Macha Update

Happy Sunday everyone!

Here are a couple updates from our adventures here in Macha!

First off, I wanted to say that I have been loving it here in Zambia. Life here is very calm and is so refreshing to be immersed in day in and day out. We have met some very friendly people and little kiddos! We have felt very welcomed where we are and can see God’s love in His people.

We are staying on a compound on the Macha Research Trust. I am sharing a room with three other girls from our team- Gabriela, Paige, and Lauren. Most of the rooms have 3-4 people with two sets of bunk beds. We sleep under mosquito nets but I can say confidently that I have not been bit by one mosquito yet- knock on wood people!! BUT spiders on the other hand are very present and a very vivid in some of our dreams, especially Gabriela’s ;)

Most of our meals consist of chicken, rice, cabbage or green beans, and apples and oranges. On occasion we have Nshima. Nshima is made in lumps which you mush with your fingers with the other things on your plate. It could be substituted for rice. The consistency is definitely something you get used to but is something that the Zambians eat with almost every meal!

I have already had one night clinical on the maternal ward of the Macha Mission Hospital, however no babies were born. I have seen one baby delivered and was hands on throughout the entire process!! Our team to this date has helped deliver 28 babies in total- praise God! One of my favorite wards to have clinical on was the surgical ward. I placed two IVs (have been 2/2 so far thank you thank you), placed a catheter, cleaned an ostomy bag and abdominal incision, and multiple wounds. I am so thankful that I get to practice so many skills while I am here in Zambia and that the patients are so willing to let us poke and stick them.

One of the patients that I helped was named Alan. He was 15 and was in a motor vehicle accident. He ran into a fence had sliced open his foot. He did not speak great English but his father helped interpret. His father told me that he wanted to be a doctor when he grew up and would love to come to America one day. Even though there is a language barrier sometimes, I have seen God provide avenues so that I may get to know some of the patients that I am helping.

We are currently taking leadership class and took our midterm on Saturday. At the end of the month we will be starting community. We are working closely with the Macha School of Nursing and have two big projects that we are presenting to them in the next couple weeks. When we took a tour of the school, we walked into their cafeteria which probably held 75 students. They all stood up for us and we introduced ourselves. When I said my name everyone repeated it very loudly and then laughed. The next day I was walking home from clinical and I heard someone in the background say “Ashley” and I turned around and it was a nursing student. I said hi and she said that she remembered me from the day before. She was so sweet and said that everyone liked my name because they could say it easily and that everyone knows me now. I was so embarrassed!!

I am extremely thankful for everyone who is praying for me and the team. We have been able to stay healthy and have experienced incredible things here. God’s hand has been so constant throughout this trip and is blessing our experience so richly.

Love you very much,

Ashley

PS- I GOT TO HELP PULL A TOOTH THE OTHER DAY BUT HAVE PTSD FROM ALL OF THE CAVITIES I HAVE SO NEEDLESS TO SAY I HAD ANXIETY THE ENTIRE TIME