Chikankata....

This past week, our entire group went and stayed for two nights at Chikankata, the second largest subsaharan AIDs research hospital. It was so neat!!!! :) We had such a wonderful time! As we took a tour of the hospital we got to see their labor ward, maternity ward, ICU (which was more like a med-surg floor), female/male medical and surgical wards, TB ward, the OT (operating theatre), OPD (out patient department) and the nursing school/midwifery school, which was located directly to the right of the hospital. Seeing a nursing school in Zambia was really interesting! Some of the people in our group sat in on the lessons with the Zambian nursing students. The students were talking about mental health and psychosocial care.

The wards were decently busy and there was so much to learn! The hospital had health promotion/disease prevention posters set up on almost every inch of every wall. The nurses and doctors were so friendly and very helpful when we asked questions! Rachel and I were paired up again and we started the day off in the OPD. The OPD was more like doctor's office/emergency department. It was extremely busy and we had to admit about 6 patients within about 25 minutes! We noticed that most of the admitting diagnoses were severe malaria, upper respiratory infections, PUD/GI problems and skin disorders. After a few hours in the OPD we left and went to a family planning session with some midwifery students. They asked us about our forms of family planning in the U.S. and then they told us about their family planning options that they have available.

We hung out and played Skipbo (which I had never played before, but it is lots of fun!) that night in the common room. I put my purse on my bed that night and a spider crawled out of it, which made me a little nervous to go to bed! But, we all ended up getting a really good nights sleep and woke up early the next morning to go back to the hospital! The following day I paired up with Alicia and Rachel and went to the ICU. The ICU did not have any equipment such as equipment to intubate, ventilators, etc. The ICU was more of a med-surg unit for patients with more severe complications. The patients needing respiratory support were sent to the University Hospital in Lusaka. Around 10:00 AM everyone in the hospital takes a tea break, which is kind of funny, since it is really, really hot outside! But it's fun to take some time and talk to eachother, while reprogramming your mind before heading back to the ward. That day we did not take a break, because we only stayed for half the day. Instead, Kara and I left to go to the Pediatric ward for the rest of the afternoon.

At the peds ward we took lots of vitals signs and we assisted the nurse with passing medications. When the nurses give medications here they usually measure out the doses and hand them to the family members at the bedside. The family members are, therefore, responsible for making sure that their children receive their medications. We saw many malnourished children, but it was really wonderful to get to hold them and make them smile! Quite a few of them were also HIV positive. We got the chance to sit in on a counseling session with one of the families. The boy, receiving the counseling, was dropped off at the hospital by his father and left for 2 months. The mother had passed away from AIDs. Fortunately, the mother's older sister was able to find transportation to the hospital and volunteered to take care of the boy for the rest of his life. She was quite a bit older, however, she still had the kindness in her heart to take care of her sister's child.

We experienced a couple deaths, one of which I felt rather close to. There was a small infant in the NICU, who died the night after we visited her. I was so thankful that God allowed us to talk to her and make her smile that night before she met Jesus. God gave us the opportunity to give that precious baby hope in life and even hope in death. Thank you God for the experiences and opportunities, which you have given us to share hope and love with the world. Until next time.....God bless....