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.

One of the challenges working as a locum nurse on the APY Lands at the north western tip of SA is the weather. One of our RN's Ros experienced this first hand.

Beautiful summer days can have temperatures in excess of 50 degrees.  Winter's sunny days, with more moderate temperatures, often end in bitterly cold nights with temperatures dropping to zero or below. Then of course there is the rain – from brief squalls to torrential downpours with thunder and lightning displays the sort you would never see in NZ.

With the end of a contract approaching an all important watch goes on the weather. Almost everything on the Lands is dependent on the weather; the weekly mail plane which is also the quickest transport covering the 550km to Alice Springs, the weekly road train with fresh food and supplies, the RFDS who use the local airstrips to evacuate patients, the weekly bus services from AS called the Bush Bus and the Bush Bee respectively and finally the residents and workers who use the dirt roads to travel between the communities. Heavy torrential rain quickly saturates the sandy dirt roads leaving huge quantities of water flooding the surfaces as well as making them boggy. As most of the airstrips on the Lands are made of red dirt they also succumb.

I seldom arrange to stop anywhere on my trip back to NZ; after a few weeks away I am anxious to get home. In October last year after torrential rain for the final 3 days of my contract l could see that my pleasant little weekend in Sydney along with the Jersey Boys show looked like a no goer. By Tuesday the roads were deemed impassable and still it rained, on Wednesday though the rain was lessening. Road conditions were checked by ringing around the other communities and the more experienced drivers discussed whether they thought a four wheel drive vehicle could be driven to the Stuart Highway via one of the three routes available. After two days of delays two of the Psychiatric Nurses decided that they would be leaving at lunchtime to try and get to AS. It had not rained for two days and there was one spare seat on offer if I wanted it.

The full extent of the rain became evident shortly after leaving Pukatja as we followed in the rutted tracks left by vehicles which preceded us. Four wheel drive vehicles certainly come into their own in these conditions – nothing like   the Remuera taxis which you see being driven along the Auckland motorways. We started to come across huge pools of water across the road; in some cases the end could not be seen. The rules for four wheel driving are simple for conditions such as this to prevent getting bogged; stop and look for the best route through the water or mud, keep to the road and don't be tempted to leave it and drive up along the bank, use low four wheel drive, put the vehicle in 2nd gear and drive steadily through the water without changing gear. If water has pooled on the road it is usually because there is rock beneath preventing the water from draining through the porous sandy soil. After navigating through 2 bodies of water and reaching a third it became obvious that we would have to leave the road and follow a track that had been made by other vehicles. Discussion ensued – should we risk it or attempt to drive through the water? Consensus reached and we left the road; fortunately we were not bogged.

We arrived at the Victory Downs Road intersection after travelling 60 kms. Still water covered the road in both directions as far as the eye could see; it seemed strange to see the beautiful blue sky overhead reflected on the surface. The route was chosen and off we drove. Water lapped up to the head lights and sprayed off the sides of the car as we drove through it. The huge pools, some as long as 1.5kms in length meant multiple crossings of the water in a zigzag fashion to find the safest routes through. This became the driving pattern until we reached the slightly elevated section of the road near the Stuart Highway just south of Kulgera – 3 ½ hours later after a journey which would normally take 1 ½ hours. The Stuart Highway had also not escaped the rain – in places there were large areas of surface flooding alongside the road and scattered debris on the bitumen where some of the creeks had over flowed. A further 3 hours on and we reached Alice Springs. Thanks to the good driving of my co-workers I caught the afternoon flight to Sydney the next day reaching the theatre as the orchestra began the opening bars to Jersey Boys.

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.

Thanks from the City Mission

Christmas is a wonderful time for most people in Christchurch.

Even though we had some nasty aftershocks on the Friday before, Christmas has been another year of family gatherings, of eating and drinking (sometimes too much), and of relaxing after a busy year.

However for the clients that we see every day at the Christchurch City Mission, Christmas can be a time of immense loneliness, depression and anxiety.

It is a time when their marginalization and segregation from mainstream society seems to be far more noticeable and debilitating.

They lose hope for a better tomorrow and then often resort to alcohol and/or violence as a way of coping.

Wonderful organizations, such as yours, therefore give these people hope that a community does, in fact, care about them.

Therefore through your generosity the Christchurch City Mission has been able to give out food parcels to 90 clients a day in the 2 weeks prior to Christmas and feed over 600 people, with Christmas presents, on Christmas Day.

Therefore can you please pass on to the other staff at Ausstat my sincere appreciation for the donation of food, clothes and gifts.

All the very best for 2012.