ZMMupdate

Disaster Averted

2011-07-24T07:14:00.000-07:00

33 of our team members attempted to cross into Zimbabwe yesterday to fly out from Victoria Falls. Due to slow action at the border post only a few of them made their flight, leaving 18 behind for an additional night.

Group tickets, like what we buy, don't have many options, so we were very concerned that our team might have to purchase completely new tickets. The Lord was with us however, and they all flew to JoBerg and now have boarding passes to the United States. Undoubtedly some will still suffer some consequences with missed flights in the U.S. etc, but the overall picture is good.

May the Lord be praised.

Thanks for checking in on us.

Milimo

Dust and Diesel Smoke

2011-07-19T11:40:00.001-07:00

The team arrived at Namwianga after dark tonight. The Lag Team arrived about 5pm and took everyone's luggage to their housing. They looked dusty and beat even before the main team arrived, and all of the huge trucks had to be unloaded. I know they will sleep well tonight, but it will be a short night because everyone has to have luggage out early tomorrow for travel to Livingstone.

In all they saw 16,029 patients, 10,647 of them medical, 2128 dental, and 3254 in eyes. I am not sure how many cataract surgeries have been performed but I know it exceeds 100.

When the team arrived in power was off at the mission, and only the radio station tower lights were on, so team members went walking off in the dark to their housing, to come into a dark house where they had to pack by flashlight. The power came on about an hour later.

Again, it will be difficult to make postings after this, so they may end abruptly, but we will try to update later.

Update on the young man taken to Maacha with serious injury

2011-07-18T11:00:00.001-07:00

I am at the mission at Namwianga, but can occasionally get a text message through to the team, and they responded today that the young man taken yesterday to the hospital in Maacha has survived. He was given 2 liters of IV fluid on the trip. The prognoses for him is good. The medical opinion is that he would have not died had we not been nearby. Praise the Lord.

Even though I am not with them, I know the team is tired. They had to pack up the clinic at the end of the day, and tomorrow will have to leave very early to get to the next and last clinic site.

The next to last load of cataract patients started off today about 4pm for the trip to Namwianga Hospital. Dr. Monze from Livingstone is still doing surgeries. As of mid-afternoon they had done 97 total, with another 50 or so to go.

Again I am at the mission, and was hearing laughing from outside the house. A large group is standing around listening to Namwianga Christian Radio. I went into my bedroom and dug out one of the small crank-powered radios to test it, and after a few cranks heard my name mentioned. What timing. I have no idea what was said after that because it was in Chitonga, but as they say, any publicity is good publicity;-)

The crank radios were donated by the Church of Christ in Gorman Texas to give to churches so that they can hear Bible reading and programming on Sundays. The radios are very small, but have a big sound and will operate with just a few cranks for several minutes, and they also have a small solar charger built in. It is amazing how much the rural people at the clinics talked about the radio station, it is their only real source of news, educational information, and entertainment in their native language. (To the folks at Gorman, I will pack this one back up after I am finished to be distributed.)

I will try to make later posts, but they may stop abruptly. Apologies in advance for this, but it gets crazy as the team departs.

I think I will take a moonlit walk to the station to see if I can find out what Musopole said about me.

Have a great day.

Thanks for your interest in ZMM

Leonard Mujala

2011-07-18T10:59:00.001-07:00

Interview with Chief Chikanta

2011-07-18T10:58:00.001-07:00

Various Photos

2011-07-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

Chief Chikanta Tours the Pharmacy

2011-07-17T13:10:00.001-07:00

Star Ferguson talks with His Royal Highness Chief Chikanta about the pharmacy

Kasukwe - Sheryl Ramsey talks with the chief

2011-07-17T12:59:00.001-07:00

His Royal Highness Chief Chikanta visited our clinic today and was introduced to many of our team members. This audio includes Sheryl Ramsey talking out wheelchair distribution.

Kasukwe Walking

2011-07-17T12:39:00.001-07:00

We Saved A Life Today

2011-07-17T12:35:00.000-07:00

At the risk of being melodramatic, we saved a life today. Flora Ngambi, Dr. Jeff Mckinsey's nurse said, "We have come this day for this one soul."

