28/11/11- Theatre nursing and rainy season

Two ovaries removed from a very sick lady...

I have had a few days in Ethel Mutharika Maternity Theatre now. I started there on Thursday, so three days to be exactly. The one in charge for now, Jessie Banda, is really nice and a good nurse. So she teaches me whatever I need. The challenges I have seen so far is that this is a much more busy theatre than the main theatre in the hospital. They have elective cases every day, but there is also so many more emergencies. The first two days I was mostly observing the way they do theatre nursing here and being a circulating nurse, but today I scrubbed in. It was an emergency case, a young girl full term pregnant, but the baby was stillborn and the uterus was ruptured. So she had bled a lot, and even more during surgery. And of course there was no blood for her in the blood bank, but we had to operate anyway. So they did a total abdominal hysterectomy, and it took about two hours. When they removed the baby, they just threw it in the bin. It was quite brutal, and not a nice thing to see. But I didn’t manage to get too involved, I had more than enough to think about there, being the scrub nurse. But I did good, even the surgeon was impressed, so I am happy! It is just the fact of getting used to how the different surgeons work, and the names of all the equipment, and what kind of sutures they use for what...

And the in-charge bit doesn’t seem too bad, for now at least. Hopefully things will work out fine, and people are very helpful and nice to me.

I'll keep you updated on that part.

It seems like the rainy season has started here now, there has been raining since Thursday or Friday, and its a bit chilly. So no need to use the pool when I get home from work, it would actually be too cold!

Last weekend I went to Nkhoma to meet friends, just stayed for one night, and on Saturday Gomez and Bertha came back with me to town, we where going out, and they would stay at my house. And all Sunday they where in the pool! I think they had a lot of fun.

And this weekend I had Jessi and Ute visiting, from Nkhoma. That was very nice, they really enjoyed the pool and the nice house (as everyone does), and I think especially the fast internet! Updates where downloaded, emails checked, and Skype was being used!

On Sunday I went to the hairdresser, there is a salon with a Zimbabwean that has specialized on “white” hair. And he was good, so now my hair style is nice and fresh again! I didn’t do anything special, just shorter then what it has been. But it was nice, and it all ended in a very nice scalp massage! And that for 2000MK. About 1/10 of what I pay at home, for the same thing!

I am alone in the house these days, Tone is in Addis Ababa on a FK preparation course, witch she should had attended before she left from Norway, but there was no time then. So now after almost three months here, she is going to be prepared for staying in a developing country... Understand it if you can! And when Tone is there, Frida is staying at Nina and Vidars house, cause they have two kids that goes to the same school. So all alone, but I don’t feel unsafe, it is actually quite nice. I am used to having my house to my self, and I can enjoy my own company!

Tomorrow I’m going to invest in a Trojan “stepper”? I would like to get a treadmill, but they are too expensive, so a “stepper” will have to do. And I can sell it when I leave, so its not too bad money-wise. I still keep up the good work of walking to and from work, but now that rainy season is coming, I don’t think it will be so nice. Cause when it rains it RAINS!!! Norway rain and I guess also “Berit” can go to bed, they have nothing to say here. That's baby rain! And with the rains comes more insects, especially these flying ants, when the dark comes, if it has rained during the day, they are everywhere! They are not dangerous or biting, only irritating, cause they are actually everywhere! I think Maria can recall from last year, and all others that has been here, and they are a delicacy, they take their wings off and fry them. Yummy!

16/11/11 - Visitor Merete 1222 and a whole lot of more challenges!

A lot of things have happened since last time I blogged. Of course its a long time now, but my best excuse is that I had a visitor.

Merete Aarskog from Finse 1222 arrived here on 30^th of October, 24 hrs late because of delay at Flesland (!), but she made it safe here after a night in Paris (not the worse place to be stuck...?).

So that night she was of course a bit tired after the long two days of coming here, so it was early to bed for her case.

She brought a lot of nice things from home, chocolate of course, makrell i tomat, comic books, other candy, mårpølse and other good things I had wished for from home! It was very nice.

I of course had to go to work most of the days she was here, but I took the day off on that Monday after she arrived. On Thursday she went to Zambia for safari, the same safari I went on with my mom, my brother Lasse and my cousin Renathe. She enjoyed a lot! And she has enjoyed my pool and nice house, I think she needed a good holiday with only relaxing! We also went out clubbing some nights (of course) and I think she definitely enjoyed that!

Concerning work, a lot (!) has happened. Grace Chiudzu, the chief doctor of Ethel Mutharika Maternity Wing, came to me on November 3^rd to talk about how I felt about work so far, what I saw as challenges and if there was anything I saw I wanted to change. She was the first person I had contact with when I wanted to come to KCH and work as a volunteer. After a while when we had spoken, and it was a good conversation, she asked me if I had any experience with theatre. And since I don’t, I of course said no, none at all. And she asked me if I was interested in learning and working as a theatre nurse, in the Ethel Mutharika Maternity theatre, and I said of course! That is a big and exciting challenge! And then she asked me if I was interested in working in theatre as a nurse-in-charge, cause the one that is there now is going back to school after new year, and they where really I need of someone! Even a bigger challenge. So I told her what I thought, that this might be too big a challenge for me, but I am willing to give it a go, and I am a fast learner, and I am really excited about it. And I thanked her a lot for the confidence she had in me, I hope I don’t let her down!

