September 22, 2012

We arrived in Zambia three weeks ago today, and would you believe we are in our third place of “residence”!  We stayed in Lusaka five days and visited several agencies before heading to Zimba on Sept. 6. The trip that usually takes 5-6 hours actually took closer to 9 hours because we were traveling in a bus and pulling a trailer with all of our luggage. The engine overheated twice so we had to stop, find some water and allow it to cool. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch; it’s somewhat like a small roadside café which caters to travelers and serves very quickly. By the time we reached Zimba, we were hungry again and dinner was ready so we were excited about that. The girls and Kristen (RD) stayed in the Wesleyan Guest House, and the Bences and Bud & I stayed in the Guest House across the street specifically built by a group of eye doctors and designated for their use when teams come to Zimba. We had very nice accommodations, including our own bathrooms with showers. We also had a large dining room table that we used as a classroom; that worked very well.

            We went to chapel each morning and then out to the wards. They were having a national campaign to prevent measles, so each day a group of us went out to schools or villages and gave hundreds of measles immunizations. The ones staying back at the hospital worked on the various units with the Zambian nurses and IWU clinical instructor. The girls were particularly excited to “scrub in” in surgery and assist with the delivery of a baby.

            On Thurs. 9/3, Bud L. decided he wanted to make a trip to Choma just to check out the accommodations there since none of us knew exactly where we were staying. Bud B. went with him and they decided the accommodations were not adequate for our group; however, they were able to arrange with Micah Kephart for us to stay in the a place that had recently been renovated by a group called Fortress; we visited this place last year when it was in its last days of operating as a Catholic Hospice. So, in a very few minutes and a couple phone calls, we had a really nice place to stay and at a lesser cost than the original. We believe that God went before Bud & Bud to lead them to this place and open doors so quickly!

            The tragedy connected with this Guest House is that the Zambian Director of Fortress, Richman Syabbamba, was killed this past week in an automobile accident. He and Micah had worked together just a few years and both were passionate about using the arts as an avenue to reach people for Christ; they have a ministry to rescue woman who have been trafficked,  a music school where young men and women learn to use music as a ministry, and a beginning ministry taken over from World Hope called Reach For Life where they go into the schools and teach HIV/AIDS prevention through abstinence, being active in Bible Studies, music, etc.

            The day after his death, Ms. Mukonde told us we should visit the home where people go and greet the family and sit with them for a while (much like we would do at calling hours in a funeral home), so all the ladies put on their chitenges and the team went to the home; after shaking hands with each of those gathered on the floor, we took our places sitting on the floor with them for a short while. One of our Zambian friends suggested it would be appropriate for us to pray with them before we left, so Bud L. prayed before we all left.

            Yesterday we had class all morning and then went to the burial in the afternoon. We all went to the cemetery and waited for the folks to arrive from the church. After waiting 30 – 45 min., we saw a brass band coming followed by pick-up truck with the coffin and the pallbearers who sat on the sides of the back of the truck. These were followed by two vehicles which seemed to be carrying family members. The band played several more hymns which were followed by more singing; after much singing, the body was committed to the ground and those close to the grave threw roses on top of the coffin. There were many people (close to 500) and we were too far back to actually observe all this; however, this is what was described to us. Most of our group walked back to the Guest House after that; however, there were several speeches which followed before they were finally dismissed. Richman will be sorely missed, not only by his parents, his wife and 4 children but much of Christendom in the Choma, Lusaka, Livingston area. He was truly a remarkable man. Some of you may have met him several years ago in the U.S. when he toured with a Zambian Children’s choir. We are told they sang at College Wesleyan Church; however, we lived in Ohio at the time and did not meet them.

            Last Sunday, all of us attended the Choma Central Wesleyan Church which is where Ms. Mukonde, Ms. Botha (our cook), and Ms. Mwiinga (lady doing our laundry) all attend. The girls sang during that service which the people seemed to appreciate and enjoy. Tomorrow we will split into two groups and attend the other two Wesleyan churches in town.

            We have been at Choma General Hospital (CGH) this past week where the girls have had both positive and negative experiences. CGH has twice as many beds as Zimba so there are more opportunities there. They have a psychiatric unit, a large ART Clinic where they do the ongoing treatment (Anti-retroviral Treatment) for HIV/AIDS, large pediatric wards, male wards, female wards, maternity wards, and an operating room (theater). The girls have been able to participate with the Zambian nurses on all these units. We actually go in at 7:30 and stay until 1:30 pm on three days/week.

            This morning, Bud B. took the team to the Cultural Museum as part of his History class, and then everyone ate at the Café located right beside the museum. I chose to stay home today (I visited the museum last year) and had a study day; I am struggling somewhat to have adequate time for class prep while going to the hospital 3x week as well. Appreciate your prayers. Bud is kept quite busy keeping the finances straight and making sure we have the accommodations, transport, food available for cooks, etc. etc. Everyone appreciates greatly all the things he has been doing. He even donned his chef hat and cooked yesterday so Ms. Botha and Ms. Mwiinga could go to Richman’s funeral!