Johannesburg is very dangerous and crime-ridden and uncomfortable. But really, at 120km/hr, one really does not get the impression of a crime-laden city. I was not about to slow down to test my theory… we just wanted to get the hell outta’ there.
A mere 7 hours later behind the wheel, we arrived at the edge of the Drakensberg Mountains. The outlying ‘hills’ of the Drakensberg looked much like Ayers Rock in Australia. Large, isolated mounds of stone, with tops so flat and demarcated, it was as if God came along with a Samurai sword and cleaved off any sharp, pointy or irregular mountain top. The primary mountains of the Drakensberg were snow-topped wonders. Again, pictures will not do it justice, but wikipedia “Drakensberg” , and you’ll get the idea. The things with snow-topped mountains… they’re freakin’ Cold! I neither bargained for nor packed for freezing cold weather in Africa.
After 2 days of lack of sensation in my nose and fingers, Jenn and I packed up and headed for the coast. They say ‘all roads lead to Rome’. However, in South Africa, this isn’t exactly true. Due to a severe lack of road signage, we’re not sure where most of them lead. But we eventually found our latest accommodation, and I can see the Indian Ocean from our room and they have movies in town. We went to a film last night, and simply prayed to the Gods of Fate to help us find our B&B in the dark… perhaps next time we’ll end up in Rome!
We’re off to decompress some more. Hopefully Andrea and Ryan are not as affected as were were - but it's a hard transition back to civilization after 5 weeks in Swaziland.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Creosote is Flammable
So we figured out what the constant smell of burning things is…. It’s creosote. They are burning huge, vast quantities of creosote. Massive, black clouds rising up towards the heavens of noxious, hazardous creosote. Large oil drums burning…not with oil, but with a chemical now deemed to be toxic waste by Environment Canada. Why? …. Well, that’s anyone’s guess. Tragically, I think that because it is winter here, they are trying to stay warm ( even though it’s 23degrees here).
According to Wikipedia :
“Brief direct contact with large amounts of coal tar creosote may result in a rash or severe irritation of the skin, chemical burns of the surfaces of the eyes, convulsions and mental confusion, kidney or liver problems, unconsciousness, and even death. Longer direct skin contact with low levels of creosote mixtures or their vapors can result in increased light sensitivity, damage to the cornea, and skin damage. Longer exposure to creosote vapors can cause irritation of the respiratory tract.”
“Studies in animals have shown birth defects in the young of mothers exposed to high levels of creosote during pregnancy, but no similar studies have been performed on humans. Some animal studies indicate that creosotes may cross the placenta and reach the fetus. Because chemical components (PAHs, cresol, phenols) of coal tar creosote may be stored in body fat, they may be found in breast milk and could pass to nursing infants.”
So you will have to forgive us upon our return to Canada, should we be having persistent coughing fits, difficulty walking up stairs or spontaneous kidney failure. Or perhaps we will have some kind of unreported addiction to creosote fumes…
I think a chest x-ray may be in order upon our return.
We have been busy getting ready to wrap things up here. Our last visit to the New Hope Orphanage was a few days ago, and the place was inundated with foreigners all clambering to help. There were 45 visitors at the centre that day… more than the total number of orphans there (32).
However, I have found a group that is in more dire straights, and I think the money donated would be put to better use.
www.moya.co.sz
this is a group that does community work assisting orphaned children who are either in child-run homes or homes run by elderly relative ( read: soon to be child-run homes) with a more integrated approach, and – quite frankly – they seem to be in much greater need.
I will be transferring the funds from Canada – as it would involve passwords liked to my personal bank account and I do not trust the networks here ( Big Brother is always watching here)
Our eminent departure is tomorrow. Swaziland has been both wonderful and heart-breaking, eye-opening and terrifying… I can’t wait to get out of here, and I’m already thinking of our next trip back. Swaziland seems to induce this bipolar-nature in most foreigners that visit – the desire to leave and the drive to return. I have commented extensively on the medical system here and on the hospital itself, but perhaps I have not gone to great lengths to mention the people of Swaziland. They are caring, genuine, and wonderfully giving. They have made cakes for the 2 people in our group who had birthdays here. We have been invited over to their houses, and tonight we have been invited to a graduation celebration for the student nurses. And they have the most wonderful names : Fortunate, Precious, Joyful, Gladness, Lucky – original yet memorable. These are just some of the reasons why it is so heartbreaking to know that so many Swazis are HIV positive – such a wonderful culture filled with such good people, torn asunder and decimated by a plague.
