Yup, it feels like rainy season is finally here – this week we’ve been in between rain and heavy humidity. It really saps your energy, making it a mystery how Ali has continued to focus on work at the computer while a fan distributes hot air around the room.

Fortunately we spent most of this week out and about. On Monday we travelled to Nadi to meet with a couple from the New Zealand Rotary Club. They have been coming to Fiji for years and run an eye surgery mission in Taveuni, an island to the north-east. They provide free treatment, mainly cataract surgery, which allows hundreds of people each year to see again. Marine Reach has worked with them for many years, providing a referral service for people in remote areas. It was good to connect face-to-face and discuss how we can help one another. Since we were in Nadi, we headed on to Denerau, an island connected by a bridge to the main land. It is like stepping into a different country. Made for the sole purpose of tourism, people jet in to Nadi, take the bus straight to the resorts in Denerau and then ferry across to the other islands resorts from there. It was a surreal experience, verging on uncomfortable, to be surrounded by riches and white (red) bodies. White skin acted as our ticket to walk unchallenged into one of the resorts and go for a swim. Bjarte and Ane also very generously treated us to lunch at the Hard Rock café (wow, tummy very happy). So in short, it was not a day of hard work but in many ways both thought-provoking and humbling.

Our medical/dental registrations were about to run out for the year so we managed to squeeze in one last outreach this week. We went to Naviyago, Ben and Kaba’s village. The adult staff was supported by no less than 8 children, making the average age of the team members a grand 18 (just legal). Despite the proximity to Lautoka, we were surprisingly busy. Ane and Dani formed a dream team with Dani dealing with abscesses and other surgical problems while Ane took care of pretty much everything else. One of our most memorable patients was a 4 year old who had a kind of skin tag on her forehead since birth. The other kids teased her about it and the parents were worried about what would happen when she started school. Ali’s skill with gentle anaesthetic injections in children allowed Dani then to remove the blob and swap it for a single stitch.

The following day we invited Ben’s auntie to come to the base for Dani to remove a lump from her elbow. She had carried this cricket ball for many years, had been refused surgery by the hospital and kept it continuously covered up. After almost 2 hours of dissecting, the lump (a chronic encapsulated haematoma for the medics out there) was delivered into a kidney dish, excess skin was trimmed away and the wound was closed. I (Dani) found myself pleased, relieved and exhausted all at once – totally worth the sore back!

Then we paid a visit to the dental ward in Lautoka Hospital. Rowena, who has been a member of staff at Marine Reach for 12 years now, is spending some time working there to assess her dental skills before she is re-registered, as she took a break from dentistry to raise her kids. As it turns out it is giving her the opportunity to positively impact both staff and patients with her irrepressible heart for God and people. We were able to help out further by donating some dental equipment we had received but was not quite ideal for our purposes. These were items that they really needed to treat the large number of patients that they see daily.

On Friday we were invited back to Naviyago for a cultural day in order to raise funds for a village church building. Most villages have, as a minimum, a Methodist church, Catholic church, Assemblies Of God church and sometimes others. Since Naviyago has no AOG church, all weddings and funerals are held outside the village as sadly the buildings are not shared between denominations. There’s a lot of religiousity in Fiji, but true faith-in-action is harder to find. The day involved delightful dancing, long speeches, traditional food and laughter-filled games, although Dani couldn’t resist tending to a few of her patients by changing their dressings.

It seems a bit scary that we’re only two weeks away from returning to the UK for Christmas and to avoid cyclone season. The time has gone by quickly, but we know we’ll have plenty to get involved in again when we return next year…