And So It Begins

I am back from a successful clinic week with On Call Africa, the first of many to come! Here is a run down of what the week was like:

Sunday Lonnie, Humphrey (On Call’s Zambian staff member), myself, and 2 doctors, and packed up our rusty Land Rover for the trip. Medicine, sleeping bags, air mattresses, grub and cooking ware were all stuffed in the back before we hit the dusty road. About 6hrs drive to our first site in Mapatizya catchment area…and a bumpy drive it was! This round of mobile clinics is apparently the farthest we go out in the province, the others are all a bit closer. We “camped” inside a building, lent to us by the closet government school, and ate dinner under the stars… It is absolutely incredible the amount of stars you can see at night! Watching the Southern Cross and milky-way twinkling in the dark, more clearly than you could imagine, is breath taking!

Lonnie and Humphrey welcoming the line of patients on Day 2.

Monday- Our first day of clinic in Chalimongela.  The doctors set-up shop in a large classroom while Lonnie and Humphrey did some opening remarks.  Patients were lined up since 5:30am…we open clinic at 8:00!  Everyone is given a number and a book, where there medical history is written.  About 82 patients were registered to be seen by our doctors.  Each doctor is paired with a local translator to be able to communicate properly with the patients.  Its essential to have a good translator to ensure important information is being conveyed to patients, specifically in regards to using the medications they receive correctly!

Dr. Jess checking out a patient

While clinic was being conducted Humphrey and I gave a lesson on dental health at the nearby school. We taught grades 1-9 about brushing their teeth.  A friend of mine from home, who is a dental hygienist, donated many toothbrushes and toothpastes from her work for us to distribute.  We used the donations as rewards to students who could answer questions after our session, about dental care. The students loved it!  I spent the rest of the morning weighing babies and I gave a female condom demonstration to a group of about 6 ladies.  Usually women in Zambia are very shy about sex and condom use, so it was pretty cool that they were comfortable enough to ask me their questions and seek out family planning methods!  After lunch Humphrey and I conducted another health-ed session, this time on hand washing. We showed the people waiting to be seen by the doctors the proper way to wash their hands and talked about preventing illness and disease.   Loooong day but very productive start!

Dr Helena speaking with a patient and translator.

Tuesday- A short drive to Pukuma, our second clinic site.  Today the doctors are working from a small grass-thatched church. I helped register patients today in the morning and weighed at least 50 screaming babies ... before lunch. Babies “Under 5” are weighed periodically during their infancy to keep track of their development or lack their of.  This helps their mothers to know if they are eating enough or if there is something stunting their growth.

Pukuma Clinic Site (A Church)

After lunch Humphrey and I combined our Hand washing and Tooth brushing lessons for the patients waiting to be seen. We again rewarded those who could answer questions from the sessions at the end with toothpaste, toothbrushes, and hand soap!

Humphrey and his puppy

Wednesday morning there was a rush to pack-up camp and get out to our final clinic site Chikuyu, about 10 kilometers down the road. We were down some translators but had a new addition, a small puppy! Humphrey had picked him up from the Head Teacher in Chalimongela to bring home to Livingstone! In the morning I helped manage the cue and look after the puppy... I weighed about 40 something babies who were all pretty afraid of me! They wiggled, scream and cried as I tried to weigh them.  I befriended a few by letting them play with my bracelets or hair.  This clinic day was shortened because we needed to leave after lunch to get back to Livingstone (home) before dark.  We only registered/saw about 42 patients and got home around 6:30pm and boy, did a hot shower feel amazing after 4 days out in the bush!

Me trying to keep the smallest patients smiling!

Humphrey showing a boy how to brush his teeth.

Now, I'm headed to Lusaka (the capitol) tonight to get my work permit sorted out at Immigration! Wish me luck! Back by Saturday to rest up for the next week of clinic!