Tigwepo - March, 2017 22
Through our combined efforts we managed to get doctors at Beit Cure hospital in Lusaka which specializes in congenital defects and care for children, agree to examine Taonga and treat him free of charge. ZGF staff felt the need to contribute even more paractically and raised money for Taonga’s transport and upkeep while in Lusaka through personal donations. We even managed to get Isokda district hospital to release their ambulance and driver to bring him to Lusaka for treatment and covered the cost for this as well.
It is easy to wish for a story tale ending after such heroic efforts but sadly there is no ‘happily ever after’ to this tale. The doctors at Beit Cure diagnosed Taonga with an inherited incurable genetic condition, which can be managed but for which facilities are not available in his district. While I am glad that the Esther is now aware of what is wrong with her son, I am sad that her advocacy for improved services may not yield results quickly enough to help her son. Efforts are underway to see if Taonga can move to Lusaka to access the facilities he needs to manage his condition and have an opportunity to continue with his schooling. However for this to happen, he will have to be separated from his mother. The thought of separation breaks the Esthers’s heart but she is willing to do it if it will provide her son the opportunity to do what he loves - learning. It is a sad reality of health provision in Zambia that a mother has to make this choice.
As for the team we have been exposed to the helplessness that many people fell in the communities where our partners work. We had a real practical example where the time lag ofpolicy reform has real-life consequences and cannot be merely dismissed as just the cost of doing policy engagement work. Coming together to help Esther and Taonga has driven us to begin to explore ways to practically combine sustainable policy reform with practical relief for communities. It is a long road, but like Taonga we preserver in the face of challenges.
*Real names withheld for privacy reasons.