Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Continued Sept 10th into the 11th!
Hi all,
Sorry I guess I could have continued on the last page about arriving in London.
Well we arrive in London at night and we had about 30mins to freshen up and we are off for our taxi tour of London.
Kim and I shared a room, and we are excited to wear fresh clothes and Kim her boots, he he he.
We hope in the taxis and start seeing things, although our drive really doesn't tell us where we are, so thank goodness Sarah was there to explain.
We had a wonderful dinner, I had my fish and chips, yum yum!!! It was Kim's birthday so we all celebrated with more wine and laughs!!! It was a nice finish to this trip!!! All good fun =) We have become wonderful friends that shared this journey together =)
We had off to bed at the Holiday Inn, and let me tell you those beds were absolutely fantastic!!! HA HA HA.
We are out like a light!!!!
The next morning we are up and ready to go home!
We have a bit of time to look around again in the airport, I love Heathrow lots of shops. Its time to board, and its not a full flight of course being Sept 11th, and its nice we have a seat in between us to stretch out!! But of course there are mechanical problems, so we don't take off for an hour and a half, kinda worrisome!
But we are on our way and we are all exhausted so we sleep and rest most of the way.
After some difficulties in Chicago for me, apparently I am a scary Canadian Nurse so I needed to be detained for questioning, we say our goodbyes and run to our next flights, since we took off late we were all almost missing our flights. It was so hard not having enough time to say goodbye, but I have a feeling its not goodbye!!! Friends for life!!!
Well I am home safe and sound, a journey it was and I will remember this for a lifetime!!! Thank you to all that helped me along the way, I can't say how appreciated it was!!!
I hope someday everyone can experience Africa the way I have! Its a life changing place indeed =)
Hugs to all,
Mindi
Sorry I guess I could have continued on the last page about arriving in London.
Well we arrive in London at night and we had about 30mins to freshen up and we are off for our taxi tour of London.
Kim and I shared a room, and we are excited to wear fresh clothes and Kim her boots, he he he.
We hope in the taxis and start seeing things, although our drive really doesn't tell us where we are, so thank goodness Sarah was there to explain.
We had a wonderful dinner, I had my fish and chips, yum yum!!! It was Kim's birthday so we all celebrated with more wine and laughs!!! It was a nice finish to this trip!!! All good fun =) We have become wonderful friends that shared this journey together =)
We had off to bed at the Holiday Inn, and let me tell you those beds were absolutely fantastic!!! HA HA HA.
We are out like a light!!!!
The next morning we are up and ready to go home!
We have a bit of time to look around again in the airport, I love Heathrow lots of shops. Its time to board, and its not a full flight of course being Sept 11th, and its nice we have a seat in between us to stretch out!! But of course there are mechanical problems, so we don't take off for an hour and a half, kinda worrisome!
But we are on our way and we are all exhausted so we sleep and rest most of the way.
After some difficulties in Chicago for me, apparently I am a scary Canadian Nurse so I needed to be detained for questioning, we say our goodbyes and run to our next flights, since we took off late we were all almost missing our flights. It was so hard not having enough time to say goodbye, but I have a feeling its not goodbye!!! Friends for life!!!
Well I am home safe and sound, a journey it was and I will remember this for a lifetime!!! Thank you to all that helped me along the way, I can't say how appreciated it was!!!
I hope someday everyone can experience Africa the way I have! Its a life changing place indeed =)
Hugs to all,
Mindi
Sun Sept 10th
YAWN!!!!
After a quick nap we are off to their airport, so early that it is still dark out, man oh man!!!
We are all so tired but eager to get going home. We load up the bus for the final time and head to the airport.
Well we get to the airport and Charlie realizes that she had forgotten her passport and wallet at the hotel so she had to go back there once the bus came back to pick her up.
Airport security it bad, 2 major flights heading out at the same time so going through took sooo long. But after an hour we get through. I head up to start shopping as do the others. Still waiting for Charlie to appear. She finally comes back about 45 mins before the flight, PHEW she made it, she had all of us worried.
I was able to get a couple of Chitangas, the skirts the women wear there, and some silver earrings in the shape of Africa. Love it all!!!
Well we are off at 9am or so, a 10 hour flight ahead of us...I hate daytime flights, can't sleep although extremely exhausted!
Well goodbye all, can't wait to see a bit of London!
Hugs Mindi
After a quick nap we are off to their airport, so early that it is still dark out, man oh man!!!
We are all so tired but eager to get going home. We load up the bus for the final time and head to the airport.
Well we get to the airport and Charlie realizes that she had forgotten her passport and wallet at the hotel so she had to go back there once the bus came back to pick her up.
Airport security it bad, 2 major flights heading out at the same time so going through took sooo long. But after an hour we get through. I head up to start shopping as do the others. Still waiting for Charlie to appear. She finally comes back about 45 mins before the flight, PHEW she made it, she had all of us worried.
I was able to get a couple of Chitangas, the skirts the women wear there, and some silver earrings in the shape of Africa. Love it all!!!
Well we are off at 9am or so, a 10 hour flight ahead of us...I hate daytime flights, can't sleep although extremely exhausted!
Well goodbye all, can't wait to see a bit of London!
Hugs Mindi
Sun Sept 9th
Good Early Morning!!!
Well we are up very early to start our drive back to Lusaka to hit the plane tomorrow. Its 0730 and its time to get in the bus and get going. The hardest time has come and it is time to say goodbye to the Hands at Work people. I just hate saying goodbyes!!! Robyn, Alisha and Catherine we absolutely amazing to have met and talked with, I truly enjoyed being with them through this journey. I don't think this could have been the same experience without them, I am truly thankful!!!
Well after some tears we were off to start our travels to Lusaka, a 5 hour bus ride, eek!!! It wasn't bad at all, it was nice seeing the Zambian countryside, I really don't remember this drive coming down I guess I slept more than I thought, ha ha ha. We had a quick stop in Kabwe where we did before for our bathroom break, none of us wanted to stop for lunch we just wanted to keep going and then have more time at the craft market.
We arrived at the craft market at 1230 so we had an hour an a half to shop, so all of us we excited!!! I unfortunately had no money with me so I went to the ATM to get money out, but after I took apparently too long to figure out the exchange, it took my card and since it was sun, I could not get it back. Lets just say I had a few choice words to say and some tears, but I called my bank right away and canceled it and then bought some money off the girls. Still very upsetting tho!!
I bought a couple of items at the craft market...it was a nice little market, bargaining was allowed and expected so that helped me out a bit.
After the market we headed off for our game drive. It took a bit of time to get there, a horrible bumpy road and it was almost sunset when we had gotten there. We had a quick bathroom break (BTW it was the nicest bathroom we have had so we were all happy), and then we were off on our drive. It was so pretty to watch all the animals and it being sunset, fun times.
We headed back to the mall where the craft market was to eat dinner, and finally after this day, we all enjoyed some wine!!! I for sure needed it!!! It was a nice restaurant, and I had Kingslip fish again, I loved that last year when I was here.
Then we headed back to the Zebra house for our last night, not a bad place for one night. Kim and I shared a room, and truly we passed out when we got back there. We were up in 5 hours, so head over to the airport, we wanted to get there early to get thru security and then we could shop for a bit, I was happy since then I could use my credit card there, yay!!!
Night night, our last night in Africa =)
Well we are up very early to start our drive back to Lusaka to hit the plane tomorrow. Its 0730 and its time to get in the bus and get going. The hardest time has come and it is time to say goodbye to the Hands at Work people. I just hate saying goodbyes!!! Robyn, Alisha and Catherine we absolutely amazing to have met and talked with, I truly enjoyed being with them through this journey. I don't think this could have been the same experience without them, I am truly thankful!!!
