Nyasa Nurse

The pilot project part of the CPD programme is over – the time has come to go and see what has been happening in all the places we chose to trial it.

Up first was the Southern region – budgets were written, schedules planned, questionnaires photocopied and overnight bags packed – then last minute on Friday afternoon OfficeMate dropped out due to family emergency! Marvellous. Sunday morning at 5.50am she checked back in – just in time my friend!

So, me and her and Mr Driver set off for Mulanje – not a direct route mind you, predictably the trip offered the chance for several other activities…we visited a private maternity clinic to do a surprise check up on the owner midwife and deliver her license to practice, then we stopped off to deliver a cardigan to Office Mate’s daughter and deliver fertiliser to Mr. Driver’s family (twice!).
Next morning, down in Mulanje we visited the first place – the nursing college. I was impressed with the lady chosen to be the CPD facilitator when we did the training and she certainly didn’t disappoint – she was organised, still enthusiastic and didn’t try and hide the problems she’d faced but asked for help and how to overcome them – good work Lady! Next place, not so good! We did arrive at lunchtime so I wasn’t expecting it all to start straight away but after 2 ½ hours of perching on a rickety stool being told that the people we were meant to meet were ‘away’, ‘sick’, ‘not working at day’ and ‘missing’ I started having a sense of humour failure! Eventually some old bird was dragged out her office and presented to us – she tried but uhh-ahh – lights on, no one home!

Then it was time to find pineapples - it seems these tours are one long shopping trip as well. I was told to stay in the vehicle as getting out would mean the stall holders doubled the prices, so sticky sweaty me waited it out – we left with 5 bunches of bananas, 6 pineapples, tomatoes and greens. Ahhh, but the day was not over yet…we still had a fuel queue to contend with. There has been a diesel and petrol shortage for about 4 weeks now, various reasons, same outcome – lines of cars parked up near garages, the more higgledy piggledy the better. As chance would have it we followed a tanker into Limbe so with some quick manoeuvring Mr Driver got in there and we were 4th in line at the pump. An hour later we were still 4th in line, and hour after that we were no further along either. People with old bottles of all shapes and sizes, jerry cans and gallon drums got their rations but the cars were ignored – it got dark, people started getting tetchy and once the police and soldiers turned up, dogs and guns in tow, so did I. Everyone was so jammed in, literally bumper to bumper, I didn’t want to be trapped there if things went pear shaped – the VSO I was staying with came to find me and we escaped home to Blantyre! OfficeMate reported the next day that there was ‘a kind of commotion atmosphere’ – h’mmm yes, glad I wasn’t there!!

Bright and early Tuesday we set off for the next 3 places – no. 1 ok but could do better, no.2 marvellous and no 3. rubbish! It was nice to see my friend Tracy at her work though and all the effort she has put into her practical room for the students.

Bright but not so early Wednesday we headed for Zomba – another fantastic effort – best of the bunch – very pleased. Finally, Ntcheu – wrong end of the stick, cocked it up entirely! Grrrrrrrr. I was annoyed to end on that note but then I realised it was what I expected actually and I suppose the more problems the better at this stage so we can iron them out before we get the whole country involved.

The trip home involved more clinic stops, shopping...goat innards, more tomatoes, and mangoes – lots and lots of mangoes!