Last Sunday (April 13th)– Well…we went to church here at the mission. Meagan had started to feel bad that morning, but trudged onward since we were having company that day. Sam and Nancy Shewmaker and Sam’s sister and husband were visiting the mission to see about possibilities of Sam’s sister and brother-in-law moving somewhere here in Zambia. From their conversations, it seems as though they are interested in moving to Lusaka so he could start teaching in the medical program. He is an ENT doctor that has worked in places such as Colorado and Missouri. It was really great to just get to know all of them a little better. I especially enjoyed talking to Sam and Nancy. I had Mr. Shewmaker in class at Harding and I don’t think I fully appreciated the work he and his wife have done in the world missions area while I had him in class. We chomped on red beans, rice, and sausage we had made while they had brought over some cabbage for us to enjoy. Louisa made a brownie mix from the states that someone had sent over…so yummy! That night at church was the first Sunday night church that the power wasn’t out or some kind of craziness came up that we didn’t miss.
Monday (14th)– I have become known to Louisa some days as “Little Laura”. I acquired that name from Louisa because Laura Oldenburg is a missionary, who with her husband were here at Namwianga until he had some health issues that have kept them in the states for a bit. She is a nurse from the states and was in the middle of organizing the clinic when they had to leave. Well, I’ve really picked up where she left off. On days that we don’t really have many programs, I’ll go to the clinic and for half of the day; I will go through lots of boxes, trunks, and supplies that people have sent over. They are trying to get one ward set up to house patients overnight. I’m organizing supplies so that they will be able to do that and also just know what is in all those boxes! I’m really surprised about how much they do have. It’s just a slow process going through all the stuff and having people organize it that actually know what the supplies are and where they should go. Sadly, I really enjoy organizing all the supplies. I have been scared by a few half dead lizards or fully alive lizards that like to jump out of boxes. I did scream pretty loud once and scared a bunch of men that were standing outside. I’m not scared of lizards, but I’m still a girl. That afternoon I went over to the orphanage to mainly hold babies, but got roped into taking a couple of sick babes to the clinic. One of them needed some injections and another needed a malaria slide done. That took most of the afternoon so then I mostly held a couple of babies and just fed them.
Tuesday (15th)– Another day of fun with Louisa and her crew on the mobile HIV outreach. I may not be spelling this village right, but we went to Nazabula (sounds exactly how I spelled it). This was the first time they have been to this village since December because the roads were too bad to travel during the rainy season. This means that they had to pay for themselves to travel to Kalomo to get their testing done, any other medical treatment, and to get their ARV’s. This just means more money (that they don’t have) to spend on their treatment that we could have helped them with if the roads were passable. Anyways, we get there and they are so happy to see Louisa… just clapping and all smiles. Louisa said it was just nice to see all their smiling faces and to know that most of them have been pretty healthy since seeing them last. We had to see a bunch of people and it took longer because we had to do a more thorough assessment and I had to draw most of the patients blood since we hadn’t been there in months.(Mom…I know you are wondering if I was careful. Yes, of course, I was. I double gloved, wore goggles for transferring the blood, etc… I know how you are. I love you.) The patients were easy to get blood on, but why is it that the boys/men are always the biggest babies. Just wondering. Probably because most of these women have had at least 4-5 kids and they walked to the hospital while they were in labor or rode in the back of a truck with 20 other people while in labor. Just a thought. Anyways, it took most of the day to get done with them and then quickly went to see some other patients in the program on the way back. On the way back, we had a hilarious time with our fellow team members. We laughed pretty much the whole way back because we made them say hard words for them and they made us do the same in Tonga. The hardest word for them was “parallel”. They really don’t even use the “Rrr” sound in their language and they usually switch “R” and “L” (for some reason) when translating to English. So, the word parallel came out as “Pau”. It may not seem funny, but we got a big kick out of Rogers trying to say it over and over….Anyways, we came home to find out that baby Meagan had died that day. It has been some hard luck at the orphanage lately. It’s just that the orphanage has just been given some very sick babies from the moment they arrive and we really don’t know what they could be already sick with when they arrive. Most of the time, we assume that the mothers have died of HIV, but really it could have been anything. The families never really have much information to give us when they drop the babies off.
Wednesday (16th)– I organized in the morning and then actually got to hold babies in the afternoon. Got peed on. That’s about it.