A few kilometers from Kasukwe a young man was working near a thrasher, or shredder of some sort when his foot was caught. His friends put him on an ox cart, and having heard on the radio that our team was going to be in Kasukwe started toward us. By the time he arrived at our clinic he was bleeding profusely and was beginning to lose conciousness. He was given an IV immediately and his wounds cleaned and the bleeding stopped, but he was very weak, so we loaded him in the back of a small pickup and rushed him to a clinic at Maacha. I am back at Namwianga in order to make these postings, but when I left at 4:30 today we had not heard back from the nurses that accompanied him. There is no cell service there, so it may be some time before I know.

If the boy lives it will have been because his friends knew of the medical mission team that was visiting. We pray that he lives, and comes to know why we came, and who we are..

Kasukwe Drumming

2011-07-17T12:23:00.001-07:00

Kawukwe Noel

2011-07-17T12:18:00.001-07:00

Kasukwe Molly

2011-07-17T11:55:00.001-07:00

Audio Post

2011-07-17T02:39:00.001-07:00

Audio Post

2011-07-17T02:38:00.001-07:00

Njabalombe - Unloading

2011-07-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

Njababloombe - Jay Starkey totes a canopy that normally takes two to tote

2011-07-14T09:02:00.001-07:00

Njabalobe - first lines in the morning

2011-07-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

Njabalombe - Canopy roof comes together

2011-07-14T08:51:00.003-07:00

Njabalombe - putting up the first canopies for the clinic

2011-07-14T08:40:00.001-07:00

Take the chair you sit in to the clinic after breakfast

2011-07-14T08:37:00.000-07:00

Njabalombe - A sheep and a goat given to the team by the headmen

2011-07-14T08:27:00.003-07:00

Njabalombe finished

2011-07-13T11:45:00.001-07:00

We finished our clinic at Njabalombe this evening at 5pm, having seen
about the same number as the day before.

Our team is generally healthy, and happy.

At our team meeting tonight Eleanor explained that Njabalombe means
"strong boys" because when the Caribba river valley was to be flooded
to create the lake, many of the people who were being displaced were
told to re-settle here. Many of the older people said that only the
Strong Boys could survive on this land, so they stayed and were
presumably lost when the river flooded.

We have finished dinner, and the team is settling in for the night, a
group of girls from a nearby village are singing Gospel songs in Tonga
and moving around the edges of our camp. It will be welcome for a few
more minutes, and then our team will start putting in the earplugs to
sleep.

We will leave early tomorrow for our next clinic site.

2011-07-13T11:37:00.001-07:00

Headed to bed. Team to be up early tomorrow to get to our next clinic site. Still generally healthy as a team. No major problems.

2011-07-13T11:34:00.001-07:00

Saw over 2900 on second day at Njabalombe.

Njabalombe Day Two

2011-07-13T02:41:00.001-07:00

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.

Audio Post

2011-07-12T04:13:00.005-07:00

Audio Post

2011-07-12T04:13:00.003-07:00

Audio Post

2011-07-12T04:13:00.001-07:00

Audio Post

2011-07-12T03:42:00.001-07:00

Audio Post

2011-07-12T03:01:00.001-07:00

2011-07-11T04:31:00.000-07:00

Dust from the convoy

2011-07-11T04:29:00.000-07:00

Up and Going

2011-07-10T21:38:00.000-07:00

The bell at the secondary school rang at 5:30am (as usual) to wake the students. (Try that in the United States;-)

Our vehicles were moving prior to that, and the team is beginning to come alive. This is our moving day and one of the most difficult, but we are off to a good start.

Yesterday in the midst of a nationwide power outage thanks to the hydroelectric plant at Carriba Dr. Teague performed our first three cateract surgeries. The generator at Namwianga Rural Healthcare Clinic performed well. The whole ordeal was not without its difficulties, but it went well overall. During the second surgery a fly landed on the operating microscope and Dr. Teague asked someone to remove it. Jessalyn who was observing the surgery and taping it for the video put her hand up against the scope, the fly climbed on and she walked it to the door and released it. We now call her the "Fly Whisperer!"

