In March Candice and Tui visited some hospitals our nurses frequently work in. Their trip included 9 flights and 1500kms of driving in a rental car! Keep reading for an insight in to Tui's experience.

Coober Pedy in Central South Australia (see pic below) was quite something to experience with the underground living and the 1,500,000 metre-wide holes around the town, drilled for finding opals. The hospital itself is above ground, well-resourced and well-run. It was more than hot enough for Candice and I, yet not as hot as it does get!

In Kalgoorlie Boulder, Western Australia, the hospital sprawls, the streets are wide and we saw evidence of an earthquake where propped up building frontages made Candice and I feel at home! From Kalgoorlie (see pic of the super pit there), we drove to Norseman, Esperance (see pic of Kangaroos on the beach) and Ravensthorpe to meet hospital staff and even some of our nurses at each place.

It was great for Candice and I to have this first-hand look at the hospitals and the nursing accommodation at each. This will help us to provide more solid information to RNs embarking on their first trips to these places.

Late last year AUSSTAT/KiwisSTAT was pleased to be able to offer assistance to Habitat for Humanity who are helping to build new homes for families affected by the devastating Christchurch earthquakes. Over $8,000 was raised towards families being offered new homes in a sub-division in Kaiapoi, just outside the city.

The picture above is of the Evans Family in front on their partially built new home. The entire family participated in the build.

Through the generous support of our doctors AUSSTAT/Kiwis STAT has been supporting World Vision with their work in Magugu, Tanzania.

In the World Vision New Zealand-supported Magugu area development programme (ADP) in Tanzania, access to water for both household and agricultural use has been a challenge. The Magugu ADP is located in semi-arid lowland, one of the driest areas with the lowest production potential, unless irrigated. Only 23 per cent of community members have access to potable water. Villages lack an adequate water-piping supply system and people depend mainly on rainwater from unprotected natural water sources (i.e. rivers) and traditional wells, which carry the risk of water-borne diseases. In addition, women and girls can spend hours walking to collect water. This keeps them from productive activity and going to school, while agricultural and economic activities are impeded by the lack of water.

Visit our website to see how the project is helping the people of this area.

After an eventful and disruptive year in 2011 we decided to kick off 2012 with a trip to Orana Wildlife Park. Due to the difficulty in finding a suitable venue location in December the decision was made to postpone our annual Christmas Party until early 2012 – a decision that proved to be a great success.

The warm weather was ordered and the team at Orana Wildlife Park put on a great feast for staff, partners and their children. After a relaxing lunch and the chance to have a good chat with everyone we were off around the park to take in the sights and sounds. From Giraffes to Lions and Rhinos to Spider Monkeys – there was something for everyone to see.

Tiger Encounters and Lion feeding were experienced as well as a range of animal keeper talks by the very knowledgeable staff. By the end of the day there were a few tired bodies – big and small – but everyone agreed it was a great day and a great start to 2012.

Check out the photos below to see what we got up to.

Congratulations Lizzie Travis!

Lizzie is the recipient of the Kiwis STAT rural elective scholarship for 2011/12 and we wish her all the best for her 4 week elective being spent in the Himachel Pradeah region in India in May 2012.

Whilst Kiwis STAT has for many years offered scholarships of $500 a month to recipients this year we upped the cash injection to two offers of $2000 for those with an interest in rural and remote electives.

As many of you know Kiwis STAT was founded on supplying quality doctors to rural and remote areas in New Zealand and Australia and to this day continue to support those in need in these areas to allow equality of access to quality healthcare to all.

We wish Lizzie all the best and look forward to hearing of her adventures and work in India in due course.