Apologies for the delay in recent postings, but I have been a little busy and unable to get to the internet. As some of you already know I am still trying to get a phone line at home so that I can get internet but since the previous volunteer, who was living in the same house, was also trying to get it sorted I am preparing for a long wait, apparently it is not as easy as you may think….I am hoping that you don’t have to wait for someone to move on or worse before you get one….anyway as a result there is a little bit more than usual to read all in one go, maybe get a cup of tea or a snack to help you through!….so this week I have been to Suddie and Charity, which is in Region 2. To get there you have to get to Parika and then get a “speedboat” across the river, I say “speedboat” to simply remove the thought of a luxury white yacht from your minds, if you ask me this was actually more fun (well on the way there anyway…more about the way back in a bit).

So once they have squeezed as many people onto the boat as possible and you fix your lifejacket you are off, across the river, taking about 50 minutes. At the other side you are met by several people who are all trying to convince you that “no really… they have the best car” to take you on the next stage of your journey. We made our choice and were then off to Suddie to visit the local hospital. There we chatted for a bit with some of the Rehabilitation Assistants about a few cases and writing clinical notes etc. before setting off again to Charity to check out our accommodation for the next few nights and the venue of our workshop. All looked good so we settled for the night. The following day we awoke to what sounded like a bottle bank and a cockerel inside our room (makes a change from the dogs anyway!) so we gave up trying to sleep, showered and went to see about breakfast…….50 minutes later 4 slices of white bread on a plate arrived for each of us….several requests later we received our knife and then some minutes later some butter and then some jam….you get the idea! Anyway we took a short walk down the road and starting setting up….(on the way into the hospital I spotted a nice sign which I thought I would share, not sure why it made me smile as obviously the subject matter isn’t exactly funny but I hope that you share my slight amusement). The workshop was for Community Health Workers, working in the more out of reach places, some we later heard were travelling many miles home by boat after the workshop had finished. The day was based around early identification and intervention. It went pretty well but it was difficult to pitch it right so that we could provide advice about interventions that the audience were actually in a position to deliver, some rightly highlighted that although one of our aims was to support them in referring their patients to the rehab centre in Suddie that many patients would be unable to make the journey as it was too far and/or they did not have the funds to pay. Anyway in general the day was a relative success, the audience particularly enjoyed the activity where they got to experience what it was like to be visually impaired and thinking about what clinical clues may be present to suggest different developmental disorders and disabilities. Following the workshop we predicted that we would be a little tired and not necessarily in the mood to travel so we stayed another night with the plan to set off home in the morning. Before returning over the river we took a short stop at one of the “black water” (if you ask me it is more brown!) creeks. Due to the rain, which had already fallen pretty hard in the morning, and the dark clouds overhead I chickened out of a swim but others took the opportunity whilst I had a nice sit and chat (no sip unfortunately) with some of the locals. It was then back to the boat where we spent a large part of the journey sheltering under a large piece of tarpaulin as the torrential rain fell…..hard! We arrived back to shore a little wetter than before but it was in hindsight fairly painless…..if truth be told it was actually nice for a change to be wet from the rain rather than the sweat (mmm nice…sorry!)

Saturday the 8th (which at the time of writing is today for me) was the climax to the week of activities associated with international day of the disabled. Following our regular sign language class we headed off to one of the local colleges to see a variety of performances from different disabled persons. There were some children from the David Rose school where I work doing dances and some poetry in sign language, which was really nice. Some other persons who are blind did various things like singing and telling some rather amusing stories about their experiences of living with disabilities. The concert was really enjoyable although I have to say there were a few moments when a few of the (blind) persons got a little bit close to the end of the stage for my liking which slightly distracted me from their performances….fortunately however there were no causalities! As I draw tonight’s instalment to a close I am getting ready to watch the “big fight” (though I have to say I am getting a bit bored and I am not sure I am going to make it!), for me this involves watching through a very snowy screen as the channel is not one of the best, but I think I will be able to get the basic idea…if I last that long! So for now…. ta da to you all, be good and be happy, lots of love.