COMP GOES HERE 14 TEXTASS ADVENTURES 2
(Continued from Page 1) The next few days we spent mapping out health service providers on both the Zimbabwe and Zambia side of the border. It was during this process that we really began to understand the countries that we were in. In Zambia; in general, I found that there was an obvious shortage of people compared to what I am accustomed to. This was coupled with the fact that people stayed in areas or villages within the district and these were, in general, very sparsely populated. This meant that people here walked, for miles on end, to access almost anything. Every district along the main routes had at least one health facility but often these facilities were run by a few clinic staff. These facilities provided treatment for primary health care needs and also did seem relatively equipped for the HIV/ AIDS pandemic. There were two things that I noticed immediately; hospitalisation was not offered at many places and access to medical staff such as general practitioners depends very much on which village you are in. Some places have, some do not. It would seem that aside from the healthcare facilities, the villages, the shanty zinc structures scattered all along the gravel paths selling airtime and a few locals carrying cans with low grade diesel, that there is very little else in Zambia. If you are only there doing work and not exposing yourself to anything more than that is all that you will experience. Fortunately I took some time out in each day to try and soak up what was around me. I took a boat trip along the lake that my accommodation overlooked, I spent time viewing the many animals that we saw, I absorbed nature, I breathed purposefully to get pure this clean air into my lungs, spent hours every night gazing at a sky that had more stars in it than any sky I have ever seen before, made an adventure out of my daily sand road trips, especially the bits that had more scenery, spoke to as many people as I could, tried to understand the lifestyle of Zambia, I accepted their almost boundless hospitality where I could and truly appreciated it. This was a warmer side of Zambia. It is also during my time in this different Zambia that I again discovered that Zambia is not South Africa and no comparisons could be made. Zambia is peacefully content with what Zambia is and has. Its people accept the long walks everywhere simultaneously accepting the amazing nature around them. There is contentment with living in harmony with the land and surviving in a subsistence manner yet all of Zambia’s children are in school and are very literate and I’m sure this is applicable to people in the “unconfirmed villages” (a response we had when inquiring about demographics) as wel