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(as of
06/16/2005)
A belated welcome to Keith and Ida Waddell!
They've been on site since September of 2004, and they've been a wonderful
addition to to the Mwandi family. As the new "project coordinators" they
have taken up the mantle of leadership following Fiona Dixon-Thompson's move to
the OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) Center. With Keith's extensive
background and knowledge in education and Ida's excellent nursing training, the
pair have really been a real asset to the mission of the hospital. We are
absolutely delighted to have them share in the mission's important work.
Welcome, Keith and Ida!
Network expansion planned
If all goes well, the Mwandi
Hospital network will expand its reach in June. A team will be onsite June
16-21 to undertake the project. Additional computer equipment training and
delivery of supplies are also a part of the plan. Look for updates later.
 The
Internet has come to Mwandi!
Posted March 1, 2004 from
Mwandi
At long last the communications
link with Mwandi has greatly improved. A new satellite Internet link was
established on Saturday, February 29, 2004. Pronet Limited of Lusaka, a
vendor for iWayAfrica installed the system and the first web pages were browsed
by Dr. Kaonga. A man of few words, Dr. Kaonga's smile told it all as he
checked the World Health Organization page, the Zambian Medical Association page
and other links with colleagues and associates. Several staff were able to
check email straightaway... saving the 3-hour round trip to Livingstone! A
wireless network is now being installed and will enable the notebook computers
already at the hospital to connect to the Internet without being tied to a desk.
Oh the joys of technology... praise be to God for the generosity of all who
enabled this project to happen. It's a beautiful thing!
Hickory, NC, team set to leave in September
Posted August 11, 2003
First Presbyterian Church of Hickory, NC, is sending a team of volunteers to
Mwandi September 2-21, 2003. Details will be posted soon.
Mooresville, NC, medical team completes trip
Posted August 11, 2003
 Surgeon
Michael Campbell, a member of First Presbyterian Church of Mooresville, NC, and
a team of seven medical personnel including Dr. Chong Lieu (also a member of FPC),
Tim Olenic, physician’s assistant Tony Tudor,
nurses Keth Alexander and Robin Ross, and operating room technician Rhonda
Southers, recently returned from a trip to Mwandi (July 17-29). The team
performed eighteen surgeries (one of which was a very difficult iliostomy "take
down") and saw numerous patients in the outpatient clinic. It was their first
trip, but not their last! The team will share a report with the Mooresville
congregation during the worship hour on Sunday, August 24, and at the Church
Night Supper on Sunday evening, October 5.
The team has brought an encouraging, yet challenging report
about the hospital and its needs. The good news is the interest in the work of
the hospital that has been generated recently. The "bad news" is that the needs
are great and urgent. So much more needs to be done in providing support
services, medical equipment, medicines and training!
Communications improves
Posted August 11, 2003
  The
new satellite phone at the Mwandi Hospital has been a big help but a more cost
effective solution still needs to be pursued. A full-time, fixed-cost Internet
connection (via satellite) has been proposed but funds are needed to purchase
the equipment and provide for its installation (approximately $8,000-$10,000 is
needed). An Internet connection will vastly improve the ability of the hospital
to communicate with others and provide an excellent tool for medical research
and collaboration. More information will be posted soon.
If you would like to contribute to the effort, please send your
donation to First Presbyterian Church, 249 West McLelland Ave., Mooresville, NC,
and mark it "Mwandi Fund."
Tragedy Visits Mwandi
Posted May 23, 2003
Hospital Administrator Elizabeth Sileshebo was killed in a tragic automobile
accident on Wednesday, May 7. Often described as the "heart and soul" of
the hospital, she will be sorely missed. Though we are grieved beyond
words at her loss, we trust that God's grace is sufficient and that He will
guide us all through these difficult days. We continue to remember
Elizabeth's family and the Mwandi community in our thoughts and prayers.
New Satellite Phone Delivered
Posted May 23, 2003
After the failure of the old PlanetOne satellite phone in March, a new
communication solution was needed. Through the generosity of donors at
First Presbyterian (Mooresville, NC), we have now delivered a brand new
Motorola 9505 Iridium satellite phone. The new service plan will reduce
the cost per minute of phone calls by more than half! A special data kit
is also in the process of being delivered which will once again enable email
communications.
New Project Coordinator (& Assistant to the Hospital Administrator)
October 2002, Fiona (Fred) Dixon-Thompson has arrived at Mwandi to become the new
Project Coordinator and Assistant to the Hospital Administrator who will be managing the guest houses (Kudu has now been added to Simba as a guest house), and do all other things that need to be done. She is a native of Australia, and has twice before served short term mission stays at Mwandi. We are very enthusiastic about her, and expect that she will do very well there.
