Scorpion bites, typhoid fever and malaria are among the cases a Bath nurse has had to deal with while working in South Sudan.
Emma Pedley normally works in the intensive care unit at the Royal United Hospital.
She has been working at a hospital in Nasir since December, as part of a mission for the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres. During her time there she has treated everything from scorpion bites, to typhoid fever and child malnutrition, and has been blogging about her experiences.
Emma said: "My family and friends are encouraging but understandably apprehensive about my work – and slightly mystified as to why I would want to do it as well.
"There's a lot of things I miss about my life at home – my house, my friends, salsa dancing, singing, cheese, wine, hot baths, my godchildren, but I know they will be there waiting for me when I return. In the meantime knowing I am in some small way making a difference to the lives of people here, who have so little compared to us, feeds a part of me that nothing else ever has."
Emma has responsibility for outpatients, childhood immunisation, and community outreach programmes.
The plan is for the new Ministry of Health to gradually take over the hospital, but this is likely to be a long process.
To read Emma's blog visit www.blogs.msf.org/emmap.
Medecins Sans Frontieres is an international medical humanitarian organisation which last year sent 2,400 international staff to projects in over 60 countries.
For more information visit www.msf.org.uk.
