How time flies....we’ve been out here for 3 months now, working as doctors and mentors to the nurses and CHOs (community health officers) who form the backbone of the district hospitals in Sierra Leone.

Adèle is based at Masanga Hospital, previously a leprosarium and now a medical and surgical centre for its rural district. Tom is at the paediatric department of Magburaka Government Hospital nearby - just 10 miles away by mountain bike!

Every day we are both struck by the enormous challenges faced by families: those who have emptied their pockets to bring their dying relative to hospital on the back of a motorbike; mothers too malnourished to breastfeed their infants; a family who was unable to afford the bus fare to the capital to provide the ongoing care for their baby’s heart condition.

In a place where the average meal of rice and stewed potato leaves costs 5000 Leones (70p), a motorbike ride from the local village £2, and the return bus fare to the capital for a family only £12, it seems only human for us to help by giving a little money here and there. Whilst hospital level care for pregnant women and children is generally free, there are many other costs that create barriers to accessing safe healthcare.

The healthcare staff here are inspiring. Many have struggled against all odds- from surviving a long and brutal civil war to pulling together through the recent Ebola epidemic. Some of them are enrolled as “volunteers”, supporting their families with the hope that their efforts will one day be rewarded. We are providing them with theoretical and hands on training, following the framework set out by the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and the WHO.

If you could help by donating a few pounds (or euros!) we’ll continue to be able help to make the lives of our patients and their families a little easier, whilst continuing to train and motivate the nursing staff to take pride in the tireless work that they do.

Thank you!
Much love,
Adèle & Tom