Lenten updates

Hey there from Kaonde-land!

It's been a good couple of months for us here at Mukinge, made possible by the fruition of some of the plans that we put together at the beginning of the last year.  Since the last time I wrote back around Christmas time, we've begun construction on the new nursing dormitory, rehabilitation of the administration block, repair of two of the staff houses, construction of a garage for our hospital vehicles, and building of the new HIV counseling center.  At the same time, the weather has caused some problems as we've had issues with lightning resulting in the burnout of our phone system, intermittent power surges, the downfall of our internet system, so we've been back to communicating by written notes carried by hand around the hospital.  It feels pretty good to not be at the mercy of the phone sometimes while on call, I must admit, despite the inefficiency of the current system.  As I remind myself on a daily basis, however, efficiency is not the goal here, but rather the relationships that you cultivate.

We're also in a transition period for staffing as two of our docs have left.  We have been lucky to enjoy the presence of a Canadian surgeon to help ease the transition and the hospital hasn't been too busy recently, so we've been managing well.  We are still facing some shortages at the end of the year when my term finishes at the hospital, especially in regards to surgical coverage and nursing supervisors/teachers.  If you know people interested in coming, let us know!

Mostly, though, I feel grateful for the progress that we've been able to achieve over the past year.  We've bought 7 oxygen concentrators for the hospital, upgraded our maternity care with ultrasounds and fetal monitors, increased our available staff housing by a total of 10 units, began much needed rehabs of different parts of the hospital, and so forth.  You have been generous to help the work go forward here, not to mention the many care packages, encouraging emails, prayers, and postcards I have received over the year.  We are continuing to look forward to exciting projects in the next few months, especially with a nutrition project that is currently in the planning stages to increase our community presence, provide much needed seed to local farmers to grow protein-rich foods like beans and peanuts, and provide education to the area.  I am also trying to raise enough funds to purchase a much needed anesthesia machine which costs around $28,000.  Seems like a big goal, but we'll see what we can do.  We've managed maybe a third of the cost so far!

Despite the comings and goings of people here on the station (mostly goings), I continue to try to strengthen my friendships with my Zambian colleagues, even despite some cultural issues.  We had a good cultural awareness seminar this past weekend which was pretty amusing as I continued to see in black and white how far away I am in my cultural expectations from Zambian culture.  I think across 12 of 13 different cultural attitudes that we quizzed ourselves on, I and the typical Zambian were exactly on opposite ends of the spectrum.  It actually amazes me that I am able to get any work done at all without immense frustrations on both sides, and it's shown me how much I am able to adjust despite ingrained cultural ideas.  It also makes you realize how much unspoken grace you are being shown by the people who work with that you are probably unconsciously offending right and left.  I had the opportunity to work at a nearby mission hospital in January and came away with a profound sense of gratitude for the more graceful way that we have dealt with those cross-cultural issues here at Mukinge over the years.

Thanks to you all.  If I can give any more details on work or things at the hospital, let me know.  We've recently been in the process of updating our website, so you might google 'Mukinge' and see what you get these days!  Don't forget to check the blog at www.mattcotham.blogspot.com. 

Best to you all,
Matt