So already the next week, November 8^th, I started to have orientation in main theatre in KCH, where they do everything except maternity cases, just to get the feeling and training to be a theatre nurse. And it is so exciting and interesting. I have seen a lot of bad cases, all different things from abdominal emergencies,traffic accidents, breast cancer, hydrocephalus, putting VP shunt on a two week old premature baby, and it is not something pleasant to see. This is just a few of the things I have observed so far, but I stay out of the orthopedic theatre. Many of you might know how I feel about bones and fractures. And for those of you that don’t; I hate it! It makes me sick! Like really nauseas!

So I had four days last week with just observing and trying to learn the routines and the names of all the equipment, the way to hand the things to the surgeon, how to arrange and prepare the table to be most effective and tidy. And I like it so much so far!

So this week, on Monday, I scrubbed in for the first time! And I was all up there, just next to the surgeon, handing him all the things, and it wasn’t that hard! People said that this had to be something I had done before, but I have never! Maybe I watched too much Chicago Hope and Greys Anatomy!

But it is so much fun. So I guess next week I will go to the Ethel Mutharika Theatre and start getting orientated there. Cause I think the easiest part is to know how to prepare and scrub in and handle things over the operating table, but to be a nurse-in-charge will be the biggest challenge I think. I just hope things will work out. I think it will, the chief doctor and Matron are really nice, so I think they will help me a lot. And I have the rest of this month and all of December to be trained by the one in charge now. Cross your fingers for me all!

So today I also took a day off, cause Merete was leaving back home, and I just said goodbye at my gate, waving her off in a car. Hope you arrive safe without any delays! I loved having you here, it was a lot of fun!

So everyone, think about me and my challenges, and if anyone have some good nurse-in-charge tips, let me know!

3/11/11 - May contain strong images

The wing I work in, Ethel Muharika Maternity Wing

I was not fully recovered last time, but thought I would be, but I wished! Things came back even worse, but this time I had had enough, so I just started with Metronidazole straight away, and it did miracles! I love that drug! It is just an antibiotic, nothing more serious, for those of you that are not into medical stuff... So I had another day off work, well actually half a day, cause I went to work in the morning, thinking all would be OK, but it didn’t, so I went home at lunch hours. But started the medication in that morning, so in the evening I was a completely new person (at least I had a new stomach)!

A lot of thing go around in my head these days (not only my stomach...).

Work is going OK, but there are some difficult cases coming in, and the conditions are really serious. And not that it has to be, just that they are because we are in a developing country.

I will give you a few examples. Last week there was a 16 year old girl that came in early in the morning, around 6am. She was 5 months pregnant, and had severe malaria. The morning before she had went to a health center (Nanthenje), about 40 km from Lilongwe, because she had fevers and was not feeling well, they had found that she had very low Hemoglobin and started her on Quinine for malaria. But because they don’t have the possibility to transfer blood, she had to go to Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe. Her condition would have given her an ambulance, but because of the fuel crisis the country have now, they didn’t have any, so she had to arrange transport for her self. She had her mother there to escort her, but they failed to get transport (read 40 km) because they didn’t have the money for it, and when they finally got the transport, and arrived in the hospital at 6am next morning, the young pregnant girl was gasping for air, pale as a ghost, and her Hemoglobin was at 0,3g/dl! That is so extremely low that it is amazing she even got to arrive at the hospital alive. She died just few minutes after arriving to our ward.

And I have the last two weeks had two cases of young girls (7 and 8 years old) that had accidents when they were out playing, having sticks and nails to enter their vagina and causing trauma. When I hear this I only think that this must be a terrible excuse for child abuse. Of course this can only be my fucked up mind, but I cant see how a child can fall on a stick or a nail that can penetrate all the way into the cervix. I’m sorry if this is a bit strong for some of you to read.

I have discussed the issue with some of the nurses and doctors in the ward, and they all agree with me, and say that they sometimes get cases like this, and after a while the mother admits that the child has been abused. I just hope I don’t have to see more of these cases. It is just too much.

So the hospital is short of everything... Blood for transfusion, painkillers, antibiotics, intravenous fluids, disposable gloves, but if we don’t have disposable gloves we use surgical gloves, and next week we don’t have surgical gloves for sterile procedures, the laboratory doesn’t take full blood count (hematology), electrolytes, kidney- or liver function tests. They don’t have the reagents for the machines. And if we want a urine analysis, we have to send it before 10am, cause after 10am they don’t do urine analysis... There is just so many things we have to accept every day, that should be unacceptable. But we make the best out of it. What else can we do?

Today there was a lady that came from a district hospital, after a removal of a cyst in her uterus two weeks ago, and she has not recovered as she should. So after two weeks of not recovering, they found out that she probably has a bowel perforation after the surgery, or maybe a fistula, and feces are coming out in the abdomen. So they cut a small hole in her stomach, and now the feces just runs out freely, and she went for surgery just before I left work today. I hope everything worked out, I am eager to see tomorrow. I had a lot of work with her today. Thankfully there is a lot of nurse students in the ward these days, so they do a lot and help out, and it is great help! They work harder than the nurses in the ward. Thankfully!

I hope this blog didn’t depress any of you, it is just how I work these days. But I feel I’m coping quite well, I take things as it is, and I cant do everything. I am only me. And I love the challenge!