Thursday (17th) – The ladies conference started here at Namwianga. They were expecting around 3,000 ladies at the conference and the final count was 3, 991 women excluding children! Crazy! Anyways, it started Thursday morning and we went to the first speaker. It was great. We sat by one of the girls that could translate for us because they were already translating in Tonga and Bimba. After lunch, Meagan and I went to the orphanage and found that baby Jennifer was doing even worse. She honestly looked like she could go anytime. After a long discussion with some others, Meagan and I decided to go ahead and take here to see the clinical officer to see if there was anything else we could do. We took here and there was a few things we could try, but we all knew in our hearts that the inevitable was coming…we just weren’t sure when. It took most of the afternoon to get all the programs done, but we got back to the clinic around 1600 and I started an IV (because we didn’t want her to stay at Kalomo hospital-you would know why if you saw it) on Jennifer to give her bolus so hopefully she could make it through the night. After I started the IV, Meagan left to go get us some food at home while we waited for the bolus to finish. After she came back a lady in labor came by and needed a ride to the hospital. So, I called Louisa and she then headed our way to take her to the hospital. The problem was that I looked out the window and saw that this woman was walking away from us! Some how in the communication between me and the translator, he forgot to tell her to sit on the bench and wait for the truck. She was going to walk the whole way there…I’m sure it’s a good mile or two….in labor!
Friday – (18th) Us girls went to town in the morning to pick up some groceries and for Louisa and Meagan to meet up with one their Peace Corps friends. We took Kathi and Lola with us (their pictures were in the blog before this one) and they were treated to some ice cream. We then rushed home to hear Kathi Merritt speak at the ladies conference on disciplining children. She should know…She has had three of her own, adopted who knows how many, is in charge of the Havens, and keeps street orphans in her home.
We went back home for lunch and Kathi came by with the news that baby Jennifer had just died at the orphanage. The good thing was that her family was there to visit at that time because we had called them the day before to tell them how sick she was. I was glad they were there with her. So, we went to the orphanage to find that they were going to go ahead and have the funeral since her family was there. I had my first experience of a baby’s funeral earlier this year when I attended the funeral of a patient that had spent her whole life at Vanderbilt. I can’t even describe the feelings that come inside my heart when thinking about that time. It was a first for me and maybe the last of one of my patient’s I attend. It’s not supposed to go that way. Mothers really aren’t supposed to bury their babies. That’s one talk God and I will have to have when I talk to Him. Anyways, I now have attended my first funeral for a baby in Africa. A much different experience, but I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. Just as sad, but it was different. It was sad though that her mother wasn’t there. Her aunts were there who had lost their sister a month before and now their niece. Sometimes it’s just too heartbreaking to think too much about, but we have faith and know that there is an ultimate plan that I don’t have to always understand. I don’t.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
So...I've fallen for a dark-skinned man from Zambia whose name is Scott. He's my new sponsored baby from the Haven I and I love him too. He has laughed since the first day arriving at the Haven and is just a pure, bundle of joy. Like some of the other babies, Scott has tested so far as HIV positive. It is possible that he will test negative in the future because he could be testing positive from his mother's antibodies. We do have babies that are now testing negative that tested postive at first. He is a doll and just is as happy as could be though! He also calls me "momma" too (not really I can just tell he wants to...Excuse the nappy looking picture of me. Just a normal day though. I'm pretty sure that was day number four without a bath.)
I'm attaching pictures of the some of the orphans from Haven II. Many have aske
d me about sponsoring a baby and Iwill get you that information as soon as I can. I want to make sure I have all the info correct before posting it. Meagan has also been sick this week and she's the one in charge of the sponsorships and praying for babies.
d me about sponsoring a baby and Iwill get you that information as soon as I can. I want to make sure I have all the info correct before posting it. Meagan has also been sick this week and she's the one in charge of the sponsorships and praying for babies.The first picture is George . He is what they call a "shupa" boy. "Shupa" is a term that they use for trouble maker, little wise guy, etc... He is so cute and good though...just a tad mischievious. We (the girls) came over to Haven II after a long day (we had to drop a baby off at Haven I) and it was their bed time. So, of course, we get them all excited and 
not really ready for bed. George is wearing my beautiful, sun hat. I think it fits him just fine with that white gown. Next, is Moeshe. He is a cute, chubby little one that just loves to be held and picked up anytime. He always tries a little harder with his smile to get you to fall for him.
not really ready for bed. George is wearing my beautiful, sun hat. I think it fits him just fine with that white gown. Next, is Moeshe. He is a cute, chubby little one that just loves to be held and picked up anytime. He always tries a little harder with his smile to get you to fall for him.The next picture is all the older boys around Meagan. Meagan is definitely loved in a special way by all of these kids. She is just another mother to all of them. I can't wait to share with you all that she has done with these children also. (L to R: Bright, Moeshe, Joel, Jason, Meagan, George, Trevor, and Bernard)
Next, is Lola (far right). Some call her "Lola bug". She just is a china doll. She has a perfectly round face, the curliest eyelashes, perfect white teeth, and the sweetest laugh. Her voice is also hilarious because it is a little scratchy sounding so when she repeats words...it's just too adorable. Kathi is below her. She is the oldest of all the orphans and is queen of all of them too. She will tell them what to do and when to do it. She's really more in charge of them than anybody
else
. She is a smart 3 year old...