It may be tomorrow before we can post anything additional, too difficult to find Internet quickly on the road, but we will try.

Attempts to call home

2011-07-10T01:41:00.000-07:00

Friends and family. Phone service in Zambia is difficult. The customary AT&T line that we use to call the U.S. is not working, so about the only choice is cell phone service, and international calls are very expensive.

We are working out a way for team members to try and call home, but service and opportunities to call are limited, so if you don't hear from your loved ones, don't worry.

Using the Internet

2011-07-10T01:38:00.001-07:00

Cataract Surgery

2011-07-10T01:28:00.000-07:00

Dr. Teague from Abilene Texas has come to do cataract surgery. Three new rooms at the hospital have been in final stages to be ready for the surgery because they have to be pre-approved by a Ministry of Health official prior to use.

The main room where the surgeries will be performed has been approved, but we must wait on curtains for the adjacent rooms before we begin even though the patients will not be in the other rooms. In other words this is simply a formality that must be met. In any cases we will have the curtains in place in the next few hours and should be able to start surgeries this afternoon.

Jessalyn Massingill is doing a video story of one particular woman's journey through this surgery that will be shown in mid-September at the Paramount Theatre in Abilene. The woman's name is Dora, and we believe her surgery will occur this afternoon.

The team will have about an hour long meeting this afternoon just after lunch to go over the details of how to thrive over the next couple of weeks. Logistics are difficult, so details become very meaningful. The atmosphere is pleasant, and I believe we have an excellent team in place.

The Veranda

2011-07-10T01:20:00.001-07:00

2011-07-10T01:18:00.001-07:00

2011-07-10T01:14:00.001-07:00

2011-07-10T01:11:00.000-07:00

It is about three in the morning in the central U.S, but our team has been up and going for a few hours now. Many of the team showed up before 7am Zambian time for breakfast. It is cold. Just a few days ago this area had the coldest overnight temperature in recorded history and many of the banana trees, and other foliage was bitten.

Oddly enough it started raining for an instant this morning. It RARELY rains at Namwianga this time of year. One person expressed some concern for the two mile walk to a Church service this morning, but I stated with confidence that they need not worry about getting too wet. We will see if I were right when they come back for lunch.

Our team was greeted when they got off the buses here at Namwianga with a team that had their luggage pre-sorted for them, and were settled into their guest homes within an hour. They were tired and ready to stop moving, and many of them looked a little stunned, but this morning faces were brighter.

We offered three venues for worship today. It is a short walk to an assembly on campus, but many of the team chose to walk the two to four miles to a village church. One group went to Tumongo and one went to a nearby basic school.

Counting the Kwacha

2011-07-10T01:00:00.000-07:00

The team had an opportunity to exchange some US dollars for Zambian Kwacha this morning, so Mary Brit and Star Ferguson joined LaDonna Armstrong as bankers.

2011-07-10T00:57:00.001-07:00

Electricity

2011-07-10T00:56:00.000-07:00

Sorry for posting photos without titles or captions, but the electricity has been off and on this morning, and thus the Internet is not reliable. So once I get a photo uploaded I POST IT;-) I have lost several attempts this morning with more complex posts, so I decided just to post what I could when I could, and let you sort it out.

These are some posed pictures which we don't have time for often, but waiting for Church provided some opportunities.

2011-07-10T00:53:00.001-07:00

2011-07-10T00:47:00.001-07:00

2011-07-10T00:46:00.000-07:00

2011-07-10T00:44:00.000-07:00

2011-07-09T09:05:00.004-07:00

2011-07-09T09:05:00.003-07:00

2011-07-09T09:05:00.002-07:00

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2011-07-09T09:05:00.000-07:00

The Final Team has arrived

2011-07-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

69 new team members showed up at Livingstone today and we were there to greet them. Things went smoothly, though with a new fingerprinting system in Zambian immigration things were very slow. Everyone's luggage arrived in the arrivals area prior to the team, and the porters, who have seen us do this before assumed we wanted it carried out to our trucks. Unfortunately that meant that we had to wait until we got outside to verify that everyone got their luggage.

