by Kendra Lentz
As our time at the Kafakumba Training Center comes to a close, I would like to reflect on some of the most memorable moments shared by our clinical members here in Zambia.
Kafakumba Clinic, located on the Kafakumba Training Center grounds, hosts a plethora of specialties, including an emergency room, maternity services, an operating room, and X-ray capabilities. The aim of the clinic is to provide quality services to residents of the surrounding area who may be far from the nearest hospitals. On Tuesday, Gracie and I were able to join in the Under Five Clinic Day, where parents could bring their children for both wellness checks and updates to any vaccinations that may be due. We also had several children from the local school come for a simple wellness check or physical. Their pharmacists and lab specialists were kind and knowledgeable; they described the common medications and tests they run in their clinic, including the testing, prophylaxis, and treatment of malaria, a common illness here in Zambia.
Students Greer, Ryley, and Abigail were also given the opportunity to observe maternity services firsthand at the clinic, where a new baby boy (the fourth birth in clinic history) was born on Thursday afternoon. Together, we were able to join Kafakumba Clinic in a village outreach at Kanyenda Village on Friday, a service the clinic tries to provide monthly. Being a part of these services was extremely impactful; many of the people we saw were suffering from things like malaria, hypertension, chronic pain, and more. The nearest clinic, being almost 5 miles away, creates a massive barrier to health care. Through the clinic, we were able to provide something that might not have been possible otherwise, and this was more meaningful than anything I can describe.
When we weren’t at clinicals, we were able to see much more that Zambia had to offer. We took several trips to the Baluba Market and walked the streets. From chickens and fresh produce to fabric and clothing, the market was like nothing I had seen before. It was bustling with people and merchants trying to sell their products and extended on both sides of the streets and even outward into side alleys. These markets are common to see when driving through Zambia, many similar to the one we visited. Ndola, the nearest city, has many grocery stores and even a mall, and it looks like one you would find anywhere in America. It is a jarring difference from the more rural parts of Zambia.
We even visited a curio market that held many kinds of handmade goods and souvenirs. Our evenings were often filled with activities like bonfires by the house, pickleball tournaments, game nights, and soccer games. We even learned a new game, Wallyball, that our friends here invented themselves. We were lucky enough to make many new friends at Kafakumba School, where we learned new games like Gaga ball, sang and danced, and were taught new words in Bemba by the schoolchildren.
As our group prepares to head for Livingstone, our final destination for this study abroad experience, we are equally excited to return home and sad to leave. The staff at Kafakumba has been so amazing. From the chefs who prepared our meals every day to the teachers who introduced us to their classes and more, we are lucky to have been a part of this experience.