else
. She is a smart 3 year old... Sunday, April 13, 2008
This first picture is of Andrew. I am holding him as we are going on my first trip to Kalomo hospital to get
work 6 days a week with 10-hour shifts to take care of these little ones. They will be paid back fully one day (I know) for all their hard work. The next photo (upper right hand corner) is Ba Halale, one of the nurses that work at Namwianga. I put this picture is because she is trying to get away from the people that are shoving bananas in her face to buy them. On our way to Lusaka, to get my nursing license (the first time) we pull over on the side of the road to get a snack, and you can see what happens. You literally get malled. Just some more humor to appreciate. Only in Africa...
The next photo is sweet little Paul. In one of my first blogs, I told how we took him to Macha and then pretty much they told us there was nothing else to do for him. He tested negative for everything! Paul was eating well and sucking well and we just couldn't figure out why he was still wasting. We tried lots of different things and racked our brains. Finally, we tried soy milk and then increased the calories by adding more scoops to his bottles and it seems... that Paul is a little fighter. He is still teenie, but he now has fat little cheeks and is starting to gain. Who knows what is in his future, but I hope it is for him to grow big enough to go to Haven 2 or be adopted. God has it in His hands no matter what. (For you at work...thanks whoever donated the 24 guage IV and T-connector. Maybe this helped Paul get through, maybe not. But we tried everything we could.)
Next, is us girls (me, Louisa, and Meagan) having a bit of fun! My first week in Africa, I was able to travel with the Harding Academy group to Victoria Falls. The falls are amazing this time of year. You pretty much can't even see them because the mist is so powerful! Every once and a while, a gush of wind, would come through and you could see them, but other than that, you kept your eyes closed because you would
lose your contacts. Anyways, we do have fun here sometimes. Meagana and Louisa are pretty much the funniest gals and are always looking for a way to smile. They are hilarious actually! I ask you who are reading this to pray for them. They have an extremely heavy load of burdens to carry. Some days I know it feels heavy for them sometimes and other days it doesn't. But they do this with a smile knowing that there is a reason the Lord put the love for Africa in their hearts. I ask you pray for strength for them as they continue to work with the Havens and with the mobile HIV outreach. They carry more in their hearts, I feel, in one day than most have to most of their lives. This is an overwhelming task the Lord presented before them and there is a reason why He placed them here. It's amazing what the Lord can do in people and when the people listen to His call....
lose your contacts. Anyways, we do have fun here sometimes. Meagana and Louisa are pretty much the funniest gals and are always looking for a way to smile. They are hilarious actually! I ask you who are reading this to pray for them. They have an extremely heavy load of burdens to carry. Some days I know it feels heavy for them sometimes and other days it doesn't. But they do this with a smile knowing that there is a reason the Lord put the love for Africa in their hearts. I ask you pray for strength for them as they continue to work with the Havens and with the mobile HIV outreach. They carry more in their hearts, I feel, in one day than most have to most of their lives. This is an overwhelming task the Lord presented before them and there is a reason why He placed them here. It's amazing what the Lord can do in people and when the people listen to His call....All His blessings. I miss you and hope you enjoy the pictures!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
APRIL 12th
I was hit with something bad on Sunday night. I felt a little weird on Sunday afternoon after lunch, but just took a nap and pretty much life was good. We walked to church and I got to hold my favorite babe, Scott. Church didn’t happen because the power was out. As we were walking back, I felt a little light headed, but no big deal. I just thought maybe I needed to eat something. Boy, was I wrong! Now I regret what and that I ate at all! To make this short and painless for some of you…Think of Niagra Falls coming up and out for the whole night! Finally, after two phenergan shots, I passed out and woke up twelve hours later. Today, Thursday, I finally felt like doing something. Louisa did the right thing and tested me for malaria and it was negative. I knew I didn’t have it, but I felt like poo for 3 days. Oh well. It goes with the territory. All is well and getting back to the non-routine of Africa.
Another crazy week....
This past week I am going to write much less---
Monday: Spent the whole day at the clinic with Meagan with Agape and Steven who required IV fluids (a total of 6 ½ hours).
Tuesday: “Under 5 clinic” for the orphanage kids. We brought all babies out of their rooms, weighed them, gave immunizations and any orders that they may need. Next, we did the Haven 2 and that is just an experience within itself. Trying to weigh two year olds in this hanging basket contraption is sometimes tricky. It was definitely fun clinic though
Wednesday: Travel to Livingstone with Kathy to drop Sherry at the airport and to do programs. Meagan and I mainly made reservations for our family who are coming to visit. We did get some good food this day. We drove home to find Paul looking bad again and so we brought him home. It made for a tired Meagan because she worried about him all night.
