I have been floating along in a bubble of positivity. I was delivering training, I was building relationships, I had ideas and I had plans. This was going great and nothing could stop me.

Last week, the bubble burst and reality set in. I had been warned about his but never really expected it, maybe not so soon anyway.

This is what went wrong, in a nutshell:
I had drafted a work plan which was initially met with high enthusiasm. However, this faded to defeatism towards the end of the meeting as the pessimism set in. Did they have any plans of their own they wanted add? They didn’t. Was there anything they were interested in that they would like to be responsible for? There wasn’t. What did they plan to do for the next twelve months? They weren’t sure. Did they think my ideas had any chance of working? Probably not. How could we motivate the nurses? Who knows? They had tried and failed. Could we organise and provide an amazing curriculum that was going to change the face of nursing, not just in Kilu’ufi Hospital but across the Malaita Province? OK, a little dramatic. But they didn’t seem to think we could. It was almost as if they were resigned to fail. It was back to the drawing board.

Second to that, I had my first, voluntary, written and delivered by myself, training session. Not a solitary soul came. It was raining.
Thirdly, I’m just not sure of what is going on. What does everybody do? Where are they most of the time? The thing I find the most difficult is that people lie. Not lie, but not quite tell the truth. They do not intend to be hurtful, it’s a cultural thing. By nature they are very shy and reserved, preferring to say something to please or to save face. They will tell you they understand but will never confirm what it is that they understand. They will tell you that they do things, have things or see things but you will never really know if it’s the truth. I’m hoping that in time, as my relationships develop and trust sets in that this will change. For now, it makes for a very confusing life.
My fourth reason is that I just seemed to have lost my umpf. It was time to get out. So get out I did.

I arranged to have a week of Pijin lesson in Honiara. Friday night I packed my bags and braved the overnight ferry crossing to Guadalcanal. I’m not sure I’ve mentioned the ferry crossings but sea travel is responsible for the third biggest loss of life in the Solomon Islands. Please take time to read this gripping blog https://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Solomon-Islands/Malaita/blog-741223.html which gives a great insight into how bad it can get. The Auki route is well known for over-packed, subserviced, unreliable and very slow boats. I boarded a rusty looking vessel at 9pm for what was supposed to be 4 hour crossing and arrived at 5.30am the following morning. 

The downside of the journey was the kung fu movie that played, full volume, on repeat the whole night, the hard floor, the smell of the pigs, the sweaty feet, the snores, the insufficient space and the absence of a toilet. The upside, I slept and I didn’t vomit. It is win win people, win win.
What followed was just the tonic. 

Honestly, I was not looking forward to returning to Honiara as I could not wait to leave last time. I think it may have been culture shock and sensation overload but I felt stressed and thought that maybe I had not made great friends. I was wrong and I had nothing to worry about.

It started with a weekend on Savo, a small volcanic island about 40 minutes across the sea. Despite being here for over two months, it was first tourist/sightseeing thing that I had done. I loved the excitement of crashing through the waves in an open boat, the sea water stinging my eyes and drenching my clothes as by body bounced around with every rise and fall. It certainly woke me up and washed away the drawn out discomfort of the night before. 

The weekend was packed with laughs and activities. There was a walk up a volcano; beers, beach games, dolphins, fishing, spit-roast pig, swimming and just chatting and getting know a great bunch of people. I loved it.

What followed was a hedonistic week of coffee, shopping, washing machines, cold drinks from fridges, cold beers, pizza, ice cream, cheese, lovely, lovely people to talk to, hot showers and swimming pools. I felt like a kid in a sweet shop. “You can buy coffee?” “On a Sunday?” Oh how the other folk live. It was amazing, and I had no idea how much I needed it till I got there. Of course, there were Pijin lessons which were invaluable, new volunteers to meet and a bit of networking with the Nursing Council, Ministry of Health and other nurse educators. It was a working week after all.

My week ended with a kilometre of lunges to raise money for Seif Ples (Safe Place), a provider of shelter and medical services for survivors of domestic violence in the Solomon Islands. What a mistake that was. That was Sunday, it is now Thursday and I am still finding general mobilisation a whole different ball game. I was actually asked at one point if I had had a hip replacement. No, I replied, this is how I always walk. Only it isn’t. At least I hope not.

So work this week has been better. It got off to a slow start but looks to end on a promising note. I held my training session on Wednesday and every supervisor AND the director of nursing showed up. I received some very positive feedback. Although I suspect that was always a given. For the rest of the week, my mission is to clean up the Staff Development room. I have a steel drum for burning and I am not afraid to use it. If I can get this office to be at least a little bit accessible and inviting then maybe they will come. My plan: to get every nurse on email and using the online learning by the end of this year.