Well after some tears we were off to start our travels to Lusaka, a 5 hour bus ride, eek!!! It wasn't bad at all, it was nice seeing the Zambian countryside, I really don't remember this drive coming down I guess I slept more than I thought, ha ha ha. We had a quick stop in Kabwe where we did before for our bathroom break, none of us wanted to stop for lunch we just wanted to keep going and then have more time at the craft market.
We arrived at the craft market at 1230 so we had an hour an a half to shop, so all of us we excited!!! I unfortunately had no money with me so I went to the ATM to get money out, but after I took apparently too long to figure out the exchange, it took my card and since it was sun, I could not get it back. Lets just say I had a few choice words to say and some tears, but I called my bank right away and canceled it and then bought some money off the girls. Still very upsetting tho!!
I bought a couple of items at the craft market...it was a nice little market, bargaining was allowed and expected so that helped me out a bit.
After the market we headed off for our game drive. It took a bit of time to get there, a horrible bumpy road and it was almost sunset when we had gotten there. We had a quick bathroom break (BTW it was the nicest bathroom we have had so we were all happy), and then we were off on our drive. It was so pretty to watch all the animals and it being sunset, fun times.
We headed back to the mall where the craft market was to eat dinner, and finally after this day, we all enjoyed some wine!!! I for sure needed it!!! It was a nice restaurant, and I had Kingslip fish again, I loved that last year when I was here.
Then we headed back to the Zebra house for our last night, not a bad place for one night. Kim and I shared a room, and truly we passed out when we got back there. We were up in 5 hours, so head over to the airport, we wanted to get there early to get thru security and then we could shop for a bit, I was happy since then I could use my credit card there, yay!!!
Night night, our last night in Africa =)
Sat Sept 8th
Good Morning!!!
Today is all about the caregivers. We are having a luncheon in Ndola to say thank you for all their help.
We head into town and get set up at a restaurant. They arrived around 1 and we had a wonderful lunch with them and then played bingo with them so we could give them prizes. We also taught them a first aid class so that they could handle the little things that may come up throughout the year since no other medical team will be coming through. It was fun to see them here in a different environment. One hard thing that I saw was how a couple of the women only ate a bit of their meal and then they hid the rest in their bags, so sad, so I gave them my piece of chicken and another one left over.
After the lunch we had bought some more football items to support the teams for our families back home. Man the town was completely dead once the game had started!!!
WE passed the football stadium, wow crazy to see all the people!!! SO fun to end this trip seeing all this excitement!!! =)
WE had our last dinner out in Luanshya at an Indian restaurant compliments of Hands at Work. Such a yummy meal! WE all talked about our week and truly how tiring it was but so so happy we were able to come and see this as well.
Back at the Sisters it was time to pack up, all of us happy to get home, but all of us sad to be leaving!!! Man I just love Africa, wish I could stay!!!
Off to bed, have to rest up for all the traveling coming up =)
Today is all about the caregivers. We are having a luncheon in Ndola to say thank you for all their help.
We head into town and get set up at a restaurant. They arrived around 1 and we had a wonderful lunch with them and then played bingo with them so we could give them prizes. We also taught them a first aid class so that they could handle the little things that may come up throughout the year since no other medical team will be coming through. It was fun to see them here in a different environment. One hard thing that I saw was how a couple of the women only ate a bit of their meal and then they hid the rest in their bags, so sad, so I gave them my piece of chicken and another one left over.
After the lunch we had bought some more football items to support the teams for our families back home. Man the town was completely dead once the game had started!!!
WE passed the football stadium, wow crazy to see all the people!!! SO fun to end this trip seeing all this excitement!!! =)
WE had our last dinner out in Luanshya at an Indian restaurant compliments of Hands at Work. Such a yummy meal! WE all talked about our week and truly how tiring it was but so so happy we were able to come and see this as well.
Back at the Sisters it was time to pack up, all of us happy to get home, but all of us sad to be leaving!!! Man I just love Africa, wish I could stay!!!
Off to bed, have to rest up for all the traveling coming up =)
Friday Sept 7th
Hello Everyone!!!
Well a bright an early morning for us as per usual and we are off to do our second clinic day =)
Our bus is full and no room to move but that just means we have tons of stuff to give out for our patients today. We are all excited for this day again, I think we love the clinic days, even though they are long, they are so rewarding.
We arrive and the lines are amazing, a lot longer than the first day. Today we made sure it was known to be a mostly women's and children's clinic time. So they lined up before we arrived with women and babies in one line and the children in another. The are men there but not as many as the first day.
As all the other nurses start setting up the school for their assessments, Shirley and I and the guys head over to set up the tent to get ready for the classes. Takes a bit but after a half an hour we are all set up. We have a quick prayer and we start the day.
We hand out our bags to the ladies that we at the last class, and that set off all the women and all they wanted were the bags and not to listen to the class at all. It was so sad and frustrating to watch. But Hands at work wants them to know that when we come it doesn't just mean gifts it means that they will have to learn something too. It takes about 45 mins to an hour to get them settled to even listen to the class. So we brought all the bags back into the school and then waited for them to sit down and quiet down for the class. After a bit they did and we had the class. They asked very good questions, and we seemed to accomplish a lot. I was so happy =)
Well then it came time to hand out the bags, our interpreter tried to help and take names down, but that honestly took another hour to do that, and we had to pull her out of the all the ladies surrounding her. It was awful, all the fighting, women get nothing there, they have to act like this. So finally we decided that we got enough names and then we hid in the bus and a nurse walked them over by 2 and we handed them out that way, away from everything. It took a long time!!! I can't describe how this made Shirley and I feel, exhausting and overwhelmed!!!
Finally we finished this up and it was already time for a quick lunch, we didn't even have time to help out the other girls with their assessments, cause we were off to teach the next class for the teens. Well the same thing happened their, they all started the fighting too and didn't want to listen to the class. So we just sat there again for an hour waiting for them to calm down and so we could finally teach the class. After the class we gave out the bags there, and there were fighting, but we were finally down! Man just exhausting all around.
We didn't have time at all to help in the clinic, we felt horrible!! They were so busy that at 4 pm we finally just had to say we were done. We told the few that we left that we were packing up because we had finished our medications and supplies for assessments. Hard to say no more, but we had to get going. We were all so tired and exhausted!!! To say the least.
We headed off on the bus after saying our goodbyes to Maranatha, what an experience we had!! I can't figure out what all to write here to describe it all, but truly I will never forget this village and the people, and especially the children!!!
As we head thru Ndola to get some snacks and whatnot at Shoprite, we actually shopped thru the window of the bus. It was football season (soccer) and Zambia was going to play Uganda the next day, so we bought some of their teams jerseys to support them. =) That was so fun bargaining throught the window of the bus HA HA HA!!
We get home and have dinner and have a debriefing about our experience here. We all talked about our time here and the wonderful memories we will have, we all shed some tears and talked about how we would love to do this again. They told us we were the best team that came this year, we all got along great and since all of us had different nurses backgrounds that was truly a help with all the patients that we had seen. I believe in 2 days we saw 400 patients or so, not bad for the 6 nurses doing all the assessments!!! YAY guys!!!
Hard to think we will be leaving soon =(
Hugs talk more soon
Well a bright an early morning for us as per usual and we are off to do our second clinic day =)
Our bus is full and no room to move but that just means we have tons of stuff to give out for our patients today. We are all excited for this day again, I think we love the clinic days, even though they are long, they are so rewarding.
We arrive and the lines are amazing, a lot longer than the first day. Today we made sure it was known to be a mostly women's and children's clinic time. So they lined up before we arrived with women and babies in one line and the children in another. The are men there but not as many as the first day.
