Monday of this week i was in Peds and OB at Zimba. There were a few women in the maternity ward but no one was in labor the whole day. So i spent my time checking on the children in Peds and on the babies and mothers in maternity. It was good day to spend with the patients and i had some good discussions with the nursing staff.
Tuesday i was in the theatre all day. It was a really good experience and i was glad I got to go back to spend more time in the OR after my experience there last time. This week there was a team of American Surgeons from Memphis, TN. They came over for 2 weeks to spend time at Zimba doing lots of different surgery cases. I got to see a couple more major surgeries in the morning and then in the afternoon i saw some dressing changes and more minor procedures. I was really excited in the morning because the surgeon let me scrub in on one of the surgeries he was doing. The doctors weren't sure what to really expect with the patient so i watched for the first part and then I got to help tie the stitches the doctor made and cut them when he was finished. He told me I was a natural at it and couldn't believe i'd never done it before. I really enjoyed it and it will be interesting to see if God will lead my life into surgical nursing at some point. I am open and ready for whatever He has and so excited to follow where He leads me!
Wednesday morning we left for Lusaka, the capital city. We left around 7 and arrived around 1. It was so strange to be pack in a city and see tall buildings and stop lights!! what are those?!? I kept thinking to myself why are we stopped there's no one coming...:) We went to a fast food place for lunch where i got a chicken burger and chips (fries in America). In the afternoon we had two speakers come and then we had dinner at the guest house we stayed at. The guest house was really nice. I shared a room with Janna again. We had air conditioning and a nice bathroom with a hot shower! I have felt so blessed with all the housing arrangements God has provided for us on this trip. I did get some work done while watching a movie with some other girls and then went to bed before 11.
Thursday we went to St. John's Medial Centre for a tour. It is a private hospital in Lusaka. It was very nice. Then we drove around the city in our bus for a little while and Mrs. Sianchapa pointed out some of the government buildings and other interesting sites to us. We then went to a shopping complex where i had a chicken and mushroom pizza wrap and a chocolate mint ice cream spinner for lunch. In the afternoon we went to a Kumbyah Community School. The children sang and welcomed us and one of the teachers sang for us and performed a drama with some other men. Then we helped serve them lunch of a bowl of porridge. I ended up passing out most of the bowls and it was so good to see the gratitude on their faces but hard also as i wished i could give them more. We weren't not at the school very long but it was still an awesome experience. We went to dinner at a sit down restaurant and i had chicken cordon bleu. Then in the evening Janna and I watched National Treasure and i tackled some homework.
Friday I went back to St. John's from 10:30-12:30 to help at the under 5 clinic and to rotate through some of the other units too. The nurses there were so kind and willing to talk to us and answer any questions we had. I really enjoyed it there. In the afternoon after lunch we went to the Churches Health Association of Zambia for a short time to hear what they are all about and then we had a brief time at the General Nursing Council to meet with them and ask a few questions. In the afternoon we went to Mother Theresa Hospice and saw the patients there. They care for many children there in addition to patients who have AIDS. I really enjoyed our time there. We got to hold babies for a little while and then we went and saw both the female and the male wards. At the female ward we were greeted by all the patients who were well enough to be up which was a lot probably 40 or so. They sang to us and then shook all of our hands. The same was true when we went to the male ward. I really enjoyed the time there. I got pizza for dinner when we got back and a grape fanta. Before bed Janna and I watched A walk to remember and i did some more homework.
Saturday morning was when we got to do some shopping. We went to a craft market area where they had a lot of carved things. I found quite a few good gifts for people back home and i enjoyed the bartering. Overall i was satisfied with what i was able to get. After shopping there we went to a mall that had a movie theater and ate lunch there. I had chicken and chips. We went to see A Christmas Carol at 3. We left the mall around 6 and went to eat dinner. I got a hamburger and chips. When we got back to the guest house Janna and I watched the wedding planner and i did more homework! I went to bed at 12:30.
Sunday we had planned on going to church in the morning and then some more shopping before we left to come back to Choma. However, Pam and Kara were not doing well and were quite sick so we left to come home right away on Sunday morning. We got back to Choma around 3 and both Pam and Kara made it okay. They rested the rest of the day and within a few days were doing much better. We did not have internet in Lusaka so when i got back i checked my email and got to talk to Kirk for a little bit. I did some more homework in the evening after dinner but we had so many bugs in the house and flying ones so they kept attacking me and my computer screen. I got stuff done and then went to bed trying to keep them out of my net. I'll attach pictures below from this week!
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| Week 8 Photos |
You look so happy - I am so glad you are having an awesome experience. Coming home is going to seem so boring;-)
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