Shikamoo,

So today was my first day on placement and all i can say is what a culture shock. Its so different from back home. Michaela and I are on the premi unit (bit like neo-natal) which deals in all the fresh babies from early births through to babys that have been abandoned at the hospital in plastic bags!! It really is as crazy as it sounds. Babies (especially girls) are abandoned here simply because they are brought up that your first born should be a boy, others due to poverty and not being able to provide for their child. There are 4 babies in every cot and little or no oxygen, when you bag and mask a child here you use fresh air instead of attaching it to an oxygen point. There are no nappies which means that babies are not really kept clean and the cot sides are always left down. The unit has one incubator however this is broken so they heat the room up to act as one large incubator, its so hot in there that the staff sit in another room behind a glass partition leaving the babies on their own. There are no monitors here either so you really have to use your eyes and watch the babies and although we say we don't look at them back home iv'e realised i use them more than I thought. Obs are done every 12 hours that is all and usually consist of temperature only!!!

The hardest thing today was seeing a baby that was born at only 31 weeks gestation, lying in a cot breathing for itself. There was no oxygen, no intubation, no CPAP. It really did break my heart to see that. One of the consultants has a system where he will draw a square on the corner of the child's notes, this basically means that they are not expected to survive- there was one on this tiny babies notes (not surprisingly). I shall keep you updated with what happens to this baby girl.

Sorry for all the nursing talk that was for my uni girls so they can imagine what it is like out here.

We had our first swahili lesson last night, I'm going to try really hard with this and hopefully be able to put a few sentances together by the time i get home. Who knows!!

One good thing about Arusha is no work on Fridays!! Simply so we can have a lie in following a night at the local club Via Via (I bet its got nothing on squires and its flashing dance floor!!!). So this friday 7 of us are going to go on safari until Sunday night, cannot wait!!! The weather is beautiful, its so hot with a little bit of a breeze. There is alot of walking to do everyday which is hard in this heat, but im sure we will get used to it in time.

Until next time

Kwa Heri (Goodbye)