Monday, May 3, 2010
Sossusvlei in the Namib desert
Can't post a full blog folks because internet is too skimpy. Will post two from Felix Unite on the Namibia South Africa border in 5 days time................
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Maun, Botswana to Windhoek, Namibia
Maun, Botswana to Windhoek, Namibia – 836 kms in 5 days, with legs of 168, 140, 207, 162 and 159 kms.
Foreheads dripping, tongues slaked, this week we rode the Kalahari. Not as you might imagine in the sweltering heat. Unexpectedly, we rode in the rain. At some point in all of our 9 days in normally very arid Botswana we had moments of rain. For the last 5 days right up to the Namibian border we encountered torrential rains amidst lightning and thunder. These weren’t your typical short-lived African thunder bursts. Some of the storms lasted for 6 to 8 hours at a time. For three nights as we attempted to sleep in our flimsy tents, we were entertained by very close bolts of lightning followed by thunderous rolling claps of sound, each round of thunder releasing more drenching rain. By timing the interval between light and sound, I could tell if the storms were advancing or retreating. Awaking in the morning, we found that one camper, having failed to find high ground for his tent, was flooded. He abandoned his tent for a bench in the support truck. Rivulets ran hither and yon.
On my 71st birthday I rode 207 kms. Not only was this the longest single day’s ride for the Tour since leaving Cairo, but it was also a personal best for me – the longest one day ride I have ever done in my life!
I usually ride alone, but on this auspicious day, Cat elected to chaperone me on my journey. She is a fabulous person - a litigation lawyer from New York. As we rode we solved many of the world’s problems. It took us over 50 kms to review the history of South Africa from Chaka to Zuma, with key references to Churchill, Rhodes, Smuts and Mandela. We discussed the legal and political implications of the recent financial meltdown where Cat was involved in a very significant way, and we began the redesign of health care for 2020.
On this 207 km day we rode the first 80 and the last 20 in the rain. In between we saw storm cells to each side as they swirled about. As a cell passed, we faced the advancing head wind from the clockwise vortex only to be swept on the other side by the storm’s tail wind. This day ended at the Namibian border. For the last two kilometres the large rain droplets turned to quarter inch balls of ice.
Hail – in Botswana – it was hard to believe!
I’ve learned something about physical fitness that I never knew before. It’s probably ‘old hat’ to many of my athletic friends, but it was a new discovery for me. Advance training for this Tour in the Canadian winter allowed 5 or 6 days a week in the gym with various weight and spinning options. Then, on joining the Tour in full flight, I found myself riding 6 to 10 hour days. After 13 riding days from Lilongwe to Maun, my legs were painful and stiff.
Then, to my surprise, on this leg to Windhoek, I seemed to rediscover my rugby legs of yesteryear. I have some stiffness after a long ride, but no longer are my muscles painful.
The discovery is that one has to do a very considerable amount of forced exercise before breaking through to a new level of fitness – not one’s everyday experience of a few days in the gym or a few short bike rides.
Eastern Zambia was surprisingly hilly. Botswana, as advertised, was flat. There were hills as we approached Windhoek.
As one rider said, “the hills make you strong because of the work of climbing. But, it is the flat that makes you fit. All you do is pedal endlessly all day long.”
I’ve come to know most of the riders quite well now – too many to name them all. I’ll post a photo series later. They are a fun and fascinating group.
Guess who took the Okavango delta air flight with me? – Jessica and Lianne.
Guess the elevation of Windhoek? – 800 metres above Maun – it was a steady and relentless climb, with headwinds and rain.
Guess the universal language that unifies all races in Namibia? – Afrikaans.
I have a confession to make. I had hoped to write more about all of the thoughts and ideas that go through my head each day as I ride along, but come the end of the day, all I can do is pitch my tent, eat supper and hit the sack at 7 pm (1900 hours, as they say in Zambia)!
Breakfast is at 6 am and we’re on the road by 6.30.
It’s rather redeeming to have one’s life reduced to a tent and a bicycle!
Foreheads dripping, tongues slaked, this week we rode the Kalahari. Not as you might imagine in the sweltering heat. Unexpectedly, we rode in the rain. At some point in all of our 9 days in normally very arid Botswana we had moments of rain. For the last 5 days right up to the Namibian border we encountered torrential rains amidst lightning and thunder. These weren’t your typical short-lived African thunder bursts. Some of the storms lasted for 6 to 8 hours at a time. For three nights as we attempted to sleep in our flimsy tents, we were entertained by very close bolts of lightning followed by thunderous rolling claps of sound, each round of thunder releasing more drenching rain. By timing the interval between light and sound, I could tell if the storms were advancing or retreating. Awaking in the morning, we found that one camper, having failed to find high ground for his tent, was flooded. He abandoned his tent for a bench in the support truck. Rivulets ran hither and yon.
