Getting To Know Lusaka...

We arrived back to Lusaka after the best 6 days in Livingstone….I didn’t want to leave! For the last couple days we have been hanging out in Lusaka at the University Teaching Hospital. The plan is to head up to Mongu (the town where we will actually be teaching) in the next few days. The plan was to leave on Saturday, but now here we are..and it is Sunday..and we are still in Lusaka. But no worries…This Is Africa right?? The beauty of this continent is that once you step foot on it…a thing called ‘rubber time’ begins. So we will get there when we get there! For now we have been using our time in Lusaka wisely….making all the important connections that need to be made.

Gene Krupa (one of the facilitators of the Zambia Health Initiative) came a few days ago to strengthen our relations in Zambia. It was good to see another Canadian face. He is also staying with us in the nursing residences. The residences have become quite the busy place these days; we also have medical students from Slovenia and Holland staying in the residences. The University Teaching Hospital seems to have lots of medical students from all over the world..I think it is time we bring students from UBCO. Why don’t we start with the nursing students??? We’ll come back and be an instructor…no problem.

The first connection we made was with an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) called Women For Change. They are a great organization working to advocate for rural and remote people, using a grass-roots approach. The leader of this team is Emily Sikazwe, she is quite an amazing woman…and now one of my new heroes (I have met a few new heroes over the past couple days) She has been fighting for the marginalized people of Zambia for over 15 years. Unfortunately this had created many enemies for her within the Zambian government, because she sure doesn’t hold back in speaking her mind. In fact she was supposed to visit Canada a few months ago, but the government took away her passport so that she wouldn’t be able to travel. (Yes here is a moment to be thankful that all of us in Canada are easily able to travel all around the world without approval from our own government first) The reason she made it to my hero list is because even with all these forces working against her, she continues (without fail!) to advocate for marginalized people.

Women For Change

The next person who we connected with was the ‘Professor’. His real name is actually Chifumbe Chintu, he is a Zambian doctor working at UTH in paediatrics and haematology. I was very excited to meet him, as we’ve heard many tales of ‘The Professor’ from Bill. Chifumbe came to Canada to complete his medical training. He was a classmate of Bill’s at the University of Toronto when they were medical students. We were invited over to dinner to Prof Chintu’s beautiful home…located on 35 sprawling acres..where he grows all sorts of fruit and vegetables..and even raises pigs. This is on top of working 24/7 at the hospital, sitting on various medical and research boards, and being a dedicated father and grandfather. So now Chifumbe has also has made my list of heros. Dinner at Chifumbe’s meant that we were able to try local Zambian dishes. Not as spicy as West African cuisine, so I do like it much better. Chifumbe had also invited over a few of his local friends, the Chief Justice for Zambia even showed up!! The Mosi and Castle beer were flowing..as were the conversations. It was yet another great night.

Last night we met with Vic Neufeld, he is a member of the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research. This organization is aiming to increase Zambian medical research, and then in turn apply the knowledge to future health practices. He was a great person to connect with. Since our organization (Zambian Health Initiative) and theirs are following many of the same principles…we all want to develop the capacity of the Zambian people.

So the next stop for us is Mongu! Every time we mention to people that we are heading up to nurse in the western province they keep warning us ‘to be ready’…. Now what does that mean??? Sounds like we need to prep for more poverty, which will in turn mean increased illness. They also said to be ready to deliver many babies..I’m not ready for that! The interesting thing is that we are actually only supposed to be teaching nursing, but once everyone knows that there are nurses in town..they may just be showing up at our doorsteps with various ailments. So I guess it is time to be prepared for anything!

Jessica

PS For all those reading my last blog in West Africa this you may remember how all the Africans called me Jessssseeeeeeeeka. Well it is happening again. For some reason they just love my name here, and just like saying it over and over..Jesssssssssseeeeeeeeka, Jessseeeeeeeka!