We had only two missing pieces, so we sent the luggage trucks ahead and eventually followed them to Namwianga. The road from Livingstone to Namwianga is exceptional! Much of it has shoulders, and much of it is striped, so it only took about 2.5 hours for the trip.

Kel Hamby and his team of workers had everyone's luggage separated by name, and were holding up little airport-signs with names on them to help the new people find their things, and then most of the team walked to their housing. Being able to do this in daylight (we arrived just after 5pm) was a great blessing. We will have dinner in a few minutes, welcome our guests with a quick meeting and then allow them to get some much needed rest.

James models the Zambia hard hat.

2011-07-08T12:29:00.001-07:00

Joe Lawrence uses his pink cup for before dinner coffee

2011-07-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

Nurses arrive

2011-07-08T12:26:00.000-07:00

Our nurses have to arrive prior to the main team in order to have individual interviews with the Zambian nursing counsel. They fly into Lusaka and have to make the six hour drive to Namwianga.
They arrived here just after dark tonight and after a meal and brief meeting we took them to their houses. They were tired but happy. Amazingly all of their luggage arrived as well.
Tomorrow we will travel to Livingstone to pick up the 69 remaining team members
We will try to announce their arrival.

Leonard goes to buy food

2011-07-08T09:29:00.002-07:00

Ellie updates lists before team arrives

2011-07-08T09:29:00.001-07:00

Postings

2011-07-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

We have attempted to send several photos to the blog remotely, but have had some difficulty. Please bear with us as we work out our techical issues. Things are going well. The vehicles are almost in order to travel, and our team has been working to get logistics, supplies and medicine ready to go.

The mutchembele (respected woman)

2011-07-06T05:14:00.000-07:00

I have rarely seen Eleanor cry, but today was one of those days. Jessalyn has been videotaping for a motion picture that we intend to show in September at the Paramount Theatre in Abilene for our annual fundraiser. We had spent several hours in a village with a woman who is almost completely blind due to cataracts. For the film we hope to follow her through her surgery at Namwianga Rural Healthcare Centre this Sunday as she has the cataracts removed by Dr. Teague of Abilene.

We filmed most of the morning at her little home and we knew she hadn't had anything to eat, so we tried in vain to convince her to ride with us in our vehicle to Namwianga to have lunch with our advance-team, but she felt that she was troubling us and refused. We finally convinced her to go with us, to allow us to get her some food and then take her back home. As we arrived at Namwianga the advanced-team was just about to have lunch so we coaxed her to the back yard of the guest house to introduce her to the team. Because she can't see, she didn't recognize anybody but I made a point to introduce her individually to Ellie. When she realized that it was Ellie she squealed with joy, and reminded Ellie that Ellie had come to her village more than 30 years before to teach a woman's Bible class.

She was very excited, and went on to say that she got up this morning and decided to wear her special dress, a dress that she intends to be buried in, and dress that was given to her 30 years ago by Ellie! Something tells me she will go home with a new dress today, but today tears came into Ellie's eyes, and an old friendship had been renewed.

In a way the medical mission is a lot like that every day. While the medical mission is a huge undertaking, it is the single acts of kindness, generosity and care by individuals that bring glory to the Lord. While our goal is to provide those acts of kindness to the Zambian people, many times it is the Zambian's who give these blessings to us rather than the other way around.

Our full team is to arrive on Saturday and we are preparing to meet them.

Thank you for your interest.

More to come.

Early group arrived

2011-07-05T08:42:00.001-07:00

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From: Ellie Hamby

The early group of 19 arrived yesterday with no problems with all their luggage – amazing! Since it was the 4th of July we decided as patriotic Americans we should our independence from the British. We went in the back of a big truck to the granite banks of the Kalomo River where we had hot dogs, homemade hot dog buns, chips, cookies, ice cream, and s'mores. It was quite a treat while being in Zambia. The evening was topped off with fireworks supplied by Ruhtt Mbumwae. Attached are some pictures of the celebration.

