Hello
there everyone
Apologies,
yet again I have failed at my monthly target to update this blog, so I am now
sitting in an airport transit lounge in Nairobi en route from Tanzania finally
finding time to write an update for both August and September. Life just does
not seem to stop at the moment for us.
In the last blog, the end of July represented the end of clinical work for
us in Malawi to enable us both to focus on our research and writing for the
remainder of our time here. We have both felt a huge sense of relief, as for both of us juggling effectively two jobs each for 2-3 years, one clinical
and one research/study has been pretty stressful and draining. The last 3 years of clinical work have
been very interesting and we have both learnt so much medicine since arriving
here in 2010, it is good to take a breather. On our to do list before we leave is a budget camping safari
around Zimbabwe and Zambia, so to test our toddler camping skills (us, not
Joshi) we went to Majete for the night with our tent. Overall we had a lovely
time, although we made several basic errors including not putting up a divide
between Joshi and ourselves, so when he woke up in the night instead of
cuddling his ellie and going back to sleep, he wanted to play and chat. But we
were able to get up for a dawn safari in majete, eat croissants overlooking the
waterhole and then come back to the campsite for as swim, it made up for the sleep deprivation.
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| Sundowners at our tent on the banks of the Shire |
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| camping is cool mummy |
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| Shire river in the early morning |
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| Battleur eagles chatting |
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| Tasty snack for a male Nyala |
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| Croc and hippo watching with Daddy |
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| Proper bush sunset |
But our big
roadtrip plan has been slightly altered by the wonderful news that Nick and
Helena will be getting married on the 21st of December, so we hope
to manage some but not all of the trip. The wedding is to be in Dulwich picture
gallery, a fabulous location in South London and I can’t wait……being away means
I will miss the hen and the dress shopping, but being there for the big day
will be amazing.
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| Champagne wave - so happy to celebrate the big news in person |
Helena and
Nick told us their news over dinner while we were in London on a mad 12 night
trip where we attempted to see many of the people we miss so much, plus get work done,
plus help our families with ongoing issues that are much easier to talk about
face to face than on the phone on a dodgy connection. We spent 2 nights at my
parents cottage in Kent, Joshi and Mum loved rushing around seeing the cows and playing
in pub gardens, and we enjoyed all the culinary delights of the region – so
much so we each gained 2kg in 2 weeks – eek. We saw lots of friends and family at
the traditional Dreyer BBQ for which we were blessed with wonderful sunshine,
and overall the sight of London in the summer ensured that we think it will
look the same in Feb…………..we hope J
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| Mr and Mrs Traub with Mr and Mrs Dreyer |
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| games with Grandpa |
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| Granny pggyback |
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| With Jo, Alex, Oscar and baby Rafa, the day before he was born |
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| posh lunch with Alec |
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| South Bank playtime in the sunshine |
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| Lovely Leo |
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| Hiking in the Kent marshes |
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| the boy who loves to be outdoors, anywhere |
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| lets slide like worms mummy |
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| amazing pub garden for lunch - England at its finest in the sunshine |
I managed to get to Liverpool for work for one night, and saw Rob and Jules with their lovely family of now 3 children. The last year has been tough for them as their new son has had some health issues, it was lovely to see him growing and playing with his sisters.
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| Handsome Mr H |
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| Gorgeous girls |
When we zoomed home to Malawi we went straight off to the lake for the MLW annual scientific meeting, our feet hardly touching Blantyre en route. I did manage to make it to my study nurse Madalitso's wedding before the meeting, an eye-opening experience into Malawian culture and etiquette. I turned up to the church only to find her family there and none of my colleagues, then made it to the reception where we gave our gifts and danced around throwing money at the bride and groom to music. I lost my work friends and thought I was being rude for leaving after emptying my wallet and lasting 2 hours, they told me afterwards they stayed 10 minutes and that is allowed! SO different to an English wedding. I am so happy for Mada, she looked gorgeous and really enjoyed her day.
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| Bride and groom with family |
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| My study nurses Gloria, Vero and Lucy with friends bring gifts |
This year’s MLW annual meeting was the most enjoyable of the 4 that I have attended. All the talks were great, as was the pool-side socializing for us and for Joshi – who spent 4 days hanging out with most of his BT mates, dancing at the disco, having dinner on the beach and swimming in the pool. I gave a talk about some work I have been doing for my PhD that went down well, and the most work was done at the pool-side bar at the end of the day, the best place to have a meeting with a supervisor.
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| Hard working PIs at the pool |
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| sunset football at Club Mak with Daddy |
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| Kid's beach picnic with Sam, Yona, Amos and others |
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| boogie on down at the Kid's disco |
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| Nearly all the Liverpool Wellcome Trust Tropical Centre clinical PhD fellows 2013, plus Professors David and Rob, centre managers Kate and James, and MLW manager Danielle |
Sadly just after getting back we had the news that the indefatigable Granny Min had passed away in Joburg at the amazing age of 102 years, and we were lucky that Gav’s contacts in SAA in Blantyre let him use his airmiles to get the last seat on the plane to Joburg with 24 hours notice to get to the funeral. I know it meant so much to everyone that he and Mike both made the trip, Joshi and I were so sad not to go too, but we managed a daily skype to everyone who made it to the funeral. She was a wonderful woman and will be sadly missed.
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| Four generations of Dreyers in March 2013. We will all miss you Min |
While Gav was away I co-hosted our first bbq of the season with our friends Maaike and Walter with the help of their daughter, Joshi’s mate Noor. All the kids loved the games and food and most of the adults relaxed with drinks on the khondi. We were especially happy to welcome baby Ruby, Jo and Dave’s new daughter and a perfect little angel along with her sister Lola who is mates with Joshi. After first meeting Ruby, Joshi asked me ‘can I have a baby sister please’ J
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| Jo and Ruby aged 5 weeks |
Joshi is back at nursery for the new term, and is acquiring new skills every day, our favourite is his spontaneous imaginary games and chat, and we have been celebrated leaving day time nappies behind. He is so articulate and chatty, when I told him in London he was full of beans, he replied ‘no mummy, I am full of carrots’ J. His obsession with cars, tractors, trucks and motorbikes continues unabated, we could hardly move in London for him wanting to stop and watch another vehicle. I loved seeing him play with my friends children in London and it is so good to know we are going home to friends with toddlers the same age who will help him settle in to UK life.
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| On Clapham Common with Max, Issie and Holly |
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| Train driving with Issie and Max |
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| Body painting (started off as finger painting, ended in the paddling pool) |
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| Joshi and Lola at La Caverna |
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| Feeding the school camel with Lola and Ruby |
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| the best bit about making chocolate brownies |
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| Karen's birthday in Majete |
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| temperature in the shade in Majete |
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| Joshi and Pemphero |
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| Joshi and Pemphero with Annie and Mummy |
Gav and I passed each other in Chileka as he came back from Joburg and I went off to Tanzania to teach for a week, the fourth year we have been teaching on the East African Diploma of Tropical Medicine, a great experience as always. The course this year has 70 students, 70% pay a full fee and 30% are subsidized doctors from the E.African region and this year there was a fantastic vibe on the course and teaching isn’t too difficult when you have enthusiastic motivated students, good organization, teaching with Joe and Jamie – mates from UK ID training, and cold beers overlooking Kilimanjaro every evening.
Lots of love to all
Emma, Gavin and Joshi J
