Living in Livingstone

Africa » Zambia » Livingstone
October 14th 2008

Published: October 14th 2008

Saturday evening we started out by going right down the street to Fez Bar. It's pretty nice and has a big outside area where it's cooler, which was good because there were almost 30 of us. Then Corianne, Lynnett, Yara, Tom, Felix, Sarah, Leony, Lieke, and I went to Fairmont, a club at a hotel in town. It wasn't very big and some of the music was...interesting...but we made it fun! Some of the African men like to be a little too friendly though.

Sunday we went back to the Zambezi Sun all day and just relaxed in the sun and the shade and in the pool. We had a really good lunch at the hotel but it was quite expensive! While we were at the pool guess what happened? 3 zebras walked right through the hotel area by the pool! Wild zebras just wandering through like it was completely normal. Only in Africa. They were my first wild zebras so it was pretty exciting and they were really close! There are also a bunch of monkeys at the pool. One girl, Tori, got bitten randomly. She was just lying on the chair and a monkey came up and bit her on the arm. So now she has to get rabies shots just in case. Pretty much everyone is finally better. Almost half the people in the house were sick at some point last week. One of our coordinators even had malaria. I luckily missed out on it.
There are a couple churches right down the street from us so we heard a lot of singing on Sunday. I think it's a big part of church here. And they're really good!!! I want to try to go to a church sometime to see what it's like.

Monday morning I was at Linda Clinic in the morning. It's the same as Libuyu in that we do vitals and registration. It was better organized though, the books were actually in order where they were supposed to be! There wasn't any change though, which was hard when people paid with large bills. We got to see a malaria test on a young boy. I though you had to get a full-out blood test and then get tests run on it, but it's a simple finger prick. We had to leave before the results came back though. The health system here is a conveyor-belt service. Everyone's used to it. They just get their book and then wait in line for their vitals and then wait in line for the doctor. If they see you holding a thermometer they automatically lift their arm for you. It doesn't seem to be very personal.
In the afternoon we had language lessons. There are a bunch of local dialects, but the main languages are Nyanga (which we learned) and Tonga. The official language is English so a lot of people can speak it, but the local languages are definitely the prevalent ones. We're now fluent! 😊 The pronunciation is kind of hard because we've never heard anything like it. Some letters are left off when it's said and everyone talks really fast so even the basic stuff is hard to understand. But at least we can greet people now!

This morning I was on Maramba home-based care. For the home-based care we are the most knowledgeable people. We have to look at the situation, talk to the patient, read past reports, and then make a decision about what action needs to be taken and record it in the notebook. Raphaela and I hadn't ever done it before so Brave, the main medical guy at African Impact, went along with us. One patient had a whole in her leg filled with pus so we had to clean it and dress it. You definitely have to have a strong stomach for home-based care! We saw a patient with TB as well. TB is highly contagious so it was kind of nerve-wracking to be in the same room as here! The home-based care info said to keep the windows open to protect ourselves. Not a very reassuring prevention technique... Another woman has had a productive cough and nightsweats for multiple weeks so she might have TB so we have to try to arrange transfer for her to the clinic. African Impact has vans that they transport us in so if they aren't busy they help transport patients. They aren't an ambulance service though so sometimes they can't get the transport for a while. One lady died a couple weeks ago because she couldn't get to the hospital. It's really sad because even when we do our best there's only so much we can do. For home-based care we are right in the village, in the houses, in amongst the people. We get to see firsthand how they live and we hear stories about them not having enough food and we see people dying more quickly from TB and AIDS because they don't have enough clean water and food to keep their bodies strong. It's really a wake-up call to what's going on in so much of the world. The houses are either concrete or mud with tin or cardboard roofs. The doors are pieces of cloth. The houses are quite small, especially considering how many people live in them. From what I could tell though, most people seemed to have a home. We haven't seen many people on the streets and we haven't really had people asking for money, so the poverty hasn't been as drastic as I expected. Diseases are the main problem here. Livingstone has one of the highest percentages of HIV in Africa.

During my internship with Dr. Whitcomb I researched breast cancer in Zambia. So today I talked to one of the Maramba clinic workers about it. Supposedly it's the main type of cancer here, but it still isn't very prevalent. When people get it they go to the University Hospital. But malaria and HIV are such bigger problems that they get the main attention. They kill more people so they're a higher priority. I've actually been surprised by how many initiatives I've seen to decrease the AIDS stigma. If you have HIV you're looked down on because it's still connected to sex workers. Even on the radio though they have advertisements about how people with HIV look the same and are just people like the rest of us. I'm not sure how much of an impact these initiatives are having, but at least there are some there.

In the afternoon I was at the Adult Literacy Club at Maramba Farm again. It's fun to teach them and they really do try. We did some reading today and it's sad how basic most of their reading skills are. They're very determined though. It's encouraging to see people who really want to change their lives and are taking the initiative to do so. One of the teachers at one of the schools told another volunteer that some of the young children walk 10 kilometers to school. That's dedication right there! School is free up until grade 7. From there you have to take a test to move on to the next grades and you have to start paying. School goes up to grade 12. Nursing school is 3 years after than and to become a doctor it's 7 years. Supposedly nursing and medicine is really expensive as well!

Africa time is the same as Thai time, Malaysia time, and Indian time was. When someone says 10 minutes it could be anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. I think it might just be non-American/European time. It seems to be a common theme in a lot of Asia and Africa. Some parts of South America as well. Everyone warns you about it for specific countries, but I think it's pretty widespread. We just have to be patient. And the sooner you learn it the better!
It's heated up here a little bit. When I got here it was just a cool spell. Still not as insane as India though! Except for Sunday. Sunday when we were at the pool it was pushing 45 C! Which is 113 F. Insane. But pretty usual.
I like volunteering! It's nice to see that we're actually helping people! And it's a nice break to stay in one place for a while. I found an African Impact brochure today and it looks like they have a lot of good programs all over Africa! There's one in Kenya that looks really good. It's with a sort of mobile vaccination program which is something I've always wanted to do (well ever since my summer medicine program...). There are some teaching/medical programs and then some working with animals as well. Might be good for Delana since she's really good with animals!
Ok, enough for now. Time to go get dinner!

Living in Livingstone

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