Unfortunately, one of our team members, Dr. Carole Buchholz, tripped on the granite rock and suffered a significant fracture to her wrist. We were able to take her to our Namwianga Hospital where the x-ray technician took x-rays of the injured wrist. We then took photos of the x-rays and emailed them to an orthopedic surgeon in Alaska. Fortunately, Carole had Dr. Marylou Behnke (neonatal pediatrician) and Dr. Richard Prather (veterinarian) along with several others attending to her.

It was determined that she needed to have the bone set as soon as possible to avoid further damage and then surgery will likely follow. We carry medical/emergency evacuation insurance on every team member and the insurance company was called to arrange medical transportation for her. Since it was not a life threatening injury they arranged and paid for her to fly to South Africa on a commercial South Airways flight where she will receive immediate treatment. The insurance company also paid for Dr. Richard Prather to accompany her. If it is determined she needs further treatment the insurance will send her back to the USA. As you can see this is an example of how necessary it is to have medical/evacuation insurance. The company was very cooperative and appears to be taking good care of her. We just received a phone call from Dr. Prather and she has been admitted and they waiting on the doctor to see her. Please keep Carole in your prayers.

Today everyone is working hard counting pills, organizing foodstuff for the clinics, repairing tents, and inventorying all the different clinic areas. There is still a lot of work to be done.

We covet your prayers as we prepare for our ministry to the Zambia people.

Ellie Hamby

Getting ready

2011-06-29T13:28:00.001-07:00

Audio post

2011 ZMM Trip is Coming

2011-05-31T08:28:00.000-07:00

Friends

Zambia Medical Mission 2011 is fast approaching. If you are interested in keeping up with the team, you have come to the right place. You may also wish to subscribe to the community page http://www.facebook.com/zambiamedical. We will attempt to provide updates in both places as often as possible, but it if you want to be sure you are getting the latest information, it makes sense to check both places.

More to come

KB

30 July 2010

2010-07-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Zambia Medical Mission is coming to an end. Tomorrow we will be placing the remainder of the team on their planes to head home. This has been an incredible mission with a great team! We set all-time records this year. We saw the most patients in one day at our last clinic at Mabuyu...3,740. This brought our overall total to 19,560! These patients were treated with kindness, respect and with the love that Jesus showed to all those He came into contact with. Everyone treated knew that we were there because of Jesus and the example He set. Over 80 were baptized; but more will follow after more study with the Church Development Committee.

As I mentioned before, this year we were joined by SightSavers so we were able to send patients with cataracts to our clinic/hospital at Namwianga for surgery. These surgeries were performed by Dr. Moonze from Livingstone. He worked incredible hours to perform 52 cataract surgeries, 10 lid rotations, and he removed a growth from one lady's eye. He was excited to be able to help those from the rural areas. All he requested was a clean environment to perform the surgeries and an operating table. Dr. Allen Neese searched through the hospital container and found an operating table plus a chair. Dr. Moonze was thrilled because he had never used an operating table that could be raised with his foot to a height more comfortable for operating and the chair made it even easier to perform so many surgeries. He said normally his back would begin hurting from having to bend over to perform the surgeries. He is already making plans to join us again next year. What a blessing he was...and is!

The free wheelchair program has made such a difference for so many people. Sheryl (Hamby) Ramsey initiated this program last year. These wheelchairs are made especially for the terrain in rural areas. Almost 60 wheelchairs were given out during the clinics. It was so wonderful to know that when you saw someone being carried or struggling so hard to walk, that you could call Sheryl on the radio and she would be there with a wheelchair for the individual. The burden that is removed from the family is great, and the patient is thrilled to have a little independence to move about on their own. Sheryl will remain in Zambia for another month to take wheelchairs to rural health clinics all over the Southern Providence.

To all of you who have helped financally and with your prayers, this is also YOUR mission! We are all a part of God's family and we all work with the abilities or blessings that He has given us. Not all of us can go; but for those of us who can, we thank you for all your support and love.

