ENGLAND AGAIN!!

Wow ..... so now I'm back in England which all feels very odd after a month! Its light a bit late here which is very confusing after a month of it getting light really early haha (: & its been SO hot here compared to that last day in SA!! Haha (: 


Its been such an amazing & eye opening experience I don't even know where to begin. The country is so different, yet so similar. So modern yet so old. So rich yet so poor. Its all very strange. It has been such a fantastic opportunity, & I am SO glad I went, & had the option to do it! I would love to go back one day, maybe even live there. 


Everyone I have met has been so friendly and helpful. I couldn't have asked for anything more.


A massive thank you to Anna at the Guesthouse, who was lovely & looked after me. She was so kind, & always made sure I was OK! Lovely to be able to stay somewhere I felt safe & welcome.


An even bigger thank you to the people who made this possible! Thank you to Ian & Brian who managed to take time out their extremely busy schedules to organise my time out in SA, & did so very well indeed! I can't thank them both enough for all that they have done for me.


Thanks to Tony, Trish & Dad for being able to fuel my idea & getting the ball rolling! Without the 3 of you, none of this would have been possible in the first place so thanks!! Trish - thank you for taking the time to contact all the right people, & for caring about making my experience worthwhile!


Thanks to the staff at the 3 clinics/hospitals I spent time at. To Ian at Helen Jospeh, Gillian & Briony at ACTS, and Evah & Esther at Witbank. To all the friendly and lovely people who managed to put up with me for a few hours or days at all 3 places a big thank you! You have all taught me so much, & every single person I met couldn't have been nicer to me, or more willing to teach me something new about their fantastic country.


To Nicola & Kat in JoBurg, and Meghan at ACTS - thanks girls for taking the time out to take me out! All very worthwhile & different experiences! Very good to spend some time with the locals doing something! I would have been so bored without all you guys!! (: 


& very importantly a MASSIVE thank you to Mummy & Daddy Bird for making my dreams come true (: nothing I can do will ever make up for this so from the bottom of my heart the biggest thank you ever!


& to all of you reading this ... thanks for taking the time to follow my adventure!! Its certainly been the best time of my life, & being able to share it has been wicked :D so thanks to you all for your support & hope you have enjoyed reading about my travels as much as I have enjoyed doing them!!


Love to all!
Amy xxx

Melville :D

& time to RELAX!! Spent the last 2 days just chilling out mostly! Went round to the people who had helped me organise to say thank you in the morning which was lovely (:


& then took Mum & Dad out to Rosebank to the African Markets! Was lovely & I got lots of presents & souvenirs :D hehe (: was very nice!! Am getting good at bargaining! We went for the dinner with the 2 people we had met on safari which was really nice (:


& on friday it was a bit chilly!! Very nippy so we wrapped up warm & went for a walk round Melville & just filled in the day which was actually very nice (: was a good way to end the holiday of a lifetime! We went back to our favorite Cafe for lunch so that was nice too!


Fly tonight!

SAFARI :D

(Saturday - Wednesday)


WOW what a brilliant experience :D loved every minute of it & defo have to go back sometime sooooon :D hehe (:


The camp we stayed in with Tydon Safaris was lovely (: a tented camp with only 6 tents so was small & quiet.....listening to the African bush was amazing :D the tents had toilets & showers hehe (: but at night it was lovely to sit around the camp fire & eat food cooked on the fire in a traditional African bush way! & the guides were very lovely (:


First day we went out on a night drive which was wicked (: we saw Giraffe & Rhinos, & I got to hold a Chameleon :D hehe! We were just driving along & he stopped and just got it out the tree haha (: it was funny! He didn't wanna let go of my hand either hehe (: & the Giraffe's were amazing up close to see :D very lucky....although once it got dark it was a bit chilly!!


