Macha, Zambia - Week 2

 Hey Y’all!

     This is Evyn writing to you :) What a week we have had! On Monday we arrived in Macha, and on Wednesday we started clinicals! So many things have happened since we got here, if I wrote them all, you would be reading a short novel. So, I want to share with you a team tradition. At dinner, or other planned times, we share the highlights of our day as follows: high, low, buffalo. A high is what went really well for you that day, a low is something that was challenging or not so good. And finally, a buffalo is a silly story, or something comically out of place in your day. 

    Let me show you: A high (or more) from this week: We ate delicious food, delivered babies, scrubbed into surgery, sang with soon-to-be mothers in the mother’s shelter, delighted in the giggles of children at a ministry called Push the Rock, enthusiastically played all sorts of card games, ran (or walked) in the cool mornings and evenings, savored strawberry ice cream in the dry heat, and shared devotions with one another around the table, sharing the joys of s’mores with our in-country coach.

     A low from this week: We are learning to adjust to the dry heat, the red dust, the massive spiders, and the sporadic availability of shower water. All of these have led to a lot of laughter and gratitude, so they aren’t really lows. On a deeper note, part of being a nurse is being with people in their pain, on their worst days, and both loving them and doing our job. Several of us have seen hard cases this week. Some of these situations are aggravated by a lack of resources and that is something that is hard to watch. 

     A buffalo (trust that there’s way more than I am able to put here!): Yesterday, a number of us went shopping for chitenges and hair for braids. We stopped at one shop in the market and were greeted by the cutest little boy. He followed us to the next shop and went round and round giving each of us fist bumps and squealing after each one like it was the best moment of his life. Ella made him laugh by touching her forehead on a bucket of popsicles. He immediately switched from giving fist bumps to bumping his head on the bucket (gently, don’t worry) and giggling uncontrollably. We determined that maybe that wasn’t the best idea. And so Ella taught him to squeeze his nose and honk! He died laughing after every honk. When we had to leave, we called “bye” back and forth until he was out of sight. So, welcome to “high, low, buffalo,” I hope that gave you a sense of our time so far. Please keep us in your prayers as we keep learning, growing, serving, and learning to be better nurses and look more like Jesus. 

                   Lots of love, 

                                 Evyn Rivers