Day Seven: Macha Hospital and Village

The Macha hospital was established in 1954 by Dr. Alvan Thuma. While he was bringing medicine to the area, he also led the effort to make and fire bricks for the construction of the first hospital in this region. His challenges included lack of modern medical tools and traditional doctors (whom we would call witch doctors, who people trusted when they were sick). 

Jaeron DeBoe, wife of James DeBoe the head doctor at the hospital who practices surgery and family medicine, gave us a tour. There was a new dentist chair and dental assistant who does extractions and has begun filling cavities. As we continued our tour, Jaeron noticed a local women sitting on a bench in obvious grief. Jaeron put her arm around the woman and asked what was wrong. She pointed to the bed behind us and there lay the body of her infant under a blanket. It was a heart-breaking and helpless feeling. There is still great need in Macha. 

But there is so much going on here that is positive. The incidents of malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and leprosy are all down significantly. HIV/AIDS has been reduced by 97%. All of this has been accomplished in part thanks to the medical people and support people who serve and the Zambians who are becoming doctors, nurses and partners on the team called to continue Jesus’ healing work. 

Dr. Phil Thuma, who followed in the work of his father, Dr. Alvan Thuma, has been recognized for his work in the eradication of malaria in this particular region. He spent untold hours and traveled countless miles on foot to sit with village chiefs and traditional doctors, patiently listening and gaining their respect and helped them understand the causes of malaria were not chewing sugar cane and green mangos but rather mosquitos. Under his leadership, almost everyone was tested for the malaria parasite, whether the symptoms were apparent or not. This made it possible to check the spread of the disease in families and villages and reduced the number of disease-carrying mosquitoes. Today, Johns Hopkins University has a research center in Macha that continues to study the disease. 

If you can picture what a hospital would look like in the 1930s or 1940s in the U.S., you can picture Macha hospital. But the levels of compassion, care and knowledge here are outstanding.

The hospital recently established a three-year RN program with 50 nurses in the first year of training.The kitchen cooks for approximately 200 patients, three times a day. The staple is nsima, a starch made from maze. The kitchen cooks with electricity when there is power and uses a wood fire when there is not. 

We met Dr. Samuel Berkerk (see Day 6 of our blog) at work in the ophthalmology department.  He arrived in January, began the program and has done 81 cataract procedures since May. He’s now hoping to build a separate ophthalmology clinic since the need is so great.  eyeforzambia.org. 

We stopped in the pediatric ward, where Jaeron handed out pages from a coloring book. One little boy who was a patient at the hospital, picked up a crayon and colored for the first time in his life. 

In the afternoon, we meet Jaeron again along with Vincent who lives in a village about 20 minutes away and learned about how maze (corn) is brought in by the village farmers, processed and sold to the government. We saw how sunflowers are processed to make cooking oil and the leftovers are used to feed livestock.

We visited Vincent's village where everyone is related to everyone else. We met his lovely wife and children. He is so industrious. He showed us his chickens, pigs, turkey-like birds, and fields of corn where he grows maze. He also works and travels to the Macha hospital compound by bicycle. Vincent's family lives in a home with four small rooms with no electricity or running water. But he's got a spirt of optimism and faith, setting an example of accomplishment for his children. His oldest daughter is working on her nursing degree. 

After dinner, we joined Corie and Eric Thuma to talk with two educational missionaries from Canada, Joel and Julianne Percy. We talked about mission work, leadership and maintaining a strong staff. We visit their school tomorrow morning.

We are so impressed with the people we are meeting in Macha.

Twalumba, 

-- Dave and Nancy