Day 7

Day 7
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
What a day!! What projects, what people, what accomplishments, what need!! Don’t know if I can compress it all but I’ll try. I’m kind of at the end of my energy tonight but tomorrow will bring even more to relate, so here goes.
Today’s trip was to Chilubula, the site of the original Mother House of the SCJ Order. We’d heard about it all year from Baptista but we still were not sure what to expect. Turns out that, spread out over considerable territory are St. James Hospital, the SCJ Novitiate, St. Theresa’s Girls Secondary School, and the Demonstration Farm.
Let me explain first of all that to get there you travel down what seem like endless dirt roads, many of them comparable to poorly maintained Forest Service roads in the US. It is inconceivable to us that in what feels to us like dry wilderness there could be any people at all, let alone a substantial population. It turns out that the hospital serves a catchment area consisting of about 10,000 people. Sure didn’t look like it to us. Yet all along the way, there were people walking along the side of the road and occasional clusters of huts scattered out in the bush, seemingly miles from nowhere, except that this is home to them and has been for their ancestors for hundreds of years.
St. James is tasked with providing the full range of care in this area with very meager facilities. Oh, they have buildings with many of the departments of a regional hospital, but when compared to the hospitals we know it seems almost hopelessly inadequate. The bright spot is that the number of new cases of HIV/AIDS has been dropping this year. And the advent of the new retroviral treatment drugs has significantly reduced the number of beds filled. Of 490 registered HIV positive patients on the hospital caseload, 290 are on retroviral drugs. They come in for monthly testing and treatment and then go home to live their lives as fully as they can. Sort of like in Tacoma in that respect. The ward beds (in twelve-bed open wards) were antiquated at best but precious few of them were filled except in maternity, due primarily to lack of supplies and equipment for adequate patient care. The lab was valiantly doing its work with a minimum of equipment. The surgery was constructed a few years ago and that was the end of that. Never finished and left in its post construction mess. But that’s OK since they don’t have a graduate physician anyway, except the irregular drop in. The dispensary works in sparse surroundings with sparsely stocked shelves, that scarcity being necessitated in part by the lack of adequate refrigeration storage. The staff is attentive, competent, caring, forward looking and hopeful in spite of the challenges they face. Most patients now are seen on an outpatient basis, and a primary emphasis is education and provision of food.
Right next to the original Mother House is the Novitiate where 7 young women are going through the training leading up to final vows as members of the SCJ. A beautiful facility with energetic, faithful and growing novices, ages 17-20, who appreciated our gifts of a football and an Aerobie. Baptista regaled us with stories of her time in this house, including battles with the local snakes who sought refuge in their chapel and dining hall.
St. Theresa’s School is full of 409 students, virtually all of whom are residents in the crowded dorms. Several teachers allowed us in to say hello to their classes. The universal response to our entrance was the immediate standing up of all students who said, in unison, “Good afternoon, Sister” to Sr. Sylvia who was showing us around, and then “Welcome” to us when we were introduced. Then they were given permission to sit down, we’d ask a few questions or make a brief comment, and take our leave, at which time they would all say, again in unison, “Thank you for coming.” Imagine that! Classrooms were crowded , but generally the facilities were in good condition except for the science lab which was showing the destructive results of termites’ voracious appetite and was not in use. The textbooks were old when one of the teachers studied there, with sometimes only three available for the full class. They have a development plan (among other things they need additional living space for students and teachers, uniforms for their winning sports teams, and did I mention textbooks?) and continue the struggle to provide quality education for young women. Sister Sylvia, who teaches the sciences, confided in us at the end that her dream was to become a doctor if she could just find a sponsor. More about that when we get home.
The Farm is at the end of another very long, bumpy road. We were warmly welcomed (as we are everywhere we go!) and served a delicious lunch before our walking tour around the property. They grow primarily maize, cassava, soybeans, and sunflowers (for the oil and animal feed). In addition they raise hatchery supplied chickens,200 at a time, for slaughter at seven weeks. Today they had 200 at six weeks and 200 at four days. In a separate building there was a flock of local chickens, and in the yard ten ducks. Two pig buildings housed two boars, several mama pigs and a number of smaller pigs growing to slaughter size. Vegetable gardens completed the picture. Five Bemba families and two nuns live on the property. Their mission is two fold: supply food and resources for the school, the Novitiate, the Mother House, and Tetekela; and act as a training center for small farmers in the area who want to learn better farming methods. All this on 250 hectares with no watering system (no running water at all except in a couple of small creeks on the property), no tractor or plough, no truck. Beats me how they do it but I really admire their pluck and commitment.
This evening, back in Kasama at the new Mother House (called the Generalate, where we have been every evening for dinner), we were treated to an especially festive dinner, a gracious “Thank you and wishing you God’s blessing in all you are doing to help us” and a singing procession presenting us with two beautiful, finely crafted woven baskets. Completely unexpected but happily received. Now off to bed for another long day tomorrow.
Bruce and Paula