Friday, January 27, 2012

Zambian Herbal Medicine



I met a woman who sells dried herbs in a market. She sells dried and powdered garlic, parsley, cinnamon, and rosemary. I asked her if she has ginger. I want to use it for cooking.
She picked up a small plastic packet from a box. It is powdered ginger indicated as "Herbal Medicine".
It's for, quote; disorder of the digestive system, rheumatism, pulmonary, allergic, skin condition, colds, influenza, sore throats, sinusitis and boils.

In Japan, Chinese herbal medicine is popular. According to their theory, ginger works for those symptoms. But even though we don't have any health problems, we use ginger daily for cooking. That woman said, in Zambia, they use it only when they are sick. I bought it. It was 2USD.
I made ginger tea with that powder and tasted it. It was just the same like that in Japan.Ginger is a very nice spice for our health and beauty. And in my village we can't find whole ginger. I'll use that powder and when I finish it, buy another packet.

She also has other medicines for children's cough and men's impotence and so on. They seem like several kinds of herb that have been mixed. I found a packet, "SUPER LADY". She said it works for cramps and makes our body warm.
I'm not sure if African herbal medicine can be relied on like Chinese herbal medicine. But someday, I want to try "SUPER LADY". I hope it'll work.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Communication problem with patients

Now, my malnourished baby in a ward is getting well. Good. These days I have spent almost the whole day at the clinic. I prepared milk for him every 2 hours and observed him while he was drinking it. After his grandmother stopped giving the other foods to him, his diarrhea also stopped. Now his condition is stabilized. I'm going to change the milk to a more high-energy and high-protein one tomorrow. I hope his weight will increase.

We admitted two new babies in the ward. They're also malnourished. Unfortunately, their parents can't understand English. Today I asked them to bring their babies to weigh them but they didn't understand what I said. A woman who was near us interpreted me.

In Zambia, their public language is English. Most staff in our clinic can speak it. Our clinic is founded by a missionary organization from the States. In the same area, there is one secondary school, one college and two orphanages. Some Americans live here. And volunteers from western countries always come here throughout the year. People here are used to western people and their language. But some patients don't speak english. Only their local language.

My friend, another Japanese volunteer, is working at a clinic in a town near my village. Her situation is tougher than mine. Staff there don't speak English. Because that isn't a misson's clinic. That is a government one. Good communication is necessary for good treatment. We should manage this problem.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Blackout, everyday...


In our town, there is blackout everyday about 2-3 hours. During a blackout we should cook meals with charcoals.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Polygamy in ZAMBIA

I met a man in a prenatal clinic at our rural health center. He brought two wives at the same time!
In ZAMBIA, they have a culture of polygamy. In urban areas, it's getting to be an outdated culture, but in rural areas, it's still around.

I asked that man if he planned this or it was just a coincidence. He replied that it just occurred accidentally. So I couldn't say "congratulations!" to them. I just said that I hope they will have healthy babies and be happy. One of his wives replied, "We are happy because when I am tired, she helps me." She thought that I think it's pathetic.

Although she said that, I can't believe African women accept polygamy. I spent about a year in NIGER before ZAMBIA. Most of Nigerians are Muslims and Allah allows them four wives. But it is likely that they argue. Sometimes wife versus wife, sometimes wife versus husband. I think jealousy is a universal feeling all over the world. What if my husband brought another wife, I would be mad. I asked my female colleagues if they would accept other wives with their husbands ? Their ansers were "No".

Even if a man has only one wife, having more than one sex partner at same time is popular here. I want to know what women think about it. Do they admit it as a part of their culture?

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Market, Kalomo, ZAMBIA


I bought 1 bag of tomatoes at  a market  in Kalomo town. It was 5000ZMK (1USD).

Monday, January 16, 2012

My patient passed away.

My patient passed away last weekend. A baby in a ward. He was malnourished. I gave him high-energy milk every 3 hours and his weight was increasing. He came to our clinic on Friday and he had gained 500g by Saturday evening. I thought he was getting well. But Saturday midnight, his condition suddenly deteriorated. We sent him to the district hospital. His condition looked so serious. On Sunday, I went to the hospital to see him. And I found that he had died.

I'm shocked. What happened to him? Was my treatment not adequate? I'm not sure.I don't have enough experience with malnourished babies. It's my first time because I've never seen them in JAPAN. My colleagues told me it was not my fault. I know it. I did what I thought was the best way. However, I feel bad.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

A girl got pregnant and her age is 16



I'm working in a small clinic in ZAMBIA. Every Wednesday and Friday, we provide a prenatal clinic. Pregnant women come to our clinic with their partners.
Last Friday, we found a girl whose age is just 16 and her partner is just 17 years old. They are still students.
They haven't gotten married yet, and the girl doesn't want to do it now. She told us she wants to finish her school first, and then she wants to get married. I saw her boyfriend, the baby's father. He looked just happy.

