So... I decided today that my eating habits are really bad. I must have a healthier breakfast to sustain me during the day. I boiled some eggs and toasted some bread. The eggs went into the refrigerator (I didn’t have time to let them cool) and I ate the toast as I walked to the hospital.
Today was going to be one of those days where nothing would be normal. The hospital only has one driver due to the resignation of the other. This week is Maternal Child Health Week and there is an outreach planned to the villages for everyday. We also need to bring sand and bricks in for the 5inOne building projects so…..
I got my Zambian drivers license two weeks ago! God showed his favor because it is suppose to take at least three visits to Livingstone and I did it in one day. He knew the hospital would need my services!
The outreach today was on two farms, Luezi and Highland. It was a 28 km drive on a dirt road round trip. The first stop was at the Luezi Farm where there were at least 50 mothers waiting with their children (most had at least two children and were pregnant). The program is designed to check for malnourishment, deworming, and provide immunizations for the children less than 5 years of age. The women who are pregnant were examined and those who wanted to practice family planning were given either oral contraceptives or Depo-Provera.
I was surprised the young women (17 – 19) who already had two children. Most are married at the age of 14 or 15. The comment made by my Zambian co-workers was that there was nothing else to do in the village. She stated that it was sometimes a competition among the women to see who could have the most children. It was heartbreaking because one of the things that we know stops poverty is education. Very few of these women or their children are educated or will be educated. This is when I ask myself…do I have an extra day that I could go into the village and teach English to the mothers and start teaching the children. I then have to tell myself…I can’t do everything. Be patient. Pray. Do what you can. Stay focused.
After this group of mothers and children, the community provided lunch for us. It was the traditional meal of nshema and rape. Nshema is a corn mush similar to grits but finer in texture and thick enough to use as an eating utensil. Rape is a green vegetable cooked with onions and tomato. I typically don’t care for the rape but today it was especially tasty and I ate two helpings. This pleased the cook very much. It is always exciting for a Zambian woman to see a Mzungu (white person) eat nshema.
The next stop was the Highland Farm where there were only 12 mothers with children. Most of the children were 2-3 years of age and just received vitamins and the deworming pills.It was an early day in that we arrived back to the hospital at 430pm. I was glad though, it was a hot day (at least 95) and I was outside all day. I thought that if the water pressure was enough at my house I might even be able to take a cold shower (my hot water tank – geyser- is not working).
I returned the hospital vehicle, drove my vehicle to Trekkers (a local sports bar) and bought a case of cold drinks…Coke light and Orange Fanta. After arriving home, I decided to check email, start dinner and listen to some music. News update…one of the emails was concerning “the container”. It looks like it may be here before Christmas.
I ended up cooking two meals. I made a meatloaf with potatoes for dinner tonight and started a pot roast for tomorrow night. I drank the last of my crystal light…I hope that container comes soon…
Oh, I started the download for the pilot episode of The Closer…. There are 490 MB left…just nineteen more hours and I’ll have one episode!
