Month: September 2007

  • Down river

    —

    by

    Sam
    in

    We were up early today for some tourist activities. We went out into the bush a little bit to see birds and to get some breakfast. I’m not much of a birdwatcher, but it was good to get into some dugout canoes and to see some of the countryside. It’s a hell of a contrast…

  • Dirty cash

    —

    by

    Sam
    in

    Filthy, sweaty money. Just like me.

  • Pool time

    —

    by

    Sam
    in

    After a very long morning meeting, we’re finally getting some well deserved pool time. Nobody works on friday afternoon in The Gambia. Well, except us. And probably taxi drivers. But at least we’re working beside the pool in shorts and t-shirt. Taxis held together by rust and dust. African Atlantic. Pool side. Don’t forget to…

  • Contrasts

    —

    by

    Sam
    in

    It has surely been a day of contrasts today. After spending the morning at the Medical School and the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital we visited the MRC’s base in The Gambia. The RVTH is very poorly funded (for example the pathology labs have only H+E staining only, and manual histological processing – imagine how this…

  • Dragged Away

    —

    by

    Sam
    in

    We had a brief break from work this afternoon & managed to get to the pool between meetings. Its hot & humid. Think white man from the Welsh climate stuck inside a West African hospital & think sweaty. Then imagine a pool, with bar, shady brollies, and a cool breeze. Then the sun came out!…

  • Anatomy Teaching

    —

    by

    Sam
    in

    I thought I’d got out of teaching anatomy on Monday, in Swansea at least. Prof. Menendez and the anatomy lecturer here in the Gambian School of Medicine have roped me into teaching the 3rd year students in a 1 and a half hour slot on Monday morning (at about the same time as I would…

  • Arrived

    —

    by

    Sam
    in

    We safely arrived in The Gambia and the hotel after many hours and much tipping of Gambians. The flight was very picturesque, passing south over England, crossing France, the Bay of Biscay, flying over Portugal or Spain, and then north Africa down to Gambia and Banjul. Today, we met with our Gambian counterparts in a…

  • Banjul

    —

    by

    Sam
    in

    I’m off to Banjul tonight for a week. I’ll be switching my mobile phone off to avoid the roaming charges (because I can guarantee that my Mum will ring me and it’ll cost me £10 to remind her that I’m in Africa) but should still be able to Skype Out and remain in contact while…

  • Jack at the range

    —

    by

    Sam
    in ,

    Jack wanted to come to the driving range with me so I bought him a junior club about the right size for him, gave him a bucket of balls and let him at it. He’s pretty good, but he doesn’t half get through a bucket of balls quickly!

  • Clinical Skills Video Podcast

    —

    by

    Sam
    in ,

    In addition to downloading specially crafted clinical skills training videos from Blackboard (if you’re a Swansea University medicine student) you can now access them through iTunes in a format ready for your portable video player. More videos will be released through the teaching year. Subscribe to the video podcast using iTunes.