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11/24/06 |
                                                                                                           
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Thoughts \ Developed Thoughts \ Rants \ Raves \ Writing07/03/2005 22:27 +0200 GMT Lusaka Connections
Hi Dad & Mom (cc Maggie, Estelle, John, KZE,
Brian, Jeff & Jill, Karen & Jack, and Esteemed Colleagues),
All is well in Lusaka, although they've got me
working some long hours. Two other exceptional interns from the United
States are scheduled to leave on Thursday. These two, Andy and Erin, along
with a highly skilled team working days, nights, weekends, and
holidays have been supervising the extraction of key data from 20,000+
medical charts at some dozen-plus clinics around Lusaka. They're nearly
finished, but Andy and Erin, who are overseeing the project, won't
complete the project before leaving to start Medical and Public Health
educational programmes in the US, so I and incoming interns are meant to
grasp the baton, and carry out the final data extraction, data entry, and
quality control processes. The project is appropriately named, Hercules.
Unfortunately, one intern meant to show here on
July 1st, wrote an email expressing that, well, she might hike Kili first,
and that she could be a little late. In view of this irresponsibility, I
am left with a larger share of the workload, with little relief in sight.
I did pack a little flexibility in my trunk, but I'm stretched
thin nonetheless. Oh well, at least I'm here, and I am having a
wonderful time in spite of the difficulties.
Tonight after work I went by the Mumbi homestead
and saw Bamayo, Emma, Jenny, Boniface (if I'm not mistaken, the second of
the four Bonifaces, in rank of age), Evans, Ka-Mary the little, Mwaamba,
Auntie (who lives where Mumbi did) & (her son?) Michael, Mwenya, Mulenga,
and a few others whose names escape me now. As usual, Bamayo wanted to
feed me, which I gratefully accepted. She laid out four pillows of nshima,
rape (Zambian equivalent of collared greens), beef, a bottled coke, and a
few boned cuts of beef besides. Of course I could eat only less than half
of the feast Bamayo laid before me, as I watched a program on the TV about
Malaria, which was interesting. They were talking about AIDS, and how
everything is changing here, and how people are talking about AIDS now,
and getting treatment, and how if people would just talk about malaria as
much as people were talking about AIDS, then malaria would be taken care
of as well. Then another program followed talking about a rural farming
program whereby some farmers get cows to assist with their farming, and
the benefit of this. This was all in Nyanja, so I maybe got about a
quarter of the content correct.
My time with the Mumbis is too short, but
lovely. Being in Maggie's house without Maggie makes the place feel more
empty. I miss you Honey, sana sana, and you too, Baby's Baby.
Dad...Bamayo and I talked about William's
insulin. He has about four month's supply of insulin that is still sealed,
and has been refrigerated constantly. However, it has expired, as of March
of this year. In your opinion, do you think it would still be safe to use?
It is a good-quality South African product, and Bamayo and I got involved
in a discussion about it, and I assured her I would ask. What do you
think?
In rebellion against the long hours, I didn't
show up to work until 10 or so this Sunday morning. :-) Then I took a
long, two hour lunch, and took a half hour or so to meet with some
soon-to-be second year medical students visiting from Kansas City, here
doing AIDS education programs through a religious-affiliation and their
school. It's amazing how a web site that has a map of Lusaka, a couple of
emails, an address, and a little will can get people together. Mike Oller
is his name, and her name escapes me. I haven't seen it in print - that's
the reason. I need a script. Anyway, we're going to get together on
Wednesday and they will hopefully get some referral information about the
PEPFAR-supported antiretroviral treatment program here, and use it during
their outreaches.
Connections...
Stewart and Brad went to Livingstone to Bungee
jump 100m into the precipice of one of the seven wonders of the world
because they have a four-day weekend, given the Zambian Hero's
Day and Unity Day holiday. Me, I will look at charts, learn, drone
through, and still be grateful, despite myself. But I'm not
bitter. OK, maybe a little. Panono.
Next weekend Michelle Downing, one of my
classmates, and Eva Clark, another of my classmates, will both arrive in
Lusaka. My hope is that we can get all (Stew, Brad, Michelle, Eva) of us
in a photograph together at Victoria Falls. It's amazing to think that we
all come from disparate backgrounds from one country on our planet, with
varying aims, with separate lives, but we can meet on a point on our globe
and reflect on being human and working together to improve our planet, in
whatever way we choose. I credit the Medical Student Enrichment Program in
no small part for supporting the ambitions of we students to do these
sorts of things.
That's all for now. I'm going to Our Lady's
Hospice in the morning, at 8:30. I've just learned that Lisa, Maggie's
sister, has been hired there, so it will be nice to take a break from data
extraction to say hello to my Mulamu there. This is such a small town
sometimes, much like Birmingham in that regard. The degrees of separation
are few here, and when there is family nearby, it's very nice.
Love to you, Mom & Dad, and to all,
R
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This site was last updated 11/18/06