Thursday: Another outreach to do “Under 5 clinic”. This was a pretty humorous day because we didn’t get an early start because we were all trying to get another IV on Paul. Anyways, we left around noon and on our way… we got stuck in the mud. Our 4-wheel drive truck got totally stuck in the mud when it hasn’t even rained in a week. We found the only mud puddle in Zambia and is was the size of the truck. So, immediately these two ladies come and try to start digging us out with their hands. We try to get it out ourselves, but soon realize this is not going to work. To make this short, we took forever to try to get a hold of someone to come get us out, but by that time, we had collected about 8 men and two women (me included) to push while Louisa drove the truck. I had a couple of firsts…the first time I had a to get myself out of the mud and the first time I was completely sprayed by mud. When got unstuck and then went on our way. The ladies had been waiting with their babies for many hours for us to show up, but were always so gracious to us. Never a complaint about us being late. They actually understand that things happen. Would that ever happen in America? Yeah right. People complain when they don’t get their Big Mac fast enough. How retarded. Anyways, the day ended well and we made it for supper time.
Friday: I was mainly at the orphanage all day helping Meag get a few things organized, but the highlight of the day was taking some of the 2 year old babies to get haircuts. Another great experience to take these babies to these market huts to become bald once again and then get a treat of cheese puffs. Most of them don’t mind because they get a treat. They are beautiful bald babies.
If anyone is interested in sponsoring a baby, please email me. I can give you further information. We probably have ten orphans that aren’t sponsored. They are the sweetest little babies in the world and I think I have picked out mine!
Love you all and thanks for reading. I know it was long, but I haven’t been able to email in a while. Can’t wait to see your faces again…
Monday: Spent the whole day at the clinic with Meagan with Agape and Steven who required IV fluids (a total of 6 ½ hours).
Tuesday: “Under 5 clinic” for the orphanage kids. We brought all babies out of their rooms, weighed them, gave immunizations and any orders that they may need. Next, we did the Haven 2 and that is just an experience within itself. Trying to weigh two year olds in this hanging basket contraption is sometimes tricky. It was definitely fun clinic though
Wednesday: Travel to Livingstone with Kathy to drop Sherry at the airport and to do programs. Meagan and I mainly made reservations for our family who are coming to visit. We did get some good food this day. We drove home to find Paul looking bad again and so we brought him home. It made for a tired Meagan because she worried about him all night.
Thursday: Another outreach to do “Under 5 clinic”. This was a pretty humorous day because we didn’t get an early start because we were all trying to get another IV on Paul. Anyways, we left around noon and on our way… we got stuck in the mud. Our 4-wheel drive truck got totally stuck in the mud when it hasn’t even rained in a week. We found the only mud puddle in Zambia and is was the size of the truck. So, immediately these two ladies come and try to start digging us out with their hands. We try to get it out ourselves, but soon realize this is not going to work. To make this short, we took forever to try to get a hold of someone to come get us out, but by that time, we had collected about 8 men and two women (me included) to push while Louisa drove the truck. I had a couple of firsts…the first time I had a to get myself out of the mud and the first time I was completely sprayed by mud. When got unstuck and then went on our way. The ladies had been waiting with their babies for many hours for us to show up, but were always so gracious to us. Never a complaint about us being late. They actually understand that things happen. Would that ever happen in America? Yeah right. People complain when they don’t get their Big Mac fast enough. How retarded. Anyways, the day ended well and we made it for supper time.
Friday: I was mainly at the orphanage all day helping Meag get a few things organized, but the highlight of the day was taking some of the 2 year old babies to get haircuts. Another great experience to take these babies to these market huts to become bald once again and then get a treat of cheese puffs. Most of them don’t mind because they get a treat. They are beautiful bald babies.
If anyone is interested in sponsoring a baby, please email me. I can give you further information. We probably have ten orphans that aren’t sponsored. They are the sweetest little babies in the world and I think I have picked out mine!
Love you all and thanks for reading. I know it was long, but I haven’t been able to email in a while. Can’t wait to see your faces again…
Easter Sunday: They definitely celebrate Easter weekend over here and celebrate it the right way. Pretty much the whole country shuts down on Good Friday and then everyone and everything is closed on the Monday after Easter. A four day holiday…everyone. So, Easter Sunday was fun because we went over to the Gregerson’s (another missionary couple) late afternoon and had an Easter party. Last year, they had an easter egg dying contest between the group and David G. stood out above the crowd. He stood above and beyond also this year, but I believe that everyone else did pretty well to compete with him. Ba Linda made an easter bunny cake and let Jason and Bernard decorate it with jelly beans and icing.(I think Louisa also had fun decorating with jelly bellys) Ja-Ja was actually up for some fun with decorating, but Bernard (of course) was moody and pretty much just held his jelly beans in his hand. He didn’t have a problem helping David finish off the extra chocolate icing. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to attach pictures of this fun day, but no promises. After decorating, we moved the party outdoors to dye the local chicken eggs. As mentioned earlier, David pretty much showed off his skills of dying eggs and put the rest of us to shame. We had a wonderful dinner made by Linda consisting of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread and salad. It was so good and I pretty much stuffed myself and felt miserable afterwards, but also satisfied.