26/10/11 - Sick, pool party and visitor coming

Lucky

Buddy

I have been sick for two days now. Stomach trouble. No fun at all. Every time I put something in my mouth I have to run to the toilet... Exhausting! I have no idea if it is something I ate, but my mum thinks so, she says I eat too many strange things.
I am feeling a bit better today, so hopefully I can go to work tomorrow. And I am sick of my bed and my room, my computer and True Blood and water and ORS (Oral Rehydration Solution that tastes like shit!) and dry bread and my toilet. And the fact that I have a beautiful garden and pool but don’t have the energy to use it!
At least I am in a new room here, we changed on Monday, so now Tone and Frida has a bedroom each upstairs, together with Kari and Ole in the master bedroom, and I am downstairs. I really like my new room, and finally I can make it a bit personal and decorate it, I didn’t do that before, because I knew I was gonna move.
There is five people in the house now. Last week two new people arrived, Kari, a midwife for Voss, and Ole, a gynecologist from Voss/Denmark. They are both gonna work in Ethel Mutharika Maternity Wing, the same wing as me, but Kari will be in the labor ward, and I think Ole will be in Gynae with me.
This weekend we had a pool opening party at the house. It was really nice, the weather was of course very nice, and people came from Nkhoma (Gunhild and Webster) and I also had some friends from town here. We had prepared snacks and there was a lot of drinks. We really enjoyed, and later on we went out to a club, Tone, Anne, Gunhild, Webster, Mike, Rich, Ben and me. We went to Zanzi Bar, there was a DJ from South Africa, DJ Cleo, playing, and it was so crowded! We could hardly dance for the crowds! But it was fun! We also met more friends there.
Sunday we all spent the day by the pool, I of course got my first real sunburn now, on my back, nowhere else, cause I spent most of the day on a floating mattress in the pool.

We have a maid in the house now, she is here every weekday, and she cleans and dusts and irons. I love the fact that I don’t have to iron my uniforms. The other stuff is OK, but ironing, I hate it!
And we have two dogs! One we have had for a while, Buddy, but on Sunday Tone went and got us a puppy! She is so cute! Lucky. They are both from Lilongwe SPCA http://www.lilongwespca.org/
Buddy was about to be buried alive, after a life with abuse and neglect, when he was rescued by someone that had contacted LSPCA.
Lucky was being sold by the road. People do that a lot here, you see it almost everyday, people standing by the road, holding up cute puppies or kittens, to sell them, something that is illegal in the country. So every time we see someone that does this, we call the LSPCA and they can collect the animals.

Last week I got a nice message from Merete from Finse. She is coming to Malawi, to visit me and also to go to Mozambique and other places. Its always nice with visitors! Especially since I haven’t seen here in at least two years! And I will get my “Norway Bag”, a bag full of things from Norway! Makrell i tomat! Mårpølse! Melkesjokolade! Nam nam!

19/10/11 - Kamuzu Central Hospital

I have finally started work now, after almost four weeks of holiday.
I now work in Kamuzu Central Hospital, at the Gynecology ward. It is a big ward, divided in to two, one for the critically ill patients, and one for the stabilized ones. There are 36 beds on each and from 7.30am to 4.30pm there are six nurses working there. From 4.30pm til 7.30am there are two... Imagine! Working for 15 hours straight! Of course they rest on shifts during the night, but anyways! I feel I have been taken good care of since I started, but there isn't much of orientation to talk about. If I want to know things I have to ask. But everyone is friendly and easy to talk to, so I feel its good.

Kamuzu Central Hospital is Malawi’s second largest hospital, after Queen Elisabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, and they have 750 beds. They have different wards, Childrens (medical, surgical and NRU – nutritional resuscitation unit), Medical (female and male), Surgical, Burns, Eye, OPD (Out Patient Department), Lab, X-ray, Pharmacy, and the Gynecology ward that I work in, that has several different units, Labor, ICU, Gynae (my ward), Antenatal and Postnatal and Private ward.
The most common diseases we have in the ward, is incomplete abortions (both spontaneous and “criminal”, as they call it here), total abdominal hysterectomy ofogdifferent causes (cancer, fibroids, complications after birth), ovarian cysts, different pelvic abscesses and anemia in pregnancy. So this is a completely new area for me! But I like the challenge, and I think I will learn a lot! And about that; I have to do my CPD (Continuous Professional Development) for Nurses and Midwife Council of Malawi, that means I have to find different aspects under 1. Skills, 2. Knowledge and 3. Appearance. And I have to find goals and things I don’t know much about, and things I want to learn. This is something the nurses here have to do every year. I feel like a student with workplans again! That my teacher have to approve! Well, I just have to do it, so I will. And I had a meeting with the Matron again today, and she helped me a lot with how to do it and what goals to have, so I don’t see it as difficult as I did before.

