So...yesterday we went to Kafue, where the road crosses the Kafue river. I went on a hunt for the Kafue river gorge, but there was not enough time, so we turned back. After making a left turn into a Kafue compound and bashing the bottom of the rental car on the protruding railway tracks, I eventually (and serendiptously, with Joan's help) found the Kafue district hospital. I talked to the hospital administrator, and we have a home for the sutures. (Surplus sutures from Clinton Hospital- too much to take on Oct. 2nd.)
Eventually we found the Kasisi orphanage. Jessica frankly didn't believe me when I said we could get there from Manda Hill in Lusaka 45 minutes - and she was right - it took an hour! The orphanage is interesting. It was started in 1926 by nuns of a Polish order founded by a Fr. Edmund in 1850 called something like "Little sisters of the Immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary" when one of the pioneering nuns realized that a local custom was to bury live infants with their mother when she died (?while nursing). The nun offered to take the baby, and the orphanage was born. There are now 250 children, who make it their home until they can fend for themselves, having finished school.
There are 50 HIV positive children, including 18 or so infants. Some schooling is done there. There is a dispensary, stocked with the usual drugs - antimalarials, acetaminophen, medication for deworming - all in generous quantities. A doctor from Lusaka visits once or twice weekly. They grow enough vegetables to allow one meal daily for each child all year round. There are nine nuns (I think they're all Polish) and fifty paid staff there. A retired schoolteacher from Ottawa had just arrived to spend three months teaching and helping out. The children were very happy to meet the Muzungas and to have their pictures taken with them. Many little outstretched hands waiting to be shaken by us; great excitement to have their picture taken and to see the immediate result. A sister Janina gave us a 2.5 hour tour of the facility, and then it was off to see the clinic (it reminded me of Red Bay, Labrador).
From there, a visit to Paul Demers at the Kasisi Agricultural training Centre. He's a Canadian Jesuit brother (as opposed to a priest) and has been there 30 years. Every three years he gets three months off. The rest of the time he just works.
The training centre is currently working to develop sustainable organic agricultural methods. The fertilizer and Green Revolution phase ended about 20 years ago when the price of oil spiralled out of reach for the farming community, and seeds and fertilizers became too expensive to buy. Now there is a lot of research being done WRT complementary crops, composting, etc. Additional work is to build donkey-pulled carts (they require no repairs and gasoline) out of local materials. Axles are steel; cart framework is sometimes made of steel; wheels are wood with old truck tires used as "tires" or are surfaced with strap iron. There is a smithy, used to train farmers in iron and steel repair and fabrication techniques; there is a carpentry shop, dormitories and kitchen; they sell milk to the locals from the herd of Jersey and Holstein cows.
By the way, the road to Kasisi is challenging. It was paved at one time...I managed to bottom out only twice, and those times on an incorrect road that, had I not turned around, would have taken us back to the Great East road......likely four hours later...
We eventually made it home at 7:15 p.m. - I dropped off Jessica directly, as she was really starting to fade by that time, and said hi to Angela, who said that she had been able to distribute 30 cabbages to locals. We will see her again on Thursday, and hope to do home visiting then.
Today, Joan and I walked to Flying Angels school to take part in the opening exercises (we made it by 8:00 a.m.) and to teach a few classes. I spent 90 minutes discussing public health issues and answering questions about STD's, malaria, TB and AIDS. The longer I was there, the more comfortable people were and questions started to come. Tomorrow the three of us do another clinic at Flying Angels, along with Dr. Brian, and on Friday we attempt the trip to Livingstone to see Victoria Falls. It's a bit of a snapshot, but it gives you some impression of what we've been up to for the last few days.
Just a little factoid – each of us exterminate, on average, a two inch cockroach in our room each day!
MB