Hello, such a nice surprise to be able to use the Internet! i have to warn you though, that it it particularly dodgy, It is something half resembling a computer and has been rigged up by a Cuban doctor, so will see how it goes!

So where to start... my journey here was pretty exciting, well at first anyhow, but it soon became torturous! it was long, the road was rubbish, it was boiling hot and the truck was so crowded, and every few hundred yards we were stopped by the military, at first i was terrified as they looked like rebels, all cameoed up with guns and ammo belts! they would come on to the truck and shout a lot, search some bags then get off and we would drive on, only to do it all again 10mins down the road! i never did completely work out what was happening, but i think they were checking if we were rebels! Anyway, we weren't and they went and i made it here!

The day i arrived here there was a terrible accident, a family of 6 were crossing the river, when the small child threw an orange at a hippo, the hippo got angry and capsized the boat, all died apart from one. Its terrible, you know they didn't even die from the hippo, they drowned. I later learnt that only 20% of the Gambians can swim!

I spend most of my time completely paranoid about hippos, crocks, hyeneas, snakes, and so on... the local kids have this crazy game where they stand on the river bank making hippo noises, until the hippos come, then they run away!

I can't tell you how hot it is here, i have been completely zapped of energy, when i'm not working I'm sleeping, its pretty tough, i feel pretty unwell the whole time, i guess it doesn't help when my diet consists of rice in oil and water! I can find oranges in the market but apart from that my only option is the rice, and if I'm lucky sometimes with this weird sauce they make from leaves! Oh yeh.... you can buy bags of sugar, so i eat that along with the rice of course! sometimes if I'm feeling adventurous i even mix the sugar and the rice together!

The mode of transport in my village is donkey and carriage, but i feel so bad for the poor donkeys, i choose to walk most of the time. Other than donkeys we have goats, but we don't seem to have any goat meat come to think of it, i will investigate that now i think of it! dogs, a few mangy cats and of course not forgetting the bugs, which i swear are 10 times bigger than anywhere else in the world and a whole lot more poisonous!

Okay so work....

I have been based at the hospital so far, although its very basic i am a lot happier by the care given here. People here are a lot friendlier and seem to respect patients dignity more than they do in the city. Unfortunately, we are so far from anywhere and resources are limited, so in the words of the staff....'we do what we can, and the rest is to to mercy of Allah'

I had a fairly mental day today, i delivered a baby with no eyes. I was so shocked, it had these bulging red sacs of puss protruding the eye sockets which people then began to poke. i requested this baby went on antibiotics and contacted a surgeon to look at the baby, but it was hopeless, i was told that God would choose the destiny of this child. My opinion was that actually medical help would help to determine this child's outcome but this was overrided! It's so sad, and really breaks my heart, but what can i do?

Today i also assisted in theatre, conducting my first cesarean section! it was a lady with placenta previa, it was crazy, mid operation the electricity went off, so we are in darkness, i ask what now and I'm calmly told ' no problem' then someone appears with a torch and we continue the operation! both mum and baby are well!

There are a load of Cuban doctors here, it makes work even more interesting as it seems no one can speak the same language! but they are a lot of fun and have invited me to some Cuban party they are having at the weekend! i have been promised cigars, rum and salsa! Its pretty ironic, I'm here in what feels like the remotest part of Africa, speaking pigeon English, Spanish and the local language Mandinka, soon to smoke a Cuban cigar, whilst dancing salsa to African drums!!!

I hope your all having fun in the snow, i heard about it on the radio, totally crazy! sending you all my tightest hugs, Kate xxx