Healthcare in Zambia is complicated and painfully unorganized. On days that we worked in clinics, we were so incredibly busy that it was next to impossible to imagine how the clinics function without the help of volunteers. The hospital in Livingstone is overcrowded and the staff are overworked so they have patients sleeping in the hallways in an effort to treat as many people as possible. One great boom moment was when we worked in the Dambwa Clinic (also called the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Clinic).
The morning was at first filled with disappointment when our caregiver in Sakubita did not show up and “had other things to do.” As an impromptu, we were sent to the clinic, to the surprise of an unsuspecting staff. We were sent off to weigh babies. In Zambia, each month of a baby’s life is marked by a clinical visit to be weighed to mark their growth until they are about three years of age.
There was a line of nearly one hundred women with their babies wrapped up in their Sunday best, fleece blankets, mittens, and hats. With their growth charts ready, the madness began. Women would hand us baby after baby, bug eyed and on the edge of tears, which we would wiggle into the swing under the scale. I realized that it wasn’t possible to be disheartened with my arms full of chubby cheeked babies. Once we finished the weigh-ins, we moved inside to where babies would get their vaccines, for free. Hearing this, from an intelligent and passionate nurse, opened my eyes to the fact that Zambia has some aspects of healthcare fully functioning.
This boom gave me hope for the healthy future of these children. They actually had an immense chance at health and well-being. Taking careful but hurried instructions from the sparkly-eyed nurse, we went around the room and administered oral vaccines to each of the babies. It was gratifying to open their tiny, soft lips and give them two drops of a serum that would help protect them from some of the most common diseases in Zambia. By the end of the day we had met two sets of twins (sisters, Happiness and Rejoice and brothers, Alpha and Omega) and administered vaccines for polio, diarrhea, and several others. Really, how could I not be rejoicing when I was surrounded by nearly one hundred happy babies?!
Brianna Sargent 