Weeks 3 and 4 - Choma, Zambia - "Its the simple things"

For the past two weeks the team and I have been in Choma, Zambia. It has been a stretching, rewarding, God-filled two weeks. I think its fair to say that we have been stretched over the past two weeks. We have had opportunities to complete skills that we have never before. I got to attempt to insert a catheter and draw blood!! I was able to assist in delivering a baby, I was blessed to sit and hold hands of patients suffering with illnesses, I got to be in the OR and see a 5 pound tumor removed. Through these two weeks we have seen a lot of suffering, but we have seen hope as well. The staff at Choma General Hospital are giving the people here hope. There is hope in the times when you can sit and hold a patient’s hand and pray over them. There is hope when you can crack a smile to a suffering patient and they smile back. There is hope when parent’s faces brighten up when they see someone who cares walking over to their child’s bed. God has taught us a lot this week in the nursing field. He is shaping each of us to become the nurse He wants us to be. During our time here in Choma we have had time to do various other things as well. We have walked to town and explored markets. When we walked to the market the other day we actually ended up dancing in the middle of the market with a group of Zambians, it was a moment I will cherish forever. I have tried fried dough from the market here in Choma. As a group we participated in the “Zambian Olympics” one Friday evening. One of my team member’s grew up in a town nearby here called Jembo. We were blessed to go there and explore. When were in Jembo we attended the chapel at the Bible College, we ate some GOOD mexican food, we ate lemons fresh off the tree, we walked to “prayer rock” - which was a beautiful view out across the bush. I may have chased a rooster as well in front of a group of Zambians. At one point I stood on a line of rocks, with hands raised and said loudly “I love Africa”, and then looked over to find a group of Zambian men laughing at the Mezungu girl standing on rocks with her arms raised, I can’t imagine how crazy they thought I was. These past two weeks have been so good. We have learned much and I have so many things that I could share with you but the main thing that I have learned these two weeks is that “its the simple things.” Life can be so complex, so hard, so overwhelming at times. “Its the simple things” that have been impacting me the most, the things that I am so thankful to have, they aren’t huge but they are important to me. I have started a list of the “the simple things” that are standing out to me. Here are a few from the list -- “Its the simple things” -- a cool breeze in the heat of the day, cold water to wash your feet with, having dirty, dusty feet after walking, a cold ice cream cone, a sunset, dancing in a market with a group of beautiful Zambian people. Life doesn’t need to get so complicated with the complex things. God is teaching me more and more each day how it is just the simple things. I love it. I know this blog may be rambling but its an update :)

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him.” - Lamentations 3:22-24

We are traveling back to Zimba today, where we will be for a week and then onto Macha for three weeks!!! Please continue to keep this team in your prayers!! Love and Miss you all!!!

