(p.s. I Wrote this last weekend but couldn’t seem to post it!) You know, I started this blog with the sentence: ‘This girl has been busy’. I don’t know why. It just came out – automatically. I guess because it’s a good excuse. Excuse for silence and not blogging. And it’s what I’m meant to … Continue reading
His legs splayed out at a funny angle, like a puppet whose string has been pulled too far. The pool of red blood slowly seeped into the earth. Dust to dust. The crowd gathered round in silent shock, the only noise coming from wailing sirens in the distance. My boss told me about his brother who … Continue reading
Jiggers
Jiggers. I’d never really thought about them much before. I knew they were a problem. I’d watched a few brief documentaries about the effects they have, how they can inhibit someone’s life. I’d even seen a couple of clips of people having jiggers cut out of their skin, which had momentarily grossed me out. But … Continue reading
Life Update
Every now and then it seems I fall behind on blogging for a little while and then life changes happen and I have a lot to catch up on. This seems to be one of those times… I last blogged in early May. What a lot has happened since then. I finished my one year … Continue reading
A Phonecall to the UK
Every Wednesday our UK office has an hour of staff prayers where all UK-based staff meet together for news from the organisation, updates and a time of worship and/or prayer. There is a video link so those of us in other countries can feel part of it too. Yesterday it the West and Central Africa … Continue reading
And we danced
Last week I was visiting some rural villages where our project to promote maternal health is being implemented. I have never received such warm welcomes as we did last week. This is something I wrote after a visit to one of the villages. Some photos at the bottom. Today is the day we danced. Today … Continue reading
Ocean drops
I think most of you know that my work in Congo involves managing a project aimed at reducing maternal and newborn mortality. Since I began the job last June, I have been trying to find out why there are no ARVs available for people living with HIV in some of the areas the project is … Continue reading
Suffering and Questioning
Last week I went to Beni with a small team to conduct a needs assessment. Beni is a (very bumpy) 10 hour drive from Goma, and the people living in and around Beni have recently suffered greatly. Towards the end of last year, armed rebel groups terrorised communities with extreme violence: women, children and babies … Continue reading
Mt Nyiragongo Part 2: Photos
As promised, photos from our hike up Mt Nyiragongo: At the first rest stop, and still blissfully unaware of the pain that lay ahead We walked for miles (well, 8km, but it was very steep…), at times through thick mist We had views of Nyiragongo’s secondary crater And another mountain nearby What we saw at … Continue reading
Mt. Nyiragongo
This time last week I was in pain. A lot of pain. This time last week I had just descended the most active volcano in Africa. Mt Nyiragongo lies on the outskirts of Goma, and has erupted twice in recent history: 2002 and 1977. The most recent eruption displaced 400,000 people from Goma town, left … Continue reading
where the heart is 