The Medical Missions

Well what a week it has been.  I only have time now to write about it because I was exhausted every night last week and ended up sleeping at 8:30.

I just saw everyone off to the airport today, we celebrated mass at 5:00 and then they headed on their way.

So let me start from last week and tell you what has happened.

After I got back from my bus ride I was waiting in the village and the people showed up around 4:00.  I was so excited to see them, the priests and I went outside to greet them.

There was 4 of them on this trip:  Ray, Jennifer, Rochelle and Margarita.  Rochelle was the doctor and this was her second trip and Ray is the director of the charity.  So I had finished packing that day for our medical mission so we just chilled out that night getting to know one another.

Over the next 3 days was quite an adventure.  We traveled to three different villages.  The first was Chakuwi.  The second, Ndanowa.  And the third was Chisuulu.  The first of these villages which we went to was a lot like one of the previous trips where when we got there you could just feel the sickness.

The people were in a very defeated kind of mood and there were few smiles.  We set up shop in the church there which was fine.  So Margarita and I were in charge of the pharmacy while Rochelle was being the doctor and Jennifer was doing triage.  Ray was going around speaking to the people (Ray is from Malawi and speaks the language).

The church on the first day (Rochelle, Big E, Jennifer and Ray)

The second day, in Ndanowa, was a more prosperous village which had a school in it.  So when we arrived there school was in session and we enjoyed seeing all the kids there.  There was not a lot of people there at first but I knew this would not last.  We set up in one of the schoolhouses and got to work.

The pharmacy and Rochelle in the Background

About halfway through there were these torrential winds outside and we could see dust blowing everywhere.  About 20 minutes after the winds came a huge storm which lasted for about an hour.  There was so much rain and it was so loud that when I gave instructions of how to take the medicine I had to shout to the translator.

We ended up not seeing everyone and people were almost pushing to get inside.  Luckily we had a good man working the door to monitor the flow of traffic.

I do remember during that clinic we were  working overtime because we knew that we would not see everyone.  So I was filling out this order for a child who was very sick because he was getting a lot of antibiotics.  So it took me about 15 minutes to fill the order and when I went to give it to the child, I realized the mother had already taken her away back to the village.  So I grabbed the translator and we rushed out the door and ran down the road to catch them.

Finally we did and I gave the instructions to the mother for the child and then left the mother with a few choice words.  Nothing bad but more about being considerate for other people.  Then we left.

We went home that night and it was nice and cool from the rain.  We packed up all the medicine for the next day.

The final day on the road we went to Chisuulu.  And this was an interesting one.  We set up shop in the church......but the problem was that the roof of the church was made of grass.  So I said a quick prayer that we would not get rain.

The grass roofed Church

We started seeing people and it was great.  The people were much more lively here and the leader of the village was a great man with a wonderful daughter.  So we finished up through lunch and because of the rain the previous days we had to take the long road back so we had to leave early.  About 4.  So we finished lunch and came back to work and were going away when......the wind picked up again.  So we knew what was coming.

And sure enough about 15 minutes later it started raining, and it was raining.  So we had to pack everything up and leave early from there.  I think we were out by 3:30 which was not too bad but we would have liked to stay longer.

When we returned we unpacked everything and prepared for 2 days at the clinic in Bowe.

That night we did not hesitate to have a few beers and laughs from the hard work of the week.

It is now Friday and we went to church and opened up the clinic at around 8:00.  We were not in a rush because it would take a while for people to get there.  Plus there was a funeral that day so many people were gone.  I have to say we worked quite well in the clinic.  And that first day we attended to every single person which came!!!!

Working in the Dark

I was so happy about this.  We ended at 5:30 and went back to the house for some more beers.

The next and final day we opened up a little later because we were nearing the point of exhaustion and we started seeing people.  Besides the power going out for almost all day it was a smooth ride and again we ended up seeing everyone.

One of two new shelves for the pharmacy (These are all students, the man squatting is the carpentry teacher)

It was fun because all the friends which I have made here I got to see at the clinic and all of them were doing good.  Healthy and fine.  So it was good.  We finished that day at 4:30 and relaxed and relaxed.  With each prescription which we hand out we always include a bag of 30 multi-vitamins for the people.  It is amazing how much each one of the vitamins help them and provide for them.

Circulation of patients on each day

The final day, Sunday, we had mass at 10.  So I tried to sleep in but only got till 7:30.  We celebrated mass which happened to be also the day when farming season was opened.  So all the farmers were there and their seeds were blessed.  It ended up being about 2:45 for the mass, which was not too bad.  We ended with a giant feast and then I napped.  After waking I talked with everyone and it hit me they were leaving the next day and I was very sad about this.

The setup for Sunday's Mass

So we finished with a few beers and laughs and went to bed.

I have to say it was a great week because of all the people that we helped.  The final count for each village is as follows:

Chakuwi - 134
Ndanowa - 142
Chisuulu - 148
Bowe Day 1 - 110
Bowe Day 2 - 115

Total : 649 people

I find it hard to express the emotions which I feel about this.  I am overwhelmed that we could help that many people in such a short time.  I know that these people will live longer and healthier lives because of our help.  I thank all of the support from the people back home and the group which came here to help.

It is now Monday and everyone is gone.  I am relaxing with a cup of tea and toast.  We have deemed in necessary for me to take today off and relax.  Soon though we will pick up again.  I have finished drawings of the guest house in Kalembe and we will soon break ground on that.

We are close to finding land for the commerce center and so plans can be started on that.  Besides this the rains are coming in about 2 weeks so farming will truly begin then.  All the farmers are waiting with hesitation to begin and plant crops which will feed them and their families next year.