Staffing the hospital on the island of Tristan da Cunha

Wed, May 27th 2015 at 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Pam & Ian Lavack went out to staff the hospital on Tristan da Cunha for a second time. This time it was winter and cold and wet. Just the same they enjoyed their time on the island.

In 2013 Pamela and Ian Levack spoke to St. Andrews Rotary Club on the period they spent on the island of Tristan da Cunha. They are both medical professionals and went to the island to staff the small hospital there which also has a competent nursing team of local people. The 300 or so inhabitants on the island are extremely kind and the community runs well with just one policeman called Connie, two cells in the police station but no crime. At the end of their last talk to us they said they would be happy to step back in time again and return to the island once more. And so they did last winter for another spell on duty at the hospital.

The island is right in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean between South America and Africa, some 2000 miles from anywhere. This time they arrived in a large fishing boat after a ten night journey and disembarked by stepping into a big box which was swung across to the jetty by the ship’s winch as the boat heaved up and down in the heavy swell in the very exposed harbour.

Tristan da Cunha is in many ways a last bastion of the British Empire. It has its own flag designed by the islanders which shows a union jack together with a motif of lobsters and albatrosses. Lobsters from around the island are now to be found as a delicacy in some of the finest restaurants in Europe’s major cities, and the Tristan albatross is quite a distinct member of the albatross species.

Unfortunately winter on the island is cold and wet and at one point there were 46 days of continuous rain. For a couple who are keen on walking and exploring this was more than a little frustrating. But the people on the island, so well moulded by their environment, made up for the weather and they had a very happy time. At the end of this talk the Levacks did not say whether they might return yet again. Just the same we would not be surprised if they did.

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