As all the other nurses start setting up the school for their assessments, Shirley and I and the guys head over to set up the tent to get ready for the classes. Takes a bit but after a half an hour we are all set up. We have a quick prayer and we start the day.
We hand out our bags to the ladies that we at the last class, and that set off all the women and all they wanted were the bags and not to listen to the class at all. It was so sad and frustrating to watch. But Hands at work wants them to know that when we come it doesn't just mean gifts it means that they will have to learn something too. It takes about 45 mins to an hour to get them settled to even listen to the class. So we brought all the bags back into the school and then waited for them to sit down and quiet down for the class. After a bit they did and we had the class. They asked very good questions, and we seemed to accomplish a lot. I was so happy =)
Well then it came time to hand out the bags, our interpreter tried to help and take names down, but that honestly took another hour to do that, and we had to pull her out of the all the ladies surrounding her. It was awful, all the fighting, women get nothing there, they have to act like this. So finally we decided that we got enough names and then we hid in the bus and a nurse walked them over by 2 and we handed them out that way, away from everything. It took a long time!!! I can't describe how this made Shirley and I feel, exhausting and overwhelmed!!!
Finally we finished this up and it was already time for a quick lunch, we didn't even have time to help out the other girls with their assessments, cause we were off to teach the next class for the teens. Well the same thing happened their, they all started the fighting too and didn't want to listen to the class. So we just sat there again for an hour waiting for them to calm down and so we could finally teach the class. After the class we gave out the bags there, and there were fighting, but we were finally down! Man just exhausting all around.
We didn't have time at all to help in the clinic, we felt horrible!! They were so busy that at 4 pm we finally just had to say we were done. We told the few that we left that we were packing up because we had finished our medications and supplies for assessments. Hard to say no more, but we had to get going. We were all so tired and exhausted!!! To say the least.
We headed off on the bus after saying our goodbyes to Maranatha, what an experience we had!! I can't figure out what all to write here to describe it all, but truly I will never forget this village and the people, and especially the children!!!
As we head thru Ndola to get some snacks and whatnot at Shoprite, we actually shopped thru the window of the bus. It was football season (soccer) and Zambia was going to play Uganda the next day, so we bought some of their teams jerseys to support them. =) That was so fun bargaining throught the window of the bus HA HA HA!!
We get home and have dinner and have a debriefing about our experience here. We all talked about our time here and the wonderful memories we will have, we all shed some tears and talked about how we would love to do this again. They told us we were the best team that came this year, we all got along great and since all of us had different nurses backgrounds that was truly a help with all the patients that we had seen. I believe in 2 days we saw 400 patients or so, not bad for the 6 nurses doing all the assessments!!! YAY guys!!!
Hard to think we will be leaving soon =(
Hugs talk more soon
Monday, September 24, 2012
Thurs Sept 6th-KIDS DAY
Good Morning!!
Well have a bit of a sleep in this morning, we get to leave at 1000 YAY!!!
We get all packed up with games and toys and we are off for kids day!
As we drive in the kids just start running and screaming, man that is so fun to see and hear. I love the kids!! We get off the bus and they start grabbing our arms and holding our hands and they do not let go. As we wait to get organized and decided where to play all the games, we start singing songs with the kids and start jump around and whatnot, so fun.
We then start the walk to the field where we can play all the games. It is a bit of a walk and all the kids are still holding our hands, I have two little girls on one side of me, and then 3 teenage girls from our class yesterday on the other side of me holding my shoulders. We get to the field and it is right beside the "white man's" house. Apparently a white man from Europe bought this land, he is a doctor in town that bought this land, right where the village has buried their loved ones, he actually pulled up their graves. So so Sad!!!
Well in his field we had an area for sack races, bean bag toss, pin the tail on the donkey, jump rope, face painting (this is what I did), duck duck goose and running games. We were expecting 155 or so kids, 400 came!!!! Still cannot believe how many came!!! WOW
We tried to as many faces that day but the paint was running out, and it was getting tough, all the kids were crowding and being loud and pushy. So after a couple of hours I took a break, LOL!!!
After we finished their games, we headed back to the school where we had bought lunch for the kids enrolled in school. It was tough, we had to try and get them in the school while others were fighting too. It was alot of pushing and shoving, its was so hard to see, but after a bit, we got the kids in the school. Boys went to one room, and then the girls went to the other. The lunch took awhile to get to the school so we had to try and keep the kids busy, that was rough, ha ha. Finally lunch came, so many boxes, 170 or so, all for the kids and us. We handed out the lunches to the boys first, they were the most settled down they were easy. Man when we got to the girls side, the were so loud and then they would try and hide the fact they got food, girls are so used to fighting for anything this is what they do. So sad to see. Then we handed out the pop, and they had no idea how to open the bottles, never thought of that, that they wouldn't have any idea what they were. Crazy!!!
I forgot to mention, that before we gave out the lunches we had all the kids wash theirs hands and they were even fighting over that, so so sad.
After we ate lunch we handed out toys, girls received necklaces and toothbrushes, and the bot received matchbox cars and toothbrushes. Also they got suckers, and lots of other fun things. After this we gave out some new clothes for each. Boys tshirts and shorts, and the girls received pillowcase dresses that were made by ladies all around the states. So cute to see all of them get all the clothes, the dresses we adorable.
This was supposed to be a shorter day so we could pack up for Clinic day tomorrow. We got home at 7pm, 3 hours late. WE are all sooooo tired, truly!!! WE devoured our dinner and then start the packing for tomorrow. The baby bags are finally finished, I hope we have enough for tomorrow, just not sure! We have 5 suitcases full, so fingers crossed.
Well good night! Its been a long day =))
Well have a bit of a sleep in this morning, we get to leave at 1000 YAY!!!
We get all packed up with games and toys and we are off for kids day!
As we drive in the kids just start running and screaming, man that is so fun to see and hear. I love the kids!! We get off the bus and they start grabbing our arms and holding our hands and they do not let go. As we wait to get organized and decided where to play all the games, we start singing songs with the kids and start jump around and whatnot, so fun.
We then start the walk to the field where we can play all the games. It is a bit of a walk and all the kids are still holding our hands, I have two little girls on one side of me, and then 3 teenage girls from our class yesterday on the other side of me holding my shoulders. We get to the field and it is right beside the "white man's" house. Apparently a white man from Europe bought this land, he is a doctor in town that bought this land, right where the village has buried their loved ones, he actually pulled up their graves. So so Sad!!!
Well in his field we had an area for sack races, bean bag toss, pin the tail on the donkey, jump rope, face painting (this is what I did), duck duck goose and running games. We were expecting 155 or so kids, 400 came!!!! Still cannot believe how many came!!! WOW
We tried to as many faces that day but the paint was running out, and it was getting tough, all the kids were crowding and being loud and pushy. So after a couple of hours I took a break, LOL!!!
After we finished their games, we headed back to the school where we had bought lunch for the kids enrolled in school. It was tough, we had to try and get them in the school while others were fighting too. It was alot of pushing and shoving, its was so hard to see, but after a bit, we got the kids in the school. Boys went to one room, and then the girls went to the other. The lunch took awhile to get to the school so we had to try and keep the kids busy, that was rough, ha ha. Finally lunch came, so many boxes, 170 or so, all for the kids and us. We handed out the lunches to the boys first, they were the most settled down they were easy. Man when we got to the girls side, the were so loud and then they would try and hide the fact they got food, girls are so used to fighting for anything this is what they do. So sad to see. Then we handed out the pop, and they had no idea how to open the bottles, never thought of that, that they wouldn't have any idea what they were. Crazy!!!