The hospital is quite different from what I’m used to. Not only the size, but mostly the standard. Yes the building I work in is new from last year, but already it looks like crap! People in this country is not fond of keeping their workplace tidy! There is mess everywhere, and they don’t even try to keep it nice. And this is something I want to try fix!
And the other thing in this place, since it is a government hospital, they don’t have a lot of money. So things are out of stock all the time. There is so much things missing, there is hardly any gloves at the ward, and surgical gloves not at all, the only cannulas they have are grey, sometimes you can find a green one, the strapping we use is useless (!), but what is most disturbing is about the medications. This week there is no Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, Pethidine, Ceftriaxone, Metronidazole, Ciprofloxacin, and these are all crucial medications in so many of the cases we have in the ward. But the medication is just not there. So what can we do? Our best...
The post-operative patients gets pain relieve from Tramadol or Diclofenac. And this is some heavy shit surgeries they go through! Today I met a girl, 16 years old, at 6am this morning they fixed her ileus, open stomach surgery, (why she was in my ward is a mystery), and this morning at 9am we came to do her bed, and she was told to sit up and get mobilized, and to take deep breaths to prevent pneumonia, and this girl didn’t even make a sound. I couldn’t even see at her face that she was in pain. The people here (especially women) are so tough, they take pain so different from us, they don’t even cry giving birth. And when we came to the next bed, there was a lady who has had a different surgery yesterday, and a different scar, she complained trying to sit up, but the nurse told her to not complain, “cause look at that other girl, she had a bigger surgery than you”, and she didn’t complain. She just kept quiet. I think it will be very challenging. And yesterday we had a girl who was to drain an abscess, and when giving the local anesthetic she was in so much pain, she screamed so loud, and then she just lost it. She was not completely unconscious, but didn’t respond to any pain or verbal approach. Her pulse was OK, respiration a bit fast, and I wanted to take a bloodpreassure. But could I find a stethoscope? The doctor that was there didn’t have his, and there was no in the ward, and no one knew where I could I find one. So I couldn’t take her bloodpreassure. We gave her intravenous fluids and after a while she came to herself and was completely normal. I don’t know what happened. Maybe the pain just knocked her out!?

I started off good yesterday by walking from work, and today I walked to and from. It is a 50 minutes walk, and I enjoy walking long distances again. At home I walk alt, but the time I have spent in Malawi, and last time, I hardly move around on my feet. We drive everywhere!
And this week I tried the pool for the first time, cause the weather now is very nice, a bit too hot in the middle of the day, so it was so nice to come home yesterday, hot from walking from work, and jump in the pool! I will try to keep it up, and do some rounds with swimming, its good exercise!

Enough about work. Last weekend I was at the lake with Gunhild and Ingrid, and we enjoyed! We went to Cape McClear and Mufasa Lodge, it was a cheap but nice place, and nice people. We mostly relaxed and enjoyed the sun, and came back Monday relaxed and ready for a new and exciting week.

11/10/11 - Enjoying the last days of the holiday

Lunch at Mr Banda's

Nkhoma Saturday market

Dancing at the birthdayparty

Gomez with her Gift

Bertha preparing a chickenfoot for the braai

Things are now starting to settle here, holiday is coming to an end, and the real life here must start soon. I had a meeting at the hospital last week, with the Matron at the ward where I'm going to work, gynecology ward, and she was a really nice lady and had a lot of good plans for me and my stay.
And she also told me I had to go to Nurses and Midwives Council to register, something I had hoped I didn’t have to, since I did it last year, but this is actually something every nurse in the country has to do every year. So I mentally prepared for a long day of waiting and planning and organizing, and I showed up at the office, but then they say that registrations are only on Wednesdays, so I had to come back. I asked very nicely to please have it done today, and as the system here is not always so easy to come around, I was surprised when she told me OK, but come back after lunch.
So I came back after lunch, at 2.30pm, and the lady I’m supposed to meet is not there. Where is she, after two and a half hour lunch break? Out to get a snack!!! So I waited, for 30 minutes, and she returned from her snack break. I got my papers, and I have to write a log to document my achievements and goals, and return to them after a while. So I got my things and went off to pay my fee (20,000MK, approx 700NOK, 120USD). But the guy at the account office was not there, and nobody knew where he was. So I waited... And waited... He finally came back, I payed and was happy it all was over. I was actually surprised that I could do it all in one day!

So next week I'm planning to start work, and tomorrow I will go to the hospital for an orientation. Just to get to know the hospital and routines, and meet my coworkers.

Last weekend I was in Nkhoma, to spend some more time with Isabelle and the other people there. I came there in the afternoon, and it was Gomez's birthday, so she had a party. And as all Malawians it was a late party, supposed to start at seven, started at eight or even later. It was a braai, good food, sausages, chicken, buns, salad and non-alcoholic drinks. We danced, chatted and had a lot of fun! It was a different birthday party than what I’m used to. Finally there was cake and birthday song for Gomez.
Saturday I want to the market with all the azungus (white people) and we did some shopping and after a while I had lunch at Mr Banda's restaurant with Isabelle, James, Sarah and Louis. Louis is a five year old kid that really know how to eat nsima (the traditional local dish, maize mash). The five of us ordered the same amount of food, he was the only one finishing! Imagine! It is really heavy food, gets you full very quick if you are not used to it. But this small boy has a good appetite!

In the evening I just spent time with Gunhild and Ingrid, as Isabelle had dinner at the Vietches house. Sunday morning Isabelle, Jessi, Ute and me went for a walk to Linthipe river. Its a nice walk through a lot of different villages, and the nature is beautiful (even though its quite dry and brown now). After this I took a minibus in to Lilongwe again.

The pool we have here is now filled with nice clean water, it was ready this last weekend, but I have still not tried it. The weather is not too nice, a bit chilly some times, and the sun has not been out today, so it still has to wait. But I’m sure it will be a good thing to have the coming months!

The weekend I will spend by the lake, in Cape McClear, with Gunhild and Ingrid from Nkhoma. Hopefully we will leave on Thursday.