Monday: “WORLD TB DAY” was today! You are wondering what in the world is this holiday….Well, all over the world it is World Tuberculosis Day and I will describe how we celebrated this wonderful holiday. I know that you are wondering also why we do not get to celebrate this momentous occasion over in America and get a holiday. The reason is that pretty much not everyone in America has TB like over here or has the great potential to get it. First, we went to the clinic where the clinic staff received green shirts with the slogan “I can stop TB. You can stop TB. Help us.” (A great slogan (chuckle)) and some ladies were green chitenges (cloths used for skirts here in Zambia). Here is how the day began….We walked up to the fork in the road and then with a great crowd, we marched back to the clinic while we sang the official TB Day song. Yes, there is an actual song and I have pictures and video to prove it. When it seems that we can walk and sing no more because of the blazing heat, we finally get to the clinic and see that there are lots of chairs set up with the “big dogs” of the clinic and Namwianga sitting underneath a white tent. As Meagan, Louisa, and I start for the chairs that have been set up, from out of nowhere, one hundred Zambians storm past us and we don’t get chairs! We all start immediately laughing because we can’t even believe what has just happened. It was unbelievable. We sit on the ground and by the first hour, Meagan and I have been surrounded by children wanting to hang all over us. The purpose of TB Day is to educate the public in mostly skits and songs. The greatest thing is that really this day is one of the funnest (I know that isn’t a word Mom) days for the people that come to Namwianga clinic. They get educated and have a great time! For approximately 3 hours, we listened to skits and people tell about how their lives are so much better after finding treatment for their TB. The best part was having music and boody shakin’. Over here, they will give any excuse to have some shakin’ of the tailbone in the name of fun. There was a group of people that would play the drums and at random times people would just pop out of the audience to dance along to the music. Of course, you didn’t have to coerce us much to get us white people up to dance. I will say that when we stood up at the beginning of the program to go have a good time, that we definitely got a roar from the crowd. The rest of the day was a holiday so I can’t even remember what we did…
Tuesday: Louisa’s HIV outreach…This was the first time I have been privileged to go with Louisa on her outreach. Last summer, with the ACU mission team, they tested people on the outskirts of Kalomo for HIV (I can’t remember all the villages that they tested people). A couple of doctors from that mission team, including Jeff Mckinzie (Vandy ER doctor), wanted to somehow get a mobile HIV team going. After many months of hard work and trying to get funding, Louisa and her team of people have been traveling to these villages to give them transport money to get ARV’s (b/c all the medicine in Zambia is free!), to do teaching about HIV, and to bring them food. The team: Louisa-the clinical officer that assesses the people and prescribes whatever they may need; Mary- her assistant and translator, she’s hilarious; Rogers- an elder and leader in the community that counsels the HIV patients after and before Louisa sees them, he’s needed just as much or more as the medicine; Ba Zimba- the trusty driver. Just to give you a glimpse of this day…It usually takes at least an hour to get to any of these destinations. Once we get there, there is usually a group people waiting to see the team. Louisa sets up her little area (also known as her black trunk with medical supplies and a log to sit on) to assess the patients while Mary translates. My participation was very little. I mainly observed and helped Louisa with whatever she needed. I tried to give an injection to this little baby and medicine was way too thick for the size needle I had. So, the baby got poked for no reason, but we tried to help. It was kind of humorous, but I also felt a little bad. After Louisa is done with them, Rogers talks with each of them if he hasn’t already done so, and then we give them food /formula to take with them. Louisa’s sister and brother-in-law have started a website to raise money to feed these people. All around Zambia the crops were ruined this year because this last dry season was literally a drought and then there was too much rain this past rainy season and ruined all the maize. It’s amazing to drive to these places and see how many acres and acres of planted maize and it is all dried up and ruined or it never grew in the first place. Louisa started taking food to these people a couple of months ago because the ARV’s (anti-retrovirals) are so tough on their digestive systems. So, later I will put a plug in for her website if you would like to donate some money. Every family gets a bag of milly meal, oil, kapenta (dried little fish-they look nasty, but they love them), and a bag of beans. If they have infants, they provide them with enough formula till the next time they come so the mothers will not breast feed. Louisa is very close to the one family we helped that day. The wife of this family was very sick and her husband came to see Louisa to get his assessment and then get us to take his wife to the hospital in Kalomo. It was sad to see in his face how worried he was about his wife. As we were driving to her hut, it seemed as though this should be on another episode of ER. We are driving over walking paths as though they were paved roads to get to this hut. When we arrived, it was just so pitiful. She had felt bad for many days with coughing, diarrhea, and vomiting. She was barely able to walk she was so weak. She looked so tired and would have gone anywhere to get help. We drove her with her family in the back of our truck to Kalomo hospital to get her admitted. I had no idea how needed this mobile HIV team was until I actually saw it with my own eyes. They are doing so much good for people who need it and don’t have the resources to get help.