Until next year...

In His service and in His love,
LaDonna (Stovall) Armstrong

Monday, July 26

2010-07-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry -- we know it has been a while since you have heard from us; but I promise....we have been very, very busy. In 5 days of clinics we have already treated well over 15,000 people. We still have Mabuyu to go and historically, it has always been a huge clinic. The people have been wonderful...very patient and just thankful to have a chance to see a doctor and receive medicine. We have exceeded our benevolence budget; but the Lord will provide. How can you say no to a 13-year old girl with club feet? Or a young boy with cerebral palsy? Or the young man whose knee and leg were so swollen, it made it almost impossible for him to walk. We have given out so many wheelchairs! It is wonderful to be able to provide these. And our new program where we are partnered with SightSavers has proved a big success. Already, 45 patients have had cataract surgery with more waiting in the wings. Ellie Hamby, Dr. Jeff McKinsey and I stopped by the hospital before we went back out into the bush to see the patients. We were told that the old women had been singing and dancing. They were so happy to see again. When we walked into the ladies' ward, one old lady smiled and in Tonga said, I see 1, 2, 3 macuas (white people). She was grinning from ear to ear...and so were we.

Thank you to all of you who make this possible. To those who contribute with money, for those who keep us lifted up in prayers, and to our families who make the sacrifice for us to come. I want to especially thank my husband, Bill, for supporting my "habit."

On another note, Ellie wanted me to tell you about our banking experience. We sent Davies Mulamfu into Kalomo the other day to get money for us before we headed into the bush. We needed 40,000,000 Kwacha (around $8,000). Our bank, Finance Bank, did not have enough money to give us. They had to go across the street to Barclay's Bank and borrow the money to pay us. Only in Africa! :-)

For all the folks at home - everyone is healthy and doing great! They are also working very hard and looking forward to a few days of R&R. They've earned it!

By for now! -- LaDonna

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

2010-07-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

The first day of clinics is done and what a day it was. We had two babies born, oxen running amuk and people, people everywhere.

Simalundu is the area people were displaced to when the colonial government built the Karibe Dam. The area around the river was fertile and the people had plenty. They were moved to the Gwembe Valley where the conditions were harsh…bad soil and no water. The elders of the village knew that the only ones who would be able to survive were the young and strong. So they sent their young to the Gwembe Valley and the elders remained in their village knowing they would perish once the dam was complete. The people we are helping now are the descendants of those that were displaced. Five of the displaced group still survive. Two of them came to the medical mission for treatment and to hear about Jesus.

Last year when we came to Simalundu, Tony Cloud from Alaska was a part of our team. Once Tony learned that there was no water and the women and children had to walk for miles to get it, he knew he had to do something. He spoke with Ellie Hamby to find out what it would cost to dig a well at Simalundu. He went home and raised funds for the well. He did it with such enthusiasm, that not only would Simalundu get a well; but two other villages would receive wells also. A result of this is, last year the pharmacy gave out lots and lots of rehydration packets. Even though the well has been in place for a short time, this year no rehydration packets were given out. A Zambian government official once told Ellie Hamby that when you put in a well, it lifts the burden from the women and children.

For 1st timers like Darren Tom, it is a little overwhelming when you see all of the people lined up. It is still overwhelming even when you have been for many years. It seems as if the lines are endless and you think there is no way we could see everyone. But the Lord always provides the help we need.

The morning started out with a baby being born during the medical mission. This is a first for us. Since Ray Ferguson is the “headman” this year, the baby was named Ray. I think it embarrassed Ray; but he also seemed very proud.

Later an ox cart came with a mother who had delivered a twin last night at 10:00. The second baby was “trapped” and couldn’t make it out. The woman had been in stress all night. The oxen were not use to so many people being around and slipped out of their yokes, ran away and had to be corralled. The mother was brought into a makeshift delivery room and the 2nd baby was delivered successfully by two Zambian mid-wives and Dr. Kathy Chang and Liz Eaton. Twin 2 was doing fine; but the mother and Twin 1 needed more care. Twin 1 had not had any nourishment since it was born. It was also very cold so Liz Eaton took some hard warmers and placed them around the baby’s blanket. It started improving and was able to suckle. And they were finally able to stop the mother’s bleeding. Later she was taken to receive a blood transfusion.

