Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Njabalombe Day Two

nternet has been sketchy at best, so our posts may be limited and
occasionally out of order.

Our team tends to go to bed early the night after our first clinic.
First they are exhausted, second it is dark very early, and third it
is COLD. As a result they often have more energy as they awake on the
second day. Those who forgot their ear plugs are probably regretting
it because with all the dust and smoke snoring hits an all time high
among the tents. There have been several attempts to describe the
sound of 250 people sleeping with in close quarters with only the
sides of tents to muffle sound, but they all fall short in giving an
adequate depiction of the cacophony of snores;-)

Our team was up early and it was cold, but thankfully dry. There
isn't much set up required on second-clinic days, so we went straight
to work and the lines were already long. We saw over 3000 medical
patients yesterday alone. Dr. Estes and Angela arrived at our clinic
site around 7pm last evening well after dark to join us. Their
luggage didn't arrive but they did.

Today the Chief for this area arrived to greet us, and he was taken on
a tour of all of our working-areas. He was pleased with the work
being done, and made a special effort to say thank you for Namwianga
Christian Radio Station. He said that because his kingdom doesn't
have any urban areas, it is very difficult for his people to get
information, and the radio station has been has been exceptionally
helpful in providing it. In an unusual move, he asked to be a
volunteer with our team the next time we serve in his kingdom. He had
contacted his headmen in this area in advance of our coming and
insisted that they have some livestock here when we arrived to help
feed us.

Last night our team had the opportunity to have some mutton that had
been killed, butchered and cooked on site. Some took advantage of the
opportunity, others did not:-) In any case our kitchen crew had fried
almost 800 pieces of chicken in a pot over an open fire for the team,
and we had some instant mashed potatoes and gravy that thrilled our
American team members, but wasn't overly interesting to our Zambian
team members. It is a major task to cook for 250 in the bush, but
Leonard our Zambian cook and his team make it happen.

I am not aware of any major illness among our team, but there are a
few with stomach problems, and lots of allergies and such, but for the
most part we remain healthy.

We employee local members of the church to provide security for us.
We provide them bright orange caps and shirts and they watch our tent
city while we are away from it. Also our medical equipment is in
tents, open trucks and open classrooms during the evening, so they
assist us in watching it at night.

We have just started a vehicle toward Zimba where they have a clinic.
An elderly man was being brought to see us by ox cart, when a group
traveling by truck saw the travelers and gave them a ride. By the
time he had arrived, he was very ill, and Dr. Tate is concerned he
won't make it to the hospital, but we are attempting to take him in a
Land Cruiser as fast as we can. I will update you on the story as it
is available.

For those following family members, we are thriving more or less,
though we are dirty and tired. Thanks for your interest.
We will try to do audio posts if possible, but we are having
difficulty keeping our satellite signal, and it is going to be very
difficult to send photos, so if we send them, they may be out of
sequence.