photos

Welcome to Chitokoloki :) Just a few photos to give you a small 'picture' of my new home and my new work. 

 These sweet girlers came for a sleep over the second weekend I was here and helped me learn how to use my stove :) This fabulous meal was prepared by them and eaten snuggled with a ton of blankets watching a good movie.

We have been having a new road made in front of the hospital- a very controversial location :S as it runs between the hospital and the lab and we send a lot of children and elderly patients out to the lab from the hospital for blood work. However, it does provide for great entertainment :) There are crowds and crowds of people that flock, even the hospital staff, to watch the goings on outside the hospital.  These sweet little boys are creating a road of their own mimicking the construction they've seen.

These next photos are scenery of the Zambezi. It is so beautiful here. I have yet to see a country that I have not called beautiful but where I have been in Africa is the most beautiful of all. Sometimes I think God must have looked over His world and decided' there is so much dirt and destruction and sickness and sorrow and suffering here I will pour out extra beauty in this place so that people can see I am here. In all of this I am here and it matters to me!'

 

Nyampasa: mother of twins. This woman, Freida, is the mother of 8 children- not unusual here :) She has two little boys, I think 8 and 6. Twin girls Mbuyi and Kapi who are 4. Twin boys Chrisy and Happy who are 2 (and are two of the sweetest, happiest, friendliest babies I have met!). And twin girls again Gladys and Precious who are only a few months old.

What an amazing woman to be able to manage all those children and still smile and have such happy children!

 Club feet is a congenital disorder frequently seen around here. This little boy has been in plasters (casts) for most of his young life. We removed the plasters and then tried to encourage him to stand. Ever seen a kid afraid of his feet? or the floor?? He screamed and screamed and screamed. Dr. David and missionary nurse JR along with myself and two other short term visitors tried for almost an hour to get him to just put his feet on the floor. Explaining to mom that she mustn't carry him around on her back any more proved unfruitful as when he returned for ortho day he was securely tied to her back ... he's back in plasters now, but maybe next time will be more fruitful

These are some of my patients with wounds.... Fairly straightforward these two... but we have a run of terrible wounds right now- I have never been so frustrated with flies before :S

But what a privilege to be able to care for these dear people even if I can't really speak to them!

 

 VAC dressing, Chitokoloki style :)

This little boy had an osteomyelitis in his left tibia when I was here last time. They started a fibula transfer on him and then he disappeared for 2 years. He is back in hospital now, they completed the transfer and are now waiting for the ortho surgeon to return with a pediatric ex fix. He has the sweetest smile tho! We fixed his cast up to that he would be able to walk with crutches and weight bear as his affected leg is about 2-3 inches shorted than his other leg.

Somba and her darling baby girl- one of our long term wound patients

The colony sunday school. I am hoping to get over here to help out every other Sunday. So many darling children! Its very transient tho as many of these children are related to patients staying in the Colony. But still a wonderful opportunity to share God's love and His plan with them and maybe touch their lives for Him.

 The Colony sewing class. This is for the adult woman most of who are staying in the Colony as patients or caregivers. I think some women are also from surrounding villages.

 Entertainment for the day- a huge sand bank from the new road going in

Ortho Day! An orthopedic surgeon comes about every 2 months and does a whole marathon of surgeries. So Thursday in about 5 hours the surgeon saw 66 patients from Chit hospital, from Chavuma MH and Loloma MH. We had 24 patients on the list for surgery but cancelled two- one for lack of equipment and one for a positive malaria slide. However, in their place we had two emergency surgeries :S  A bowel resection with a temporary ostomy and an ectopic pregnancy. I wasn't there for the resection, but I did help with the ectopic- scary stuff, I can't believe how much blood she lost! But she seems to be doing ok now :)

 

This is my ward before the Orthopedic surgeon came to visit... it seems so calm and simple...

 

and this is after :S ... so many crying babies! But most are straightforward surgical care so not too difficult right now :)

The corridor full of patients waiting to be seen by the surgeon.

Assessing patients

 

 

 

 New friends. This is Love and Mary and Somba who having been coming over to play and to teach me new Lunda words... like peni and mapaperi... many times I have to call them out on their Zambish :) a pen is nsonekesu and paper is chipapilu

 

 

 

I want to thank each of you for all the emails and comments and msgs! It is so encouraging to know that people back home are interested and especially are praying!