I forgot to mention, that before we gave out the lunches we had all the kids wash theirs hands and they were even fighting over that, so so sad.
After we ate lunch we handed out toys, girls received necklaces and toothbrushes, and the bot received matchbox cars and toothbrushes. Also they got suckers, and lots of other fun things. After this we gave out some new clothes for each. Boys tshirts and shorts, and the girls received pillowcase dresses that were made by ladies all around the states. So cute to see all of them get all the clothes, the dresses we adorable.
This was supposed to be a shorter day so we could pack up for Clinic day tomorrow. We got home at 7pm, 3 hours late. WE are all sooooo tired, truly!!! WE devoured our dinner and then start the packing for tomorrow. The baby bags are finally finished, I hope we have enough for tomorrow, just not sure! We have 5 suitcases full, so fingers crossed.
Well good night! Its been a long day =))
Weds Sept 5th!
Hello there,
Well we are up early today and we are getting all ready for our first Clinic Day. We are all super pumped and ready for this day. I am feeling much better after my long sleep that I was able to have, and I am now ready for this day!
We have a quick breakfast, and then we are off on the bus and heading out for Maranatha. Truly this 45 min ride everyday isn't really bothering me at all, kinda nice to chill before the long days start. I really love watching the scenery before heading in also.
We arrive and the line is already huge. The first thing I notice is that the men have lined up on one side of the school, really not that many of them, and then the women and children are lined up on the other, and there are tons of them, its crazy! It is fun to watch everyone waving at us as we roll is, so love that part.
We take off all of our supplies for the day of the bus, we have about 12 bags or so, of medications, seats for the us and the patients, bowls for the water for washing hands and whatnot, and our tent for outside to be able for Shirley and I to teach our classes. I can't describe how much stuff we had, we were all packed in the bus like sardines. LOL!!
We bring all of our supplies into the school, which now has become our clinic. This very small 3 room building is now our new home to help all these people. So we set up while everyone outside is getting louder and louder waiting for us to begin. No other volunteer group that comes to this village is for medical help, so we are truly needed here and everyone has come to be seen. In the first room we have set up 5 nurses areas with seats for our assessments, in the next very small room we have our supplies and one nurses station and a wound care area in case, and lastly in the final room we have the Zambian nurses desk where all 3 sit and look at our assessment and determine what the illness is they have and what med is needed for their treatment. After they see them the patients then have a few steps to hit the Pharmacy line where two of us are to dispense the meds, and after them there is an area for the children to get deworming pills and a cookie...few steps over from that area is the eyeglass area. Very small room and so much going on!!! I can't describe in detail how small this school is to accomplish so much!
After a prayer and words of inspiration we start the day! Shirley and I head out to help set up the tent for our classes. We were going to teach Female Hygiene/teenager class first and then my prenatal class in the afternoon, but soon realized it would be best to switch that around since the mums and the children we there early in the am, and not many teens. So we gathered up some of the women and started off the first class with the help of a wonderful interpreter Prexidense, she told them right off the bat that this class we are going to use the proper terminology and this class is for learning and not for laughing. I starting off with teaching them about the basic female anatomy, I had a small white board that I had brought with me, and drew it for them so they could visualize it. They seemed to really enjoy that part of the class, to finally understand what they are made of =)
We continued on with the stages of pregnancy and labor, and it was interesting for me to hear how they deliver and where. The ladies stated that when they get very hot, lots of pain, sweat alot, they know its time so they walk to their clinic in village where the lay midwives are and they deliver, and then they leave and walk back to their homes right after. They have a small CSection tray just in case, not sterile at all, very crazy to hear their stories, would love for our patients to hear that.
The class went so well, they were asking lots of questions at the end, which made me feel wonderful, because most of the time, Zambian women do not talk unless its with other people from their area, not white people. I loved that I got some misconceptions out of the way and I felt I really made a difference!!! For instance, one question was, the white stuff that is on the babies when they are born what is that-they were told it was sperm-they have to have sex in pregnancy they cannot say no to their husbands, so the nurse told them that is what it was, so when I told them it was vernix, they were so surprised and overjoyed. Other questions were related to HIV and if sex hurts the baby...to very important questions-Shirley and I taught alot!!! I absolutely loved that I was able to do this for them.
In between classes Shirley and I went to help in the clinic, since there was always a line we wanted to jump in there to help. So her and I worked for a couple of hours while others we able to grab lunch and take a break. When we saw the women they always came in with all of their children, so at times we would have 5 people to assess in one sitting. Lots of Malaria, ringworm, dehydration, suspected HIV illness-pneumonias, abdominal pains and coughs (from all the dust)...so hard to see all the sick little children
Well then it was time for Shirleys class, so we rounded up the teens and was able to teach them about fetal anatomy, their periods, about abuse, and then about HIV. The girls really seemed to pay attention and learned alot. We handed out some gift bags at the end of each class and we just didn't have enough to go around it was sad. But we were proud to give them something. These girls got pads that are washable and reusable, soap, underwear and ziplock bags to wash them in, quite a nice idea.
After the class we headed over to help the girls finish up clinic day, and get all packed up again and head home. We are all exhausted and overwhelmed by our first clinic day, we did so much in one day. They saw over 100 people that day, I want to say closer to 200 actually. Amazing!!!
We headed back to the Sisters and chatted the whole way home. WE ate a great dinner, mostly chicken, he he...never a day without chicken HA HA.
After dinner it was time to get packed up for the next day, KIDS DAY!! We had tons of toys and games to play, hope its enough. We know there are 155 kids in school so we aren't sure how many truly will come.
Well another night our heads hit the pillow and we are out!!!
Talk soon
Mindi
Well we are up early today and we are getting all ready for our first Clinic Day. We are all super pumped and ready for this day. I am feeling much better after my long sleep that I was able to have, and I am now ready for this day!
We have a quick breakfast, and then we are off on the bus and heading out for Maranatha. Truly this 45 min ride everyday isn't really bothering me at all, kinda nice to chill before the long days start. I really love watching the scenery before heading in also.
We arrive and the line is already huge. The first thing I notice is that the men have lined up on one side of the school, really not that many of them, and then the women and children are lined up on the other, and there are tons of them, its crazy! It is fun to watch everyone waving at us as we roll is, so love that part.
We take off all of our supplies for the day of the bus, we have about 12 bags or so, of medications, seats for the us and the patients, bowls for the water for washing hands and whatnot, and our tent for outside to be able for Shirley and I to teach our classes. I can't describe how much stuff we had, we were all packed in the bus like sardines. LOL!!
We bring all of our supplies into the school, which now has become our clinic. This very small 3 room building is now our new home to help all these people. So we set up while everyone outside is getting louder and louder waiting for us to begin. No other volunteer group that comes to this village is for medical help, so we are truly needed here and everyone has come to be seen. In the first room we have set up 5 nurses areas with seats for our assessments, in the next very small room we have our supplies and one nurses station and a wound care area in case, and lastly in the final room we have the Zambian nurses desk where all 3 sit and look at our assessment and determine what the illness is they have and what med is needed for their treatment. After they see them the patients then have a few steps to hit the Pharmacy line where two of us are to dispense the meds, and after them there is an area for the children to get deworming pills and a cookie...few steps over from that area is the eyeglass area. Very small room and so much going on!!! I can't describe in detail how small this school is to accomplish so much!