We are off to take a few more deep breaths of creosote fumes before we leave – hopefully we can ingest enough to ward off any type of withdrawal symptoms for the next few days, and I’ve heard that ingested-creosote keeps ones hair nice and shiny!( I’ve heard it keeps EVERYTHING it comes in contact with nice and shiny… for decades !!)
Cheers
Us
According to Wikipedia :
“Brief direct contact with large amounts of coal tar creosote may result in a rash or severe irritation of the skin, chemical burns of the surfaces of the eyes, convulsions and mental confusion, kidney or liver problems, unconsciousness, and even death. Longer direct skin contact with low levels of creosote mixtures or their vapors can result in increased light sensitivity, damage to the cornea, and skin damage. Longer exposure to creosote vapors can cause irritation of the respiratory tract.”
“Studies in animals have shown birth defects in the young of mothers exposed to high levels of creosote during pregnancy, but no similar studies have been performed on humans. Some animal studies indicate that creosotes may cross the placenta and reach the fetus. Because chemical components (PAHs, cresol, phenols) of coal tar creosote may be stored in body fat, they may be found in breast milk and could pass to nursing infants.”
So you will have to forgive us upon our return to Canada, should we be having persistent coughing fits, difficulty walking up stairs or spontaneous kidney failure. Or perhaps we will have some kind of unreported addiction to creosote fumes…
I think a chest x-ray may be in order upon our return.
We have been busy getting ready to wrap things up here. Our last visit to the New Hope Orphanage was a few days ago, and the place was inundated with foreigners all clambering to help. There were 45 visitors at the centre that day… more than the total number of orphans there (32).
However, I have found a group that is in more dire straights, and I think the money donated would be put to better use.
www.moya.co.sz
this is a group that does community work assisting orphaned children who are either in child-run homes or homes run by elderly relative ( read: soon to be child-run homes) with a more integrated approach, and – quite frankly – they seem to be in much greater need.
I will be transferring the funds from Canada – as it would involve passwords liked to my personal bank account and I do not trust the networks here ( Big Brother is always watching here)
Our eminent departure is tomorrow. Swaziland has been both wonderful and heart-breaking, eye-opening and terrifying… I can’t wait to get out of here, and I’m already thinking of our next trip back. Swaziland seems to induce this bipolar-nature in most foreigners that visit – the desire to leave and the drive to return. I have commented extensively on the medical system here and on the hospital itself, but perhaps I have not gone to great lengths to mention the people of Swaziland. They are caring, genuine, and wonderfully giving. They have made cakes for the 2 people in our group who had birthdays here. We have been invited over to their houses, and tonight we have been invited to a graduation celebration for the student nurses. And they have the most wonderful names : Fortunate, Precious, Joyful, Gladness, Lucky – original yet memorable. These are just some of the reasons why it is so heartbreaking to know that so many Swazis are HIV positive – such a wonderful culture filled with such good people, torn asunder and decimated by a plague.
We are off to take a few more deep breaths of creosote fumes before we leave – hopefully we can ingest enough to ward off any type of withdrawal symptoms for the next few days, and I’ve heard that ingested-creosote keeps ones hair nice and shiny!( I’ve heard it keeps EVERYTHING it comes in contact with nice and shiny… for decades !!)
Cheers
Us
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
1 week left in Swaziland
Only 1 week left in Swaziland. To say the time has flown by is a true understatement. No only do I not know where the time has gone, I’m not sure what I’ve done in that time.
I just found out yesterday, there are 3 CT scanners in all of Swaziland ( pop. 1.1million)... two of the 3 are in private clinics, but they're both broken... the third is at the Mbabane Central Hospital ( in the capital city), but they don't have the money to pay the x-ray guy to operate it, so it just sits idle...
Oh, and the x-ray unit at Mbabane is now broken ( 1 x-ray unit in the capital city hospital? ) so they are sending all of their x-ray requests to the hospital we are at, which is only an hour and a half away...
One of my patients made the front cover of the local newspaper. “Woman Bitten By Rabid Pig”. And yes, she was really bitten by a rabid pig. There is a serious outbreak of rabies in the cities right now, with quite a lot of people brought into E.R. with dog bites. But the “Rabid Pig Woman” takes the cake, by far. I’ve kept the newspaper article, because it is so outrageous, it’s worth reading again and again.
While I was purchasing the local rag for rabid-pig woman’s story (the Swazi Times is akin to a hybrid between the Vancouver Province and the National Enquirer… they purport it to be news, but how fact-laden is a story about a priest who prays for dead people and brings them back to life – something tells me the reports are not checking the facts quite as much as they should.)
