End of Week 2 at the VHW Course

The students on the Village Health Worker (VHW) training course are settling into their routine now. I think some of them wondered what on earth they had signed up for originally, as some of them have done very little study in their life-times. They have given us feedback that the information they are receiving is very useful and interesting though. 

We got our photo in the Daily Post a few days after our opening ceremony. That's me in the back row a bit to the right of centre (with the pale face!).

I have been busy in the back office preparing resources for use in class and helping with marking etc. Here is one of the activities we got them to do - deciding which dimension of health various things belong in. There was Physical and Emotional as well as those shown in this photo. Someone has to print and cut up all the little pieces of paper and draw up the flip-charts while Judy and Nicola are in class teaching.

 Role plays are also used. Most were pretty shy at first, but they are getting into it more now. One woman is a very good actress and her portrayals have had the whole class in fits of laughter!

 On Thursday we started on the Anatomy and Physiology module, and we took the class down to the School of Nursing at the hospital (only 5 minutes walk from Korvan) where they have a life-size skeleton.  Nicola and Judy had to give him a bit of TLC to get his head, oops, skull to stay up - he is a bit the worse for wear and has cellotape holding some of his bones together. Hope that isn't what they use on live patients 😬.

One of the lecture rooms at the Nursing school. Our students all wore their Korvan shirts which they are required to do for any field trips - don't they look smart.

Elder Kim originally from Korea, then New Zealand, now living in Vanuatu, is their lecturer for this module. He helped build Korvan and has done lots of good work in the area of health and education. He is very knowledgeable on this subject and very interesting and entertaining to listen to. The only problem is that he is used to teaching at a much higher level than the VHW course, so he is trying to fit in way too much detail.

Everyone loves a skeleton,

including me 😆.

Meat and Sweet Night

Martyn and I attend the ICC men's and women's Bible study groups regularly. Every so often the men have a MEAT night (Men Eating Animals Together) and the women have a dessert night at some other time. Last Wednesday Pastor Dave and his wife Julie decided to have a combined evening at their home. 

There were plenty of desserts on offer, and plenty of meat, and one lonely vegetable dish 😆. I normally love vegetables but it was cucumber, so none of that for me thank you!

Martyn enjoyed his meal, as did Gilbert who is a Kiwi long-term resident of Vanuatu.

A couple of the younger men, Marcus and Aaron, thoroughly enjoyed manning the BBQ.

Saturday Cleaning Day

Saturday is our house cleaning day.  Being the man of the house I get to do the technical jobs like cleaning the fan , which involves dismantling the fan to make it easier to clean the parts. I might regret that sentence 😏

The first photo is the fan (without the grille) before I cleaned the fan.  The build up is from just several months dust and grime.  It doesn't take long in the tropical climate for the dust to stick to the fan.  The humid, and at times dusty conditions cause the dust to build up quickly.

Before shot, in case you ask 😊. The grille is also covered in dust and fluff

After shot. I removed both back and front grilles, blades and base to give it a good clean.

Unusual Parking Tropical Corner Port Vila

An unusual sight this morning on the Tropical Corner roundabout ( I know, how can a corner also be a round about? It just is, okay 😉).

This unfortunate bus driver and bus ended up on top of the roundabout. Originally it was lying on its side. When we arrived at the roundabout the bus had been righted but not removed.  I don't know how seriously hurt anyone who was in the bus was.  No doubt we will find out in tomorrow's Daily Post.

The first photo was taken by Neville Jones, before we arrived at the round about.

When we arrived at the roundabout the van had been righted onto its wheels

Second Hand Goods Sale PCV Health

On Friday PCV Health ran a second hands goods sale to raise funds for the PCV Health Eye and Dental Clinic. Great turnout, good work PCV Health Team