All wrapped up!

So like I mentioned last time, one of the main challenges for the Katuba community is accessibility to medical help. The village is an hour walk away from the roadside, making it extremely challenging to access facilities in a timely manner when emergencies arise. Having built a structure for a future clinic, the community expressed their interest in establishing a first aid station.
In order to tackle this issue, my partner, Caro, and I, decided to organize a training for the community members interested in learning first aid. We had also been working towards creating partnerships with local health organizations so that they can provide first aid materials to the community clinic in a sustainable manner, however this proved to be incredibly difficult. Being Canadian, it is really easy to walk into international and/or national organizations and book a meeting with the head honchos. In a way this has made our job much easier, but I haven’t gone through one meeting without feeling slightly guilty. Caro and I have met with important ministers, one of the richest men in Zambia, and directors of international organizations, such as the National Red Cross. Not once did we have problems booking a meeting. We would walk into their offices, speak to the secretary for just a minute and BADABOOM we have a meeting with these guys the next day. It’s been so easy to the point where ministers have had their drivers drive us to our next stop! The National Red Cross drove us home for goodness sake! It wasn’t because of luck, but because of the color of our skin. Now some of you may disagree on this point, however, our local friends have had much trouble trying to book meetings with the same people!
Now while we may have had luck booking meetings with such grandiose individuals, we haven’t had much luck in finding partners to sustain the clinic in Katuba. Luckily, on one of our last meetings, we met with the Minister of the Lusaka Province, who quickly referred us to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, who then informed us of government funded clinics. Essentially, if the clinic registers with the District Health Management Team, a subsection of the government, Katuba will be put in line for government community health training followed by a government funded clinic. The government admitted rather candidly that unfortunately this could take years.
Therefore, since identifying access to medical help as a main challenge for the rural villages of Katuba, we have worked alongside its community groups to identify the best way forward. We partnered with the National Red Cross to provide community members with a community-based first aid and health training. This past week, the National Red Cross catered specifically to the needs and challenges of the Katuba community by addressing issues such as malaria and snake bites, among the basic elements of a standard first aid.
Twenty-two members of the community were chosen to participate in the training based on their community involvement and commitment, as well as their literacy skills. While Shared World Initiative assisted the community with the purchase of their initial first aid box, the trained community members plan to create a health committee in charge of providing first aid, as well as patient care fees in order to remain sustainable. The training took place last week from the 26th to the 28th.
A post-training meeting was held today last thursday with the trained community members, Shared World Initiative, members of Lupwa Lwabumi Trust and the local MP, to set up a strategic and sustainable plan for the future of Katuba’s first aid station. The headmen from all 11 villages in this district were invited, so some of the women had to prepare a traditional drink for them – powdered corn, hot water and lots of SUGAR. It was disgusting! To remain respectful however, I HAD to drink it. Despite that, it was amazing to be part of a traditional village meeting.

While meeting the different communities, we also encountered various youth groups. These groups demonstrated passion and motivation yet highlighted scarce resources and skills training as their main challenges. In order to help empower these groups sustainably, we organized a Youth Day which directly addressed some of their needs. We wanted to link them to other well-established youth groups in the Lusaka region, as well as engage them in workshops.
To make this day possible, we worked alongside the youth groups in different catchment areas such as Mandevu, Matero and Katuba to create a Youth Empowerment Program that catered to their needs. On July 24th, the day program took place with the sole purpose of sustainably empowering the youth groups. We introduced them to other well-established youth, as well as engage them in workshops on goal setting and information sessions on banking skills and grant proposal writing. The groups also engaged in livelihood training, spearheaded by Africare. We were hoping to mobilise the youth and leave them with the necessary skills to take action in their communities.
A couple of days later, one of the youth stayed with us, and told us how the goal setting workshop motivated him to write down a realistic plan for his life and finally just take action, step by step. He plans to be school studying health by next January, and there is nothing stopping him, he says.
This past week has been a whirlwind of emotion for the whole zamfam. We’ve been dishing out goodbyes left, right and centre. First to our new friends here in Zambia, then to each other. I feel so privileged to have been surrounded for the past two months by some of the most wonderful and inspiring individuals I’ve ever met in my life. Luckily, I get to travel with three of them for the next two weeks. Off I go to Zanzibar tomorrow. Clear blue waters and white beaches, I am ready for you.