Anyway, one of the other ‘semi-reputable’ papers featured a story about research recently carried out by the Swaziland government. Their new projections for life expectancy will drop to 30years old by 2010 – the vast majority of those dying being between the ages of 19-45 (the entire working populous)
Current forecasts are an estimated 110,000 orphans by 2015.
That’s 10% of the entire population of Swaziland.
On a brighter note, we were at an in-service on Friday, and changes are being made to the approach to counseling and testing of HIV ( aka. “The Virus”). Currently, all testing is done at a VCT ( voluntary counseling / testing ) centre. This seriously limits the number of people who can access the testing services, as the centres are primarily in large cities. The proposed changes will have many more testing centres throughout the country. The current set-up also means that people with opportunistic infections ( ie: TB or Kaposi’s Sarcoma) will come to the doctor / hospital with their complains, and when the physicians asks if they know their status, they indicate that they do not know whether or not they have HIV, nor do they wish to be tested – meaning the root cause of their ailments goes untreated, leaving the physicians to deal with the infections without treating the cause. The amendments will also mean that physicians can order an HIV test without the pre-counseling ( but still with consent), and counseling will follow only in the event of a positive result.
This will hopefully result in more people knowing their status.
Currently, only 18% of Swazi’s know their HIV status…. 82% have no idea if they’re carriers or not. Ironically, I was in the ART ( antiretroviral) clinic yesterday, and there was not a since patient all morning. Apparently, the CD4 count machine at RFM hospital is broken. This is the machine that tests for the viral-load in the blood. I was told it will be up and running by early next week… I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
And since it is winter here, the number of burn victims has increases substantially. Some are drunk and roll into the fire, others are very young and left at home by themselves…. The only reason I mention this is I was in surgery today helping with the debridement of a 6 years old girl’s severe burn. She has no parents and lives with her older brother, who was not home at the time. I will not elaborate any more, but writing about what I saw helps me deal with what I saw ( think of it as digital grief counseling )
One of our crew ( Dr. Karen from California ) went home yesterday to start her surgery residency in Cali.
The rest of us plod along, bouncing back and forth between Emergency, the O.R. theater, and the outpatients departments.
This weekend will involve the last major big-game park in Swaziland.
Next week is our final week here – then we will go our separate ways for a few weeks before heading back to Canada. Andrea is of to Tanzania to do a tour of one of the major parks in Africa. Ryan is heading back to South Africa to spend some time with family there. Jenn and I will be driving down the east coast to the tip of Africa, and flying out of Cape Town.
I’ve still got 3hr and 32 min of time here at the internet café – so I will try and update once more before we leave ( no promises )
Cheers
Andrea, Ryan, Jenn and Chris
I just found out yesterday, there are 3 CT scanners in all of Swaziland ( pop. 1.1million)... two of the 3 are in private clinics, but they're both broken... the third is at the Mbabane Central Hospital ( in the capital city), but they don't have the money to pay the x-ray guy to operate it, so it just sits idle...
Oh, and the x-ray unit at Mbabane is now broken ( 1 x-ray unit in the capital city hospital? ) so they are sending all of their x-ray requests to the hospital we are at, which is only an hour and a half away...
One of my patients made the front cover of the local newspaper. “Woman Bitten By Rabid Pig”. And yes, she was really bitten by a rabid pig. There is a serious outbreak of rabies in the cities right now, with quite a lot of people brought into E.R. with dog bites. But the “Rabid Pig Woman” takes the cake, by far. I’ve kept the newspaper article, because it is so outrageous, it’s worth reading again and again.
While I was purchasing the local rag for rabid-pig woman’s story (the Swazi Times is akin to a hybrid between the Vancouver Province and the National Enquirer… they purport it to be news, but how fact-laden is a story about a priest who prays for dead people and brings them back to life – something tells me the reports are not checking the facts quite as much as they should.)
Anyway, one of the other ‘semi-reputable’ papers featured a story about research recently carried out by the Swaziland government. Their new projections for life expectancy will drop to 30years old by 2010 – the vast majority of those dying being between the ages of 19-45 (the entire working populous)
Current forecasts are an estimated 110,000 orphans by 2015.
That’s 10% of the entire population of Swaziland.
