Quite a Kiwi Christmas

The last few weeks we've had a team of 13 people from Christchurch NZ join us.


Every visitor gets a tour up Kalene hill and the compulsory jumping shot on top. We climbed up on Christmas day.


They have been helping with the building project and other odd bits, as well as running a few children programs.



They boosted numbers for our Boxing day Christmas celebrations with the expat community. All sorts of delicious treats were created for a potluck lunch, then a dessert and gift giving session in the evening.


In the afternoon we went for a walk in the village where there were plenty of great photo opportunities for the visitors.

The boys had a go at drawing water, and we stopped at an abandoned shop which translates "he who eats slowly is satisfied" grocery.


The NZ team have been helping out with the "Harvesters" sports outreach group while they've been here too. This day we had an away day / end of year celebration and gave the team members shirts we had made.


At the end of the day, the youth packed into the landcruiser as usual and sung all the way home. This movie clip captures it nicely, although it's still something you have to experience in real life!

Back at the hospital...


The week before Christmas we had to evacuate all the wards for 2 hours while they were sprayed with mosquito insecticide. Thankfully no emergencies happened in that time!


George went home the week before Christmas, so I had him and the other boys who were patients on my ward to my house to watch a movie. It was interesting getting them there, as only one of them could actually walk normally. One of them, Kahilu, is paralyzed after breaking his back falling from a mango tree.



Eurnice is a 12 year old girl who has been in hospital since July. She's come close to death several times. She has a bad strain of TB, requiring more than the standard treatment, then caught measles, followed by chicken pox, and a pleural effusion requiring a chest drain. She spent a few weeks on mens ward as it was the only ward with a room to isolate her. In the picture on the right she's eating mangoes she's been out to pick, and is carrying some on her head for later. Gorgeous!


Christmas Eve we went into the hospital to sing carols. As we were singing, a snake crawled out of the mens ward drain and was promptly beaten to death. Very exciting for all the visitors!


No blog is complete without a gruesome pic... here's Emmanuel and his gangrenous foot, which was cut off last week. Unfortunately it's the second foot it's happened to, for no apparent reason.

He walks!

George starting walking last month, despite bilateral hip dislocations due to severe osteomylitis. He's such a cute kid, he's very bright, and eager to go home, we are just waiting on his wounds to heal fully...

He's making good progress. I took these photos to show the improvement in 2 months - thanks to good nursing care. I've printed these off for the students so they can understand how important our job is...

Saccrum

Left hip


Some of my enrolled nursing students, on their first placement on the ward. Here they are having a bit of fun trying on some reading glasses.


We've got Peter Gill with us, an orthopedic specialist from the UK. Seems we've turned into an orthopedic hospital since he's arrived! The man on the left was hit by a truck, but got off pretty light considering... he's got fractures of both lower legs, right patella, left femur, and left wrist. The photo on the right is Anna with a makeshift gallows traction on a small child with a fractured femur.



Michael came in one day a few months ago while I was on call with burns from boiling water. He's done well with skin grafting and went home today.


It's great having Anna back living with me again. Here we went up Kalene Hill and watched the sunset. Beautiful! (Lots of annoying fly thingees that hang around your eyes too, hence the strange expression in the pic on the left).


A visit to the fields with my friend Mamisa - all the locals were surprised by how handy I proved to be with a hoe! They build these mounds for planting cassava. I only dug one and got a blister! They can make 30 in a morning. So I'm not that handy... won't give up my day job :o)


Mamisa's sister Gren had a baby and named her Rebecca.


It's raining a lot now! Which brings some different vegetation, including giant mushrooms! Yum! Anna thinks they taste like squid - a similar texture.

Sports mad Zambians

The locals will use any excuse for a football game. Here I am with some kids watching a game to celebrate Independence day.




The sports outreach program always attracts a crowd. I've enjoyed being involved with it, and playing in the football match to end the days program (as the token white female!). The group has been visiting local villages on Saturdays to host an event of games, singing, and a gospel message.


This particular village had a tree stump in the middle of their football pitch! I also learnt, although it made a nice photo, standing behind the goal for a penalty shoot out is not a good idea (after I copped one in the head).



Fishing isn't a sport here as much as a necessity... this girl had the unfortunate experience of almost choking to death on her catch. She was trying to kill the fish by biting its head. Seems it bit back!! It was lodged so tightly in her throat it took sedation and a lot of maneuvering to get it out!


I've enjoyed the company of some of the youth girls, and have had a few of them to stay over in the last few months. Here we are eating nshima.


Mamisa has become a good friend, we both enjoy playing football and frisbee with other girls each week.


Some people feature on my blog cos of their looks... here's Isaac, a Will Smith look-a-like... of course he has no idea who that is! And some more cute kids.