October 9, 2006
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Hello my friends….First, I want to apologize for not writing an update since the beginning of the month. I know that you enjoy hearing of all the medical adventures Sal and I face as well as daily life in Africa. Well, I have a lot to catch you up on…..
First, let me start with the clinic: Friday, September 8th was an answer to prayer….It was the first day of work for our newly hired HIV counselor and it just so happened to be the day a team from Kazangula Health District had planned to inspect our clinic for a possible ART center. When Vundukai arrived, I threw him a scrub shirt and told him his job for the day was to look professional and answer any questions that the district team might have when they arrived.
Vundukai - HIV Counselor
Christopher, our driver, went into Livingstone to provide transport for the team which consisted of the Director herself, the HIV coordinator, the lab technician and the pharmacist. They spent two hours at the farm mainly assessing for space and qualifications of staff. They seemed to be genuinely pleased with what they saw and spoke about training us to be independent in ARV treatment. One thing we definitely need is a third room….one for registration, one for exams and one for a dispensary to give out the medications. We also have to have security doors on the room with the medications. We would also like to be able to do the lab testing on site (CD4s and sputums) and are praying for God’s direction and provision. We are in the process of pricing equipment out of Lusaka. The last estimates were in the $30,000 range, so we shall see. For the last couple weeks, we have been going to the free outpatient clinic at Livingstone General Hospital instead of fast track…so we have been saving about K3,000,000 (approx $750) a month in fees. That money will now help to pay for Vundukai, our new Infectious Disease Coordinator and Julius, our new Chaplain. Vundukai went yesterday to the Health District for an inservice on the TB and HIV paperwork. He was given much favor and received the actual government registers and books. Vundukai is carving out his own job position….he has submitted a proposal to Sal and I to do education classes/support group for HIV patients on Friday afternoons from 2-4pm. He will also involve Julius so that the patients will develop a relationship with both of them. They will open the meeting with prayer and the Word and end with an opportunity for repentance and salvation. Jesus as their Healer and Hope will be lifted up. Information about living with HIV will be presented and discussed. Physical and Spiritual needs will be addressed. This will be a bridge for future home visits with Vundukai and Julius. God has really opened the doors with HIV and brought the workers he wants at just the right time! Just last week we were told that we have indeed been accepted to be trained as an ART Center. Please continue to pray for the process to be completed quickly….the report of our inspection was very positive…once our new clinic is built they have told us we will be the largest in the area and will be the 20th Rural Health Center in the Kazangula District. What a long way God has brought us in one year! And thanks to some very generous donations, it looks like the building of the clinic is not far off…..our God provides!
Believe it or not….it’s now Friday the 28th and the first HIV class/support group was held today. There were eight patients who showed and according to Vundakai, Julius and the patients….it went very well. There are about 10 classes in Vundakai’s proposal so it will be an ongoing thing. The class today involved a lot of openness and discussion. Julius opened and closed the meeting in prayer and spoke the Word. One woman requested a Bible, so we will stock up again on more Tonga bibles when we go to Lusaka which should be soon. My plan was to sit in on the class and monitor what was said, however as I was walking toward the classroom I felt restricted. I waited to hear from the Lord and felt He said “Did I not choose these two men? Trust me.” I felt for whatever reason I wasn’t supposed to go…..so I didn’t. When I spoke to both men, they were excited and genuinely pleased with how things turned out.
Besides the HIV patients….there were five deliveries this month, four in one week….and all in the middle of the night!! We have another Sal, another Renee, Nate (after Sal’s dad), Clever and one whose name we’ve yet been told……all healthy babies after normal deliveries!! Hallelujah!
Unfortunately, God also takes away…..five of our patients have died since our return, three of which were actually in the clinic. Two men were Nelson, an older man with heart failure previously written about and Ernest, one of our HIV patients with TB that we had on medication for quite some time. We had the opportunity with both of these men to be sure of their salvation, so praise God they are with Jesus today. Both of their wives thanked us and God for giving them some extra time with their husbands. Harrison was a new HIV patient that waited too long to come for help. When we brought him to the clinic from his village, he died within an hour. A two week old infant came in the same day as Harrison and died literally five minutes later in the next room. That was pretty hard for Sal having to drive both families together with both dead corpses home to ironically the same village. The fifth death was little Lonard from the orphanage who died at Livingstone General Hospital from severe malnutrition and failure to thrive.
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