It was a very full day. We treated 3,131 patients and 18 were baptized. God is good!

Monday, July 19, 2010

2010-07-22T13:26:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 19, 2010

Today started bright and early. The “A Team” (advance team) needed to eat and be ready to start accepting luggage and sleeping bags by 7:30. The “A Team” actually goes out to the clinic site before anyone else and gets the tents all set up. Everyone’s “stuff” has to have three pieces of duct tape displayed…gray tape shows your name, white or red tape with a number indicates whether you are staying at Eureka or the main campus with the house number, and yellow tape indicates your tent assignment when we are out in the bush. That tent number really helps the rest of the team because once the “A” team has set up all of the tents, they actually deliver our luggage, sleeping bags, etc. to our tents…that’s better than the Marriott because we don’t even have to tip them. :-)

We headed out right on time…which translates to less than an hour after the scheduled departure. When you are moving a team of over 225 with everything it takes to run clinics for medical, dental, wound care, HIV testing and our well-stocked pharmacy, you get an A+ for making it within an hour time-frame.

Next stop was the Calder’s for a wonderful South African meal of Poiky (that’s how it sounds…I have NO clue how to spell it. But it is a stew made with a mixture of game meat. It had kudu, eland and impala. It was very tasty!! Dr. John Estes even asked for a couple of to-go containers. He couldn’t get enough of it. Sue Calder also made her wonderful shortbread and milk tarte (which is also probably not how that is spelled). It was time to leave there so everyone had to be dragged from the baby area. Going to the Calders is always one of the highlights…great food and babies to play with.

One thing I found humorous was the fact that we were driving about 20 MPH on the Kabanga road. When we passed through Kapaulu we had to slow down for the speed bumps. :-)

On the last blog I said it would take 5 to 6 hours…maybe more to get to Simalundu. Well it took 6 hours and 45 minutes of travel time. We had just made a geography stop and Ellie commented that we hadn’t had any breakdowns. I told her she shouldn’t have said that…that’s like talking to a pitcher who has a no-hitter going. A few more kilometers down the road, the coaster bus in front of us broke down. The people were off-loaded from the coaster bus and were shuttled in two loads to another bus that was further up the road. Michael Prather, a 1st timer, said it was quite an adventure and he didn’t even have to pay extra for it. :-)

As we got further down the road, we found that the “A Team” had also had some difficulties. The trailer on the logistics’ lorry had broken down so they had to make trips shuttling those items back to Simalundu.

Even though it was after dark when we finally made it to Simalundu, the people were still gathered singing, clapping and dancing to welcome us. The spiritual team preached into the night and we all fell to sleep with the Zambians singing praises to our Lord.

Sunday, July 18

2010-07-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

Good evening from Namwianga! Actually, it’s almost good morning here. We are pushing the midnight oil trying to get everything packed and ready to go out tomorrow morning.
Today we had team members going out to four different places for church. One group walked 2 miles to attend services at the Basic School; some went to Kalomo, others walked over 2 miles to the Tumango village church, and the remainder went to services at Johnson Auditorium here on campus.
After lunch and the team meeting, the annual King Canopy Competition was held. Now for those of you who don’t quite understand what this means, this should actually be an Olympic event. After all, if Curling and dancing around with a ribbon can make it, so should our King Canopy Competiton. There were three teams competing and they were judged for teamwork, speed, and the appearance of the canopy once erected. They were judged on the point system...just like the Olympics. The winning team received “bragging rights.” Seriously though, this is a fun way for the new team members to learn how to put up the canopies so no time is wasted when we are setting up the clinics. Afterwards everyone went in several directions to load the pharmacy, supplies, kitchen, dental, tents, etc.
To the family of Bill and Brent Green...they both arrived safely today.
This evening, the Namwianga community hosted a potluck for the medical team complete with speeches, singing and lots of good food.
And, as I said in the beginning, we are now trying to get our personal things packed to head out into the bush for three days. Tomorrow we will only be going approximately 75 miles; but it will be a hard 75 miles and should take us at least 5 to 6 hours...maybe more.
Please keep us in your prayers.