After a prayer and words of inspiration we start the day! Shirley and I head out to help set up the tent for our classes. We were going to teach Female Hygiene/teenager class first and then my prenatal class in the afternoon, but soon realized it would be best to switch that around since the mums and the children we there early in the am, and not many teens. So we gathered up some of the women and started off the first class with the help of a wonderful interpreter Prexidense, she told them right off the bat that this class we are going to use the proper terminology and this class is for learning and not for laughing. I starting off with teaching them about the basic female anatomy, I had a small white board that I had brought with me, and drew it for them so they could visualize it. They seemed to really enjoy that part of the class, to finally understand what they are made of =)
We continued on with the stages of pregnancy and labor, and it was interesting for me to hear how they deliver and where. The ladies stated that when they get very hot, lots of pain, sweat alot, they know its time so they walk to their clinic in village where the lay midwives are and they deliver, and then they leave and walk back to their homes right after. They have a small CSection tray just in case, not sterile at all, very crazy to hear their stories, would love for our patients to hear that.
The class went so well, they were asking lots of questions at the end, which made me feel wonderful, because most of the time, Zambian women do not talk unless its with other people from their area, not white people. I loved that I got some misconceptions out of the way and I felt I really made a difference!!! For instance, one question was, the white stuff that is on the babies when they are born what is that-they were told it was sperm-they have to have sex in pregnancy they cannot say no to their husbands, so the nurse told them that is what it was, so when I told them it was vernix, they were so surprised and overjoyed. Other questions were related to HIV and if sex hurts the baby...to very important questions-Shirley and I taught alot!!! I absolutely loved that I was able to do this for them.
In between classes Shirley and I went to help in the clinic, since there was always a line we wanted to jump in there to help. So her and I worked for a couple of hours while others we able to grab lunch and take a break. When we saw the women they always came in with all of their children, so at times we would have 5 people to assess in one sitting. Lots of Malaria, ringworm, dehydration, suspected HIV illness-pneumonias, abdominal pains and coughs (from all the dust)...so hard to see all the sick little children
Well then it was time for Shirleys class, so we rounded up the teens and was able to teach them about fetal anatomy, their periods, about abuse, and then about HIV. The girls really seemed to pay attention and learned alot. We handed out some gift bags at the end of each class and we just didn't have enough to go around it was sad. But we were proud to give them something. These girls got pads that are washable and reusable, soap, underwear and ziplock bags to wash them in, quite a nice idea.
After the class we headed over to help the girls finish up clinic day, and get all packed up again and head home. We are all exhausted and overwhelmed by our first clinic day, we did so much in one day. They saw over 100 people that day, I want to say closer to 200 actually. Amazing!!!
We headed back to the Sisters and chatted the whole way home. WE ate a great dinner, mostly chicken, he he...never a day without chicken HA HA.
After dinner it was time to get packed up for the next day, KIDS DAY!! We had tons of toys and games to play, hope its enough. We know there are 155 kids in school so we aren't sure how many truly will come.
Well another night our heads hit the pillow and we are out!!!
Talk soon
Mindi
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Tues Sept 4th
Good Morning!!!
Well I woke up this am with about 11 mosquito bites all down the right arm and some on my back. Hmmm must have been bitten on the way to dinner last night or in bed, not sure but man they are some big welts. The are bad and now of course I am worried about malaria, but apparently the malaria mosquitos are the small ones that you can't even see and you don't get welts like this, so fingers crossed that in 2 weeks I am feeling good still =/
We are off today for our second and last home visit day. We are off to a bit of a later start because of the bus being late, again it is on African time, he he he...
Arriving in the village it always a site, everyone waving and smiling at us so excited that we are back, I just love this welcoming!!! The children are always there at the bus door to greet us and hold our hands, most of us have some little ones that are always back to each of us, I have too little girls that are by my side. so hard to see their little eyes so full of sorrow but then full of laughter too. That is such a struggle for me.
We meet up with Dan, Friday and Alisha again, so then Kim and i are all set and we are off to the village. it is a hotter day today, no wind like the other day, so walking around is tough. Today was a nice day we are invited into more homes today, doing whole family assessments. one family one man haas pneumonia pretty bad with a fever of 103...he most likely has PCP-pneumonia related to HIV...his wife looks good as do the children, so we asked him to come to the clinic tomorrow to be seen. i played a bit with their baby, she was adorable, bit dehydrated but nothing else bad, a very happy little girl. We sat in their kitchen area outside, it was so nice to be welcomed in...the kida just stared at us, Kim and i are the two blondes of this group, we got stared at alot, LOL!!! We say other girl with an eye infection, and then went on to see another family outside their home. One lady about her abdominal pain and not feeling hungry, so we asked about everything first before asking about if she was pregnant, and of course she was pregnant and that was the issue, nothing else, so that was quite funny...always ask that question first, note to self...it was to be here 5th I think...that is usual down there. Out last patient was a young man around 29, he was VERY ill, he temp was 104, he had the shakes, he was lethargic and not appetite, we knew right away he was dying of PCP-AIDS. It was so hard to see, he was so frail and skin and bones, blood pressure was extremely low, all we could do for him in the field was give him tylenol and tell him to be seen in the clinic right away tomorrow. Kim did such a good job with him...me on the other hand was feeling quite ill...I am the type of person that needs to drink plenty of water and have snacks every 2 hours, virtualy impossible to do with all these starving people around you, you feel so guity eating, so unfortunely it took its toll of me, I almost fainted. So while Kim assessed the pt I had to sit down and eat a granola bar while kids were all around me watching me, I cannot describe that feeling, the guilt!!! I was feeling better after the snack and we were then done for the day. Headed back to the bus and before heading home we ate some lunch, a quick sandwich and then we were off. Tomorrow is clinic day so should be interesting.
We ate dinner after getting more bags and supplies ready and then had a quick talk about what to expect in the clinic the next day. i was feeling so crummy that night, after talking about my class and what to teach, everyone was worried about me and honestly I cried in front of Kim and Mesha, cause I was feeling horrible. So I headed to bed around 8 pm while the others worked late, feeling so guily, but I knew I had to get better, I was the only one that could teach the prenatal class. So I took 800 of Motrin and fell asleep right away...I woke up once drenched in sweat so I must have had a fever...man rought night
Talk soon
Mindi
Well I woke up this am with about 11 mosquito bites all down the right arm and some on my back. Hmmm must have been bitten on the way to dinner last night or in bed, not sure but man they are some big welts. The are bad and now of course I am worried about malaria, but apparently the malaria mosquitos are the small ones that you can't even see and you don't get welts like this, so fingers crossed that in 2 weeks I am feeling good still =/
We are off today for our second and last home visit day. We are off to a bit of a later start because of the bus being late, again it is on African time, he he he...
Arriving in the village it always a site, everyone waving and smiling at us so excited that we are back, I just love this welcoming!!! The children are always there at the bus door to greet us and hold our hands, most of us have some little ones that are always back to each of us, I have too little girls that are by my side. so hard to see their little eyes so full of sorrow but then full of laughter too. That is such a struggle for me.
