Week of September 14-12, 2014

I think what strikes me most about this group of young ladies is their love for others.  I see it in how they interact with each other and the Zambians they meet.  They scooped up the barely dressed babies, dance with the people in the market, and attempt to comfort those in pain.  I have never seen a short-term team connect so quickly with the local people.  It is encouraging and challenging. Nevertheless, the newness and excitement of Zambia is beginning to wear off.  The students are starting to express feeling overwhelmed with homework, classes, and clinicals, but their attitude and response has been “Buck up. We can do this.”   These sixteen girls all have beautiful hearts. 

Playing with children at the orphanage

This week has brought on a new level of busyness as we started rotations at Choma General Hospital.  Like everything else, the students have jumped in.  They have begun rotating through cervical cancer screening/male circumcision clinic, pediatrics, med-surgical wards, surgery, maternity, mental health, and the anti-retroviral clinic.  Some have already gotten to participate in surgeries, scrubbing in and assisting the doctors.  Others have helped delivered babies.  Most have taken the time to learn from the Zambian nurses about the system and are processing how this will change how they view healthcare.  The severe acuity of the patients, the number of those suffering from HIV/AIDS, and the severe shortage of staff and supplies is now a reality to them.

First Day of Clinicals

Visiting a community initiative school and a special needs school were other experiences that opened their minds, building awareness about how Zambia is coping to help those with disabilities and challenging preconceived ideas.  We were all asked to consider the question: Is education a right or a privilege?

Lindsey with community school students

Marcie at the community school with a student

The community initiative school has more than 700 students from pre-k to grade 7.   When the government was unable to provide a school in the area, the community managed to provide an area for a school and started off with an untrained teacher.  Eventually trained teachers were sent and international support has grown their complex, but that task that remains is great.  The children shared several songs with us.  In true form, these loving girls had trouble saying goodbye...

Next up was the mission school for the deaf, blind, and mentally impaired.  This boarding school is the only school in all of Zambia to house teachers to meet all three impairments.  Teachers are critically short and special needs teachers even more so.  Many of the teachers at this school also suffered from a level of deafness or blindness, but their heart and love for this vulnerable population is palpable.  Despite limited resourced, children are taken in and taught hoping that an education with bring them greater hope and success in the future.  

Andria, Katie, Ashley, Melissa, Alesha, & Joy with No More Whispering girls

Sunday after church, we traveled to Zimba and are just settling in.  More memories to come…

Anna Mangimela (Clinical Instructor)

Choma

Our last few days in Lusaka were great! We talked to representatives from World Vision, the General Nursing Council of Zambia, and the Ministry of Health. These experiences taught us how the health care system is structured and the policies that nurses must follow. I learned that the average nurse to patient ratio here is 1:60! I can’t even imagine being in charge of that many patients. We also went to a cultural market and bought more beautiful items. I bought my first Chitenge (a chitenge is a skirt that the women wear in this culture). We visited a children’s hospital called Beit Cure Hospital. This hospital provides free care to children under the age of 16. We were able to see where surgeries take place, where procedures are performed, where the children sleep, and much more. It hasn’t all been fun and games because this is an academic trip. We work hard every day in class and study a ton.

We loaded the bus Thursday morning (September 4^th) and headed to Choma. It was about a five hour bus ride with beautiful scenery along the way. We saw mountains, small villages with grass huts, a giraffe (it was enclosed in a fenced in area), cows, goats, and much more. Choma is a lot more rural than Lusaka, and it isn’t as busy. The house we are staying in is stunning! There is an area outside for us to eat our meals and study. There is a living room with comfy couches and multiple rooms with bunk beds. We sleep under mosquito nets to protect us from the mosquitos (MALARIA!). Also there are a lot of spiders here, so the mosquito net also protects us from those scary things. The organization that houses us is called Fortress. They are an organization that sponsors different ministries here in Choma. Throughout the next couple weeks we are able to work with these ministries. We are able to work with a Children’ program, an HIV support group called No More Whispering, and a soccer ministry.  

The past week that we have been here we have done a lot. One of the days we went to a worship night at a local church. The worship team was beyond enthusiastic, and also they loved to dance. We have no moves what so ever! I have never seen so much hip movement in a church before coming here. They encouraged us to join and a man pulled me up front to dance in front of everyone. I’m sure this embarrassing moment for me was entertaining to them. My favorite part of the week was visiting the orphanage. The first day we went there we pulled up to the house the children surrounded the bus and reached their arms up to us. A little boy named Joshua ran up to me and I picked him up immediately. He would not let me put him down the whole time I was there. He fell asleep in my arms and this melted my heart. All of the children there call us Auntie. We played games with them and sang songs with them while we were there visiting. It is hard to see and hear of all their needs, but it is great that we get a chance to spend time with them and love them. We are able to visit the orphanage anytime we are free throughout our time here. Another thing we have been able to do is visit a local museum. Here we learned about the history of Choma and the different cultural aspects.

As a group we have shared stories, played games, watched movies, cried together, prayed together, worshiped together, and much more. I love this group of girls and I cannot wait to spend even more time together. In our next week here in Choma we will be starting clinical, working with Fortress, and going on more field trips. I cannot wait! We would very much appreciate some prayers as we still have two more months here.

- Alesha (Zambia 2014 team member)