My Experience with Healthcare in Zambia

While in Zambia, I spent a little time at the Namwianga clinic. It's a rural clinic. Fairly small, but it serves many, many people. Mondays are the busiest because it's designated for patients with HIV to come for HAART. I happened to be there during Zambia's Child Health Week, so there were several kiddos coming in for immunizations. 

There's a lab, women & children's ward, men's ward, radiology (X-ray and ultrasound), pharmacy, vaccination room, consult/triage room, physical therapy, L&D, and postpartum rooms. As I understand, there is also a surgical suite for simple procedures. Below is a picture of the L&D suite. Can you imagine? 

I spent my day with the clinic officer, who is a nurse that graduated about 9 months ago...and she basically does what a nurse practitioner would do in the States. It's crazy. She's smart and very good at explaining things. We also had a couple of Zambian nursing students with us, and it was very interesting taking to them and learning about their nursing school experience.

The craziest thing I saw? An elderly woman came in with a tumor on the front of her neck. A tumor that was almost as big as her head. I have never seen a tumor like that before. Oddly enough, she was having headaches...which is why she came in. Part of my was just stunned by how big the tumor was. Another part of me was trying to figure out how (if someone in the States had a tumor like this) you would go about resecting it. Still, another part of me was just saddened. I asked one of the students if she had seen tumors like that before. She said, "Yes. All the time. Don't you?" So I told her how, most of the time, we treat tumors when they're small. She was amazed. 

The most sobering thing? I think that would have to be all the babies and toddlers that came in with these rashes. Rashes from being left in soiled nappies for too long, and not being cleaned up well. I'm not talking about your average diaper rash. I'm talking like the skin on their trunks and legs is super irritated. The clinic officer told me it's pretty common, especially if there are several children in the family...they just get overlooked. Of course, there were also several who were malnourished and (consequently) not meeting developmental milestones. Heartbreaking. 

I mentioned Child Health Week. Part of that involves an experienced nurse taking groups of students out to places like The Haven and smaller villages to make sure every child is immunized. So that's the one picture I was able to get before my camera died. It was quite the event! 

It's always a humbling experience to see healthcare systems in countries like Zambia. And it's a privilege to do whatever you can to help those that come. It makes me extremely thankful for the technology and research we have here. 

Where to begin?

Words fail me. I've been meaning to write since I got back from Zambia, but I simply don't know what to say. Anything I say can never do the experience justice. Just like with Mexico and Honduras, there's not a good way to describe it. I can tell you that I had a wonderful time. I can tell you that I met lots of amazing people. I can tell you about the breathtaking sunsets and vast starry skies. I can tell you about the precious children. But it won't come close to experiencing it for yourself. 

My adventure got off to a bit of a rough start. The plane out of OKC was delayed, so I just barely missed the flight from DFW to LHR. There was another flight leaving that night, and, thankfully, I was able to get on it. The plane landed in London around 1330...2 hours after I was hoping to be there. Then, I found out that the ticket I had to get into the city was only good for the Underground/tube...not the Connect (so it took 1.5 hours instead of 30 minutes to get into town). I definitely didn't get to see everything I wanted to! About 48 hours after leaving, I had arrived in Livingstone...without my luggage (which thankfully showed up the next day). Despite it all, I still felt blessed to just be at Namwianga. It was exciting! 

My living quarters at Namwianga. Yeah, that's a thatch roof. Legit. However, it was horrible for my allergies. 

It wasn't long before my heart was captured. 

This sweet little girl attached herself to me after worship on Sunday. Another had written me a note, telling me about herself and family, and asked if I would be her mother. The next day I went to The Havens...so many sweet kiddos...I ended up spending most of my time here. I couldn't help it! I spent a day at the mission's clinic. And another day at Victoria Falls. I'll have to post more about each of these places separately!

I spent my down time getting to know the other people on campus...including a great group of interns from ACU. I wish I could have stayed until they had to leave too! We had a few movie nights with Meagan and her interns. I enjoyed listening to several good stories. I had lots of good laughs. It was a blessed time!

Otherwise, I ate lots of food, drank tons of tea, enjoyed long walks, and even helped neuter a dog. Who would've thought? Really, though. I am quite thankful that our Zambian cook was pretty decent at making American cuisine. I don't think I could've done sheema all the time. Not a big fan. I was surprised by how cold it got at night. I had been warned, but it's hard to mentally grasp the fact that Africa can get that cold. Hence, lots of hot tea. I even went for a hot chocolate every night. Stole blankets from other beds. And slept in fleece.   

My time at Namwianga was far too short. I so wish I could've been there longer. I began to miss everything before leaving. It took everything I had to keep myself together as we drove off. I'm looking forward to when I can go back and be on the medical mission!