 

 

Settling In

If the first two weeks I was in a sort of stunned incomprehension, this week has taken a definite turn and things are actually starting to make sense. I feel like I am actually learning things now and not just being inundated with loads of random pieces of information. I am beginning to notice a lot of similarities between this job and my job back home and now its not as overwhelming. I feel like there is a bit of a routine now and not a number of random activities that somehow make up my day into a whirling vortex of exhausting activity. And so today I have been praising my Father for this opportunity to be brought back to the beginning stages of learning in order to grow and develop into a new and stronger person confident in His eternal presence with me moment by moment throughout my day. 

There is so much to learn in hospital; I didn't know whether to be excited or dismayed after I was told 'you can learn pretty much anything you want to.' So, I have been doing just that! :) Tuesday I learned how to scrub in for surgery- definitely made surgery more interesting! Also helped with a breech delivery Tuesday... actually I didn't do much with the delivery, I got to catch the baby!  A beautiful baby girl. I've also learned some women's health assessments. And of course, worked on getting to know my wound patients- difficult when I have no idea what they are saying to me!

Yesterday and today were two relatively quiet days in hospital; I think because the doctor wasn't around :) but it was so nice to be done work by 130- 2 ish and then have the afternoon to work on other things. We have the Ortho team coming tomorrow (so I am hoping to get this done tonight!). All day Thursday they will assess patients from here and from surrounding hospitals and then all day Friday will be surgery. I can't begin to imagine how long these next two days will be- we already have about 15 patients on our list and that is just inpatients of Chit MH, that doesn't include the club feet patients or any patients at Kabwita or in the Colony and Chavuma MH has also sent us 1 of 2 truck loads of patients... so, things will be hopping here- more than they already are!

We've worked out this system between the three of us nurses who are at the hospital right now whereby we each are responsible for a section of the hospital. So, Emma (a new grad from Brantford, On) has Men's and Women's wards, JR (nurse and midwife from Northern Ireland, been here for about 4 years) has maternity and ICU, and I have kids' ward. Right now, while kids ward is relatively empty I think I have the better end of the deal, but I will let you know after the Ortho team leaves how busy it gets there :S lol

Language lessons are mostly going well. I have a tendency to jump into the deep end of things and have to keep reminding myself to get to know the basics really well before delving into more complex topics. So, I have done some jumping :) but I am trying now to focus on reviewing the 10 classes of nouns and their concords for both the object and the subject of a sentence and then working out three tenses: present, perfect, and near future. I have been very much enjoying my Lunda lessons with Shawn and Rhonda on Saturdays and also with JR on Mondays, but there doesn't seem to be any time in between to actually work on exercises using these things that I am supposed to be learning - but chovu chovu :) slowly by slowly things will begin to make sense.

Sunday I went to the Colony Sunday School. So many, many precious little ones there- and some that I recognized from hospital! I had a chat with the teacher Judith who is also a physics teacher in the local high school, met her two little girls Mulemba and KuKeŋa and then walked outside to be greeted by dozens of brown eyed curious little kiddos. I told the teacher that the next time I came I would try to bring a ball with me so we could play together... I realised a few moments later that my meaning must have been lost in translation as the kiddos excitedly began jumping around shouting 'balli' and the teacher expressed their excitement to receive balls. I tried to re explain it to her but she just smiled and nodded... we'll see how that goes next time J

I have been very grateful for friends here! It has been super exciting to have Shawn and Rhonda here to learn from and also to know if something goes wrong they can help- like locking my keys in my house... it was only a matter of time! But it is really nice to have people to chat with! It has also been nice to have Sam and Elizabeth here (friends of friends) and get to know them better especially before they head off to Chavuma MH on their way to serve the Lord in Angola.

Last week 8 of my 9 missing boxes showed up along with 3 other boxes from Waub GH so my pantry is now well stalked. Almost to the point of overflowing- I sure was glad to get to the last box! The only thing now is: I have to actually eat! Through this I have been learning that when things don't fall out the way I had planned or thought that God is still in control and God's plan really is best!

I've actually been learning a lot of things... or maybe relearning is more correct. I think they must not have stuck too well the first time... I've been forgetting that we are to  rest in the Lord and wait patiently. There are so many things that I have worried about in the last two weeks and even in the last two months leading up to this time that my Father has just sweetly smoothed over. So many times it seems I can hear Him chuckle as He says to me "Daughter, you are troubled about many things, but only one thing is needful." I am beginning to understand Martha a bit better as she labours over her work wondering will there be enough? Will it work out? Will He provide like He has in the past? What if it doesn't? What if, oh dear, what if He fails? HE won't fail will He? No He can't, but what if??? The things that are still on my mind that I wonder over I am learning to just hand them over to Him and wait for His answer in His time and He makes all things beautiful in His time!