On a brighter note, we were at an in-service on Friday, and changes are being made to the approach to counseling and testing of HIV ( aka. “The Virus”). Currently, all testing is done at a VCT ( voluntary counseling / testing ) centre. This seriously limits the number of people who can access the testing services, as the centres are primarily in large cities. The proposed changes will have many more testing centres throughout the country. The current set-up also means that people with opportunistic infections ( ie: TB or Kaposi’s Sarcoma) will come to the doctor / hospital with their complains, and when the physicians asks if they know their status, they indicate that they do not know whether or not they have HIV, nor do they wish to be tested – meaning the root cause of their ailments goes untreated, leaving the physicians to deal with the infections without treating the cause. The amendments will also mean that physicians can order an HIV test without the pre-counseling ( but still with consent), and counseling will follow only in the event of a positive result.
This will hopefully result in more people knowing their status.
Currently, only 18% of Swazi’s know their HIV status…. 82% have no idea if they’re carriers or not. Ironically, I was in the ART ( antiretroviral) clinic yesterday, and there was not a since patient all morning. Apparently, the CD4 count machine at RFM hospital is broken. This is the machine that tests for the viral-load in the blood. I was told it will be up and running by early next week… I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
And since it is winter here, the number of burn victims has increases substantially. Some are drunk and roll into the fire, others are very young and left at home by themselves…. The only reason I mention this is I was in surgery today helping with the debridement of a 6 years old girl’s severe burn. She has no parents and lives with her older brother, who was not home at the time. I will not elaborate any more, but writing about what I saw helps me deal with what I saw ( think of it as digital grief counseling )
One of our crew ( Dr. Karen from California ) went home yesterday to start her surgery residency in Cali.
The rest of us plod along, bouncing back and forth between Emergency, the O.R. theater, and the outpatients departments.
This weekend will involve the last major big-game park in Swaziland.
Next week is our final week here – then we will go our separate ways for a few weeks before heading back to Canada. Andrea is of to Tanzania to do a tour of one of the major parks in Africa. Ryan is heading back to South Africa to spend some time with family there. Jenn and I will be driving down the east coast to the tip of Africa, and flying out of Cape Town.
I’ve still got 3hr and 32 min of time here at the internet café – so I will try and update once more before we leave ( no promises )
Cheers
Andrea, Ryan, Jenn and Chris
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Vacation in St. Lucia
hello world
we have decided to take a few days off from the trauma centre, and we are currently in St. Luica, South Africa. A beautiful, safe town on the east coast of South Africa. The water is ~23 degrees, and the entire town is populated by vervit monkies. We have done a snorkeling day at Cape Vital ( about 40 min north of St. Lucia ), which is located inside the Cape Vital Game Reserve.
The St. Lucia wetlands is a UNESCO world herratige site, because it encompases 5 distinct ecosystems located within 230,000 hectares. The town is situated next to the largest estuary system in Africa, where the inidian ocean feeds miles of wetlands. The wetlands are populated by aligators and hippos, which one can view simply whilst sitting at a water-side pub drinking cheap beer and writing post-cards. We have done a Hippo tour ( on a boat up the estuary ), and i now understand why the hippo is the most dangerous animal in Africa ( more people are killed by hippos than any other animal in africa) - the tour guide was telling us of hippos protecting their young against crocodiles, and actually killing the crocs. They then passed around a hippo-tooth, which was about 2 feet long and weighed no less than 15lbs.... 1 Tooth !! the largest tooth size for a hippo was measured to be just over 1 metre long. And apparently, they're fast ... real fast.
Alas... no elephants bathing in the estuary.
We are resting and recharging at the worlds most beautiful B&B, and the food here is outstanding. It is literally a mansion, and we have the entire place to ourselves. A very startk contrast to the single hard boiled egg and single slice of bread allote us at RFM Hospital.
This morning we all awoke at ~5:30am and went down to the beach to enjoy a sun rise over the Indian Ocean. It was yet another one of those sureal expereinces. The orb of the sun was a fuschia / fire-engine red with a halo of bright oranage. Our picutres will do it no justice.
There are many, many different types of birds here, sending Andrea into a bird-watching frenzy. If you have never seen someone is an ornithology-induced-craze, it is a sight to behold. She wanted me to mention that we saw a Turaco ( ? Livingston's Turaco? ), and you must all now wikipedia this bird. I am writing this blog whilst sitting at the breakfast table (they have semi-high speed interent here) and we are watching monkies and horn-bill birds in the palm trees.
i have made efforts to upload images here, but it appears Africa is not That advanced yet...
we return to the Swaziand tomorrow.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all Dads everywhere.
i'm going for more REAL coffee now.... ( not the powdered rubbish that i have become accustomed to )
cheers
Jenn, Andrea, Ryan, Marianne, Linda and Chris
we have decided to take a few days off from the trauma centre, and we are currently in St. Luica, South Africa. A beautiful, safe town on the east coast of South Africa. The water is ~23 degrees, and the entire town is populated by vervit monkies. We have done a snorkeling day at Cape Vital ( about 40 min north of St. Lucia ), which is located inside the Cape Vital Game Reserve.