Rest of the Team Arrives

2010-07-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

Happiness is having everyone arrive safely today and to have only one suitcase go missing! Everyone is in good spirits and ready to serve the people of Zambia. Please keep us in your prayers as we go forth in our mission and pray that we bring glory to God.

More informative blogs will come. It's just been a really long day. See you tomorrow.

Time is quickly approaching

2010-07-14T12:35:00.000-07:00

The work here is going really well. Everyone is looking forward to the big team arriving on Saturday. Believe it or not...so far everyone has arrived with ALL of their luggage. Who says the age of miracles has passed. :-) Now that we are set up with the blog, we will be posting more often. Keep us in your prayers.

Test Blog

2010-07-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! Just preparing for the 2010 ZMM and want to be prepared to send you updates from the field. This is just a test....and only a test.

TEST BLOG

2010-07-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

KB...just a short blog to verify things are working.

Weighing patients

2009-07-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

Lynn Demanes & Blake Dozier weigh patients before sending them to the
doctor's area

Pharmacy

2009-07-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

Waiting to see the doctor

2009-07-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

Star Ferguson and Mary Britt

2009-07-21T15:21:00.000-07:00

Blake Dozier

2009-07-21T15:17:00.000-07:00

Katie Miller

2009-07-21T15:08:00.000-07:00

Eye clinic

2009-07-21T15:06:00.000-07:00

Kanchindu

2009-07-20T01:00:00.000-07:00

We are working on our second clinic day at Kanchindu. Yesterday we felt like the lines were shorter than usual, but at the end of the day we had still seen well over 2200 people. I think mostly people just trickled in during the day rather than all showing up in the morning.

In any case, we were able to let most of the team stop a few minutes early to have a bit of daylight to get to their tents and organize. This morning we have had two patients, one with a broken arm, that needed to be transported to hospital. Fortunately, the roads out of this village are good.

I don't like to talk about illness among the team, because it worrys those back home, but given that we have no one seriously ill, I will tell you that many on the team are experiencing upset stomachs. The problems don't tend last more than 24 hours, but being sick in the bush is frustrating.

We will try to post some audio blogs later, but the next 24 hours for us will be a blur, so our communication may drop off sharply. Don't be concerned if they do.

KB

Audio Reports

2009-07-19T02:06:00.001-07:00

Audio Reports

2009-07-19T02:01:00.001-07:00

Audio Reports

2009-07-19T01:57:00.001-07:00

Audio Reports

2009-07-19T01:48:00.001-07:00

Headed to Kanchindu

2009-07-17T22:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a much needed day of rest. The three clinic days were very difficult, and it was nice to have a day to catch up. Much of the team traveled few kilometers to see Mueler's Farm and get a tour. The day in the middle is essential to allow the team to rest, but even more essential to repack our things and be fully prepared for the second half.

We are thriving and appreciate your interest in ZMM.

Moving Day

2009-07-17T22:31:00.001-07:00

This is a moving day. We are loading up to head to Kanchindu. We started early and will arrive just before dark. More to come.

Angela

2009-07-17T22:10:00.000-07:00

Alysa and Katie

2009-07-17T21:59:00.000-07:00

Marge

2009-07-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

Dr. Bridgewater

2009-07-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

Mary and James

2009-07-17T21:51:00.000-07:00

Gibb and Sheryl

2009-07-17T21:49:00.000-07:00

Erin

2009-07-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

Rebecca

2009-07-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

Cheering for the net ball team

2009-07-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

Doug

2009-07-16T13:02:00.001-07:00

Erin

2009-07-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

Sara Gregersen directng patient

2009-07-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Ferguson on pharmacy bus

2009-07-16T13:00:00.000-07:00