Power Outage in Mwandi has Grave Consequences
This past June, a routine (and planned) power outage in the Mwandi-Sesheke area to permit for routine maintenance resulted in a death at Mwandi. The fact is that
when a hospital acquires electric power, it comes to depend upon it, and Mwandi is no exception. The hospital was unaware of the planned outage because Zesco,
the government entity which manages the electric power supply and electric grid only advertises such planned outages through newspaper advertisements, which
do not reach outlying places like Mwandi. Accordingly, when the power suddenly went out, on a Sunday morning, a patient who was hooked up to equipment to
sustain life lost hers before an alternate solution could be provided. Hospital staff, using the satellite telephone were finally able to locate Zesco maintenance people,
and found that the power would be out all day. This meant that the water supply was cut off (no water pumps without electricity), and the buildings were darker
without electric lights. Fortunately, it was a bright day. Subsequently, the Hospital Administrator and the acting Project Coordinator made a visit to Zesco, and were
promised that, in the future, planned power outages would be reported to the hospital by e-mail, a decided improvement, and an indication of the willingness of
government (Zesco) personnel to be as cooperative as possible.
Serving as Temporary Project Coordinator
Richard and Joyce Lambert have served at the hospital for about four of the last five years, in the capacity of Project Coordinators, which is a title intended to cover
a variety of areas and needs. Primarily, their responsibilities included oversight of hospital and vehicle maintenance, leadership in financial management, hosting
visiting medical and construction teams, oversight of construction and renovation, and just about anything else that needed to be done.
They came home from Mwandi near the end of 2001, but their successor, Fiona (Fred) Dixon-Thompson (Described in the first News article above) had not been
able to come as scheduled due to illness. So, Richard and Joyce returned to Mwandi shortly after Christmas 2001 for another three months, and came home in late
Spring 2002. However, Fiona was still not able to be on-site, so the Lamberts went back in May 2002 to host a Doctor surgical team from Salisbury North Carolina,
for whom they had promised hosting, if Fiona had not yet arrived.
Three days after the medical team completed its word and departed, the Lamberts left for home again, but this time, they left a temporary Project Coordinator in
place to hold things together, short term, during a time when other visitors were due to arrive. The Rev. Steve Moss, recently retired from ministry as Pastor of the
Thyatira Presbyterian Church, in Salisbury, North Carolina, arrived a few days earlier, and became "Our Man in Mwandi" for five weeks, so that he could host a
study team from Davidson College. That team, consisting of six students and one faculty advisor arrived for a stay of nearly three weeks. Their goal was to learn
about tropical diseases, and to study the practice and reality of third world medicine on the continent of Africa. The students worked with the Doctors and medical
staff during the mornings, and worked on individual projects related to their study during the afternoons. They traveled to one of the "bush clinics" to see, first
hand, what medical service is provided in places that are so isolated that Mwandi seems almost cosmopolitan by comparison. They spent an afternoon with a real
"witch doctor" and learned how such practitioners of "traditional medicine" function.
Steve departed Mwandi at the end of June, and Fiona, as noted above, arrived a couple of months later. The title of her position has been changed, to reflect that
she serves as a volunteer worker under the authority of the Hospital’s Administrator. But the work goes on, and is in excellent hands.
Matters of medical Interest
The Government of Zambia, which is responsible for the assignment of Doctors across the nation made a significant contribution to the improvement of medicine in
the Mwandi area, at the end of 2001, when it assigned a husband and wife Doctor team to Mwandi for a term of service. Dr. Kaonga, the husband, is a fine surgeon
and doctor, and has significantly upgraded medical service at Mwandi during the past year. His wife, Dr. Nambao, also a very fine doctor, whose areas of interest
are pediatrics and public health, has also made a major contribution to the hospital community. This past summer, the doctors and their two children moved into the
old Mission House, which has just been renovated. A note of true sadness and grief.: their youngest son, born in June 2002, died suddenly in November 2002 from
acute pneumonia while he and his mother were visiting in Lusaka.
Mr. Tembo, one of the clinical officers of the hospital, has been away at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College, Tanzania, for three years for advanced training, and
he returned this fall to serve at the hospital. He is now qualified to perform minor surgery. He and his family have moved into a new house just completed, located
adjacent next to the old Mission House.
Dr. Ozzie Reynolds, who has twice before been to Mwandi to perform cataract surgeries came back to Mwandi in May 2002, and did more than forty operations
during the two weeks that he was there. He has now done close to 125 cataract surgeries, over these three trips. His wife Patsy and his son Chance are part of his
team for this work. In addition, this time, he brought five others: his daughter-in-law Marjory, who worked on a computer program for the pharmacy; Dr. Kathi
Russo, a Pediatrician, who began work on the development of a program to reduce the transmission of AIDS from pregnant mothers to their newborn babies - this
continues as a work in progress, and grant money to put the program in place is currently being sought; her husband Rip Kersey, a management specialist, who
provided management training for senior hospital staff; Dr. John Bungardner, a retired anesthesiologist, who worked with Dr. Kaonga; and his wife Barbara, a
retired nurse, who provided a variety of services to the hospital. All in all, it was an amazingly productive visit.