4/10/11 - Lake Of Stars

Thursday we picked up Isabelle at the airport. It was so nice to see her again, missed that sweet girl! Its sad shes not staying for more than two weeks, and that I am not in Nkhoma to spend more time with her. I will try to go there more this week to see her and the others, since I'm not starting work yet.
I spent Thursday to Friday in Nkhoma, had dinner at jessis house, and slept at Gunhild and Ingrids house. Gunhild and I left early to go to Lake Of Stars. Its a long trip to Mangochi, about four hours driving, its hot and sunny, but the roads are not too bad.
We arrived around 1pm, and the place is just as beautiful as I remembered! We set up our tents and jumped in the water. More people came later that afternoon, and the party started! There was a lot of good concerts, and we just sat in the sand listening, sometimes up dancing, and the mood is just perfect! Everybody is so happy and chilled, and the whole festival is just perfect! That night some of us just stayed up all night dancing and enjoying, and the next day was a bit exhausting. Chilling in the shades, sleeping (in the shade!) and the evening came with more good concerts, and the best was Freshlyground, a big band from South Africa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nUAarErp5Y
This evening was not a late one for me. I went to bed around midnight, Slept like a baby all night through, and was ready and fit next day. We spent some hours in the sun, in the water, chatting, chilling, and most Nkhoma-people wennt back earlier. Since I was going to Lilongwe I didnt go with them, cause I went with Mike and his friends that also was going to Lilongwe. But in the afternoon they all found out that they where not going this day, because the driver was too tired, and I was happy to hear that, cause to go that far, and even at night, with a tired driver, does not feel safe. So the responsible driver he was, he went early to bed that night, and was ready to leave the next morning at 7am. The others of us stayed up late, dancing, chilling, and there was stilll a lot of people there, and also my friends from Holland, Piet and Enno.
I think I could stay at that place forever, its so beautiful, and so much fun. Wish we had festivals like that at home.
Monday I spent the afternon at home, just went to town to do some shopping for dinner, and I made fish fingers and rice for Tone and Frida. But I didnt manage to finish the dinner completely before there was a blackout, but we had a few fish fingers and the rice was finished.

This week I hope to have a meeting with the nurse in charge of the ward i'm going to work in, I emailed her so we'll see when I get a response.
And I hope to go to Nkhoma.

I have now a postbox here, so if you want to send me something, I recommend to send not to big packeges, and I think it will be good if it looks kind of official, it tends to come faster then.

Linn-Kristin Hatlebrekke
P.O. BOX 3360
Lilongwe
Malawi

And my phonenumber +265991590095

29/9/11 - Good times!

I have had some days in Lilongwe (LL) now, came back on Monday with a minibus, quite pleasant trip if I can say that, and I met up with some friends here. We had some beers in a bar, and some more, and finally we went to a nightclub. Going out dancing in this country is so much fun! A lot more fun than back home, cause here everybody dances! And of course everybody are such good dancers, so you have to have your confidence right to be comfortable at the dance floor!

Tuesday I woke up and really wanted to go to the lake! So, the benefit of having good friends with cars made that possible. It was just a short trip, one sleepover at Cool Runnings in Senga Bay, and it was even an early evening, cause I was kinda tired after last night. So to bad at 8.30pm and up at 7.30am. I had my beauty sleep you can say. But it was so nice to come back there, and as everywhere else, nothing had changed. It was good to see Tiger and Isaac again, the rastaguys at the beach there. They are always so funny and smiling, and of course always high on whatever it is they are smoking. It is very easy to get hold of cannabis in this country, they grow much of it here, its called Malawian Gold. For myself I am not smoking that stuff, but a lot of people do, and so many places you go you get the question if you want some Gold. There is no pressure of any kind, just like if they ask you if you need a newspaper or a bottle of Coke.

We all came back early from the lake, left around twelve, and on our way back we stopped at a private girls boarding school. One of the guys cousin went there, so we stopped to check on her and give her some pocket money. It was a nice school, approx 140 pupils in three different standards (classes), I think they where all in the age from 14 to 17, and they all stay at the school there.

When we came to LL I went to buy some tickets for the Lake Of Stars festival, I already had mine, but there was some people in Nkhoma that needed theirs. Here we pay for a full three day festival 310 NOK, or 54 USD. And it is actually three full days. And it is so nice! The program this year is also so great, check it out on www.lakeofstars.org

Last night I was invited with some of my fellow Norwegians to a very nice restaurant in City Center. It was a Chinese restaurant and we had the most beautiful meal! The food was so good, so if your looking for a good Chinese restaurant when you are ever in LL you should find Golden Peacock Hotel.
So I met all these new Norwegians, some had been here for long, some just for a few weeks. But it was very nice people all of them, most of them working in the hospital where I am going to be, and it is good to have some more contacts around town.

This morning I am going to come with Jessi and James to the airport to pick up Isabelle. We are going straight back to Nkhoma, spending the night there, and then leaving for Lake Of Stars tomorrow morning.

25/9/11 - Enjoying home!