We meet up with Dan, Friday and Alisha again, so then Kim and i are all set and we are off to the village. it is a hotter day today, no wind like the other day, so walking around is tough. Today was a nice day we are invited into more homes today, doing whole family assessments. one family one man haas pneumonia pretty bad with a fever of 103...he most likely has PCP-pneumonia related to HIV...his wife looks good as do the children, so we asked him to come to the clinic tomorrow to be seen. i played a bit with their baby, she was adorable, bit dehydrated but nothing else bad, a very happy little girl. We sat in their kitchen area outside, it was so nice to be welcomed in...the kida just stared at us, Kim and i are the two blondes of this group, we got stared at alot, LOL!!! We say other girl with an eye infection, and then went on to see another family outside their home. One lady about her abdominal pain and not feeling hungry, so we asked about everything first before asking about if she was pregnant, and of course she was pregnant and that was the issue, nothing else, so that was quite funny...always ask that question first, note to self...it was to be here 5th I think...that is usual down there. Out last patient was a young man around 29, he was VERY ill, he temp was 104, he had the shakes, he was lethargic and not appetite, we knew right away he was dying of PCP-AIDS. It was so hard to see, he was so frail and skin and bones, blood pressure was extremely low, all we could do for him in the field was give him tylenol and tell him to be seen in the clinic right away tomorrow. Kim did such a good job with him...me on the other hand was feeling quite ill...I am the type of person that needs to drink plenty of water and have snacks every 2 hours, virtualy impossible to do with all these starving people around you, you feel so guity eating, so unfortunely it took its toll of me, I almost fainted. So while Kim assessed the pt I had to sit down and eat a granola bar while kids were all around me watching me, I cannot describe that feeling, the guilt!!! I was feeling better after the snack and we were then done for the day. Headed back to the bus and before heading home we ate some lunch, a quick sandwich and then we were off. Tomorrow is clinic day so should be interesting.
We ate dinner after getting more bags and supplies ready and then had a quick talk about what to expect in the clinic the next day. i was feeling so crummy that night, after talking about my class and what to teach, everyone was worried about me and honestly I cried in front of Kim and Mesha, cause I was feeling horrible. So I headed to bed around 8 pm while the others worked late, feeling so guily, but I knew I had to get better, I was the only one that could teach the prenatal class. So I took 800 of Motrin and fell asleep right away...I woke up once drenched in sweat so I must have had a fever...man rought night
Talk soon
Mindi
Friday, September 14, 2012
YAY OFF TO MARANATHA!!! Sept 3rd!!
Another early morning!!
We are off around 0830 to the village of Maranatha! The bus came to pick us up it was a bit late, not too bad, always on African time, LOL!!!
We are all packed in tight, Elizabeth is with us, as well as Robyn and Alisha. We go thru the city of Ndola to get to the viaage. So it takes about 45 mins or longer to get there, not a bad ride at all. Kinda hard to see though, one minute we are in the city where clearly people are taken care of and have means...then we turn a corner and within 15 mins, we are on the dirt road and we are in the place of very basic and the havenots! I learned last year on my African trip that Africa is about extremes, The Rich/Poor, Young/Old, Black/White, Men/Women...and to see the city and within minutes seeing the bush village if just amazing.
Very bumpy road we finally saw the school in the distance, and as we drove up we saw all the children running to meet us, it was sooo overwhelming it brought tears to my eyes!!!! hundred kids running and screaming, when we walked off the bus, and they all grabbed our arms, and were shaking our hands. Some of the little ones were afraid of us, being the white people and all, so we tried to make them feel special. It is very hard to describe what the children looked like and how dirty they all were and some had such sad eyes, and ripped clothes! But they were so beautiful all the same!!!
In the school that we visited, it is a brick building, with windows however to doors yet. It has 2 bigger rooms and one smaller narrower room in the middle. We happened to arrive on the first day of school, they have 150 children and only 55 are registered with an Australian Church that helps to feed them at lunch. So imagine only a third getting fed at lunch time, so hard to see. The school was the size of a large bedroom here, so imagine all those kids there. They was one chalk board, and on the wood beams they had wirtten the alphabet in chalk...such a site to see!!! Some of our suuplies were school ones, I can't wait to give them out, they truly have nothing to teach with...Now this is basic school everyone learning most of the same things, cause there just isn't enough to go around.
Well after seeing the school we meet up with our teams to start the home visits. I am with Kim, Friday (our translator who is visiting his sister in the village), Dan-the teacher, and Alisha. We had for sure the best team =)
We headed out on our walk, and we met a couple of women right away that welcomed us into their home-we were told they may not want us in there-so it was nice to be welcomed right away. They live in small huts with long grass for their roof, they cook on a small wood fire outside their home, and their homes are usually 2 rooms, so they sleep on the floor. the toilets are outside, and it is truly a hole, with the long grass around it so not much privacy, used it once-SO HARD LETS JUST SAY!!! We kept walking arounf the community meeting young and old, last we were invited over to another house to take photos-and Kim and noticed the little baby that was 2 years old but was the size of a 10month old, she was so malnurished her hard was turning orange, she has a protruding belly, fever and was lethargic, we thought she had worms and also malaria, so we told her to go the clinic weds when we were there to get treatment, and later to find out she never came-so sad-she will most likely not make it!
It was a shorter home visit day, we thought we were going to do more, but still worth every moment we had there!
First day was overwhelming, rewarding all in the same! So nice to finally get there.
That night we went to the Farm for dinner, just down the road from the Sisters is the Hands at Work Farm. It is a nice bit of acreage that they have where all the workers can join up and up the Maranatha village. We met Jaime and Lynn a Canadian couple that have been in South Africa with hands at Work for 6 years, helping it start up and get going. They were fun to meet and to hear about why they are so dedicated to this team. They cooked us a wonderful meal, wraps we all devoured it. Here we also met other team members, Westin and Liz, Levy and Presidence and their little one Tonga, and Mark also a Canadian who handles the finacials.
We headed home after a long day and went to bed, getting ready for another home vist day tomorrow.
SO tired, every time my head hit the pillow I was out like a light!!!!
We are off around 0830 to the village of Maranatha! The bus came to pick us up it was a bit late, not too bad, always on African time, LOL!!!
We are all packed in tight, Elizabeth is with us, as well as Robyn and Alisha. We go thru the city of Ndola to get to the viaage. So it takes about 45 mins or longer to get there, not a bad ride at all. Kinda hard to see though, one minute we are in the city where clearly people are taken care of and have means...then we turn a corner and within 15 mins, we are on the dirt road and we are in the place of very basic and the havenots! I learned last year on my African trip that Africa is about extremes, The Rich/Poor, Young/Old, Black/White, Men/Women...and to see the city and within minutes seeing the bush village if just amazing.
Very bumpy road we finally saw the school in the distance, and as we drove up we saw all the children running to meet us, it was sooo overwhelming it brought tears to my eyes!!!! hundred kids running and screaming, when we walked off the bus, and they all grabbed our arms, and were shaking our hands. Some of the little ones were afraid of us, being the white people and all, so we tried to make them feel special. It is very hard to describe what the children looked like and how dirty they all were and some had such sad eyes, and ripped clothes! But they were so beautiful all the same!!!
In the school that we visited, it is a brick building, with windows however to doors yet. It has 2 bigger rooms and one smaller narrower room in the middle. We happened to arrive on the first day of school, they have 150 children and only 55 are registered with an Australian Church that helps to feed them at lunch. So imagine only a third getting fed at lunch time, so hard to see. The school was the size of a large bedroom here, so imagine all those kids there. They was one chalk board, and on the wood beams they had wirtten the alphabet in chalk...such a site to see!!! Some of our suuplies were school ones, I can't wait to give them out, they truly have nothing to teach with...Now this is basic school everyone learning most of the same things, cause there just isn't enough to go around.
Well after seeing the school we meet up with our teams to start the home visits. I am with Kim, Friday (our translator who is visiting his sister in the village), Dan-the teacher, and Alisha. We had for sure the best team =)
We headed out on our walk, and we met a couple of women right away that welcomed us into their home-we were told they may not want us in there-so it was nice to be welcomed right away. They live in small huts with long grass for their roof, they cook on a small wood fire outside their home, and their homes are usually 2 rooms, so they sleep on the floor. the toilets are outside, and it is truly a hole, with the long grass around it so not much privacy, used it once-SO HARD LETS JUST SAY!!! We kept walking arounf the community meeting young and old, last we were invited over to another house to take photos-and Kim and noticed the little baby that was 2 years old but was the size of a 10month old, she was so malnurished her hard was turning orange, she has a protruding belly, fever and was lethargic, we thought she had worms and also malaria, so we told her to go the clinic weds when we were there to get treatment, and later to find out she never came-so sad-she will most likely not make it!
