Zambia Medical Mission Report

Following is a report from Ellie Hamby on this year's medical mission.

We just returned from a very successful 3 days of clinics to Simalundu and Kapaulu. The crowds were overwhelming as we saw over 9000 patients in just 3 days of clinics. Many people had walked for over 3 days just to get medical care. To get to Simalundu, it took 6 hours just to cover about 70 miles as the road is very bad and in some places it was more like a path.

We have a great team and everyone rose to the occasion and all the patients either saw a medical person or were given some type of medicine. It was warm during the day but at night everyone was happy to have a warm sleeping bag.

We had 2 babies born during the clinic. The first mother came in and was having a difficult time as it was a compound breech birth. Some of our team members (both American and Zambian) assisted with the birth. The second lady was brought in by ox cart as she was giving birth to twins. She had given birth to a child at 10:00 pm the day before and the second baby was now blocked from coming out. After sometime the baby was delivered under very difficult conditions. The mother had serious bleeding but they were able to get it stopped. Everyone there said the mother and both twins would have died if we had not been there. You never know what situations the Lord will bring across your path.

The community was extremely thankful for the care the medical team showed to the community.

It was wonderful to see the water well pumping water 24/7. I can tell you the people were overjoyed with such a plentiful supply of clean water. It is said that the child mortality rate will drop by 20% with clean water available.

Tomorrow we head to Nazibbula where we will conduct 3 more days of clinics. The team is tired, but are enjoying a day of rest before the next set of clinics.

Please continue to pray for the continued success of our mission.