My aspiration to travel north to south across Africa has been interrupted by 30 years and the need to grow up and settle down. The aspiration started on a train in Egypt in 1988/9. The trip from Cairo to Aswan was 24 hours of ‘challenging travel’. Vic Aspey my travelling companion three decades ago reminded me that I always seemed to choose the worst way to travel. However, on this occasion I chose the second worst. The absolute worst was on the roof of the train. Our 1988 trip was in a close quarters with a warm in many ways crowd of fellow passengers, on a hard seat built for two and shared by four. There were chickens flying around the train carriage, an unusable hole in the ground as a toilet and a sense of survival at the end.

That was the north end of Africa and my first experience of Africa. The train trip started as north as possible and went as south as I could possibly go at the time.

Compare this to my Premiere Classe train trip from J Berg to Cape Town. I’m going west to Cape Town. This is the place that would be the end of the line if I could travel the whole north to south length of the Continent. I have a train compartment to myself, afternoon tea served in the dining lounge, I have crisp white bedding and a sit on toilet shared with just 10 others travelling in this carriage. Sorry to labour the toilet information but I recall that the Egypt trip was the only time I went 24 hours without a wee – on purpose.

I am wondering about the three decades of family and career building inbetween my African train trips and what has and has not changed.

I have not changed. I know this because of what just happened.

Whilst sitting in this posh carriage, on my own, I opened the windows to get some air and feel the sun heat. What I hadn’t appreciated is that, on the edges of train tracks, the bush is burning. I learnt this suddenly as the heat increased and flames lapped at and inside the window sending black smoke and ‘burnt bits’ into my compartment and all over my nice white bedding.

Note to self. Whatever class of travel you are in, outside hazards are still the same.

Windows are now closed.

I can hear Adam saying ‘muppet’.

The world has obviously changed and I am on line to post this rather than writing on blue air post paper and squeezing too many words onto the page.

And I can afford to have a drink from the bar. I now like gin.

I am still seeing the vast wondrous world and realising just how big it is and small we are.

I am still meeting new people and for a moment in time being part of their travel story too.

I am calm and collected whilst in a world of chaos.

The train will be late – about four hours late and that’s okay. I shall meet Karen Sales in Cape Town and have another adventure for four days of whales, farms and fun. I have built in the delay because I am learning about time in Africa.

Then – to Namibia just for a day and back to Zambia.

I am resolved to do more of this and find a way to go across Africa. In the meantime – from a slightly smoky compartment at the end of the cross continent non existent train line.

Good night.

Working in Zambia has given me a chance to reflect on some of the things I miss. Zambia is a very long way from the sea. I would need to get to Durban in South Africa or Dar es Salaam in Tanzania or Walvis Bay in Namibia to get to sea.

In April I did sail on a lake, a huge one, I went to Lake Malawi in Malawi (obv) with new friends working in health here in Zambia. This sailing ‘moment’ was an hour or so of sunshine and sailing bliss. And the risks of snails. For pub quiz facts, Lake Malawi is the fourth largest fresh water lake in the world by volume and the ninth largest lake in the world by area. For those more interested in intestinal worms and snails, it is not really a place to swim. Bilharzia, also known as shistomiasis is rife but so long as you take Praziquantel six weeks after being in the water the snails etc inside you will die.

Anyway when all is said and done the sailing was worth it and reminded me of another life on a boat in the sunshine thirty years ago. I went looking for a picture of the boat I learnt to sail on Tai-Mo-Shan. And here a story starts.

Back in the day (1988), I ran away from being a grown up nurse, working all night and all day, and escaped England with my mate Lucy O’Meara. Adam and I had split up (on a break) and were having our own life adventures at the time. Lucy and I sold everything that we could (including the spider plants), we went to Turkey and took jobs as a ’casual’ Sun Med Tourist Reps in Kusadasi. After a couple of months I got a bit fed up of the bus trips to and from the airport and she got fed up with Turkey.  In my dreams I had another plan. Word was out amongst the tour reps that there was a job going, cook and crew of an amazing boat moored in the harbour. I was vegetarian and had never sailed but I decided I could learn!  Vic was the 27 year old skipper and a sailing instructor.  He hired me. (Thank you Vic).

My job was to keep the boat looking lovely, varnishing and mending the deck and to be the other member of the crew, sailing between Turkey and Greece when the owner and his guests were aboard. A great summer followed and eventually we left boat for Winter.

(Quick history lesson. Tai-Mo-Shan was a 54ft (16.5m) teak ketch built in 1933 to take five Royal Navy officers on a voyage from Hong Kong.  That trip became the subject of a book – The Voyage of the Tai-Mo-Shan – and was later revealed to have been an espionage mission, to survey the Aleutian and Kurile isles for potential Allied submarine bases for an attack on the Japanese Navy.

In 1964, (the year I was born) she was bought by oil pipeline engineer, Ian Bowler CBE, having read ‘Voyage of Tai-Mo-Shan’ he was impressed by her exceptionally heavy build and transformed the yacht’s interior to befit a gentleman’s cruising yacht.)

I didn’t know all of this at the time, I was just living the dream, in the Mediterranean, living on a yacht, (not a glamourous as it sounds), learning to sail and occasionally, when the owner visited for a weekend, cooking posh meals and serving G and T (just as glamourous as it sounds).

