Chidamoyo Hospital in Zimbabwe

While I was in the US for medical care we received delivery of a brand new Holland tractor.  Donated by supporters of  our UK Trust we were overwhelmed by their generosity. We have never had a brand new tractor to help us with the work here.  The tractor is so important in hauling water when we can't pump enough; in bringing firewood for cooking; in hauling pitsand and supplies for our building projects; and ploughing for our hospital field. We are so thankful for this genrous donation and the big help to our work.  It has already been put to good use and working hard! We have also finished up our Pediatric extension and our nurses station!  It seemed like it took a long time but we are so thankful for these new buildings which are already being put to good use.  One side of the nurses station is our new recovery room.  All patiens from theater come straight to here for more monitored care. We are finishing up putting the ceiling board ...

On Monday Stephanie, Judy and Denise and Jordan (4 of our visitors) went out to help with Well Baby Clinic where we give vaccinations to under 5’s.   It turned out to be a very busy clinic and they did not get home until after 4 p.m.!   They were very exhausted and dirty! On Tues Judy and Denise volunteered to go for ART outreach clinic.   This is a very busy clinic and they helped to do all the weights and handing out of medicines!   They got back about 5 p.m. very tired! On Thursday Denise volunteered to go for an ART outreach clinic 2 hours from here.   She is a nursing student from Finland and getting lots of experience in community health. On Thursday Sylvia and Chuck left for Gweru to say goodbyes to Sylvia’s family.   They meet up with the other 4 visitors on Sunday in Harare and the 6 of them go to The Hide on safari in Hwange Game Park and then 4 nights in Victoria Falls before they all leave for home. John and Jim finished the shel...

On Sunday of this past week (4 th of Nov) 11 of us left for Rhino Camp off Lake Kariba.   We drove to Kariba and took a boat for 1 hour to reach there.   Of course on the way one vehicle broke down and we waited an hour for another vehicle to come and change with us! We enjoyed 3 nights at Rhino camp and yes some of the group saw a Rhino.   That is always exciting since it is an extremely endangered animal.   We spent time riding and in the boat to see animals.   Rick, Major, Sylvia and Jordan spent time fishing and getting some bream for us to eat for breakfast! On Monday morning Denise Bloomqvist joined us.   Denise is a student nurse from Finland and flew in Sunday and our driver brought her from Harare on Monday morning to join us on the safari.   She found us by doing an internet search and we are happy to have her with us for the next 6 weeks.   She was so excited to see a lot of elephants up close!   Our last breakfast there ...

Well we finally got ZESA on  Day 11 at 1:40 p.m. We quickly cleaned freezers and fridges and went to get started again with new food. Then Thursday morning—46 hours later it went off. It got dark and rained a few drops here but closer to Karoi it rained hard and 2 power poles fell—so we went from 11 a.m. yesterday and it is Saturday night  and no power! They said they are working on it, but now we are on load shedding so not sure when load shedding will go off and if we get electricity back! Go figure! Maybe we need to send our electricity workers to NYC to help them get their power back (if they don’t mind waiting a month or so )! Our 4 new visitors arrived at 11:10 p.m. Thursday night.   Stephanie and John Woodman and Jim and Judy Eaton. They are retired Americans who live in Panama. Stephanie is on OR nurse and has been with us several times and her husband John has been here before too. They had been delayed in Washington DC for 2 days due to Su...