Mwabuka buti my brothers and sisters! Ndime Kara and ndime
Natalie theRIOT bringing the latest and greatest Zambian news to you since… the
last post.
First things first, let’s get to know the authors. Who would
have thought that a Colts fan and a Steelers fan could ever get along? One of
us loves queso, the other one can’t digest dairy. One of us stresses about
nursing school, the other one likes to nap (apparently it helps long-term
memory so it’s actually a studying technique). At the end of the day, we bring
out the best in each other and have been roommates for two years now.
The name’s Wise. Kara Wise. My hobbies include: interpretive dancing, tripping on
anything and everything, avoiding dairy/gluten like the plague, sleep talking,
sleep walking, and most recently, falling out of the top bunk in my sleep.
Someone please get Kara a helmet…anyway, my name is Natalie
Theriot, and I’m the other half of this dynamic duo (Kara stop correcting my
grammar). So I’ve already told you about my love of queso in a previous blog
post, and I’m here to tell you that yes, that will be my first meal when I land
in America.
We know you love hearing about our weird quirks, but I guess
we’ll also tell you a little bit about Africa.
On Tuesday this week, our good friend, Marilyn Simons,
arrived on the scene, and we could not be more excited! She brings such a
positive perspective, a joyful presence, and also, a suitcase full of snacks.
We started our leadership and management class on Wednesday and brainstormed
ideas for our projects. On Thursday, we ran a World Café where we presented our
assigned chapters to each other with a partner in creative ways. After 5 hours of
class, the best stress reliever is playing volleyball with the Zambians until
it’s time for dinner.
On Friday, we had our second day of clinical in Macha.
Students were assigned to the female wards, male wards, outpatient department,
pediatrics, mother/child health, anti-retroviral therapy, maternity, and the
Malaria Research Trust. This program is run by John Hopkins Hospital in
Baltimore, and we are able to shadow in the lab where we have the opportunity
to extract DNA from mosquitoes and also visit the insectery where we studied
the life of a mosquito. Malaria has essentially been eradicated in Macha
because of the success of the institute (that is not to say that we don’t get
bug bites every night). Speaking of bugs…
We have found some new friends here in Macha. Their hobbies
include: hiding in our laundry bags, suitcases, closets, shoes, and sneaking
their way into our mosquito nets. These hairy, eight-legged, “hamster” spiders
enjoy running at 10 mph and finding their way into our nightmares.
After clinical on Friday, Ashley and Kara planned to have a
special night of communion and worship as a team. We have not had the
opportunity to do this since being in Zambia, and it was refreshing to have the
time to remember the cross and share our hearts with one another as sisters in
Christ.
This morning, we woke up bright and early to head to Choma,
the capital of the Southern Province, to celebrate Zambia’s 51st
year of independence. We started the day by watching a parade with a marching
band, freedom fighters, cheerleaders, and secondary school students. We
attended the ceremony in a stadium full of proud Zambians where we watched
traditional tribal dances and songs from local choirs. We also got to hear the
Prime Minister speak about his vision for the country. It was cool to hear
leaders give recognition to God for how He has brought them out of hardship, as
they are a Christian nation.
Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice Zambian meal as a team and
went to Wonderbake for some sweet treats. We also hit up the market one last
time because we can’t stop buying chitenges! All day, our team was complemented
on our attire because we were decked out in Zambian flags. They told us we were
true Zambians! One Zambia, One Nation!
xoxo
Nat T and Karol Kat
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