Gaps 6

Gaps is the first step of our OET Listening Training. Listen to the audio below and write down the missing words / phrases on your notebook. You can contact us for the answers. Please note, you should submit your answers for the answer key.

Today we’re talking to Christina Morello, who’s recently returned from South Sudan, where she was working as a volunteer midwife in a field hospital. Christina, could you tell us why you wanted to go and how you felt?

Well, I first arrived at the decision because I was dead set on making a (1) _______________________ to people who had nobody to turn to in desperate times. And to be honest, from a (2) ____________________ point of view, I naively thought it would be an adventure. I was just worried that the (3) _______________________ wouldn’t need midwives. You always hear about the huge demand for nurses and my experience lies in (4) _______________________ babies. My parents, on the other hand, were terrified. They understood the risks better than me and realised that I could be working in very dangerous (5) _______________________ and that I hadn’t properly prepared myself. They also warned me about (6) _______________________ and being away from my family for so long, something I hadn’t really considered until they brought it up.

So was your role in Sudan very different to the one you’d been doing in the UK before you left?

Very much so. The role entailed a huge variety of tasks and they were all (7) _______________________ in different ways. I helped set up maternity departments and trained local (8) _______________________ in rural health centres. That was incredibly rewarding. Watching my knowledge and expertise being passed on to other midwives and seeing them help the women in very (9) _______________________ who would otherwise have no access to maternity services felt so satisfying, like I was really making a (10) _______________________. But what really shocked me was the sheer volume of (11) _______________________ I was dealing with. It was astonishing. There seemed to be a never-ending stream and a lot of them were (12) _______________________. I regularly worked 36 hour shifts.

You mentioned that a lot of the deliveries were difficult. Could you expand on that for us?

Yes. Deliveries that I used to see as complicated back home became almost routine for me. I saw (13) _________________ deliveries, twins, ectopic pregnancies, eclampsia, (14) _______________________ and face presentations on a daily basis. And not only that, but all of these extremely dangerous situations have to be dealt with using (15) _______________________. And you’re sharing your kit with a team of people who are also working under extreme pressure. There was a desperate lack of (16) _______________________ for clinical equipment, which is why our work is so important. People don’t use (17) _______________________ and they have huge families. The more children a mother has, the more complicated the delivery. In South Sudan, (18) _______________________ isn’t uncommon. And that often leads to difficult and dangerous births.

Could you tell us about a patient who made a particular impression on you?

I remember when one patient, let’s call her Margaret, came to the hospital (19) _______________________ with twins. When we examined her, it became apparent that she needed an urgent Caesarean section. This was impossible, as there was already one being performed and we simply didn’t have the staff or (20) _______________________ to handle two simultaneously or to do a (21) _______________________ in time. We had to work quickly together, overcome any language barriers and really cooperate with each other to make sure that the necessary equipment was (22) _______________________ and available as soon as possible. I think Margaret’s case really demonstrates how (23) _______________________ is everything out there. Eventually, the babies were both born naturally safe and well. That was one of the happy endings.

It must have been quite a (24) _______________________ for you. What was most difficult for you to get used to?

I was in what’s called a medium (25) _______________________, which meant that fairly strict rules applied, and that took some getting used to. We weren’t allowed to leave the hospital complex (26) _______________________, which was strange, but not too much of a problem, as I was usually only fit to have (27) _______________________ and fall into bed anyway. The worst thing was constantly feeling (28) _________________ and uncomfortable. There was no break from the heat and (29) ________________ and we only had bucket showers and a limited water supply. Oh, the bugs didn’t help matters. They really added to the discomfort. And everybody always had something or other to (30) ___________________ or worry about. A sting, a bite, an itch or a rash.

So what qualities would you say are the most valuable for anyone who was thinking of volunteering?

Obviously, you can’t apply unless you have all the qualifications, experience and skills that they’re asking for. That’s a (31) __________, right? Language skills are a huge (32) _________________. If you’ve even the most basic grasp of the local language, it’ll get you out of all sorts of (33) _________________ situations. But what you really need is the ability to cope with the unexpected and be up for anything. When you’re working in such extreme conditions, your team’s the only thing that keeps you going. So if you put up (34) _______________________, you’ll cause more problems than you solve.