Final week in Mulanje

It was great to return to male ward for my last week, although it was hard to believe it was in fact my last week. Loved being back with the dream team of Cecilia, George and Major. Having been at the hospital for almost six weeks I really felt part of the team. It was an fantastic experience for me to be able to work independently and continue developing the skills I had learnt since being at MMH. As with female ward, we were a nurse down in my last week so it was just me and Cecilia - my nursing mentor - and as a result we were kept busy and the week soon flew by and before I knew it I was on duty for the last time.

I couldn't of asked for a better nursing mentor than Cecilia. Despite me being seven years older than her, not to mention double her height, she took me under her wing from day one and made me feel so welcome on Male Ward. Both Cecilia and George took so much time to teach me and make me feel part of the male ward family.

Cecilia, George and I - Dream Team

Some gifts for Cecilia and Male Ward

I was so sad to finish my placement at MMH and there were some tears shed when Cecilia and I exchanges gifts, signed off all my assessment documents and said goodbye.

Gifts from Cece

After finishing up our shifts on Friday, we still had our final HIV/AIDs workshop the following morning. This was the fourth and final workshop in series and the kids didn't let us down by turning up in large numbers again. As this was our last week, we decided to run an activity that would bring all the information we had discussed in previous weeks together. To do this, we split the participants into smaller groups and gave them the best part of an hour to create a role play that would demonstrate their knowledge. As usual, everyone got involved and the plays were amazing. The highlight had the group who including a post-sex celebratory dance. After watching all the plays, the group as a whole voted for their winner and then it was time for some photos, goodbyes and some dancing for the last time.

It has to be said that we couldn't have done these workshops had it not been for the help of Juliana and Peter, two student nurses from the hospitals's nursing college. So after the last workshop, it was time to take them out for lunch and thank them for all their hard work. 

Thankyou Pizza and our last meal at Mulanje Pepper