The St. Lucia wetlands is a UNESCO world herratige site, because it encompases 5 distinct ecosystems located within 230,000 hectares. The town is situated next to the largest estuary system in Africa, where the inidian ocean feeds miles of wetlands. The wetlands are populated by aligators and hippos, which one can view simply whilst sitting at a water-side pub drinking cheap beer and writing post-cards. We have done a Hippo tour ( on a boat up the estuary ), and i now understand why the hippo is the most dangerous animal in Africa ( more people are killed by hippos than any other animal in africa) - the tour guide was telling us of hippos protecting their young against crocodiles, and actually killing the crocs. They then passed around a hippo-tooth, which was about 2 feet long and weighed no less than 15lbs.... 1 Tooth !! the largest tooth size for a hippo was measured to be just over 1 metre long. And apparently, they're fast ... real fast.
Alas... no elephants bathing in the estuary.
We are resting and recharging at the worlds most beautiful B&B, and the food here is outstanding. It is literally a mansion, and we have the entire place to ourselves. A very startk contrast to the single hard boiled egg and single slice of bread allote us at RFM Hospital.
This morning we all awoke at ~5:30am and went down to the beach to enjoy a sun rise over the Indian Ocean. It was yet another one of those sureal expereinces. The orb of the sun was a fuschia / fire-engine red with a halo of bright oranage. Our picutres will do it no justice.
There are many, many different types of birds here, sending Andrea into a bird-watching frenzy. If you have never seen someone is an ornithology-induced-craze, it is a sight to behold. She wanted me to mention that we saw a Turaco ( ? Livingston's Turaco? ), and you must all now wikipedia this bird. I am writing this blog whilst sitting at the breakfast table (they have semi-high speed interent here) and we are watching monkies and horn-bill birds in the palm trees.
i have made efforts to upload images here, but it appears Africa is not That advanced yet...
we return to the Swaziand tomorrow.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all Dads everywhere.
i'm going for more REAL coffee now.... ( not the powdered rubbish that i have become accustomed to )
cheers
Jenn, Andrea, Ryan, Marianne, Linda and Chris
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Surgery and Cake
life here is one big, continuous surreal experience
we observed the surgery of a boy with severe paraphimosis ( near gangrenous )
( if you don't know what is is, google it.... NOTE: you will never, ever get this word in Pictionary )
then... we had some birthday cake...
yesterday was Marieann's ( now correctly spelled) birthday. there is no Siswati version of the song "happy birthday to you", so i can not regale you with wonderful stories of learning to sing happy birthday in a foreign language.
I inserted a foley catheter yesterday. And today, inserted a pleural drain tube into a patient with ARVD and TB... in fact, everyone in the room had ARVD ( read: HIV ) and TB. Yesterday, the autoclave broke down ( the device that sterilizes the surgical equipment and scrubs for the operating theater), ... and today, there was no water.
Sunday involved the Swaziland cultural village, that had a small traditional story session incorporated with dance.It was painfully obvious how sick one of the dancers was, and it appeared that she had TB as she kept suppressing coughs throughout the show. Then, we had a picnic by a waterfall.
It was so wonderful to see some traditional Swazi culture, and yet so tragic to realize that the culture is being wiped out indiscriminately, with little hope of salvage in the near future.
we are taking a long weekend and driving down to St. Lucia in South Africa. This is the resort area that is famous for its snorkeling and diving. It will merely add to the daily contrast of excess and poverty that surrounds us.
i still haven't figured out if we are saving anyone, or simply being TB-Tourists in a 3rd world country...
i'll let you know as soon as i've figured it out
we observed the surgery of a boy with severe paraphimosis ( near gangrenous )
( if you don't know what is is, google it.... NOTE: you will never, ever get this word in Pictionary )
then... we had some birthday cake...
yesterday was Marieann's ( now correctly spelled) birthday. there is no Siswati version of the song "happy birthday to you", so i can not regale you with wonderful stories of learning to sing happy birthday in a foreign language.
I inserted a foley catheter yesterday. And today, inserted a pleural drain tube into a patient with ARVD and TB... in fact, everyone in the room had ARVD ( read: HIV ) and TB. Yesterday, the autoclave broke down ( the device that sterilizes the surgical equipment and scrubs for the operating theater), ... and today, there was no water.