 But, slowly by slowly I have been settling in and working out new routines. I miss terribly the familiar comfortable routines of home, the friends and colleagues and family that have supported and challenged me over the past years and the settled knowing of God's ways in my life there, the comfort of certain triggers reminding me to fall back into His arms in the struggles and the joys that lifted my heart to meet Him. In time, I will have all these again- this is His promise to us: He is the same yesterday today and forever, He is with us wherever we go, even on the far side of the ocean His hand holds us and His right hand guides us and every tiny detail in our life matters to Him. In the meantime, I am standing firm on the promises of God and looking to see Him here

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

 Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Saviour

(Hillsong, Oceans)


 

One Word

If I had to pick one word to describe this first week here it would be overwhelming.

There is an overwhelming amount of learning in hospital. Last week started with a suicide and I become an ICU nurse. Monday I was responsible for two wards with 3 doctors discussing patients and several other visiting medical/ nursing professionals. Thankfully, one of the other missionary nurses joined us (tho not her regular wards) and between her and the doctors I think some learning occurred :). I've learned anesthesia monitoring under ketamine and under a spinal, how to read an ECG (yes, I have not learned how to recognize even a normal ECG lol) and how to do PV's (that was just looking, don't think I'll have to be doing those on my own for a while... I think). Its hard to know if I am missing anything with the nurse I am shadowing busy and away from hospital a lot of the time, but the doctors here are pretty fabulous (which I realize is a HUGE concession on my part lol) And then the innumerable amount of dressing changes (yes my favourite part). But it is so frustrating not to be able to talk to my patients aside from twayenu mawni, shakamenu mwani, namanish deyi mwani, tunasakilili mwani... come please, sit please, I've finished, thank you... Today tho, I did go up to the hospital and make a list of all the patients with significant dressings and hopefully I can come up with some sort of system for recording patients and monitoring progress and then have some semblance of order with the dressing changes!

Living takes an overwhelming new meaning... where do you get groceries when the closest stores are hours away? How do you learn to use a gas stove? What do you cook with no oven? How can you tell when someone really needs help and when they are just trying to see what they can get? How do you cope with a new culture that bears no resemblance to your own in any way, when 3 minutes walk outside your door people are living in mud and brick one room houses and cooking over a fire? How do you complain about not having enough when every night your belly is full, even tho the food boxes that where sent last year haven't arrived? How difficult is it to learn that sometimes you need to ask for help, sometimes self sufficiency is pride and sometimes asking for help is a God lesson. How do you make sense of a suicide that is a cultural thing- you have spited me so I will do this to hurt you. What about when that person comes to hospital hoping for help after drinking insecticide- do you think maybe she realized what she had done and hoped it could be reversible? Is she in heaven now? Did she know Christ as her saviour? Did she know God loved her? What about learning a new language just to be able to communicate with your closest neighbour? And not just words and random phrases, but tenses and sentence structure and grammar. And what about your white neighbours. the other missionaries- learning their personalities and pet peeves and how I will fit into this new work/ home setting. So many many questions and very few answers right now.


The people are overwhelmingly beautiful and their culture and language. Sweet and shy with big chocolate eyes. The anyana, the children are so endearing with their big grins or timid smiles and fuzzy  woollen heads, holding out their hands or snuggling in. The ankaka- the grandparents especially are so sweet with their Lunda customs and their wrinkled leathery skin and greying hair.

The place is overwhelmingly beautiful... there are no words... Oh Lord my God when I in awesome wonder/ consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,/ I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,/ Thy power throughout the universe displayed,/ then sings my soul my Saviour God to Thee,/ How great Thou art!



But most of all, I have been, I am overwhelmingly blessed! For every unspoken thought, every fear, every worry, God has provided and is providing. I am blessed to have hot showers and clean water and a kitchen full of food and two sweet little girls down the road to come for sleep overs! The language is intense, but I can communicate some and there are translators and people to learn from. No grocery stores nearby, but God has provided first boxes from Waub GH and then the generosity of friends, great generosity! Missing the friends and family and way of life back home, but God has provided Himself, the eternal God, the everlasting arms, the everlasting Father. So much uncertainty, searching for things, so many new things to learn and new expectations to meet, but oh it is so wonderful to fall back into 'old habits'. Not the bad kind that cause problems, I have lots of those :S but the good kind- can't get the door opened?  Pray! Looking for something specific? Pray! Needing help? Pray! Sometimes, I can hardly lift my eyes and the words aren't even in my mouth and the answer is there- before they call I will answer.

This week has been an overwhelming, steep learning curve, but I have been overwhelmingly blessed through it. I have felt the everlasting arms and known the 'more grace' of God. And, I think I'm ready for the start of week two... by His grace!