I worried about their life instead of him. Can that girl continue to study in school with a baby? Who will take care of the baby? Who will provide them money for living? Will that boy have any responsibility for his girlfriend and baby until he'll get married with her? That boy has no idea that he is still young. What if he'll find another girl who is much better than her in the future? And what if he'll find another one, isn't he going to regret that he already has a baby?

They are not rare here. We can find young girls who are pregnant. Their ages are 15, 16 or 17. We can find even 14 years old girls in the prenatal clinic. And they deliver. They don't terminate.
Their partners are also young. Some of them are married. Some of them are single. I can't understand why they don't feel scare about their future with a baby without a source of income? In ZAMBIA, are all young guys just romantic?

Young pregnant mothers and their boyfriend's family might think they are too young to have a baby. But they have no options like an abortion here so they might have to just accept the babies.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Malnutrition in Zambia

Today we have two babies in the ward at our clinic. They are malnourished.

Our images of African countries are civil war, famine and refugee camps. Some of my friends think I can't access food in Africa, but Zambia is not a country like Somalia. We can access food. However, we can find malnourished children here. There are several reasons.

First, the poor infrastructure of logistics. They don't have enough logistic network in rural areas. Even in my village, Namwianga, we don't have public transportation to town where we can buy meat. When we want to go to town, we should hitchhike or walk for 1 hour. In other small villages, especially in the bush, it's very difficult to access a variety of food.

The second reason is that a Zambian diet lacks diversity. They eat the same menu every day. Nshima is their staple food made by maize. They eat nshima and some vegetables. People who can afford to buy meat, eat chicken, beef or mutton. Beans and small dried fish, called "kapenta", are more inexpensive source of protein. But, they don't eat protein with every meal. Especially in the bush, they consume protein 1 time a day or spend the whole day without it.

The third reason is lack of knowlege about nutrition. In developed countries, we learn about nutrition in school and mass media provides information about a good diet. So we can be "health conscious" people. But in Zambia, because of the poor education system and mass media, they don't know enough about nutrition. They don't pay attention to what they eat. I think these reasons cause child malnutrition.

In Japan I worked to reduce obesity, here I should do the opposite.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

HIV care service in our clinic


Every Tuesday, we provide care service at our clinic for the people living with HIV virus. Just today we got about 50 patients. Our clinic is a rural health center in a small town. In a big hospital, you can see more than 50 patients every day.

Although medical care service is free in Zambia, some HIV patients don't go to the clinic. Some of them don't have enough money to go, some of them can't stick to the treatment. They have to take several kinds of medicine every day, not only once a day, but 2-3 times. And some medicine causes you to feel like vomiting, headache, or appetite loss.

Adherence to treatment is not easy. They have to keep a healthy life style. They're expected to quit smoking, drinking, and having sex without condoms. If I were an HIV patient, it would be hard. I want to enjoy some alcohol with meals and have sex without condoms with my spouse.

To continue adequate treatment, they need support, like family, friends, and people living within their community. But some patients don't want to disclose their status. They might be afraid of losing their family or friends.

There are "adherence supporters". They are volunteers in the community who help HIV patients stick to treatment. They call patients in case they don't show up at their appointment, and sometimes visit their place to counsel. Some of them are also HIV patients themselves.
HIV is not somebody else's problem here; everybody has possibility to be infected.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

It's hard to undestand culture difference

Now I'm living in Zambia.

In the morning I got a mail from Bridget which said, "Today, don't forget my chitenge."
A chitenge is an African wrap skirt. I can't understand what she's saying.

She is my friend's sister. She has a husband and a baby. Today I have an appointment with her for lunch at her place. Why does she demand me to bring her chitenge? I don't have her chitenge. Does she want me to buy a chitenge for her? Her husband is a government officer, they're not poor.

In Japan, if you're invited to someone's place for lunch or supper, you're expected to bring something for them. For example, flowers, sweets, or a bottle of wine. It's an expression of "Thank you for inviting me." There's the same custom in Zambia, so is she demanding something from me?

Another possibility.
In Zambia you can find people on the street who beg you for some money. They think you can afford to do that because you look rich. She's doing the same thing as them?

In Japanese culture, begging for something from other people without a special reason is a shameless attitude. And if someone asks you to do something, doing everything possible is considered a faithful attitude.

So I'm wondering if she's saying that for a special reason, Zambian custom or is it just a joke? Should I find a chitenge for her?

Saturday, January 7, 2012

He wanna be my husband


He is cute!
But he is 18 years old, just graduated from secondly school last month.
If I was in my 20's, I would be his wife.
Actually I'm almost his mother's age...

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Mango season in ZAMBIA


Now we are in mango season here!
You can find many mango sellers in market places.
The price is 500ZMK/each.
Today I bought two of them.

In JAPAN, we shoud pay at least 4USD/each.
So I shoud enjoy these mangos in ZAMBIA !