On Friday I went back to the hospital during the morning. I finally met Gomez, my dear good friend, and of course a lot of other people. I chilled at Ingrid and Gunhilds house during their three hour lunch break, and I went home to the cottage to relax. Jessi had spent the day working and she came back and we had dinner. It was an early night.
Saturday Jessi and I went to the market. We had lunch at the Banda restaurant there, and it was just like before. Same good food and good environment. We did some shopping in the market and after that I went to Gomez house to chill and hang out with her. We had some catching up to do. And then I helped Jessi empty a house that a house that was left with all things, because the person that lived there got sick and had to leave for home in a rush. It was a bit strange to go through all the personal things she had, since we both knew her and was sorry that she was sick and had to leave.

In the evening we went to Ingrid and Gunhilds house to have dinner, very nice lasagne, and James and Ute came as well, we had some wine and a funny evening.
Today there is a goodbye-party for Dr Will, that has been here for four years, but I don't know if I'm going. There will probably be some management people there that I don't want to see, especially in that setting. I would like to meet them and talk to them, but in a different setting.

Planning on going to Lilongwe tomorrow, Monday. Not much to do here for me now, when everyone is working all day. But I will definitely go back soon, especially since Isabelle is coming here on Thursday. Will be cool to see her again.

Coming home!

I just spent my first day back in Malawi. Not much have changed, people are as friendly as they where, it is as hot as it was, and things go as slowly as it did. And I love it!

Yesterday I arrived in Lilongwe at 9.35am, on time! The flights where amazingly all on time, and no delays. I even got to sleep a bit on the night flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi.

When arriving in Lilongwe I had a friend pick me up, cause the Norwegians that was suppose to pick me, was advised not to drive in town this week, cause there was suppose to be some demonstrations, which in the end didn't take place, so a arrived in a town so quiet I had never seen it before! It could be Sunday at church hours.

Before I went to my new home, we stopped at some shops to by some things I needed, a mosquito net, mosquito repellent, wine and some simple food. It was nice to walk in these shops again, and get the things I needed.

When we arrived at my house I was totally overwhelmed! It is huge! And with a big garden with two (!) swimming pools! Even though they are empty of water, they will hopefully soon be filled with cool, clean water! It was so great to see this house! And inside, I would call it a castle, there are two floors, three bedrooms on 2nd floor, two bathrooms, and 1st floor has two bedrooms, one bathroom, one living room, one dining room, one kitchen, and all the rooms are BIG! After some hours I still got lost!
So for now I have a room on the 2nd floor, but I will have to move next month, cause there will be a midwife coming from Voss and she is supposed to have my room, but the room I am supposed to have doesn’t have a bed yet... But I don’t mind moving, I'm still so thankful that Haukeland University Hospital lets me live there without paying any rent! It is so nice of them!

I went out in the afternoon again, did some more shopping of things I had seen that I missed in my room, and I met some friends, we had lunch and some beers. I was so nice to see them again. And they all say I have changed, but I can't see that, probably my color! I'm a mzungu (white person) again!

In the evening I met Tone and Frida. Tone is a bioengineer from Haukeland that is working in Kamuzu Central Hospital for a year, and Frida is her 15 year old daughter. They moved to Malawi three weeks ago. I talked a lot to Tone that evening, and she seems like a person I would really enjoy living with, and I don't think Frida will be any different.

I tried getting in order in my room, but it doesn't have much space to place things, just one closet, so I will need to buy some shelves and baskets to have all my stuff in. I can't leave them all on the floor.

I slept like a baby that night, even though I went to bed at nine, cause now I have to get used to the early darkness again, so at nine I felt it was eleven. It gets dark at six here. And at six also the power went off, so I could really see that nothing had changed!

This morning I got up at eight, took a long (cold) shower (not that it matters....) and went to the Norwegian embassy to register, and then I went to the bank to open a bank account. It took some time, but it was easier than I thought!
So in three weeks from now I will have my Malawian bank account and VISA card! Cool!

I bought some minced meat and some wine to bring to Nkhoma, and I found a minibus. And it was a good ride, and I enjoyed going on the minibus, I'm not a very picky person, and I can handle the simple things. So I actually enjoyed, just listening to my music, looking at the nature (which is now so dry again, and everything is brown/grey) and chatting with random people.

I came to Nkhoma around 2.30pm, went straight to the hospital, and met so many friends! It was a lot of fun! Everybody is so happy to see me, but also sorry that I will not work in Nkhoma this time. And I am sorry for that too!

After meeting a lot of my dearest friends, I went to Jessi's house,where I am staying this period, and it was so great to see her as well! And James came by, but had to rush home, cause there was a dinner he was attending to. But I will see him the next days. I'm planning to stay in Nkhoma over the weekend and probably till Tuesday

Gunhild and Ingrid came for dinner, and it was very nice to meet them!
They are here now on the second round of the project that I was in last time (first round).

But there is still so many people I am missing to see, so I will probably get up early and go to the hospital again tomorrow.

Departuretime

My time to departure is soon here.
I'm really excited, all packed and ready, I guess time will go slow tomorrow. My plane leaves at 5pm, so I have a lot of time to spend tomorrow, just waiting.
I have at this moment mixed feelings, I'm saying goodbye to everyone, and for a while it felt just OK, cause I know now what I'm going to, and I know the place and I love it, but I can't hide that its hard to say goodbye to my loved once.

So I'm sitting here, in my empty apartment, with only two confused cats, two big (too big) bags and whats left of my wine to keep me company.
I stole Erlend Johnsens playlist in Spotify, called Kaffi (coffee), and I think its right for my mood and feelings at this moment.
I guess this is only what to expect, it is just another phase to go through, even though I did it a year ago, but again, it was different.
I know this time that I will enjoy, have fun, be strong and challenged, and time will fly! Maybe even more than last!