Mr. Shawni Chiya preaching under his tree in Chiya

the anyana of Chiya

 The amama of Chiya

 

The Zambezi River at Sunset

one of the guest houses on the Station

The Zambezi in daylight



Travel

I can hardly believe this is the end of my second day here. Actually, for that matter, I can hardly believe I am actually here! Its weird in a cool sort of way to walk down the lane from my house to the hospital and have the Zambezi River sparkling in the sun down the hill to my left. (And I'm sorry! I meant to include photos with this update, but the only time I had my camera I also had a bag of book and a carton of eggs... I kinda figured the eggs were more important at the time... )

Before I left home, I was thrilled to be part of two important milestones for my brother:
 His graduation from High School- He also won two awards: academic excellence (cool!) and most team spirit (doesn't surprise me)

And also his baptism! This was really cool!
None of us knew he had asked or that they
told him he could be once the water had
warmed up some. But God knew and that was super cool to be there to witness that!
                                  


I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Irish Family and was sad to leave, but glad for the opportunity to reconnect!
 These are my goofy cousins- who apparently have better memories than I have! There was a cd of kids songs we listened to 5 yrs ago when I visited. I remembered the cd, but not the song that I tickled them on every time... something about 'dem bones' Ha can't even recall it now! ;) But it was loads of fun getting to know them better and make new memories... like picnicking in the rain... it rains a lot in Ireland... why stop the party :)

This is the whole family minus my uncle who took the photo

 

 

 

And then off to the airport for part two!

 

We ran into a slight problem trying to leave Ireland as they only allow 1 checked bag... I had 3 because BA allows three. I had two to begin with and the third I had because I needed my textbooks ;) ... But God knew and He provided an employee who knew the system and changed something on my ticket (??? that's what my uncle was for) to register the bags for missionary purposes and so my bags travelled with me with no charge.

 

 

The fun began in Britain... I always thought they were so nice there... well, I guess they were just doing their job! See, my paperwork to enter  Zambia consists of a receipt for the employment permit that has been approved. However, the Zambian gov't has been out of employment booklets since at least Jan 2013 (typical). But, BA couldn't understand that concept... sigh!.... So when I attempted to pass through security they told me the receipt was not sufficient, that Zambian immigration would deport me immediately and then fine BA for allowing me to travel with incorrect documents (regardless of what I tried to tell them! :S) I could however, purchase a return and they could let me go through on a visitor visa and get the employment documents sorted out in the country... Well... I was going to Zambia... I suppose you can guess what I did next... gulp!

 

They said the ticket was fully refundable whish is great, but when I went online to cancel it a message popped up saying I had to contact my travel agent. So... I contacted my agent... of course I didn't get to it until today and seeing as its a weekend I likely won't hear back from her until Monday.. and so the saga continues. But God knows! We serve an awesome God, bigger than anything we face here! Our job is to trust, His I everything else!

 

And so I arrived in Zambia the morning of the 4th and I was so glad to meet one of the missionaries at the Zambian Immigration. Again, God knows, and all my doubting and worrying and fearfulness on the plane was for naught. Within about 1/2 hr after arriving I had my work order signed and stamped and I am legally in the country! But I was really glad to meet that missionary! He was a definite answer to my faithless prayers!

 

We trekked then, after picking up a fourth for our drive, out of Lusaka around 11 am and made the 9 hr trip out to the mission station. There are two diesel stops on the way out.

 

The second diesel stop had no diesel... ummm.... yeah... but my Father knew. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord provides. We went the last about 50 k on empty, but I was so glad to have made it in! And then, after a quick stop for a meal... right to bed I went! And that, that was the best part! I cuddled down under a stack of heavy blankets, wrapped in another blanket made by a dear friend and praised God. Because He knows!

 

 

 

 

The only sad part of my story.. and really its a good story... my sister had her baby! Exciting news! But I missed him by three days (very sad! no sweet baby cuddles, no excitement over how big he is from the last visit, no opportunity to help him sit or take his first steps or tickle him till he giggles) But he was born on my mom's birthday. And I think, after I consider it all... God's plan maybe is best. It's much more exciting for my mom to have this wonderful celebration on a yearly basis. Yes, I think in the end, God knows and He knows best!

 

So... meet my beautiful new nephew! ... well... I can say beautiful cuz he's mine... but I don't know if the pictures show it really! :D



meet Seth Gordon Patrick :) 

And of course, I couldn't help but include pictures of the one who stole my heart 3 years ago! These are my two goofy boys!

 

 

And Jordan! (my favourite... but now I have two!)

 

 

Simply trusting every day,
Trusting through the stormy way,
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus that is all!