It was a shorter home visit day, we thought we were going to do more, but still worth every moment we had there!
First day was overwhelming, rewarding all in the same! So nice to finally get there.
That night we went to the Farm for dinner, just down the road from the Sisters is the Hands at Work Farm. It is a nice bit of acreage that they have where all the workers can join up and up the Maranatha village. We met Jaime and Lynn a Canadian couple that have been in South Africa with hands at Work for 6 years, helping it start up and get going. They were fun to meet and to hear about why they are so dedicated to this team. They cooked us a wonderful meal, wraps we all devoured it. Here we also met other team members, Westin and Liz, Levy and Presidence and their little one Tonga, and Mark also a Canadian who handles the finacials.
We headed home after a long day and went to bed, getting ready for another home vist day tomorrow.
SO tired, every time my head hit the pillow I was out like a light!!!!
Sun-Sept 2
Good Morning!!!
It was an early start to the day, I was up at 6am to make sure I had a hot shower and to start my day off right. I am not a happy person to be around if I don't have a hot shower in the am HA HA. Breakfast was a quick one, and then we were off for church. We went into Luanshya and went to one of the schools, and Elizabeths husband was the preacher there. It was amzing to see all the people that came in to worship and the singing was amazing, they all had amazing voices! I am not religious at all, but it was nice to see that they really have nothing like we do but what they do believe they have is god and the belief in him.
After church we all left the school room and we were greeted one by one by all the people that attended, it was overwhelming to see their graciousness. Right from the beginning we were welcomed, I truly loved that part.
After church we rushed back to the Sisters, and had a quick lunch and then met one of the Zambian Nurses-Phildaelious(not sure of the spelling). He was there to help us sort out the proper medications to give to all the diseases that we were most likely to see in the village. He was telling us about Malaria, HIV, Worms, TB, and so on. It was pretty overwhleming hearing about all the symptoms and what they have to do, and also some medications were not allowed to be used anymore because they have a huge resistance rate now. He informed us of all the dosages and then how to bag up all the meds that were bought prior to our arrival. So much information, but he was nice and listened to our questions, cause there were many of them!!!
We then had a small meeting about what to expect for our home visits the next day. We were going to be walking around the village with the care workers, they are members of the community that have become a part of the team that walks around every day to check on others less fortunate. There are about a 20 or so men and women that help within the community, they partnered with Hands at Work and they soon realized that the community can only be helped if they are willing to start helping themselves first and then having us come in to assist occasionally. They range in ages and are just absolutely a crucial part of the team.
I just can't wait to get out to the village and finally see it!
Well into the night we packed pills, filled cough syrup into smaller bottoms-smelled like Dettol-quite gross, and then preared the baby bags. Man oh man it was like a never ending night, most of us exhausted still from the travels, but there was no time for sleep!!
We headed to bed around midnight...all of us ready to see the village!!!!
It was an early start to the day, I was up at 6am to make sure I had a hot shower and to start my day off right. I am not a happy person to be around if I don't have a hot shower in the am HA HA. Breakfast was a quick one, and then we were off for church. We went into Luanshya and went to one of the schools, and Elizabeths husband was the preacher there. It was amzing to see all the people that came in to worship and the singing was amazing, they all had amazing voices! I am not religious at all, but it was nice to see that they really have nothing like we do but what they do believe they have is god and the belief in him.
After church we all left the school room and we were greeted one by one by all the people that attended, it was overwhelming to see their graciousness. Right from the beginning we were welcomed, I truly loved that part.
After church we rushed back to the Sisters, and had a quick lunch and then met one of the Zambian Nurses-Phildaelious(not sure of the spelling). He was there to help us sort out the proper medications to give to all the diseases that we were most likely to see in the village. He was telling us about Malaria, HIV, Worms, TB, and so on. It was pretty overwhleming hearing about all the symptoms and what they have to do, and also some medications were not allowed to be used anymore because they have a huge resistance rate now. He informed us of all the dosages and then how to bag up all the meds that were bought prior to our arrival. So much information, but he was nice and listened to our questions, cause there were many of them!!!
We then had a small meeting about what to expect for our home visits the next day. We were going to be walking around the village with the care workers, they are members of the community that have become a part of the team that walks around every day to check on others less fortunate. There are about a 20 or so men and women that help within the community, they partnered with Hands at Work and they soon realized that the community can only be helped if they are willing to start helping themselves first and then having us come in to assist occasionally. They range in ages and are just absolutely a crucial part of the team.
I just can't wait to get out to the village and finally see it!
Well into the night we packed pills, filled cough syrup into smaller bottoms-smelled like Dettol-quite gross, and then preared the baby bags. Man oh man it was like a never ending night, most of us exhausted still from the travels, but there was no time for sleep!!
We headed to bed around midnight...all of us ready to see the village!!!!
First Day!!! Sat Sept 1st
WE HAVE ARRIVED!!!!
Well we walked off the plane and it was warm but so nice to finally be here! The airport in Lusaka is a bit run down
but was expected in Africa. We walked to the immigration line, not before taking a few pics outside to show us landing
and how happy were all were =) Immigration went without a hitch but apparently now we had to apply for a visa since
we were there for a mission, so that took a bit. Then it was time to collect all of our bags, holy crap that was rough, ha ha
We had put blue stickers on our bags to identify them all, but 35 bags and 12 of us, we were all running around making sure we had all of them. My personal backpack was the last to come off, I was a bit worried cause that would be just my luck to be the one to lose one, LOL! Well with all of our carts full, we headed out to meet our bus, and that is where we first met Elizabeth, The Hands at Work representative, she was so sweet to meet. She walked us over to the bus but soon we realized that we were going to need 2 buses to carry us and all the bags to Luanshya. So she worked quickly and went and got us another bus as the another one was packed up to the top!! It was a site to see ( I will post my pics when I get home from Canada).
We loaded ourselves up and we were off for our 5 hour drive to Luanshya. It was so amzing to be back in Africa!! Seeing the lanscape again and the people, I truly felt wonderful to be back!! The bus was hard to be on after all the long flights, but we were able to stop half way in Kabwe for lunch so that helped. Kabwe was a busy little city lots of action, but as usual run down, but I think it is just that way here in Africa. We stopped at The Tuskers restaurant and had a nice lunch, I had kebabs yummy after the plane food! It was nice again to sit there and talk and get to know each other more and more. We had a wide range of ages and backgrounds so it was wonderful to have all these different nursing abilities in one group.
Names of the team were Joey-from Seattle area-background in Med/Surg-now works with insurance, Charlie-San Fran-Tele Nurse, Christal-San Fran-Tele, Me-Phoenix/Canada-L&D, Shirley--St Louis-Infection control, Roberta-St Louis-Recovery room, Theresa-St Louis-Nursing Home administration, Camisha-Baltimore-PICU-Army Nurse Active, Kim-Baltimore-ICU, Jaclyn-Baltimore-Tele, Sara-Conn-ER, Carolyn-New Jersey-PEDS-home care
Around 6 pm we get into the Sisters, the old Nunery where we are staying. We are greeted right away by Robyn and Alisha The Hands at Work group. Robyn and her husband started this non profit organization to help 8 countries in 2009 and they work with US and Australia with churches to help out these villages in need. Alisha is from Edmonton area, she has been down here for about 2 years off and on and she is the Organizer for groups like us coming down. She is 25 and feels like Zambia is her home now...she calls herself a ZAMADIAN...LOL!!!
