On 12th October, I will be going to Sierra Leone to work in the Ministry of Health for two months. The picture behind the blog heading is apparently of a beach near Freetown and I find it difficult to reconcile with what I am reading about the challenges facing a country that was so badly butchered in a civil war that finished only seven years ago. It is, by all accounts, a friendly, safe and beautiful place, but it struggles at the very bottom of the UN Development Index (ranked 179 out of 182). About 3 times bigger than Wales, and with a population around twice the size, health services are non-existent in many areas with hospitals and clinics struggling with an almost total lack of trained staff. My role (I think) will be to support the development and implementation of a plan for training and supporting the staff they need. I just hope I can find a way to make myself useful.
