{"id":9355,"date":"2023-07-11T19:39:59","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T18:39:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/st-albans-and-district\/?p=9355"},"modified":"2023-07-14T08:16:14","modified_gmt":"2023-07-14T07:16:14","slug":"zambia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/st-albans-and-district\/2023\/zambia\/","title":{"rendered":"Health, Education, Development in rural Zambia – a personal journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gill<\/a>Supporting Health, Education, and Development\u00a0 in Rural Zambia<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Monday 10 June we were blown away by our guest speaker, one of our Club Members, Gill Clegg.\u00a0 She lived in Zambia for 6 months in 2018\/19 and will be returning in October this year. Gill\u2019s professional background is as a nurse working in paediatrics and occupational health. Please scroll down for the link to download and view her presentation.<\/p>\n

There were 19 of us on Zoom. It is always great to be able to welcome guests from farther afield, including SI Thames Valley, Central and South West London and especially good to see Margaret from our Soroptimist Friendship Link in Chico California. It is wonderful that technology could bring us all together to hear about Gill’s journey.<\/p>\n

Gill explained a little background on Zambia and it\u2019s history. Katete is in the Eastern province and a rural part of Zambia with a population of 200K. Overseas doctors can go over for a minimum of 6 months.<\/p>\n

Jon, Gill\u2019s husband, worked in Outpatients at the local hospital. Gill\u2019s intention was to conduct research but this wasn\u2019t possible when she arrived.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Gill met someone working at the hospital, Benson, and he suggested she go into the village. He was able to introduce her to villagers and assist her in helping some of the villagers. She shared photos from her trip showing the area and the environment. Gill explained that she had help from two gentlemen in the village (Benson and Samuel), who were able to act as interpreters and make introductions. They were also able to give some background and help discuss ideas.<\/p>\n

Gill shared a video of the women who broke rocks by the side of the road.\u00a0 She was able to purchase new tools and wheelbarrow and they celebrated with dancing and singing. They also helped get a chicken house built so they could raise the chickens to sell. The photo above is of Gill being presented with a live chicken as a thanks for the building of the chicken house.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>She shared some stories of some of the villager\u2019s health issues, some due to vitamin deficiencies.\u00a0 Hygiene was also an issue so wash stands were created in the villages. The photo here in Gill’s presentation shows a water container and bowl on one of the washstands that she had had made.\u00a0 This helped keep the children a little healthier as skin conditions were common.<\/p>\n

Two village children were living with muscular dystrophy. Through speaking to a social worker she was able to help them get wheelchairs.\u00a0 Two young girls living with cerebral palsy and had no furniture so furniture was built in the village so they were able sit up.\u00a0 Another young boy with a chronic UTI, caused by a bladder stone.\u00a0 He was able to get surgery and have the stone removed and he was much happier and had more energy.<\/p>\n

A few girls were funded to attend school for a term.\u00a0 Education should be free but often this wasn\u2019t the case. They paid \u00a340 a term plus the girls brought a ream of paper, a bag of cement and a hoe.<\/p>\n

Snakebites were a common issue in outpatients and in some cases the bites could be fatal. Gill, with the help of Samuel, was able to get some information posters made up and laminated, as well as posters about epilepsy which is also common.<\/p>\n

They made small blackboards for learning because paper was expensive. The blackboards were cheap, made of cut wood painted black and chalk was readily available. Some of the women in the village were able to do some informal teaching for some of the village children. Toys weren\u2019t widely available so children would make their own. Gill was able to get some footballs as the local boys were making their own from plastic bags tied up.<\/p>\n

One of the women living in the village and she had significant mobility issues due to her being hit by a car.\u00a0 This had left her with one leg quite a bit shorter than the other.\u00a0 Gill was able to get her shoes with one built up so she could get around much easier.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Some of the other ways Gill was able to help were shared on a slide.\u00a0 Items such as exercise books, pencils, spectacles, vitamins, clothes.\u00a0 They supported the village to build boreholes. Money and transport to Lusaka for a mother with sick child.\u00a0 Money to support cooperatives of women to match government funding to purchase fertiliser.<\/p>\n

Gill and her husband are going back in October for a short visit this time.\u00a0 She has funds and contacts such as Benson.\u00a0 She hopes to be able fund more girls into education and see how the businesses are going.<\/p>\n

As always Soroptimists asked some great questions \u2013 see Q & A below.<\/p>\n

Q Did you see any FGM while there.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Gill said the hospital said circumcision was only carried out on boys to reduce the likelihood of HIV infection.\u00a0The hospital were very definite that this was not part of their belief system. Zambia is approx 95% Christian & as far as she knows it wasn\u2019t a practice in the Eastern Province so will find out when she returns in October.<\/p>\n

Q What are the main health issues she encountered<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Gill said Type 2 diabetes was common. High blood pressure and strokes were also common. There was HIV too.<\/p>\n

A common health problem seen in the hospital was heart failure – due to rheumatic fever – arising from a strep throat infection. One of the outcomes can be damage to the heart valves, resulting in the heart having to work harder & enlarging. Children & young adults were seen with this. What they needed was valve replacement surgery, which wasn\u2019t available so they generally died in teens or early twenties. Antibiotics would have prevented this & it was something that was seen in the UK before they were discovered.<\/p>\n

Q Was it surprising how prevalent traditional healing was?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A It was a poor province and traditional healing methods were common. Traditional healers carried a lot of power so they didn\u2019t get challenged and many times the traditional healers methods can make issues worse and sometimes result in death. Common \u2018cures\u2019 were \u2018herbal medicine\u2019 – plants & bark material & tattoos eg cuts to the body & plant matter rubbed in.<\/p>\n

Q How did Gill adjust on returning home<\/strong><\/p>\n

A It did take time to readjust.\u00a0 The life of the villagers and their experiences were very humbling and she felt emotional comparing the different lifestyles.<\/p>\n

Q How long did it take to gain the trust of the villagers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Gills experience was that people didn\u2019t ask questions and they welcomed the assistance.\u00a0 There was no negativity or resentment from any of the people she met.<\/p>\n

There were lots of positive comments with praise for Gill in the Zoom chat: “it is heart-warming to see their excitement.” “<\/span>We love the little man in the Union Jack T shirt!!!” “<\/span>That much joy over a wheelbarrow is humbling”. “<\/span>Thanks . A really interesting talk\u00a0looking forward to hearing about what has happened when you get back.” “<\/span>Fascinating insight into situation\u00a0<\/span>in Zambia”. “Thanks, lovely to be here, blown away by Gills talk.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Jane thanked Gill and said we had all been stunned by how much Gill achieved, making a difference to many people\u2019s lives in a very short time! It will be really interesting to hear from Gill again when she returns in November, to find out what\u2019s happened since they were there. Gill was keen to let us know that she isn\u2019t telling her story to ask for money, but you can see that any money donated will be spent wisely.<\/p>\n

Please click here to download Gill’s presentation as a PDF file – the original included videos of people dancing with great excitement and joy from everything Gill did for the community – it includes lots of photos but sadly the videos won’t transfer: Katete Zambia Presentation<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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