Sunday involved the Swaziland cultural village, that had a small traditional story session incorporated with dance.It was painfully obvious how sick one of the dancers was, and it appeared that she had TB as she kept suppressing coughs throughout the show. Then, we had a picnic by a waterfall.
It was so wonderful to see some traditional Swazi culture, and yet so tragic to realize that the culture is being wiped out indiscriminately, with little hope of salvage in the near future.
we are taking a long weekend and driving down to St. Lucia in South Africa. This is the resort area that is famous for its snorkeling and diving. It will merely add to the daily contrast of excess and poverty that surrounds us.
i still haven't figured out if we are saving anyone, or simply being TB-Tourists in a 3rd world country...
i'll let you know as soon as i've figured it out
Thursday, June 7, 2007
It's Not Called AIDS Here
The previous post was kind of rushed at the end. I was attempting to write the challenging part of our trip – and then contrast it with the great parts of our trip so far. Alas – as the evening approached, I had to sign off rather quickly.
Unfortunately, we are not able to walk around the town after dark. The area that the hospital is located ( hence, the area we are living in ) is considered “not safe” after dark. So we must be in the compound, finding various ways to amuse ourselves.
The endurance of the people here continue to astound me. People walking on broken bones. Small incisions with no local anaesthesia. Ryan and I were trying to figure out if the pain threshold of the Swazi people is actually higher than that of a north American.
We are sharing a flat at the hospital with 3 others. Dr. Karen from
The twins that were delivered by c-section the other day are in the maternity ward. Mary-Ann was in the ward, and went over to say hello to the woman and her new twin girls. The Swazi woman is HIV positive. The Swazi woman asked Mary-Ann if she wanted to name the two girls, which she humbly did. The Swazi woman then asked Mary-Ann if she wanted one of the twins. To take home.
What level of destitution must exist for a new mother to offer up one of her new born girls?
There is a clinic adjacent to the main hospital for VCT ( Voluntary Counselling and Testing … of HIV ) and an ARV clinic ( AntiRetroViral ). The stigma of AIDS is so great here that the term AIDS is not acceptable. Instead of AIDS, a person has ARVD (AntiRetroViral Disease). Testing is not mandatory, and most people do not want to be tested. It is easier to live without the knowledge than it is to face the stigma of being HIV positive. Fortunately, for those who are tested and found to be positive within the city, there is a network of help available. For those out in the rural communities, it is not so easy.
Our group was scheduled to go to a rural community clinic this morning. A small community about 1 hr from the hospital. We were literally climbing into the van when we were informed that the trip was cancelled as there was no doctor to accompany the team there. This means that the people who were expecting a mobile medical team to come to their community today will have to wait another month before a trip is made to their clinic.
Jenn and Andrea learned to suture with dental floss this morning.
Ryan is doing history taking and diagnosis in medical outpatients already.
And I am helping the surgical team with imaging. An inpatient from an MVA with a head injury was complaining of abdominal pain – so I suggested he get an ultrasound ( I’d suggest a CT… but that ain’t gonna happen here). His belly was full of fluid and his spleen was not in good shape. 2 hrs later, the guy is on the surgery table, with what looked live 18 litres of blood sucked out of his belly and a fragmented spleen removed. It was awesome to be able to follow the guy from the ward to imaging to surgery and back to the ward all in a few hours.
Every day here poses new challenges. And we are venting to each other on a daily basis… trying to comprehend what we are seeing and experiencing. How it is that we can see the things we see, and come back to our flat to listen to our mp3 players and drink our purified bottled water knowing that we will eventually get on airplanes and return to our homes where things are clean and efficient and if we are really, truly helping the Swazi people.
I’d like to think we are. And I’d like to think that we can leave just a little bit of knowledge behind that will help others when we’re gone.
Andrea, Ryan, Jenn & Chris
Monday, June 4, 2007
Swailand / RFM
Ok… So… internet is painfully slow.
Where to begin ? Lufthansa was not only nice enough to take our excess baggage, they also bumped us ( yes… all 3 of us ) up to business class for the flight to
The flight from
A small layover in
The entire expedition was almost brought to a grinding halt at
The hospital is shocking.