Week 2 - Zimba, Zambia - Psalm 103

This past week we were in Zimba, Zambia, a small town out in the middle of nowhere. If you have ever been to Africa or a third world country, it was like one of those little towns you drive through when you are driving along a main road. On Sunday we had to split up into smaller groups to go to church. I was with the group that went out into the bush to attend church. It was a 3 mile walk out into the bush. We arrived at Sianakanga Wesleyan Church around 10 am. The children’s service was still going on, so we sat in for the end of it. Then the main service started around 11 am. The service started with some singing, announcements, offering, and then worship. The worship was so beautiful, since there was no electricity it was just african drums and our voices. We worshipped in the local language which is Tonga, even though I couldn’t understand what we were singing it still touched me in a deep way. It was so nice to just close my eyes and feel God’s presence around me with the mixture of voices lifting up to our great God. There is something about the worship here that soothes the soul, it is pure, it is genuine, its refreshing. Next the pastor came up to preach, he talked about overcoming trials and tribulations, which was exactly what I needed to hear that morning. After service we filed out as we were dismissed. Here in Zambia the pastors file out first and then an usher dismisses each aisle. As you walk out you greet everyone that has previously filed out by shaking their hand, once you get to the end of the line you join it and continue to greet the rest of the congregation until everyone has emptied the church. It was such an amazing time of fellowship. On Monday the 10th we started our clinical experience in Africa. We were all nervous but excited to get into the hospital. We were working at Zimba Mission Hospital it is an amazing place of hope in Zimba. ZMH has many wards consisting of male/female, pediatrics, OB, TB, outpatient clinic, HIV counseling, physiotherapy, operating room, lab, and a pharmacy. I started my week in the registration, and it was so overwhelming. It wasn’t what I was expecting to start my clinical here in Africa but it was a humbling morning. I was assisting Jackson in registering new patients and filling out the log book. I signed them into the log book and was also in charge of filling out the rest of the patients files, including adding certain numbers to come up with the patients health card number. I soon learned that this was only half of Jackson’s job. He usually did it all by himself, to think I was only doing half and near tears humbled me. People pushing slips into your face, crowding the counter, speaking in a language that I couldn’t understand. Although it was not what I had hoped for to start my clinical that morning, it was what I needed to start clinical here in Africa. By the end of the morning I was laughing and enjoying myself. One of my favorite parts of that morning was when Jackson had me start calling names out, let me tell you the names here in Africa are not easy for a white girl to pronounce. Whenever I would yell a name the whole waiting room would start laughing, I in a sense became their entertainment as they waited to be called. That afternoon I went to the male/female ward, which was where I was going to be for clinical the next day. I assisted with vitals and worked with many different patients. As I was doing vitals I came upon patients with malaria, HIV, meningitis, and various other illnesses. One man whose vitals I took was so weak that he couldn’t even lift his arm for me to put the blood pressure cuff on, his arm was so small that I had to apply pressure to get the blood pressure cuff to get a reading. All I could do was hold onto his hand and just pray for him, its all I knew to do. After finishing vitals we went to pediatrics to see the little ones who were admitted. My heart broke as I saw a young baby who had meningitis, she was so small, her little head could fit in my palm. With her mother talking with other moms and the baby crying all I could do to maintain composure was pray.. I quickly learned that each day would be draining emotionally and physically. The next day I was in the male and female ward. Again I worked with patients with malaria, HIV, meningitis, and even a young man with TB. It was another humbling day, trusting God to protect the team from various illnesses that we are being exposed to. On Wednesday we had classes and then a game night with the team. Then on Thursday I went out with 4 others to assist with a measles vaccination clinic. It was 16 kilometers out in the bush and when we pulled up there were already hundreds of people waiting. A team performed a skit to educate the people on TB and how it is spread. Next we went into the health post and the children started filing in to the building. They got vitamin A to protect their eyes, a tablet for prevention of worms, and then the vaccination. I have never heard so many screams and seen so many little faces filled with fear and tears. I got kicked, bit, and hit many times throughout the day as we wrestled the children to give the vaccination. By the end of the day we had vaccinated 709 children! We were worn out but headed home with high spirits. Then today we ventured to our next destination and are now safely in Choma, Zambia. We will be here for two weeks going through clinical and classes!!! Thanks for all the prayers and please continue to lift us up! “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.” - St. Augustine-

WEEK 1 - crazinessss/ transitioning

Hello everyone, We have officially been in Zambia for a week!!! Its been a challenging, eye-opening, humbling, adventurous week. I am so glad to be here and the team is amazing. The first few days were spent in Lusaka, which is the capital of Zambia. We attended our first church service, visited various hospitals and NGOs (non-governmental organizations), and had time to just explore/transition. Each of the meetings that we had with the hospitals helped us see into the structure of how the hospitals are run here in Zambia. It was an eye-opening experience each day. Out of all the visits we had during our days in Lusaka one made a larger impact than any of them. The hospital was called Beit Cure Hospital, it is a Christian mission hospital. They treat mainly neuro and orthopedic pediatric patients. A few of the conditions that are most commonly treated at Cure Hospital are hydrocephalus, spina bifida, club foot, and myelfmenigenocele. As we toured we saw the colorfully painted walls, we noticed the loving and positive work environment, we saw hope through this place. At one point the nurse supervisor giving us the tour, stopped and started explaining that they did not just treat the patients physically but also spiritually. She explained that they wanted to make sure that the patient’s felt loved. That the world gets so caught up in appearances of people that they are often overlooked or seen as “not safe to touch”. She stated that they wanted to get down and love on those who the world seems to ignore or push to the side. This is the type of environment I am called to, this is the type of hospital I want to work in. I have been praying for God to show me an example of where I am called to work and I have not been so excited about a hospital than I was about this one. After many meetings in Lusaka, on Thursday the 6th we were on our way to our next destination which was Zimba!! We left after breakfast Thursday morning embarking on what was said to be a 5 hour drive, but little did we know that it would be a little bit longer. During the drive we had two hours of Leadership class on the bus. Shortly after we ended class we were making our way up a hill and the bus broke down. While our bus driver, Potifer worked on cooling the engine down we sang songs, played some games, and had our first experiences using the “restroom” in the bush :) A short 60 minutes later we continued our journey to Zimba, we stopped for lunch at a bus station on the way and had some “fast food”. It was quite the experience, when one of my teammates, ordered fish and got a whole fish including, scales and fins. Our bus continued to struggle the rest of the journey and after 9 short hours (the trip normally takes 5 hours), literally rolled into Zimba, 50 feet from where we were staying. We were all very thankful that God had protected us and allowed us to get to our destination before our bus broke down. Zimba is a small little town along a road. Its quiet, its peaceful, it allows you to reflect on alot. We had a tour of the hospital on Friday and we start clinical Monday! We are all excited but a little anxious as well. Please continue to keep our team in your prayers. Sorry this is such a rambling blog. We are all still transitioning and settling into life here in Africa. Pray for team unity, pray for protection against sickness, pray for God to work through us and for the people we come into contact will feel His love. Till next time. :)