We drove back to the Namwianga clinic after dropping this family at Kalomo hospital to find that the Haven truck was at the clinic. We go in to find two more babies, Clifton and Patricia, on IV fluids because of dehydration related to diarrhea. Diarrhea is dangerous in little babies because how fast they can become dehydrated. Both of the babies were advised to stay overnight and so we picked up Meagan and we all go home to fix and eat dinner around 2130. Not an unusual occurrence to eat that late on days like that. Meagan had been at the clinic most of the day with the babies and also had not eaten and was just purely exhausted
Wednesday: I honestly don’t remember how we got to the clinic or if we had been to the orphanage first or not, but we were at the clinic to see Patricia and Clifton. Patricia was doing much better, but as we thought before, this was Clifton’s time to go. Meagan and I were there by ourselves in the room for a little while and then Kathy and her son Sterling came to see how everyone was doing. As we were looking at the babies, Clifton took his last breath. I listened to him and couldn’t hear a thing. I knew he had passed, but I needed someone else to listen so I got Louisa to come pronounce him.
I’m pretty sure the next couple of paragraphs will relate to my co-workers in the PCCU at Vandy. Some of the stories I may tell maybe sad in the scheme of life, but humorous overall because they actually happened. After you read them, I know some of you will understand. Sometimes you have to look at them in a different light or you would just cry all the time…. Meagan, Kathy and I all had to go work out arrangements to get Clifton to the morgue. As I found out this day, any baby they comes up dead here in Zambia has to go to the police department before you can take them to get pronounced at the hospital to be placed in the morgue. As I’m telling you about the happenings of this day, just think how unbelievable this is…We drive to the police department and have this baby wrapped up in a blanket. There are approximately 10 people in this building also there for different reasons. No other dead babies around. We had a couple of people ask if the baby was sick and all we could tell them was no and he wasn’t going to get better. It was a little frustrating because no one really knew what form to fill out or how to help us at first. Then a man from out of nowhere starting bossing people around came to help us. He pulls out this form and no lie…it says at the top “Brought in Dead”. They literally have a BID form. Can you imagine if we had to take every dead child or person first to the police office first to fill out a form, then to the hospital for them to pronounce him in front of a bunch of people and then they could be placed in the morgue. Well we did. After leaving the police station, we go to Kalomo hospital. Meagan knows a bunch of the clinical officers there because she has to take the HIV babies for review, so we get to bypass a very long line.help. To get the clinical officer, we have walk at least 4-5 times with Clifton by all these people waiting to see the doctor. We can barely pass them it is so crowded. After we get to his office, he assess Clifton and then uses his cell phone light as his pen light. No lie. He then leads Meagan to an office where she has to fill out more paperwork while I am left with Clifton in his office while this other lady is seeing this lady and she is complaining about her bladder problem. Directly in front of me while I am holding this baby. There was no shame and no recognition that I was holding Clifton. I waited for about ten minutes when this man comes to me and just waves for me to follow him. Again, I get to shuffle by this massive crowd of people. This man is walking so fast that I almost can’t keep up with him because walking in my skirt will not allow it. Remember, I’m still holding Clifton while following him at a slow jog. We walked up this path to this building with a lock on it. Little do I know that he is leading me to the morgue! He unlocks the door, opens the double door and immediately I am hit with this stinch that is vaguely familiar. I see a cooler and before I can react, he apologizes for the smell. The cooler is opened and I just hope that I will not faint.(For all of you that know my Baja Burrito fainting story…I didn’t come close to fainting like that) There was a rotting corpse on one of the bottom shelves and the man just points to the shelf where I have to leave Clifton. I gently placed him on the shelf and then am startled because I just placed my hand in some unknown fluid. I really don’t know what it was and nor do I care to know, but I just got out of there as soon as possible. I walk away just dumbfounded at what I had to do. I still chuckle to myself because I can’t believe this day.
Thursday – Sunday: We traveled once again to Lusaka, but this time for a missionary retreat. Missionaries from Namwianga went to Mi Peppe bible school where the French family hosted multiple missionary couples and families from Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania. It was an amazing experience to get to hear from missionaries such as the Alison’s that have worked in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda for over 30 years; to hear from Sondra and Brian Davis who are working in northern Zambia; and from the French’s who have been helping the bible college get off the ground. Louisa and I traveled downtown on Friday to get approved by the nursing board of Zambia and to also order meds for Northreach. This pretty much took most of the day and also just took too much time as usual. I have more stories from all of this because I have too tired to write.
