Kabwe Life....

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Hello All,

There is not all that much to report this week since out return from Livingstone. We spent some days last week up at the Hospice mainly helping Siobhan work through some filing as she is trying to create some statistics from last years patients. This may sound incredibly boring to all back home and for the large majority of the time it was very tiresome but at the same time proved quite interesting as it showed how many patients arrived on medication and what treatement they were having and in a lot of cases how soon they died. It seems that patients who suffer from HIV often have TB. My knowledge (medical knowledge that is) has definitely expanded on such matters for example if a person suffers from HIV they should be taking ARV’s (anti-retrivirals) and there are different stages to it for example first stage, second etc etc. So if you decide not to take your first stage drugs, second stage don’t work as well as your more immune to them and third stage is even worse etc. etc. which then of course decreases your chances of living. I’d say about 98% of patients submitted had HIV as I’m sure you all know its extremely common out here in Africa. It differs from country to country but I think here in Zambia, in particular Kabwe the HIV rate is 22% in other words one in five are affected. Such a shocking statistic however the Zambian government gives free treatement for those on first stage ARV’s and the Hospice does fantastic work in aiding the patients during and after their stay. When the patients return home after a long stay the Hospice gives them a week or two worth of food to take home as the families have often gotten used to not feeding an extra stomache and takes a while for them to adjust back into their food pattern. Some of their resources are funded by USAid and were recently that they should not use their funding for giving patients food after leaving the Hospice unless below a certain nutrition chart as it causes dependency. What shocked me was how malnourished one has to be to qualify for the food - the measurement of the circumference of your upper arm has to be on or below 16mm. That’s not cm it’s mm! This is unbelievable I thought but what the hospice does is gives the food to everybody and when the USAid inspectors come to check a few cases they just hope that they qualify as malnourished (which most are anyway).

On Saturday it was one of Siobhan’s friends Raj’s birthday so we all went out to dinner in a local hotel with a group of farmers and some other people who run volunteer projects over here which was nice.

These last few days we have been back working in the childrens centre which has actually proved to be quite challenging. On the days when Alice and I go and help out we get thrown straight into the deep end and most of the teachers see it as a way of getting the day off . I think there is still a little bit of tension regarding our snitching of beating the kids and we think they may be enjoying watching us sweat a little without the help of their translation! I think they are also offended when we politely turn down their lunch of Nshima (it’s a bit like mashed potato but made out of a thing called maize) and Kapenta (hundreds of tiny little dried fish that omit the most horrendous smell). We have tried this delicacy on more than one occasion and sometimes just as a matter of respect I politely force down the dish into my protesting stomache but eating everyday is something I regretfully cannot handle. Other than that though being with the kids is of course enjoyable but also has its stresses when they run riot.

The Hospice also runs family planning clinics for the residents and people in the surrounding area, I hadn’t seen it before but this week they resurrected a tent in the front garden where all the women were given lessons on safe sex etc etc. It was rather amusing to see a crowd of gathered women all peering over each others shoulders as a rather awkward nurse produced a female condom. A series of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ floated from the curious women almost in unison. It was great to see such things happening as I’d spent the previous day doing statistics on HIV/Aids and this showed me that there is good activity involving education and the prevention of the disease.

One of the great things about sharing our little house out here is the cooker and cooking our own food. We have been making (or attempting to make) lots of different dishes including egg fried rice, stirfry, pasta, shepherds pie (soya based for me) and we’re still waiting on making fish pie and of course when one can be bothered to wake up early enough, eggs in the morning. The most fun so far however has been the making of fresh bread. Siobhan is a bit of an old hand at it and so ran through the steps with Alice and I and a few very messy hours later fresh bread was produced! Something I never thought to have learned in Africa. We have also hosted a dinner party this week as the founder an creator of the Hospice is returning to Ireland and so we thought this a suitable occasion for the tasting of our culinary delights. Everything turned out to be a success and nobody so far has been reported ill and so I’m very happy with the outcome.

On Thursday we decided to take a break from the childrens centre in the Hospice and visit another centre called Sables which is for street children, orphans and generally vulnerable children. We had the most fantastic day there spending time helping in their very well structured lessons. Before lunch we sat in on their circle time where all the children confessed their thoughts and troubles at home in a very nurturing environment. Everything that was said we kept within the circle and the matters worked through. I have never seen anything like this in any of the institutes I have visited or spent anytime in and think it is a fantastic idea as all the kids feel very comfortable with each other and its obvious to see how much they respect and adore the teachers and social workers. This is another thing, social work or care giving was almost non existent in Tanzania, there was no one to hear or talk to the children and in Sables the emotional well being of the children is very emphasized. They also have a room where some of the street children can stay at night instead of going back onto the street however they have recently been told by the local welfare institute that without employing a care giver to watch over them during the night the children are not permitted to stay there. They do not have the funds currently to hire one but they are working towards this goal and hopefully should be up and running soon. I was taught how to play chess in break time by a little boy, although I am in definite need of a bit more practice and I think he let me win and during the afternoon partook in a very sweat inducing game of football. The children are not required to stay in the centre and have the option to leave whenever they want as it acts as sort of a shelter and to keep them busy. All the children attended lessons and took part in the activities which showed how much they enjoy being there and before returning to town at around 5 they are all given a bath to keep them squeaky clean!

Saturday night we went to a party on a farm which was originally meant to be a small bbq but turned out to be a major event ending up with us getting a lift home with Siobhans friend in the back of her pick up truck screeching any song that popped into our heads.

Next week we shall probably visit Sables again and try to go on one of their outreach programmes one day where they actively go to the streets and find children who they think would benefit attending Sables. We also have the option to return to the Hopice/childrens centre and attend some of their outreach programmes - so wherever the wind blows!

Hope everyone is well!



Meg

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