WE get all of our bags into the Sisters and when we see it all spread out, again it is overwhelming. Catherine our cook had prepared a wonderful dinner and we all sit and enjoy it together. The Sisters consisted of 2 rooms of bunk beds for us to stay in, I was able to stay on the bottom bunk, YAY!!! But the beds were so short, I would sit up in bed, and hit my head on the top, HA HA HA. We all had a shower, some had a hot one, most had a cold one, but at least we got clean!!! HA HA HA. We headed off to bed pretty early since we had been travelling for 2 days now...it was a good and well deserved sleep...
Mindi
Well we walked off the plane and it was warm but so nice to finally be here! The airport in Lusaka is a bit run down
but was expected in Africa. We walked to the immigration line, not before taking a few pics outside to show us landing
and how happy were all were =) Immigration went without a hitch but apparently now we had to apply for a visa since
we were there for a mission, so that took a bit. Then it was time to collect all of our bags, holy crap that was rough, ha ha
We had put blue stickers on our bags to identify them all, but 35 bags and 12 of us, we were all running around making sure we had all of them. My personal backpack was the last to come off, I was a bit worried cause that would be just my luck to be the one to lose one, LOL! Well with all of our carts full, we headed out to meet our bus, and that is where we first met Elizabeth, The Hands at Work representative, she was so sweet to meet. She walked us over to the bus but soon we realized that we were going to need 2 buses to carry us and all the bags to Luanshya. So she worked quickly and went and got us another bus as the another one was packed up to the top!! It was a site to see ( I will post my pics when I get home from Canada).
We loaded ourselves up and we were off for our 5 hour drive to Luanshya. It was so amzing to be back in Africa!! Seeing the lanscape again and the people, I truly felt wonderful to be back!! The bus was hard to be on after all the long flights, but we were able to stop half way in Kabwe for lunch so that helped. Kabwe was a busy little city lots of action, but as usual run down, but I think it is just that way here in Africa. We stopped at The Tuskers restaurant and had a nice lunch, I had kebabs yummy after the plane food! It was nice again to sit there and talk and get to know each other more and more. We had a wide range of ages and backgrounds so it was wonderful to have all these different nursing abilities in one group.
Names of the team were Joey-from Seattle area-background in Med/Surg-now works with insurance, Charlie-San Fran-Tele Nurse, Christal-San Fran-Tele, Me-Phoenix/Canada-L&D, Shirley--St Louis-Infection control, Roberta-St Louis-Recovery room, Theresa-St Louis-Nursing Home administration, Camisha-Baltimore-PICU-Army Nurse Active, Kim-Baltimore-ICU, Jaclyn-Baltimore-Tele, Sara-Conn-ER, Carolyn-New Jersey-PEDS-home care
Around 6 pm we get into the Sisters, the old Nunery where we are staying. We are greeted right away by Robyn and Alisha The Hands at Work group. Robyn and her husband started this non profit organization to help 8 countries in 2009 and they work with US and Australia with churches to help out these villages in need. Alisha is from Edmonton area, she has been down here for about 2 years off and on and she is the Organizer for groups like us coming down. She is 25 and feels like Zambia is her home now...she calls herself a ZAMADIAN...LOL!!!
WE get all of our bags into the Sisters and when we see it all spread out, again it is overwhelming. Catherine our cook had prepared a wonderful dinner and we all sit and enjoy it together. The Sisters consisted of 2 rooms of bunk beds for us to stay in, I was able to stay on the bottom bunk, YAY!!! But the beds were so short, I would sit up in bed, and hit my head on the top, HA HA HA. We all had a shower, some had a hot one, most had a cold one, but at least we got clean!!! HA HA HA. We headed off to bed pretty early since we had been travelling for 2 days now...it was a good and well deserved sleep...
Mindi
Aug 30th...Continued!
So I apologize that it has taken me forever to login and update this blog, but we truly had no access to any computer until
now. So here it goes little by little I will let you know happened!!
So I got to Chicago and had to go and grab all of my luggage at the baggage claim and man oh man it was rough. No
one was willing to help me at all. I had my backpack which is a 75L one so huge, a smaller pack, one duffel for
carryon, one suitcase that rolled and then finally one duffel that rolled. So can you imagine trying to carry all that
and then have to get on the train to get to the international terminal, all I got were looks and a couple of people that
actually said good luck to me and then walked away, so much for nice people!!! Anyway I was able to find a cart and
then got on the train by carrying it all again then found a cart right off the train, so thank god!!! Then I found a couple
of girls waiting already at the Bristish Airlines waiting area. Right away we got along with each other, throughout the
first hour, we all met each other and were talking up a storm and getting to know each other. Then finally Theresa arrived
our trip leader and with all the extra bags she brought we had 35 bags to check total, not including all of our carryons
it was truly amazing!!! To see all these supplies in front of us now. Bristish Airways were quite good with us, some were
overweight and they did not mind at all, since we were humanitarians, YAY!!!
Well after checking in we waiting around for a bit in the airport and then we were off! It was an 8 hour flight, not bad at
all, I was able to sleep some of it, put my mask on and I was out HE HE HE!!
We then had an 9 hour layover in London, now I love that airport there is lots to do, but 9 hours is so long!!! I had
forgotten my makeup on the plane, just my luck, so I had to go buy a little more, so that took up some time thank
god, lol, but mostly I just walked around with Carolyn looking at things, cause her and I were the ones that couldn't
sit still. Finally I was able to rest for an hour or so, thanks god!
Finally we were off around 1800 for the next plane...we boarded that flight to Lusaka and found out that 2 bathrooms were only in use so imagine the whole plane having to use 2...there were longs lines and angry people to say the least!!
Flight wasn't bad...long...but then on Sat morning we arrived!!!!!! =)
Mindi
now. So here it goes little by little I will let you know happened!!
So I got to Chicago and had to go and grab all of my luggage at the baggage claim and man oh man it was rough. No
one was willing to help me at all. I had my backpack which is a 75L one so huge, a smaller pack, one duffel for
carryon, one suitcase that rolled and then finally one duffel that rolled. So can you imagine trying to carry all that
and then have to get on the train to get to the international terminal, all I got were looks and a couple of people that
actually said good luck to me and then walked away, so much for nice people!!! Anyway I was able to find a cart and
then got on the train by carrying it all again then found a cart right off the train, so thank god!!! Then I found a couple
of girls waiting already at the Bristish Airlines waiting area. Right away we got along with each other, throughout the
first hour, we all met each other and were talking up a storm and getting to know each other. Then finally Theresa arrived
our trip leader and with all the extra bags she brought we had 35 bags to check total, not including all of our carryons
it was truly amazing!!! To see all these supplies in front of us now. Bristish Airways were quite good with us, some were
overweight and they did not mind at all, since we were humanitarians, YAY!!!
Well after checking in we waiting around for a bit in the airport and then we were off! It was an 8 hour flight, not bad at
all, I was able to sleep some of it, put my mask on and I was out HE HE HE!!
We then had an 9 hour layover in London, now I love that airport there is lots to do, but 9 hours is so long!!! I had
forgotten my makeup on the plane, just my luck, so I had to go buy a little more, so that took up some time thank
god, lol, but mostly I just walked around with Carolyn looking at things, cause her and I were the ones that couldn't
sit still. Finally I was able to rest for an hour or so, thanks god!
Finally we were off around 1800 for the next plane...we boarded that flight to Lusaka and found out that 2 bathrooms were only in use so imagine the whole plane having to use 2...there were longs lines and angry people to say the least!!
Flight wasn't bad...long...but then on Sat morning we arrived!!!!!! =)
Mindi
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