Face Lift

The post natal ward / unit got a bit of a face lift the past two days. The ceiling was in dire need of replacement and the walls just cried for a new coat of paint... At long last we have it! And now for the floors in the rest of the hospital...

Mountain top experience

Christmas weekend had us busy up in the mountains around Piseng, Tsuinyane, sharing gift packages with the children of the valley residents...all +/- 80 of them... in the rain... Top left is the little mountain cottage built by our doctor friends Rick and Laura. They have a little clinic just under the house. A sweet little church was also built on the property. It can be quite a mission getting to the place - especially in rain and snow - as you can see from the type of roads in the area. We spent about two hours putting the little gift packs together while the children were enjoying a program up at the church. Then we had them organise the massive group into two lines - one for boys and another for the girls. They were each given a wash cloth and a little bag with some pop corn, peanuts, candy, and a bible picture and verse and book mark.

Top middle is the valley view from the back yard. Awesome atmosphere and breath -taking sights...! What a privilege to stay there...

Exams

Some of our hospital drivers at last completed their exam on accident scene management... A bright bunch of fellows, and enormous fun to work with ...

Sabbath Stroll

This past Sabbath was my husband's birthday, and as a treat, we took an afternoon hike down across the valley and up to mole Hill on the other side with a real mottly crew... There were 3 youngsters from the US working as student missionaries for Hope Channel TV, a young doctor from Australia, another from Sweden, and more from the UK, together with some of the local youth who acted as guides. They introduced us to some simple games played here by children here in Lesotho

This is the department of health in Lesotho, and looking down on some of the other goverment buildings in Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. it was here that the Lesotho Nursing Council launched it's manual on nursing procedures for all hospitals in lesotho, to standardise the level of nursing care in the country. This is possibly a first in Africa if not in the world - well done Lesotho! There is actully a drive to improve on quality assurance in medical care in the country. This is being driven by the Lesotho-Boston Health Alliance, where Boston University is liasing with and guiding local health workers in quality assurance programmes, problem solving, and leadership development. Medical students from Boston University get to do their electives here at various hospitals in Lesotho, including Maluti. There is also a continuous nursing education programme, and monitoring of nursing records. Every Monday here at Maluti we have a 'nursing round' where nurses on duty gather in a selected unit in the hospital to study and discuss a particular case of interest. Then on Tuesdays, we have a class covering a particular nursing procedure from the nursing manual. The same topic is covered for a month, to enable as many nurses possible to attend. Some may be of duty on that day or on night shift, so the following week they may have the opportunity to attend. We have a little incentive for attendance... each nurse that arrives in class gets a treat; this month we're doing CPR, and the nurses get a chocolate at the end of the lecture/practical... after they've written their post test:-)

Spring at last

We've been blessed with refreshing rains here in lesotho - actually a bit on the early side - but it's got all the poppies and roses out. We've begun planting veges at a feverish pace, the orphan kids too - they all received a set of gardening tools and their gardens are sprouting all sorts of luscious veges (Pics to follow). There are a number of saints in the surrounding villages who have taken these kids under their wing, supported by a group here at the hospital which provides clothing, seeds, they organised the tools, and they just keep an eye on the little ones together with the 'village mothers' who are cooking meals for them. We also employ them after school in our own gardens so they can get a little cash and extra food for their labour, as well some 'parental guidance' - my hubby loves to share life skills with them...

en route to camp meeting

On our way to drakensville Camp meeting last weekend, our hopes of being on time for the morning meetings were dashed when we met with an 18 wheeler lying on its back across the road. It had been hit really hard by a run away truck from behind. The runaway's cab wasn't recognisable... two people were dead, and the police were every where. photo's were forbidden until he forensic dept had done their thing..(hours later...) the runway truck landed half way down the mountain side.

Well at least we made it for the afternoon meetings and lunch with some friends. may be this was a divine appointment, as we had a nice visit with some other folks also on their way to camp meeting while waiting at the accident site. on our way back that evening, we road past the two tow trucks which had finally managed to disentangle the wreckages and get them off to the police depots.