Clinic Day 2

Clinic day 2 went so much smoother and I felt the team was a lot more prepared and we headed straight to work.  I got off the van and headed straight out to a hut with Godwin. We went out to see Esther who Corrie and I saw on Monday during home visit.  Esther had a blood pressure of 202/90 on Monday with a large abcess on the side of her cheek.  Today her blood pressure was down to 150/78 and the abcess was slightly smaller.  We had given her bp medication and an antibiotic that appeared to be working. She said she felt stronger and was very appreciative! Godwin and I made it back into the village by 10:30 and the team was doing great.  I had already walked 6K wow! I got my work outs in this week. 

I again helped assess prenatal women doing blood pressure and glucose test. There were more women today for the class. After the class I went and started assessing Men in the clinic.  I saw a wide variety of symptoms.  A lot of people come in to get medication they may need through out the year. Unfortunately we are the only medical group that comes to Susu, so they haven't seen anyone since August 2012. I can't imagine what it would be like to not have access to things we consider basic such as Tylenol and ibuprofen. 

Yesterday we de-wormed all the School children and today we saw some that couldn't make it or don't attend school that also needed de-wormed. It was a very busy day but I had an awesome team who worked hard to accomplish seeing around 390 patients!  That is a lot for 9 nurses.

The patients also had to have their assessments reviewed by the Zambian nurses. To follow the law in Zambia and since we don't have Zambia nursing licences this is required. Today we had 3 nurses from the St. Pauls clinic about 10 kilometers from Susu. I was surprised that two of the nurses were men. Nursing is becoming a lot more popular in Zambia and there is a very high need for nurses just like in the US. All 3 nurses we're very intelligent and helpful we enjoyed getting to know them and see how they practice medicine in Zambia.

Many of the children we saw today were wearing their sunglasses and new pillow case dresses they received yesterday at kids day. Such a joy to see the children smiling and happy.

The end of the day was hard. It's time to say goodbye to the community of Susu. We take one last ride down the bumpy road and for some we know we will return next year and for others we're still unsure of God's plan. We pray that we left a huge impact on the community and that we will never be forgotten. They may not understand what we said but they will always remember how we made them feel. The love that we showed,  the comfort that they felt and the hope they have for the community.

We ended with one more circle of prayer. Dancing and worshipping God, singing This is The Day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice! As we drive away,  I look out the window to a village I love, tears start to roll down my cheek, I leave a special little girl I think of as my own, friends that I now consider family and I know God has big plans for Susu.  I pray I continue to be apart of that plan!