It's when they throw you in the deep end that you realise how deep that place really is.

So I considered waiting until the end of the week to make a structured analysis about my first week at work. I'm half way there and I've definately seen enough to blog about it.

If being told that you are the Lead Physio of a hospital 2 days into your job isn't the scariest thing, that's worrying. Let me place you all in the same page as me: I just graduated, this is my first job, I have never seen most of the paediatric conditions I am currently treating, in fact I have never treated a child in my life and I am living in a country very different to back home. Oh, did I mention that none of my patients speak A WORD OF ENGLISH? I have never mimed so much in my life. I have never relied so much on a little piece of paper as the one I have in my pocket with some life-saving words I have picked up.

Nevertheless, I have never had so much fun in a room with people who don't understand me and I don't understand them! Although it gets very tough trying to get your message across it is extremely rewarding when you succeed. Not only do the mothers of the children appreciate the effort I'm making at speaking their language, I also manage to crack a smile from most children because of how ridiculous my Chichewa is. Having a flexible timetable is also a great help, because it means I can take my sweet time with anyone I want- UK's NHS, you and your limited-15mins-with-patients SUCK.

It's unbelievable how much these patients rely on the hospital. These are people who will not eat to be able to get a bus to come to the appointment. A bus which costs 50cents or less. They sometimes may not even attend because of lack of money to travel (let me point out that Cure Hospital charges adults but treats every child for free. At the moment, most of my work is with these children that visit me in morning with their parents.) Some live in villages up to 4hours away, but will make the effort because they trust us. It's a pretty big deal, and this is an incredible motivation for me to do my best while I'm out here.

Ofcourse I feel lost, I'm still trying to find my feet. I complained to my Malawian friend at the hospital who just smiled and said "Palipevuto Laura. That means, No Worries."