HEALTH visitor Chris Sweeney spent part of Christmas week trying to explain snowflakes, snowmen and advent calendars to people in West Africa.

Chris, who works in Glasgow, is on his second assignment with the charity Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders, in Sierra Leone.

He is working with under-fives children in a clinic as part of a mother-and-child programme run by the country’s ministry of health.

In a revealing blog post last week Chris wrote about “blowing ants” off the chocolate advent calendar he had bought in Glasgow in November.

“Each day I find a new spot for it in an attempt to keep it away from the insects. I've hung it where the clock should be and on top of various shelves. This morning I take it down from on top of the staff health box on top of the fridge freezer.

“It got bashed up during transit. It is held together by tape which has acted as a trap for many ants. The chocolate remains safe behind the foil, although this morning’s Santa has a half melted face.”

Chris added: “I’ve been letting our guests and guards open it. Most are from Sierra Leone and each morning I've had to explain what a snowman is, what a snowflake is, what a Christmas pudding is, what an advent calendar is.

“I make sure to tell them it's something for children; not every 30 year old has one.

Each morning Chris undergoes a daily temperature test, taken by a colleague, David, who screens for infectious disease by taking temperatures.

Said Chris: “The thermometer looks like a police radar gun; he points it a few inches from my head and shows me the reading. It's normal and I'm free to pass.

“I'm happy with my daily temperature routine. It might warn me of illness; a few of my colleges have had malaria here. One of our logisticians spent a weekend hallucinating recently and imagined that I was in his room talking to him whilst dressed as a mummy.”

His patients include a malnourished child who was admitted to hospital more than a month ago and has now returned.

In his blog Chris describes the clinic being cleaned by the staff.

“Sand, dirt, and chicken feathers are being swept across the floor, the ward is being mopped, and a nurse is searching for empty boxes like eggs during an Easter egg hunt. I see her pulling boxes from the top of cupboards and under desks.”

Insects are an everyday problem.

“A vial of glucose has been left open and a trail of black ants has climbed in the windows, across the floor, and up the trolley," he writes. "I pick up the vial and put it in our glass waste bucket. I wipe the top of the trolley clear of ants; the rest will disperse on their own, looking for their next meal.”

* To read more go to http://blogs.msf.org/en/staff/blogs/msf-in-sierra-leone/my-next-task-is-to-blow-the-ants-from-my-advent-calendar