And again, everyone is more than welcome to visit, Malawi is a beautiful undiscovered country, that deserves all the attention it can get!

I'll blog next time in Malawi!

As I would say there: TIONANA!

Time flies!

I have now decided to start writing my blog in english, so that my international friends also can read.

It is now close to my departure, I will leave Bergen and Norway in 13 days, September 20th. My plane leaves Bergen at 5pm.
After the changes that has been done with my workplans, things have settled and everything is in order, the only thing I don't know is where my house is. But I guess I will quickly will find out when I arrive in Lilongwe the 21st.

I have to give great gratitude to all the people that has helped me, and still are, I am immensely thankful. I could'nt have done this without all the help!

First I would like to name the people and companies that has given me financial support.
Helle Bennetts Allmennyttige fond, Stiftelsen Bergen Diakonissehjem, Farmor, Mamma og Pappa, Solveig Melvold, Arne og Mette Dalseide, STS, Renathe Ullestad, Arne Daviknes, Elisabeth Olsen, Inger Elise Overå og Tore Klyve, Gerd Unni Kleiveland, Kari Guntveit, Siren og Ulf Sletten, Bruktbutikken på Sletten, Apotek 1 Ulriksdal (donated all the medications I need when I leave), Ulriksdal Tannlegepraksis (cheap dentist appointment before departure), and of course everybody that has bought earrings that I made from Malawian bottletops.
There is also some anonymous sponsors.

Other than this (and please forgive me if I have forgotten anyone, and let me know so I can post it) I have to thank all my family and friends, who are mentally and practically supportive, even though you say they don't want me to leave (thats what they say...), you are there for me, support me, tell me you are gonna miss me, and right back at you, I'm gonna miss everyone I leave behind! But also remember, Malawi is a beautiful country, that I highly recommend people to visit! So why not take the opportunity now!

I will try to continue my blog as I did last time, lets all hope it works out! I like writing it and I like sharing my experiences and challenges, so bear with me and keep up the good reading!

I have had some requests to put my account number on my blog, but please write me a mail if you want to give some donations, and I will send you my account number.

My new emailadress is malawilinken@gmail.com

New email

Vil bare minne om at jeg har ny epostadresse. Vet at noen av dere har fått den før...

 

I have a new emailadress! Remember to save it and use this one next time!

 

Linn-Kristin Hatlebrekke

Wannabe kjendis!

Meg og min gode venninne Gomez fra Nkhoma


Ja da var det blitt avistryne av meg! På fredag ringte de fra BA og ville intervjue meg, og selvfølgelig sier man ikke nei til noe sånt! Og da avisen kom på døren i morges så var jeg jammen meg på forsiden også! Utrolig kjekt for meg!
Jeg driver fremdeles og skriver mail til folk og fe, selv om det har dabbet litt av, føler jeg har skrevet mail til de jeg kan skrive mail til, men nå begynner jo virkelig de positive tilbakemeldingene å komme!

Jeg har så langt fått inn 35,000 kroner, fra både fond og privatpersoner, og jeg har flere andre som har sagt at de vil støtte meg, der også både fond/firma/organisasjoner og privatpersoner! Så dette går absolutt rett vei!
Jeg selger selvlagete øredobber med øl/bruskorker som jeg har tatt med meg fra Malawi, og har solgt sikkert 20 par så langt på Haraldsplass!

Jeg skulle booke flybillett i dag, men de trengte betaling innen en uke, så jeg avventer det litt. Men jeg tenker avreise rundt 20. september. Og det ser ikke ut som billetten blir så dyr som jeg tenkte, den kommer på ca 11,000 kroner, og det er med mulighet for å endre returen.

Jeg vil med dette innlegget takke alt og alle som hjelper meg, støtter meg, kommer med gode ord og meninger! Jeg setter kjempestor pris på alt!

Mai 2011 – Mye tanker, lengsel og pengeinnsamling

Som kanskje mange av dere har fått med dere, så er jeg nesten på vei tilbake til Malawi... Jeg savner det veldig mye, og har så utrolig lyst å reise tilbake dit og jobbe mer. Ikke med noe prosjekt denne gangen, men kun som den sykepleieren jeg er, helt frivillig. Men å reise som frivillig betyr jo også at jeg trenger endel penger. Så de siste ukene har gått med til å skrive kanskje femti mail til diverse organisasjoner og fond, for å spørre om det er noen som ønsker å støtte meg til å kunne reise tilbake å jobbe, helt i ti måneder til. Jeg har ikke lagt ut noe om det her på bloggen før, for det har vært så usikkert om det i det hele tatt blir noe av, men i det siste så har jeg virkelig begynt å bli positiv og optimistisk, jeg tror dette kommer til å ordne seg for meg. Så da blir det enda et år med permisjon fra hjerte/lunge – Haraldsplass, og ned i varmen med meg! Dette er mailen jeg har sendt ut til diverse folk og fe:

Hei!
Jeg er en 29 år gammel jente, født og oppvokst i Bergen. Jeg er utdannet sykepleier, vært det i syv år nå, og jeg jobber ved Haraldsplass Diakonale Sykehus i Bergen. I ti måneder, fra juni 2010 til april 2011, var jeg del av et utvekslingsprosjekt i Fredskorpset, og jeg har vært ved Nkhoma Mission Hospital i Malawi, der jeg har vært med på å forbedre akuttpleie og opparbeidet et triagesystem. Har også vært med på å bygge et akuttmottak.
Utdrag fra prosjektplanen:
The aim of the project is to improve the emergency care and to establish two emergency units at Nkhoma Hospital; one for adults and one for children. In addition the project is aiming at improving the quality of the high risk care provided in the maternity, surgical and general wards, and in this way reduce mortality among critically ill patients, mothers giving birth and children being born. The project should also promote internationalisation of Haraldsplass Deaconal Hospital.

