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Time table Nkhoma Hospital
Weather Shopping Leisure Time table Every day starts at 7.00 am with handover for all nurses and clinicians by the night staff. Any special concerns are also discussed in this meeting. On Monday and Friday we also have some in-service training. Ward-rounds are done on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Tuesday and Thursday mornings are reserved for elective surgery, often extending into the afternoons. In those mornings one or two clinicians stay in OPD and attend to urgent ward matters. Monday mornings Ante Natal Care first visits are done by midwives. Wednesday mornings Under Five clinics are done by Primary Health Care nurses. On Wednesday one medical officer works in ABC-clinic, a private clinic in Lilongwe, to earn some extra money for the hospital. Thursday mornings Ante Natal Care follow-up visits are done by midwives. Outreach clinics for under-five clinic, ante-natal care and family planning are done on Tuesday and Friday mornings If it is not too busy it is allowed to have tea-break 10.30-11.00 am, tea and bread is available in theatre for people working there. Lunchtime officially 12.30-14.00 pm, but often starts later due to busy OPD. If enough medical officers are available, one of us has a break at 12.00-13.00 and the rest at 13.00-14.00. Day finishes officially at 16.00 pm but often later due to busy OPD. Nurses schedule is from7.00 am to 4.00 pm Or from 7.00 am to1.00 pm + 4.00 pm to 7.00 pm. Nightshift is from 7.00 pm till 7.00 am.
Weather Winter in July-August can be fairly cold (15-20 degrees in the day, <10 degrees at night), realise that there is no central heating and houses and hospital are built to keep the heat out (bring warm clothes and sweater). The hottest season is in October-November, just before the rainy season starts (25-35 degrees in the day, 20-25 degrees at night). In the rainy season, November to April, there are usually daily thunderstorms, but it can rain throughout the day. Roads and paths in Nkhoma are not tarred, so your shoes can get rather messy this time of year. You are advised to bring an umbrella or buy one at the local market in the rainy season. Do not forget mosquito repellent, long sleeves and long trousers/skirt at night!
Recommended immunisations BCG (many cases of open TB), Meningococcus, Hepatitis A and B, Typhoid, Tetanus, Rabies, Malaria prophylaxis the whole year round. You are advised to drink filtered water (especially in the rainy season when tap-water is brown) or boiled water. It is advisable to bring your own PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis for needle stick injury) if possible. About 60% of our patients are infected with the HIV-virus. The recommended prophylaxis in Malawi is a combination tablet zidovudine (300 mg)/ lamivudine (150 mg). This tablet is easily available. But in the western part of the world the PEP consist of zidovudine/ lamivudine plus nelfinavir (250 mg). The nelfinavir is not available here.
Accommodation There is one guesthouse near the hospital with single and shared rooms and dormitory, shared bathrooms and a well-equipped kitchen and living room. You have to bring and prepare your own food. There is a fridge, freezer, oven and microwave available. If you provide ingredients (yeast, flour, oil, salt, sugar) someone can bake bread for you. For a small fee you can have washing done. The amount of rooms is limited, the costs are about 6-8 US Dollar per night. Booking and payment is done through Mrs Veitch: \n
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This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . There is no other suitable accommodation available in Nkhoma. The socket type in Nkhoma is South-African. Telephone and e-mail service Telephone and e-mail facilities are now and then available at the hospital on payment of a small fee. Due to poor quality telephone lines, telephones can be out of order and e-mail connections are very slow. We hope to get access to internet per jan 2008. People are requested not to sent e-mails to Nkhoma that are larger than 100 kilobytes. Since July 2005, mobile telephone coverage is supplied by Celtel, and since 2007 also by Telkom. You are advised to bring your mobile phone (without simlock) with you and to buy a Celtel card on the airport or in town (= Lilongwe). It costs about 7 US Dollar cents to send a sms to Europe. Shopping Nkhoma has a local market area with a few small shops. The main groceries (rice, pasta, flour, oil, milk-powder, soap, toothpaste, etc) are available in small amounts in these shops. Vegetables and fruit of the season (tomatoes, onions, cabbage, etc) are sold daily at the market. Meat is sold on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Meat sale starts after 9.00 am, due to checks by the local vet. In Lilongwe there are big supermarkets (Shoprite and Foodworths) where they sell anything including fresh and tinned food, cleaning materials, toys, kitchenware and car and garden appliances.
Leisure Hiking to the hut (1 hour) or the top (2 hours) of Nkhoma mountain. Nkhoma has a squash court. Please bring your own racket and balls. Visit Dedza (1 hour drive): pottery, tea-garden, hiking in Dedza mountain. Visit Lilongwe (1 hour drive): shopping, swimming, golfclub, etc. A weekend trip to lake Malawi at Senga bay (3-hours drive from Nkhoma, with public transport it will take longer) or Cape McClair (4-hours drive, own car needed).
Worship On Sunday there is an English service at 8.00am and a Chichewa service at 10.00am in the main CCAP church. The hospital chapel has prayer meetings in Chichewa every day at 7.30am and Sundays at 8.30 am.
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