Today I saw Africa (written 9/17/09)

Today I saw Africa in its purest form. I saw human beings living in literal filth. I saw AIDS. I saw true poverty. And yet it was one of the best days of my life.

Once a week the Namwianga clinic sends a team out into the bush to care for mothers and young children. They set up clinics at “Health Depots” – huts made specifically for this purpose; they are built in places to which many villages will have access. The emphasis of these rural clinics is to give babies their basic immunizations (Hepatitis, Polio, Measles, etc.) and to track babies’ weight to ensure that they are growing. Pregnancy testing, HIV testing, prenatal care, and family planning (birth control) are among their other services. Everything is provided to the people free of charge; this is made possible by donations to the Namwianga clinic.

When a child first arrives, he is weighed using a hanging sack with a scale on top that reports weight in kilos (kg). This weight is recorded in the child’s pamphlet; every mother has a pamphlet in which to track her child’s growth process. A special chart tells us whether the baby is healthy, underweight or overweight based on his age. Most of the babies we saw today were underweight. Once the baby is weighed, he receives the proper immunizations. Today we gave mostly Hep B injections.

The women who are interested in family planning talk to a nurse. They either receive birth control pills or a hormonal shot which prevents menstruation for three months. These shots were the most difficult to give; first of all because the medicine is a thick, milky substance, and also because it is obviously painful for the patient and they sometimes cried out in pain. Condoms are also distributed.

HIV testing is another very important part of these rural clinics. Blood is drawn and then dropped along with a buffer onto a special HIV test strip. After 15 minutes, if two lines have appeared on the test strip, the patient likely has AIDS. Thankfully, no one we saw today tested positive!

Stella, a midwife at the Namwianga clinic, talked with and checked the pregnant mothers. She discussed with the women the importance of being honest about their health and of being careful not to participate in activities that may harm the baby. She felt their stomachs to check the positioning of the baby and performed breast checks as well.

Yesterday we visited two locations. At the first we worked in a small hut and saw about 75 patients. When we finished our work one of the women served us shema (the traditional corn porridge) and nswi (fish). This food was not like what we had been served at Namwianga; this was a true African meal. The shema was gritty and I felt like I was eating sand. The fish were small and still whole; we did not eat the head. They tasted very fishy and very salty.

At the second location there was no building and all we had was a bench off of which to work. Over 150 patients were there. This was a HUGE number! We stayed a lot longer than we expected and exhausted our supplies before we were finished, which was difficult to handle. We were very busy the whole time; at one point four of us were giving shots simultaneously!

The people we saw looked like they stepped out of National Geographic; they were beautiful people with such sweet smiles. But they were definitely poor and hungry. The children ate food that had been dropped in the dirt and stepped on, and they were drinking water that was so dirty I did not even realize at first that it was water. Women carried their babies on their backs and many brought what they could to trade with the others.

Three of us students (Kayla, Clare, and I) got to go yesterday. Because so many of our team members are also interested in medical missions and want to go, we probably will not get to participate again. But all three of us said that if we could, we would help with the rural clinic every day! We learned so much and got to do so many things and actually felt needed! And it was definitely eye-opening to see this side of Zambia...