I slept in the sail locker which was not as comfortable as it looks and read alot of books.

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That the Winter Vic and I left the boat in a boatyard in Greece and went travelling though Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Israel spending Christmas in Jerusalem.

I am sharing all of this detail as I have only just discovered what happened to Tai-Mo-Shan, the amazing ketch that started my love of sailing and kicked off my life of world adventures. Now in the 21st Century Tai-Mo-Shan is a bit cool. Her appearance has changed, much like mine, and she has gone from the classic colours to all white.

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She was spotted by some film types and………………..a couple of films followed telling the story of a young woman running away from the UK, ending up in the Mediterranean and meeting a bloke with a boat etc. ……………………………………………………………………

Mama Mia!!!!!! Fernando is Tai Mo Shan.

I am still a bit Donna like but in a different order. In May 1996 I eventually married Adam, the hippyish one from home, settled down (ish), forged a great career, had Will and bought a boat. In 2019 Will went to University and I applied for a career break and a six month Improving Global Health Fellowship to work in a low resource country to help improve health. I set off on another adventure (with full family backing). I do still have a dream and that’s why 30 years later, I am in Zambia for at least six months making that dream come true and not at a desk in the NHS or somewhere at sea.

Thank you everyone for (the music and) giving it to me.

Zambia is full of amazing people and amazing challenges, and a tiny square of hope and love can make all of the difference.

This picture is the bonding squares made by all of those contributing to Fiona’s charity.
http://www.fionafoundationforkids.org/

These will calm the babies plus more, and provide care as if Fiona is right there sitting wiht the mum or with the baby in the neonatal unit in Zambia.

My official work here in Zambia is with the Ministry of Health, working with the Directors to help them create a cunning plan to improve the quality of healthcare. I am a nurse on a six month volunteer placement here, taking a career break from a senior leadership role in NHS England.

I have been a nurse since the 1980s and have worked and cared in many ways, as a strategic system leader, and as a person who knows that sometimes the smallest things make the biggest difference. This blog is about one of the personal things for the smallest babies where a simple solution can make the biggest difference. This is what Fiona was about, holding that baby in that moment and making the difference they needed.

So alongside my Government work there is another cunning plan. Our charity, Fiona Foundation for Kids, is a key part of my life and, wherever I am working I seek out something that Fiona, my sister, would have loved to do.

As a foster mum for babies in the UK and a special needs teacher, Fiona gave her love to many children, especially those who were in need of additional support and not able to get it. She would have done the same here.

Here in Zambia I am working with amazing doctors and nurses who are volunteering to help improve the care available and the quality of life for babies born too early or too chaotically and in dire circumstances.

If Fiona were here in Zambia she would have noticed that the sickest newborn babies were sometimes very distressed. She would have made sure that they were made to feel safe and soothed so that they stopped crying.
She would have wanted to do something so that the mothers could offer some cuddles even through they could not pick up their baby.

She would have wanted to do something about the 25% of babies who would not make it out of special care and sadly die.

She would have wanted to make sure that even though there are four babies to every incubator and 100 babies in the unit that is built for 40 babies, and that there is only one nurse to ten babies, that every baby felt loved.

What are we doing to help as well as the government work and the medical and nursing care?

Dr Aoife Hurley, a UK based Paediatrician, and Rachael Talbot, a UK nurse, are colleagues of mine and are working in the Neo Natal Unit of the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka.

Aoife bought a bag of 20 bonding squares with her to see if these would help the babies settle.  They worked.  They worked so well that others asked for them, with mums asking if they were free. Yes they are.

So we needed some more, maybe 1000!!! There are 100 babies in the unit each day so this is not as unreasonable as it seems.

A call to the Fiona Foundation for Kids supporters who wish to care as if she was there went out and the bonding squares came in. We have 100 so far which will fill the unit next week. We will also see if we can support the mums to make their own.

How do they work?

 Aoife explains.

“Bonding squares are used in Neonatal units in the UK as a way of helping mums bond with their babies. It is a small square of knitted wool that the mum places next to her skin for a time so her scent is then on the square. This square is then left next to the baby.

The idea is the baby smells mum’s scent even when she isn’t there or cannot remove them from the incubator. The mum can then take the square home and smell the baby’s scent on the square, which can be of comfort to her and also helps with milk production. The scent of the baby triggers hormones needed to produce and express milk. This is important because breast milk is vital for premature infants, breast feeding is more difficult with premature infants and hopefully this reduces the need for formula milk, which is an additional expense.

It is a small way to try to improve a stressful situation for parents on the Neonatal unit. A way for us to help support them, acknowledging the importance of their role and the parental bond that already exists.

When I came to Zambia I was fortunate to have been given a bag full of these squares, which were distributed quickly amongst mothers who seemed to really appreciate them and their meaning.”                    Dr Aoife Hurley     UK based Paediatrician

Each square will allow a baby to feel as if its mother is there with them and make them feel safe. Each square will care as if Fiona too is there.

If you would like to help, please go to our website or start making a square. It needs to be about the size of an adult’s hand.

Nurses care in many places and in many ways. Making stuff happen such as this project is one of them. When you do not have enough nurses you need to adapt, and this is one way that works.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton