Day at the Clinic

Throughout the past year and a half I’ve heard a lot about Caitlin’s experience partnering with Zambia’s Ministry of Health. After spending just one short week here, I have a new respect for what she is doing here. It is difficult to find words to describe the conditions of healthcare in the village. I will do my best by sharing about one of our days last week. I had the opportunity to get a little taste of what it’s like for Cait to work at Chifusa Rural Health Center for “antenatals” (pre-natal care for expecting mothers). Here’s a quick run-down of the day:

-The day begins with about 8 hands touching the tattoo on my neck, and everyone asking Caitlin, “Why did you write this on your cousin?”
-Cait starts to give a lesson to the pregnant mothers who have come to the clinic for antenatals (and in typical Zamfashion, we have started about an hour and a half late, allowing plenty of time for everyone to arrive).
-About two minutes into her lesson on nutrition, we are interrupted by a dog that most certainly has rabies – which in turn causes all of the women to start yelling and jumping onto benches until someone finally manages to make the dog leave.
-After our nutrition discussion, the women then wait in line for their monthly check-up.
-Come to find out, this so-called “check-up” (aka “prenatal care”) consists of a midwife pressing on the mother’s belly and then listening to the baby’s heartbeat through a little metal cylinder (I tried this method out and for the life of me, could not tell whether I was hearing the heartbeat or just my own breathing).
-After this check-up is completed, the women then receive medication and supplements thanks to the acting pharmacist of the day – (Hey Caitlin, I never knew you went to pharmacy school...?)
-Finally, at the end of the check-ups, we are informed that the clinic door has broken and we would therefore need to climb through a window to get out. And keep in mind, this is not just for Caitlin and myself, but also the remaining pregnant women. The only thought that entered my mind was: “seriously?”

In fact, that thought was in my mind through most of the day at the clinic. I have heard the stories about the healthcare in Caitlin’s village, but it is absolutely crazy to actually see these things first-hand, and I kept asking myself, “is this seriously how it is?” Take, for example, the fact that this clinic has no running water. They have no doctors. There hasn’t been a nurse here since Caitlin’s good friend Mrs. Mpongo passed away last year. The government keeps promising that they will send a new nurse here, but so far these promises have been empty. So here is a rural clinic with no running water, no electricity, and no trained medical staff... and this clinic is supposed to be providing healthcare for 8,877 people in the surrounding areas.

After seeing my nephew's birth in the US, I'm amazed at the difference in health care standards in the US and developing countries like Zambia.