Vi har hatt stor suksess med arbeidet vårt, der vi startet fra skratch. Da vi kom dit var det ikke noe system på prioritering av hvem som skulle tilsees først, pasientene ble stilt i kø etter når de kom inn på sykehuset. Vi så flere ganger at barn døde i køen for å bli tilsett. Så vi startet med å innføre triage, som er en måte å prioritere pasientene på etter hvilken tilstand de er i. De sykeste skal selvfølgelig komme til først, selv om de akkurat er kommet til sykehuset. Vi så raskt resultater av vårt arbeid, etter at vi startet med triage var det ikke lenger pasienter som døde i køen.
Vi har også vært en stor del av planleggingen og organiseringen av et nytt emergencyrom for barn. Tidligere ble de sykeste barna sendt direkte til barneavdelingen, men nå fikk vi mulighet til å stabilisere og starte behandling så snart de kom inn til sykehuset. Rommet vi har fått bygd var et skittent og lite brukt lagerrom, nå er det lyst, reint og fliselagt, og vi har alt av utstyr der vi trenger for å stabilisere, medisinere og evt gjenopplive barn.
Fredskorpset Norge og Haraldsplass Diakonale Sykehus har sagt at dette er et av de mest suksessfulle prosjektene de har hatt noen gang. Vi er selvfølgelig veldig stolte over det vi har oppnådd, og det gledet oss å se at det fungerte også når vi ikke var på jobb.

Problemet Nkhoma Mission Hospital har er mangel på sykepleiere. De har 27 sykepleiere av 50 ønskelige. Jeg har lenge nå tenkt at jeg vil tilbake dit og jobbe, ikke med et prosjekt denne gangen, men rett og slett bare som den sykepleieren jeg er, og jeg ønsker i utgangspunktet å jobbe der i ti måneder, gjerne fra september 2011. Da vil jeg finne hus på egen hånd, så det er ikke noe sykehuset trenger tenke på. Det vil si at det er reint frivillig arbeid jeg skal gjøre, jeg kommer ikke til å få noe penger fra verken sykehuset eller regjeringen, og derfor trenger jeg litt hjelp. Jeg har allerede snakket med direktøren for Nkhoma Mission Hospital, Dr Reyniere Ter Haar og oversykepleier Edna Ngwanda om å komme tilbake til Nkhoma, og de er veldig glade og takknemlige for at jeg vil komme tilbake og jobbe og hjelpe dem med problemet.

For mer info se http://www.fk-world.com/en/Projects/Home/?clubId=805
eller ta kontakt med
Meg: Linn-Kristin Hatlebrekke, tlf 93663938
mail: linn_kristin123@hotmail.com
Evt min prosjektkoordinator Solveig Ullaland, tlf 55978541
mail: solveig.ullaland@haraldsplass.no.

Jeg skriver derfor til dere om dette er noe dere kunne tenke dere å hjelpe meg med.
Jeg har regnet på å ha et budsjett på ca 100,000 NOK.
Flybillett, ca 12,000 NOK
Husleie, ca 400 NOK/mnd, x 10 mnd = 4000 NOK
Strøm- og vannavgift, ca 200 NOK/mnd x 10 mnd = 2000 NOK
Mat, transport, telefontid og andre nødvendigheter, rundt regnet ca 5500 NOK/mnd x 10 mnd = 55,000 NOK
Forsikring ca 10,000 NOK pr 10 mnd
Malariaprofylakse ca 1200 NOK
Andre medisiner ca 300 NOK
Kontaktlinseforbruk, ca 3500 NOK
Studielån, ca 3000 NOK/kvartal x fire kvartal = 12,000 NOK

Håper på raskt og positivt svar

Med vennlig hilsen

Linn-Kristin Hatlebrekke

Håper jeg får noen positive tilbakemeldinger fra nok folk, jeg har allerede fått tildelt 20,000 fra et fond jeg søkte på som jeg fant i Legathåndboka!

Jeg savner veldig mye der nede. Folka, varmen, kulturen, levesettet, den avslappede holdningen alle har til alt (ikke alt er like positivt med det, men det meste veier opp!) Jeg vet jo så godt hvor sårt de trenger sykepleiere der, og det er så utrolig godt å tenke på at jeg kan komme dit og hjelpe dem med det! Jeg har hatt litt kontakt med Dr Ter Haar (direktøren) og han er veldig positiv til at jeg kanskje kommer tilbake! Og det er jo alle andre også! Så jeg håper dette er noe som kan gå i boks, tror jeg lukker meg inne i en hvis ikke!

Så det er bare å gi beskjed hvis dere vet om et fond eller en organisasjon som kan være aktuelt å søke på, eller om dere har en rik onkel som ikke vet hva han skal bruke pengene på.

I'll keep you updated!