Monday: “WORLD TB DAY” was today! You are wondering what in the world is this holiday….Well, all over the world it is World Tuberculosis Day and I will describe how we celebrated this wonderful holiday. I know that you are wondering also why we do not get to celebrate this momentous occasion over in America and get a holiday. The reason is that pretty much not everyone in America has TB like over here or has the great potential to get it. First, we went to the clinic where the clinic staff received green shirts with the slogan “I can stop TB. You can stop TB. Help us.” (A great slogan (chuckle)) and some ladies were green chitenges (cloths used for skirts here in Zambia). Here is how the day began….We walked up to the fork in the road and then with a great crowd, we marched back to the clinic while we sang the official TB Day song. Yes, there is an actual song and I have pictures and video to prove it. When it seems that we can walk and sing no more because of the blazing heat, we finally get to the clinic and see that there are lots of chairs set up with the “big dogs” of the clinic and Namwianga sitting underneath a white tent. As Meagan, Louisa, and I start for the chairs that have been set up, from out of nowhere, one hundred Zambians storm past us and we don’t get chairs! We all start immediately laughing because we can’t even believe what has just happened. It was unbelievable. We sit on the ground and by the first hour, Meagan and I have been surrounded by children wanting to hang all over us. The purpose of TB Day is to educate the public in mostly skits and songs. The greatest thing is that really this day is one of the funnest (I know that isn’t a word Mom) days for the people that come to Namwianga clinic. They get educated and have a great time! For approximately 3 hours, we listened to skits and people tell about how their lives are so much better after finding treatment for their TB. The best part was having music and boody shakin’. Over here, they will give any excuse to have some shakin’ of the tailbone in the name of fun. There was a group of people that would play the drums and at random times people would just pop out of the audience to dance along to the music. Of course, you didn’t have to coerce us much to get us white people up to dance. I will say that when we stood up at the beginning of the program to go have a good time, that we definitely got a roar from the crowd. The rest of the day was a holiday so I can’t even remember what we did…
Tuesday: Louisa’s HIV outreach…This was the first time I have been privileged to go with Louisa on her outreach. Last summer, with the ACU mission team, they tested people on the outskirts of Kalomo for HIV (I can’t remember all the villages that they tested people). A couple of doctors from that mission team, including Jeff Mckinzie (Vandy ER doctor), wanted to somehow get a mobile HIV team going. After many months of hard work and trying to get funding, Louisa and her team of people have been traveling to these villages to give them transport money to get ARV’s (b/c all the medicine in Zambia is free!), to do teaching about HIV, and to bring them food. The team: Louisa-the clinical officer that assesses the people and prescribes whatever they may need; Mary- her assistant and translator, she’s hilarious; Rogers- an elder and leader in the community that counsels the HIV patients after and before Louisa sees them, he’s needed just as much or more as the medicine; Ba Zimba- the trusty driver. Just to give you a glimpse of this day…It usually takes at least an hour to get to any of these destinations. Once we get there, there is usually a group people waiting to see the team. Louisa sets up her little area (also known as her black trunk with medical supplies and a log to sit on) to assess the patients while Mary translates. My participation was very little. I mainly observed and helped Louisa with whatever she needed. I tried to give an injection to this little baby and medicine was way too thick for the size needle I had. So, the baby got poked for no reason, but we tried to help. It was kind of humorous, but I also felt a little bad. After Louisa is done with them, Rogers talks with each of them if he hasn’t already done so, and then we give them food /formula to take with them. Louisa’s sister and brother-in-law have started a website to raise money to feed these people. All around Zambia the crops were ruined this year because this last dry season was literally a drought and then there was too much rain this past rainy season and ruined all the maize. It’s amazing to drive to these places and see how many acres and acres of planted maize and it is all dried up and ruined or it never grew in the first place. Louisa started taking food to these people a couple of months ago because the ARV’s (anti-retrovirals) are so tough on their digestive systems. So, later I will put a plug in for her website if you would like to donate some money. Every family gets a bag of milly meal, oil, kapenta (dried little fish-they look nasty, but they love them), and a bag of beans. If they have infants, they provide them with enough formula till the next time they come so the mothers will not breast feed. Louisa is very close to the one family we helped that day. The wife of this family was very sick and her husband came to see Louisa to get his assessment and then get us to take his wife to the hospital in Kalomo. It was sad to see in his face how worried he was about his wife. As we were driving to her hut, it seemed as though this should be on another episode of ER. We are driving over walking paths as though they were paved roads to get to this hut. When we arrived, it was just so pitiful. She had felt bad for many days with coughing, diarrhea, and vomiting. She was barely able to walk she was so weak. She looked so tired and would have gone anywhere to get help. We drove her with her family in the back of our truck to Kalomo hospital to get her admitted. I had no idea how needed this mobile HIV team was until I actually saw it with my own eyes. They are doing so much good for people who need it and don’t have the resources to get help.
