Since the last time we blogged, we've had quite the
experience here in Zambia! We went on a 2 day Safari to a place called Mukambi
Lodge. It was nothing like what we expected; it was a 100 times better!! We didn’t
even feel like we were in Africa, it felt more like an all-inclusive 5 star
lodge down by the lake. It was nice to take a break from 4 days at the hospital
haha doesnt sound like a long time but it sure felt like it. We really enjoyed
the fact that all 24 of us plus our instructors could spend a weekend together,
stress free :) After the weekend it was back to the hospital we went. Pavan was
on Antenatal, Kiran was in the Theatre (OR), Sonam was on the peds ward and
Gina did an outreach placement at a clinic. It was an eventful week, definetly
had its up's and down's with patients passing away. The best part about our
week was we had a baby who was assumed to be a still-born but turned out to be
a miracle baby as he survived and is now on the Antenatal ward in an incubator.
Although it was nice to see him alive and in an incubator it was still
frustrating when there was no power to keep him warm and especially since the
incubator is located at the back of the ward in an isolated room. However, we
were happy that he survived and every day we had numerous students and teachers
visit him. Another reason our week ended off great was we had another student
save a life. She brought an 8year boy in from a clinic who had a severe form of
malaria. The boy was deteriorating quickly but she was able to give him
ventilation through an ambubag and keep alive long enough to reach the hospital
and get help. He was in ICU with Sonam for two days until he was stable enough
to move to the regular children’s ward. It was great to see him responding to
treatment and more alert. There were times during the week that we were super
frustrated and kept thinking to ourselves, what are we even doing here? Is what
we’re doing even helping? A lot of the frustrations were due to things that
were out of our control such as having no water to make formula for the babies.
When we did have water there was no power to boil the water to make the
formula. We felt like when one issue was resolved another one sprung up on us.
Although, at the time of these events we felt frustrated at the end of the week
when we reflected we were able to put all these negative experiences aside and
focus on the positive.
To top off the end of our week, on Saturday we went on a
boat cruise which was a fundraiser organized by Lewanika General Hospital. All
the proceeds are going to be put towards supplies for the hospital. The boat
cruise which was scheduled to depart at 10am of course left at Zambian time
which was noon. The cruise was a good
opportunity for the Canadian nursing students to mix and mingle with the
hospital staff who were on the cruise as well.
On the cruise we had a braii and music playing so we were able to dance.
However, we didn’t get the music up and
running until we were on our way back.
On our boat cruise we went and saw the King’s Palace and were able to
take some nice pictures (which we will try posting soon!) When we arrived back
at the Harbour it was passed 8pm so it was quite dark out! On our way to catching our taxi we were all
mauled by about 40 kids who hugged, kissed, and grabbed the 4 of us. We almost thought we lost Gina when we got
into the cab because the kids were all dragging her off away from the
taxi. However..thankfully our taxi
driver, Jason, was able to help us scare the kids away so we could get Gina
back! That night we quickly headed home to eat and change to go celebrate that
we saved Gina. We all went out to Oasis
(which is a bar/club here) and danced the night away with our Zambian friends
from the hospital. Before we knew it…our
celebrations lasted until 2am. The night ended off with someone trying to buy
some of Sonam’s luxurious hair and another sniffing Kiran’s hair.We rushed home
to get some sleep because we had to meet Fay and Jess the next morning for our
PAFs (which are our evalations)…thankfully we all passed thus far! After our PAFs we headed to Mutoya Camp where
we currently are! We are split into 2’s
to either teach 11 students (who are becoming Community Health Workers) and the
other 2 are placed into the clinic where they diagnose/prescribe medications
for the patients they see. Aside from
this, we are also helping with the feeding program, where we have 2
malnourished children who are staying at the Save a Life Center. These children get fed every 3 hours,
including midnight, 3am, and 6am. So the
four of us are taking turns feeding the children at night…this means that we
wake up like zombies, walk through a guarded gate where we are greeted by the
watch guards, walk up a steep (and trust me…its STEEP…we’ll post pictures) sand
hill, feed the children, and then walk back down to our place where half the
time we don’t fall back asleep for the rest of the night. But in the end, it’s all worth it because the
kids are SO cute here!
We’re here for another 3 days (at the camp), the next few
days should be interesting. We’ll be
screening approximately 300 children for any health conditions they may have.
We’re still not home sick yet…but we do miss you guys
(some more than others hehe).
Love you, hope you all are safe.
Keep checking back for more blogs and photos. 2 more weeks in Mongu, 8 days in Livingstone,
1 priceless night in London, and then ……………………..HOME! By the way…Kiran wants
Heniz Ketchup on everything, Pavan wants White Spot, Sonam wants BPs, and Gina wants some thin cut fries! So whoever is picking us up from the
airport…come prepared PLEASE and thank you!!!
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