The hospital has no hot water. No defibrillator. No dialysis machine. Virtually no saline. No CT, No MRI, ultrasound has No Doppler. Everything is broken, and what isn’t broken is filthy. It’s like a bad episode of M.A.S.H. – only in real life. I will send off pictures of the hospital as soon as I can find a place to upload. It is certainly is an awesome challenge. Ironically, we have found the Swazi version of fitness world only 3 blocks away!! And they have Showers ! albeit, Cold Showers ! ( what ? you thought there was hot water at the gym ? )
We just found out today,
We have been to the orphanage. And it’s the type of place that wants to make you rejoice and cry at the same time. The kids are amazing. The sense of community is unbelievable, and they were literally hanging off of us only 5min after meeting us. I would write to share their stories, but if you know me at all, you know I would turn it into a book and then the nice internet people here could retire in the
Sunday involved a big game park. Now, if you’ve never been to a big game park in
Last night – a helped on a leg amputation… I can’t even begin to describe what I saw.
Today was boring.
I only stood in surgery and saw a c-section of undiagnosed twins, a hernia repair, a breast lesion biopsy, a circumcision.
It is getting dark – so I must sign off so we can bail now.
Gotta run
Andrea, Ryan, Chris & Jenn
Friday, May 25, 2007
Over 2 Gs Raised !!
Yep - you read that right... over $2,000 raised for the New Hope Orphanage in Swaziland
Online: $1854.44 CDN
Cash: $100 Amr + $155 CDN
Total : $ 2119.44 CDN
i have no idea of what they will do with the money... but that puts them 2 Gs ahead of where they were before we started all this.
The supplies-to-go are now officially overweight. I am now relying on the good-juju fairy to whisk us magically through customs without any hassle or extra charges.
Ya' see, the good-juju fairy always comes though when one is doing good-juju things, like what we are trying to do. Unfortunately, it is possible the good-juju fairy will be out on the piss with the Beer-fairy ( you know, the way that, no matter how broke you are, there is somehow always money for beer.... well, that comes from the Beer-fairy.... she's never let me down yet ! ).
Should good-juju fairy leave us high-and-dry in the Johannesburg International Airport, i may have to start a special blog / paypal-plea for extra funds to bail our bags out of international-prison ( would our luggage really end up at The Hague ? )
Thank you all for helping us out to make the trip that-much-more memorable
we promise not to spend your money on beer ( see previous paragraph )
:-) Ryan & Andrea & Jenn & Chris
Online: $1854.44 CDN
Cash: $100 Amr + $155 CDN
Total : $ 2119.44 CDN
i have no idea of what they will do with the money... but that puts them 2 Gs ahead of where they were before we started all this.
The supplies-to-go are now officially overweight. I am now relying on the good-juju fairy to whisk us magically through customs without any hassle or extra charges.
Ya' see, the good-juju fairy always comes though when one is doing good-juju things, like what we are trying to do. Unfortunately, it is possible the good-juju fairy will be out on the piss with the Beer-fairy ( you know, the way that, no matter how broke you are, there is somehow always money for beer.... well, that comes from the Beer-fairy.... she's never let me down yet ! ).
Should good-juju fairy leave us high-and-dry in the Johannesburg International Airport, i may have to start a special blog / paypal-plea for extra funds to bail our bags out of international-prison ( would our luggage really end up at The Hague ? )
Thank you all for helping us out to make the trip that-much-more memorable
we promise not to spend your money on beer ( see previous paragraph )
:-) Ryan & Andrea & Jenn & Chris
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Sterile Supplies To Go !
what does 300lbs of medical supplies and kids toys/sandals/craft supplies look like when packed?
Great info regarding the HIV/AIDS crisis facing the kids in Swaziland
NERCHA
Saturday, May 19, 2007
wanna' buy a pleur-evac set ?
so....umm... we got lottsa' stuff donated
maybe we should sell some of this stuff to help supliment our travel expenses! anyone want to buy a sealed Pleur-evac set ? or 200 IV connecting tubes ?
(just kidding)
special thanks to Dr. Lapointe at VGH for helping us to procure all this stuff
and a special thanks to Opus Framing & Art Supplies for donating some Sculpey III molding clay
Somehow, all this stuff will transported 1/2 way across the world... i'm not sure how just yet
there is still time to help out the New Hope Orphanage in Manzini
secure donations through Paypal
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
10 Days to Go
For those who aren't aware, the donations for the orphanage have surpassed $1000...
we are currently a $1,184.58 (online) + $125.00 (cash)
= $1309.58
... whatdaya' mean only 10 days ?!?!
Jenn, Andrea, Ryan and I leave for Swaziland in 10 days n' counting
What have we done ?