We drove back to the Namwianga clinic after dropping this family at Kalomo hospital to find that the Haven truck was at the clinic. We go in to find two more babies, Clifton and Patricia, on IV fluids because of dehydration related to diarrhea. Diarrhea is dangerous in little babies because how fast they can become dehydrated. Both of the babies were advised to stay overnight and so we picked up Meagan and we all go home to fix and eat dinner around 2130. Not an unusual occurrence to eat that late on days like that. Meagan had been at the clinic most of the day with the babies and also had not eaten and was just purely exhausted
Wednesday: I honestly don’t remember how we got to the clinic or if we had been to the orphanage first or not, but we were at the clinic to see Patricia and Clifton. Patricia was doing much better, but as we thought before, this was Clifton’s time to go. Meagan and I were there by ourselves in the room for a little while and then Kathy and her son Sterling came to see how everyone was doing. As we were looking at the babies, Clifton took his last breath. I listened to him and couldn’t hear a thing. I knew he had passed, but I needed someone else to listen so I got Louisa to come pronounce him.
I’m pretty sure the next couple of paragraphs will relate to my co-workers in the PCCU at Vandy. Some of the stories I may tell maybe sad in the scheme of life, but humorous overall because they actually happened. After you read them, I know some of you will understand. Sometimes you have to look at them in a different light or you would just cry all the time…. Meagan, Kathy and I all had to go work out arrangements to get Clifton to the morgue. As I found out this day, any baby they comes up dead here in Zambia has to go to the police department before you can take them to get pronounced at the hospital to be placed in the morgue. As I’m telling you about the happenings of this day, just think how unbelievable this is…We drive to the police department and have this baby wrapped up in a blanket. There are approximately 10 people in this building also there for different reasons. No other dead babies around. We had a couple of people ask if the baby was sick and all we could tell them was no and he wasn’t going to get better. It was a little frustrating because no one really knew what form to fill out or how to help us at first. Then a man from out of nowhere starting bossing people around came to help us. He pulls out this form and no lie…it says at the top “Brought in Dead”. They literally have a BID form. Can you imagine if we had to take every dead child or person first to the police office first to fill out a form, then to the hospital for them to pronounce him in front of a bunch of people and then they could be placed in the morgue. Well we did. After leaving the police station, we go to Kalomo hospital. Meagan knows a bunch of the clinical officers there because she has to take the HIV babies for review, so we get to bypass a very long line.help. To get the clinical officer, we have walk at least 4-5 times with Clifton by all these people waiting to see the doctor. We can barely pass them it is so crowded. After we get to his office, he assess Clifton and then uses his cell phone light as his pen light. No lie. He then leads Meagan to an office where she has to fill out more paperwork while I am left with Clifton in his office while this other lady is seeing this lady and she is complaining about her bladder problem. Directly in front of me while I am holding this baby. There was no shame and no recognition that I was holding Clifton. I waited for about ten minutes when this man comes to me and just waves for me to follow him. Again, I get to shuffle by this massive crowd of people. This man is walking so fast that I almost can’t keep up with him because walking in my skirt will not allow it. Remember, I’m still holding Clifton while following him at a slow jog. We walked up this path to this building with a lock on it. Little do I know that he is leading me to the morgue! He unlocks the door, opens the double door and immediately I am hit with this stinch that is vaguely familiar. I see a cooler and before I can react, he apologizes for the smell. The cooler is opened and I just hope that I will not faint.(For all of you that know my Baja Burrito fainting story…I didn’t come close to fainting like that) There was a rotting corpse on one of the bottom shelves and the man just points to the shelf where I have to leave Clifton. I gently placed him on the shelf and then am startled because I just placed my hand in some unknown fluid. I really don’t know what it was and nor do I care to know, but I just got out of there as soon as possible. I walk away just dumbfounded at what I had to do. I still chuckle to myself because I can’t believe this day.
Thursday – Sunday: We traveled once again to Lusaka, but this time for a missionary retreat. Missionaries from Namwianga went to Mi Peppe bible school where the French family hosted multiple missionary couples and families from Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania. It was an amazing experience to get to hear from missionaries such as the Alison’s that have worked in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda for over 30 years; to hear from Sondra and Brian Davis who are working in northern Zambia; and from the French’s who have been helping the bible college get off the ground. Louisa and I traveled downtown on Friday to get approved by the nursing board of Zambia and to also order meds for Northreach. This pretty much took most of the day and also just took too much time as usual. I have more stories from all of this because I have too tired to write.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
