Catch-up Time

It's been a while since I posted properly. Lots of things have happened during the week or so. Firstly four of our staff went to the UK to represent the Hospital at a number of events, including the SW Division Congress. Heidie and I were extremely humbled by a number of things about our trip to the airport. None of them had ever flown before so just getting them through to the Departure Lounge was a big undertaking. Chrispine had never even been in a lift before. Reports reaching us are telling us how well they are representing the Hospital and The Salvation Army in Zambia.

The pram has become almost unemployed already as Heidie has discovered the benefits of the simple Chitenge. Here is Heidie getting ready to go to the meeting in Lusaka on Sunday. It's like Luke just falls asleep everytime he goes in it. We pay all this money for all these fancy contraptions, when a piece of cloth does the trick. Have we overcomplicated things in the West I wonder?!

Great day at the Commissioning Ceremony of the God's Fellow Workers Session in Mulungushi Centre, Lusaka. Highlight of the day was when a newly commissioned officer jumped up and down so much and danced and whooped when his fellow cadet and the lady he is marrying next Saturday was appointed to the same corps as him in Choma. It was like he thought she was going to be appointed somewhere else or indeed, maybe he was just happy. It was a great sight whatever the reason.

Luke obviously enjoyed his first SA meeting, as he was all smiles at lunchtime

Finally, not often I say this but what a great day for the Administration of Chikankata Hospital. Today we collected the audited accounts for 2006. Nothing unusual you may say. However for us it was special. when we arrived in 2005 we had to close off the books for 2000-2004 just to get the opening balance. In other words the books were a complete and utter disaster. The last Auditors who came in 2002, just simply walked away saying our books were completely unauditable. Today I am happy for this is the first proper audit for 7 years. This has been such hard work but today when we signed and received the document, with no qualifications I hasten to add, it was such a releif and a good feeling. To most people this will mean nothing but to Heidie and me it's about trying to do things right. Well done to my Accounts Team.

ABC News Report Transcript : April 9, 2007

'Key to the World' Learns What a Simple Piece of Plastic, Soap and Gloves Can Do to Help Pregnant Women

Long before Bono, more than a century before Angelina Jolie, there was David Livingstone -- the first celebrity determined to save Africa. The Scottish missionary doctor became a 19th-century megastar by exploring "the dark continent" and bringing to Europe tales of fantastic beasts and natural wonders like the majestic Victoria Falls.

But what really drove Livingstone was his compassion for the people of Africa and a zealous belief that their lives could improve if only modern commerce could take hold. One hundred and fifty years later, ABC News set out from the town of Livingstone, Zambia -- named after this famed explorer -- for the second part of the "World News" series, "Key to the World." The only sure sign of 21st-century progress we saw was a cell phone tower disguised as a tree.

Today Zambia should be better off economically. It is a country rich in natural resources and unburdened by war. In the late 1960s this country was the third-largest producer of copper in the world, but when copper prices crashed in 1975, the Zambian economy crashed as well. The 7 million people in Zambia now grow what they can to survive. In addition to a struggling economy, the population of Zambia has also been hit hard by AIDS. Village girls sell themselves to truckers who spread HIV along their routes while officials battle the myth that sex with a virgin cures AIDS.

The virus is a big reason the life expectancy for people born in this country is 37 years. Inadequate health care is another. In vast areas of Zambia, with no doctors and few roads, even minor health problems can turn dire. In Chikankata, we witnessed patients walk from as far as 45 miles away to the nearest hospital. The lucky ones get a ride in an ox cart.
Simple Idea Saves Lives at Birth

The average woman in Zambia delivers six children. Sadly, the infant morality rate in Zambia is so high that only three of those children are likely to survive. Many parents in Zambia wait a week before naming their baby so they don't grow too attached.

ABC News met one 9-day-old baby named Woosico. Her mom delivered her by C-section at a Salvation Army clinic -- putting her in the very fortunate minority. Three out of four women never make it to the hospital, giving birth on the dusty ground or on the road, many using saw grass to cut their baby's umbilical cord. Adding to the difficulty of childbirth in this poor country is a severe shortage of trained doctors.

"We know what causes a woman to die -- bleeding, infection, obstructed labor," local doctor Ruben Mbewe explained. "So if those women who have those complications have access to a health facility -- with a skilled attendant -- it would help us a lot."

So the Zambian government relies on midwives -- who have the most basic training. They receive no payment aside from the occasional chicken, or a girl named after them in gratitude.
Out of this extraordinary need, came a simple idea known as clean birth kits -- or CBKs -- sealed plastic bags with contents that could mean life for mother and child.

The CBKs include candles and matches, half a bar of soap, surgical gloves, a razor blade and clamp for the umbilical cord, and a sheet of plastic to go between the mother and the earth. Some even include a cartoon manual on how the kits should be used. It seems so simple, but a woman who uses this kit is 13 times more likely to survive her labor.

ABC News met one woman named Aonnet, who used a sterile blade and gloves in her delivery. She couldn't afford the 60 cents to purchase a full kit and officials found that giving away the kits for free made the program less effective.

Women are more likely to use a kit they've purchased and a small markup allows the midwife to earn a small profit which makes it possible for her to buy more kits.

At the hospital in Chikankata, there was a sign that laid plain the dire state of health care in Zambia: "The community is directed to bury bodies of their relatives within three days of death. This measure is meant to reduce congestion in our mortuary."

This message stands in stunning contrast to the women who purchase the CBKs, which provide them with a clean piece of plastic, a bit of knowledge and a fighting chance.

(Source: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Travel/Story?id=3024238&page=1)