Crazy how in so little time this place has really begun to feel like home. It is also definitely making its home in my heart little by little—the people, the views, the culture, and surprisingly the food!
I have felt that I’ve learned a ton of information is such a short period of time. But let me back up a bit and tell you guys what exactly I’m doing here!
As you may know, I graduated w my AS in Nursing from SAU & also passed my boards in the greatest country: Texas #OKURRR lol. Anyways, that may have prepared me to some extent, but not to keep up w the nurses here in Zambia. Due to the high demand in doctors, nurses have been trained to be and do just as doctors would & all in 3-5 yrs of schooling!!! Doctors still make more money, yet the years to complete it are long and expensive, so nurses have risen to the challenge! I work w 2 fantastic nurses, Natasha & Field, and our charge nurse Mary, && of course the great Melanie Ramirez our honorary nurse lol. We work in a government funded and lead clinic in conjunction to it working with and at Riverside Institute Farm (that was a mouthful!! ahaha). Zambia by the way, gives free healthcare to ALL PEOPLE which I think is beautiful but this isn’t a political post. . .soo moving on! At the clinic I either work as receptionist, meaning getting names, ages, name of the village they live in & vitals, or with the nurses helping diagnose and treat usually with medications (which is WILD that I’m prescribing medication? But God!!!! lol) At the clinic we also test for HIV & Malaria as well as have days specific for antenatal screenings, family planning which is different birth control education & administration of such medications, ART for HIV, general day & under-5 clinic. Its a lot of fun especially trying to communicate with individuals through the language barriers. Although the official language is English, there are 72 other languages in Zambia & the one most commonly spoken in this area is Tonga. Even so, most people speak 4-5 languages, not including English, which is absolutely amazinnggg!!! [FUN FACT: the vowels in all, or most, zambian languages are the same as in spanish which is a truuuee blesssing!!! hehehe]
I have been refreshed time and time again by the amiability & warmness of the Zambians. A greeting of good morning or a simple hello + a beautiful smile is always guaranteed upon passing them! And they never fail to chuckle quite a bit when I attempt to greet in Tonga. Points for effort I hope!! lol. Another v interesting thing is that Zambians switch there L’s & R’s . . . so a Pastor preaching about election day, sounds like something very, very different #TRUESTORY ahahaha.
Everyday here is truly an adventure & a blessing :))
Stay tuned for upcoming stories of the history of maize, adventures of our first zambian zebra experience, & wild stories at the clinic!
TTFN!
Much love,
Caro