On the second day we went off into the Kruger for the day. It was fantastic, & we saw SO many animals which was wicked! The suspense as to what you're going to see next is brilliant hehe (: we saw Zebras, Giraffes, Elephants, Hippos, Lions, lots of Birds etc etc! Was excellent :D we saw Elephant's crossing the river & then they was a herd of about 20 in front of us! Was brilliant! The Fish Eagles were really amazing they're sooooo large its unbelievable but they are very beautiful birds to see :D


The third day we did a bush walk back in Sabi Sands in the morning! We left before sunrise & it was lovely. Seeing the sunrise was amazing. We didn't really see any animals but it was quite cool to be wondering around! We  found a Kudo tooth which I bough home hehe (: Its massive!! We tried to track some Elephant's, but we got to the end of the camps land & we coudn't go any further! It was pretty cool though (: we then got to chill for the afternoon in the sunshine at the camp which was very nice (: in the evening we went on another drive in Sabi & saw all the big 5!!!!! As we came in we saw Buffalo, & the guide sat me up on the front of the truck in the spotters seat & we drove right up to them!! It was amazing to be so close to them!! He then told me afterwards they're the most dangerous of the big 5!! Aaahhh!! We then saw the Black Rhino who was a bit fierce, and couldn't decide whether to run at us or not!!! & then we saw 3 lions lying down happily on the land next door. Then once it got dark we came across a whole big herd of Elephants! He put the lights off & we sat in the dark listening to them chomping and walking. They make such little noise for the size of them when they walk!! Its amazing (: but me & mum were a bit worried they were gunna creep up behind us hahahaha (: then as we were driving back to camp a Leopard just walked out in front of us, followed by a second one! We pulled off the road to follow them & they mated in front of us!!!!! We then followed for a bit which was amazing (: Dad loves them :D


The forth day we spent back in Kruger, & again we were very lucky & saw lots. The weather was very dull & cold so we all wrapped in blankets on the truck :D hehe (: we saw Giraffes fighting each other, & we actually heard the whack as they hit each other with their necks which was a bit gross!!! We saw Ostrich which are apparently rare in the Kruger, & a Sabel which is rare too!


On the last day we took a scenic route home, & saw out of Gods Window & lots of other pretty scenery. We also stopped at a place for some yummy waffles :D hehe


A big massive thanks to the guides at Tydon for a wonderful experience!! I defo wanna go back again :D hehe (:

NOAH (Nuturing Orphans of Aids for Humanity)

(Friday) Spent the morning with the charity NOAH. & it was soooo good!! Such an amazing & worthwhile charity. Theres around 100 Arks (as they're named) looking after approx 200,000 children who have been orphaned through AIDs, or who are vulnerable. They provide pre-school facilities and then an after school club too. 


I went to one Ark, and met the children who were sooooo happy & smiley it was unbelievable. These are children who have very little or nothing in the world & they are the happiest children I've ever met! They sang us songs & danced which was really cute & funny to see (:


We then went onto a second Ark just to look around at a smaller site. This one was self-funding, so had a bakery oven to provide bread & scones to the local community! It was really good to see. The Arks also have their own vegetable patches to teach the children about the importance of food, and to grow their own things!


I then got to go back to the first place & spend playtime with the Kids. It was brilliant. They all wanted to touch me & hug me & hold my hand & play with me!! It was so lovely. They were very sweet & happy. They all wanted to play with me so we got to do skipping, the limbo & Whats the Time Mr Lion which was really funny listening to them all laugh & squeal! 


Such a fantastic & amazing experience! So very lucky to have had the opportunity to spend some time with them in this way. I couldn't have asked for anything better!

Mummy, Daddy & Apartheid!

(Thursday) I got picked up at 8 today so got a bit of a lie in haha (: & got driven back to Melville. Where of course mum & dad were waiting for me!!!! Was wicked to see them & have some company .... 3 weeks is definately a long time to spend in a place so far from home on your own! Had so much to tell them was brillant (: Is also pretty strange now I have got so used to being here it feels like home & just feels like they've come to visit like they do when I'm at uni :P haha!!


