Kalene Mission Hospital

Hello hello hello,

I am finally taking some time to write a new blog post.  It's been quite a while and we do't even have much time left in Africa.

I've been very busy these past few weeks.  And Time is flying.

I received a request to go help out at the lab at Kalene (another village, about 20 km away).  The volunteer missionary that was there went back home and they were left short staffed.  I was very excited about this opportunity.  This is what I wanted to do in Zambia, but when I inquired about it back last summer, it just didn't work out at the time.

So since February 25th, I've been working at the hospital there from Monday to Thursdays every week.  Then I come back to Sakeji by bicycle and do my duties from Thursday evening to Sunday.  Then I bike back to Kalene on Sunday afternoon. (Weather permitting)

So it's been quite eye-opening at the lab there.  It's very different than in Canada.  I see about 50 cases of malaria everyday.  I'm getting quite good at doing malaria slides (I've only seen malaria in Canada once or twice).  So that experience is great! I've been doing a lot of blood draws and out-patient lab work.  It's so nice to be back in that atmosphere, helping people.  I love it.

I am also showing a few ladies how to collect and do malaria blood slides.  This is just to save time when there is a stat slide in the middle of the night.  Instead of calling someone in, who might need to be picked up at their house to come in.

It's so awesome to know I am doing what I am trained to do, and helping people in the middle of Africa.  I always hoped I could use my career to do something like this, even if it's only for a short while.

Here's some pictures.  Also, I posted pictures of the lab in a much earlier blog, but the lab is in a new location, so here are pictures f where I am working now.

The third picture is a little kid was my first patient one day and I gave him a little Hot Wheels car.  I could see him playing with it the whole time he was waiting for his results.  He was super cute :)

This last photo is a picture of the trail I take to walk to the hospital from where I am staying.  The building in the distance is the hospital.

P.S. I do miss everyone in Canada.  I counted the days and we will be back in Canada in 23 days.