Dr. Lapointe at Vancouver General Hospital has boxes and boxes of medical supplies for us
Opus Framing and Art Supplies ( Opus website ) is donating a bunch of Sculpey III molding Clay that the orphanage will use to make jewelery to sell
Kids supplies and items from Jill, Heather, Kala, and many, many other offers
Aarm Dental clinic donating ~20 Lbs worth of dental supplies
Dr. J. Buckley in Radiology has given ~ 50Lbs in Radiology text books
Karen over at troll-baby has put up a wager to try and collect $10,000 for the New Hope Orphanage in Manzini, Swaziland. I won't actually tell you what this challenge is... you must read it for yourself ( the fact is, i just can't bring myself to type it.... you'll understand once you read it) http://troll-baby.com/
every penny is going to New Hope Orphanage in Manzini ( i still need to figure out how much physical cash can be brought into the country)
Online donations are through a secured Paypal account ( the same system Ebay uses )
to the orphanage ( no middle-man organization )
Swaziland has the world’s highest
HIV/AIDS rate ( 38.8% )
life expectancy :
male: 31.84 years
female: 32.62 years
I will take all your money out of the country, in an envelope, straight to Swaziland ( where you'll never have a chance to be refunded ) and it will be all be spent on something that will benefit kids in an AIDS-ravaged country. We might buy pre-school supplies. We might buy sandals and shoes. We might fix their water filtration system... i have no idea.
But without your help - we wouldn't be buying anything.
Regular updates with new total will follow
many thanks
Chris & Jenn
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Swaziland Bound
So if this blog blows, it aint' my fault... i'm new to this shite. i'm going to try and 'maintain' this whilst we are in Swaziland.
No promises.
As of 5 days ago, i was just looking for a few pairs of used shoes - and now, somehow, this whole thing has exploded
We leave in 15 days ... the clock is ticking ( Insert large Jack-Bauer-24-ticking- clock here!) and i don't feel nearly ready enough
For those who aren't aware, the donations for the orphanage have surpassed $1000...
... we arecurrently at $1,016.21 (Amr).
CLICK HERE TO DONATE
Some have given $5, some have given $250. What blows me away is just how many of the donations are from people i have never met - who read about our trip on my friend Karen's website, and hit the donate button. Click Here for Troll-Baby
If this rubbish is ever read by anyone besides me and my cat, thank you to all those who have donated.
For those who would like to donate $5 ( less than a grande Latte at Starbucks ) to an orphanage in AIDS-ravaged Swaziland:
I have heard that some people think this is a scam - kinda like that Nigerian billionaire who want to get money out of his country by emailing random people. Well, i can personally guarantee that this is no Nigerian scam, cause' you won't ever get one cent back. I will take all your money out of the country, in an envelope, straight to Swaziland ( where you'll never have a chance to be refunded ) and it will be all be spent on something that will benefit kids in an AIDS-ravaged country. We might buy pre-school supplies. We might buy sandals and shoes. We might fix their water filtration system... i have no idea.
But without your help - we wouldn't be buying anything.
Once i figure out pictures, i'll try and get something upload to this website
Regular updates with new total will follow
many thanks
Chris & Jenn
No promises.
As of 5 days ago, i was just looking for a few pairs of used shoes - and now, somehow, this whole thing has exploded
We leave in 15 days ... the clock is ticking ( Insert large Jack-Bauer-24-ticking- clock here!) and i don't feel nearly ready enough
For those who aren't aware, the donations for the orphanage have surpassed $1000...
... we arecurrently at $1,016.21 (Amr).
CLICK HERE TO DONATE
Some have given $5, some have given $250. What blows me away is just how many of the donations are from people i have never met - who read about our trip on my friend Karen's website, and hit the donate button. Click Here for Troll-Baby
If this rubbish is ever read by anyone besides me and my cat, thank you to all those who have donated.
For those who would like to donate $5 ( less than a grande Latte at Starbucks ) to an orphanage in AIDS-ravaged Swaziland:
I have heard that some people think this is a scam - kinda like that Nigerian billionaire who want to get money out of his country by emailing random people. Well, i can personally guarantee that this is no Nigerian scam, cause' you won't ever get one cent back. I will take all your money out of the country, in an envelope, straight to Swaziland ( where you'll never have a chance to be refunded ) and it will be all be spent on something that will benefit kids in an AIDS-ravaged country. We might buy pre-school supplies. We might buy sandals and shoes. We might fix their water filtration system... i have no idea.
But without your help - we wouldn't be buying anything.
Once i figure out pictures, i'll try and get something upload to this website
Regular updates with new total will follow
many thanks
Chris & Jenn
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