For anyone reading this news report, please be advised that we are always seeking medical people (doctors and/or medical teams) who might be interested in going
to Mwandi to provide short term assistance. There is always a need for additional surgeries, and whenever we can line up someone to go, the hospital staff lines up
patients. It is absolutely true that no person goes to Mwandi to serve without being greatly rewarded and satisfied. If you know anyone who might be interested,
please contact Hospital Trustee Dr. Peggy Schrieber, listed in the "giving" section at the end of the website, or Steve Moss at 704-638-6490.
The hospital has also been the grateful recipient of the services of three missionary nurses from the nation of Bangladesh, and they have provided a superior level of
service, as well as a wonderfully joyful attitude, to the hospital community.
International and Ecumenical Nature of the Hospital Community
In case you haven’t noticed it yet, the hospital is developing into a rather international and ecumenical community. The hospital is owned by the United Church of
Zambia, it is Zambian by geography and nationality, and Lozi by tribal affiliation. The hospital community contains a Church of Scotland gardener, three Bangladesh
nurses, an Australian Assistant to the Administrator, and doctors come periodically from the United States. In addition, we have the promise of some Brazilian
doctors, who serve at a hospital in Rio Verde, Brazil where Presbyterians from Rowan County, North Carolina recently helped build a hospital chapel, who have
indicated their desire to come to Mwandi for short-term service.
The Hospital Agriculture Program
Under the leadership of Miss Jane Petty, missionary gardener from the Church of Scotland (CofS), who has now been at the hospital for well over a year, crop
production is beginning to flourish. In season, she has a large garden to raise maize (corn), which is just about the most basic food crop item in Zambia. In addition,
she is raising chickens for eggs and meat, and rabbits for meat. She is working to train some local people in gardening skills, and during the time of her four-year
contract hopes to demonstrate that the hospital can greatly improve the diet of its patients. While she is paid by the Church of Scotland, she also raises support from
individual congregations in Scotland, and has received initial assistance from Salem Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The Mwandi Community Basic School
The original mission school at Mwandi was taken over by the government, when Zambia became a nation, in the 1960’s, and became a part of the nation’s school
system. But for a variety of reasons, the government is now "giving back" the mission schools which it took over, and so the Basic School (grades 1-9) in the
Mwandi Community came back to the United Church of Zambia, in the spring of 2001. The school, as of yet, does not have electrical power, and is greatly
overcrowded, having about one thousand students in a facility built for five hundred (so it operates on a two-shift basis). We do not see that the school will become
a part of the hospital, but it is located right adjacent to the hospital, and since both facilities are owned by the United Church of Zambia, there is every likelihood that
a close relationship will continue.
Hospital Endowment
The Board of Trustees has embarked on an ambitious campaign to raise a one million dollar
endowment for the hospital. This came about because it has become clear that, over the long
run, the Government of Zambia, despite its best intentions, is unlikely to be able to fulfill its
financial obligations, long term, to fund the operation of the hospital. The hospital is such a vital
link in providing wide-spread medical care in its part of Zambia, that the Trustees want to ensure
that it has what it needs in order to fulfill its medical mission. The endowment should make this
possible. The American Trustees are, accordingly, at work to raise this endowment, and hope to
have it all in hand before the end of 2003. If you would like to contribute, or know someone
who might be interested, please contact one of the Trustees (listed elsewhere in this Website), or
contact the Thyatira Presbyterian Church at Mill Bridge (704-636-1595). We can provide a
brand new video about the hospital, and, if you don’t live too far away, we will come and visit,
and talk with you about the hospital. For this is one of the most deserving, and best-run mission
projects that you can find anywhere.
Hospital trustees
Management of the
hospital is handled by several different entities. The hospital is owned and
operated by the United Church of Zambia. Locally, the hospital has a management
board, comprised of its key staff personnel, together with the General
Secretary of the United Church of Zambia. Then there is a Board of Trustees,
made up of a (roughly) equal number of Zambians and Americans. The Zambian
members are appointed by the General Secretary of the United Church of Zambia,
and the American members are selected by the Mwandi management team that
operates out of the Thyatira Presbyterian Church at Mill Bridge, in Salisbury,
North Carolina. These are all people who have visited Mwandi on a number of
occasions, and who are intimately involved in its work They are listed
separately in this Website, and are available upon request to talk about the work
at the hospital. This Board meets annually, and is the primary fundraiser for
funds over and above what the government of Zambia and the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) provide for the hospital. Usually, the Board meets at the hospital one
year, and in the United States the following year. In May of this year, the
Board met for two days in Edinburgh, Scotland, in honor of the fact that the Church of
Scotland has long been a partner in support of the hospital.
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