Zikomo

It’s a bit of a cliché to say time goes by really quickly but it’s hard to believe that my time in St Francis has come to an end. So it’s goodbye to ward rounds in St Augustine, afternoons in OPD, the cockroaches in SCBU, being woken in the middle of the night by the security guard ‘doctor you are called’ and to judging the consistency of the custard in the mess. Medicine is on a different scale here more patients, less doctors, bigger spleens, lower haemoglobins, a hydrocele (fluid in the scrotum) the size of a rugby ball, a CD4 count of 3. As time went by I went from uncertainty and a lot of ‘what am I doing here’ to become more efficient and I hope more competent in the work which helped me to enjoy the medicine much more. However whatever benefits my work here may have had for the hospital and the patients I gained a whole lot more from the experience.

All that’s left to do now is thank all of those who have helped make my time here so rewarding and enjoyable. To Emmanuel (thanks for the farewell lunch), Moffat, John, Cecilia, Setrida, Happy and all the team in St Augustine for putting up with my awful handwriting, west of Ireland accent and only occasional ( I hope) impatience. To everyone in OPD Charity, Tembo, Diana, Naomi, Catherine, Basheba, Patrick, Senida, Precious, Luka, Limbikani and especially Miriam for making sure work could be fun also. To the guys in the lab for never getting too grumpy with my late night LPs. To Laura and everyone in Pharmacy for deciphering my prescriptions. To everyone in Mbusa, SCBU, St Monica’s and the other hospital wards and departments.

To all of the great doctors I got to work with (some for only a short time others for longer) Paul, Nicola, Jenny, Helen, Dayson, Phostina, Jack, Gustav, Al, Sarah, Euan, Bronya and Massoud. To Alex the finest Cornish dentist I ever met. To Drs Mike and Anne Currie for words of wisdom and inspiration. To Ben and Steph. To all of the Students from Holland, England, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Denmark, Norway, Greenland, the USA and Ireland for keeping me on my toes and making the mess a fun place. To the guys in the mess for the custard and the other food. To Samuel for looking after my garden. Thanks to Shelagh Parkinson for all the help and encouragement. Thanks to Ian especially for explaining the rules of cricket. Thanks to Katete police for the lift home from Drums. Thanks to the people of Katete and the surrounding areas for their kindness and hospitability anytime I wanted to visit their village, their church or their traditional healer.

Most especially thanks to my family and friends at home. Firstly for raising funds for St Francis which should total over 7000 euro come the end of the fundraising in April. Thanks for reading my rantings on this blog. Thanks for all the support through good times and bad.

Before I return home to the ‘real world’ I am going to see a bit more of Southern Africa. I have my jeep, some maps, a jerry can and the cheapest tent money can buy. On a Sunday morning I pack up my things say my goodbyes to St Francis and get on the road.