We went to the Apartheid Museum, which was just WOW! Most of it having happened long before my lifetime, I had not quite realised the full extent to all the problems faced here. They really did have a tough time of it, & it illustrate to me yet again how lucky we really are in the UK to not have had to live through such segregation & violence. Mandela really has been an amazing influence to these people, which was illustrated to me on Monday when it was Nelson Mandela Day. Was brilliant & just so eye opening to see. My favourtie quote from Mandela was:


"To be free is not merely to cast off ones chains but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others"


& then we had yummy dinner :D off to bed now as have to be up early again! Being picked up at 6:45 to go to a breakfast charity dinner and spend the day in Soweto with the NOAH charity! Looking forward to it (:

Wards (:

(Wednesday) Today I spent most of my time on the wards. It was soooo interesting to compare to the UK, & to be able to see more problems which are faced in this line of work. The ward is split up into medical & surgical patients. The surgical patients all had bad burns or wounds from the coal. It made me realise even more the importance of their occ health system. The wounds were worse than any I've seen before, & these are seen regularly at the hospital! The medical patients were mostly those with badly controlled hyperglycaemia or hypertension, although there was a stroke patient & a psychotic patient too! It was really interesting to see the nursing care for these patients! They all wore the ACHH pyjamas all day, which I found very strange to see as in the UK we now encourage patients to bring in their own PJs to wear, & encourage those who are able to get dressed to do so during the day. The patients just looked so weird & all the same in their same generic uniform, like an old fashioned institute! They seemed to have no real identity for themselves which I found quite different indeed! I also got a chance to go into the TB ward & see the patients there. Its amazing (: its all negative pressure so the doors only open once the others are shut and so on in order to prevent the spread of disease. All visitors and nurses have to wear masks in to help prevent spread too. Its so posh & modern ... a sharp contarst to the rural areas & government hospitals! I got to join in the Drs round which was wicked too, as I got to listen some more to the diagnosis and treatment of all the patients to gain a better understanding of it all! They don't have many women in the hospital, so if any are admitted the tend to be kept in the side rooms away from the men! Again segregated wards, most of which no longer exist in the UK! Chatting to the nurses was great & they've all been SO friendly & welcoming to me. They love to teach me their knowledge, & love to hear about the UK from me! They still can't believe I'm not cold :P hehe! They were so lovely to me, & made me promise to come back again one day! We will see!!! 


Seeing Mummy & Daddy tomorrow (: wwwwooooo!!

Mines, Wards & Occ Health!

(Tuesday) Today has been a pretty mixed day & I've managed to do a bit of everything!! Haha (:


Spent the morning in the mining clinic at Kriel mine with one of the Drs. Tuesday is their chronic day, so there was a lot of patients with problems such as hyperglycaemia & hypertension. The Dr doesn't see too many patients, but spends the time checking the chest X-Rays from the occ health checks. All of the mine employees have to have an occupational health check every year to be approved to do the job they do. They have their eyesight checked, their hearing checked, a chest X-Ray done, urinalysis (to detect drugs too), vital signs checked and see the Dr or nurse. I found the strictness of the whole thing quite interesting, as if they fail their work cards are blocked so they can't get into the mines, making it more necessary for them to make the changes needed in order to pass! The strict rules mean their health is kept in check and keep them fit for work! The X-Rays illustrate any early signs of TB or silicosis, that can be treated so that they aren't spread. The Dr then has to decide if the employee is fit for work or if aspects of their jobs need to be changed. Pregnant women aren't allowed to opperate heavy machines, work below ground or work in high noise so their jobs often need changing once they discover they are pregnant. I got to see what normal CXRs were, and what the signs of TB to look out for where! Old TB also shows up on X-Ray so this needs investigating before the person is signed off.


After we got back to ACHH, I spent a bit of time in the ward with the nurses. Its pretty quiet, as they are trying to steer away from having in-patients in the hospital as obviously its better for everyone if they are out working! The explained the admission process to me (all patients come in via casualty down the corridor before being admitted to the ward) & then I got to help do an ECG! They didn't really understand how I didn't know how to do it....as even their students take bloods and run drips! But it was a good experience to be taught, even though neither of us could read the end result!!!


I then went over to the Occ Health department, to see the process in work! The Dr had said to me its like walking in one door & out the other, although I didn't quite realise to what extent this is true! You literally walk in one door, round all the different rooms having different tests and then go back out the other door :P !! They get realllly busy & can see upto 120 patients a day!! Craaazzzyyy! (: but the process is so interesting, as I can't think of anywhere in the UK that is so thorough at checking their employees health so regularly! They may check as you start work, but certainly don't re-check for any problems yearly! So great to see such an amazing initiative in a less developed country than our own.