I wrestled with the big autoclave again and lost. Did manage to get the power on, but there's something wrong with the internal thermometer because it was reading 150 degrees Celsius even though it was just turned on and at room temperature. Oh well.
The rest of the team went to a remote village 100km from Samfya called Kaishe. The closest rural health clinic is 15 km away so many of the villagers had never seen a doctor. Lots of protein malnutrition as they mostly eat a plant starch processed from a plant they grow called Kasava, which also is known for having high quantities of arsenic. The team saw 80+ patients and felt like they made an impact. With Samfya city continuing to grow, outreach in the future will probably focus on these smaller remote villages using Samfya as a staging point.
I know this may sound weird, but I led a nurse midwife training session on difficult delivery scenarios and neonatal resuscitation. An OB from Willowcreek put together some training videos for another medical team to Guatemala which were well received, and we thought to try them in Samfya. I really acted as a discussion facilitator and got everyone discussing how they handled certain situations and then used the videos as an opportunity to show a standardized method to address each situation. Carmen and Holly thought it went well.
I am completely adjusted to Zambian time now and am looking forward to some rest this weekend. The hospital and OR's essentially shut down, so we have a little R&R planned. Tommorow we will head to Kasanka National Park for the day, home to the largest bat migration in the world (featured in many wildlife documentaries, including the Life series). We also might get to see other animals like elephant, crocodile and antelope, although that is much more hit or miss.
Prayer request: That we will wonder with awe about God's amazing creation.
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