On my 71st birthday I rode 207 kms. Not only was this the longest single day’s ride for the Tour since leaving Cairo, but it was also a personal best for me – the longest one day ride I have ever done in my life!
I usually ride alone, but on this auspicious day, Cat elected to chaperone me on my journey. She is a fabulous person - a litigation lawyer from New York. As we rode we solved many of the world’s problems. It took us over 50 kms to review the history of South Africa from Chaka to Zuma, with key references to Churchill, Rhodes, Smuts and Mandela. We discussed the legal and political implications of the recent financial meltdown where Cat was involved in a very significant way, and we began the redesign of health care for 2020.
On this 207 km day we rode the first 80 and the last 20 in the rain. In between we saw storm cells to each side as they swirled about. As a cell passed, we faced the advancing head wind from the clockwise vortex only to be swept on the other side by the storm’s tail wind. This day ended at the Namibian border. For the last two kilometres the large rain droplets turned to quarter inch balls of ice.
Hail – in Botswana – it was hard to believe!
I’ve learned something about physical fitness that I never knew before. It’s probably ‘old hat’ to many of my athletic friends, but it was a new discovery for me. Advance training for this Tour in the Canadian winter allowed 5 or 6 days a week in the gym with various weight and spinning options. Then, on joining the Tour in full flight, I found myself riding 6 to 10 hour days. After 13 riding days from Lilongwe to Maun, my legs were painful and stiff.
Then, to my surprise, on this leg to Windhoek, I seemed to rediscover my rugby legs of yesteryear. I have some stiffness after a long ride, but no longer are my muscles painful.
The discovery is that one has to do a very considerable amount of forced exercise before breaking through to a new level of fitness – not one’s everyday experience of a few days in the gym or a few short bike rides.
Eastern Zambia was surprisingly hilly. Botswana, as advertised, was flat. There were hills as we approached Windhoek.
As one rider said, “the hills make you strong because of the work of climbing. But, it is the flat that makes you fit. All you do is pedal endlessly all day long.”
I’ve come to know most of the riders quite well now – too many to name them all. I’ll post a photo series later. They are a fun and fascinating group.
Guess who took the Okavango delta air flight with me? – Jessica and Lianne.
Guess the elevation of Windhoek? – 800 metres above Maun – it was a steady and relentless climb, with headwinds and rain.
Guess the universal language that unifies all races in Namibia? – Afrikaans.
I have a confession to make. I had hoped to write more about all of the thoughts and ideas that go through my head each day as I ride along, but come the end of the day, all I can do is pitch my tent, eat supper and hit the sack at 7 pm (1900 hours, as they say in Zambia)!
Breakfast is at 6 am and we’re on the road by 6.30.
It’s rather redeeming to have one’s life reduced to a tent and a bicycle!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Victoria Falls, Zambia to Maun, Botswana
Victoria Falls, Zambia to Maun, Botswana – 680 kms in 5 days.
I am missing my two travel mates, Jessica and Lianne. They sent their bikes back to Lusaka, rode the lunch truck with us across the Botswana border, took the Chobe river cruise with the Tour riders, before bussing on to Gaborone to see Lani, a friend from UBC Okanagan.
On the river cruise we saw elephants, hippos, a lion, Marabou storks, fish eagles, hammerkops, crocodiles, monitor lizards, kudus and more.
As we broke camp leaving Kasani in northern Botswana, we were told that we may see game along the road.
As usual, at the start of each day, the riders and racers spread out quite quickly.
On this day as we rode, Carol and Andra found themselves surrounded by a large pack of wild dogs who seemed very interested in them. The dogs circled and bayed.
Fortunately for the riders, a car approached from the rear, saw their dilemma and rode behind them for about 10 minutes. The dogs finally broke off and left, disappointed that their morning ‘meal’ was denied!
Many of us saw giraffe on the road. Patrick and Wayne saw elephants.
As I rode, alone, I saw an oncoming car flashing his lights on and off as he passed. A few moments later a safari game-viewing vehicle stopped me to advise that I was to be cautious. There was a herd of Buffalo on the roadside ahead. With that warning, he sped on his merry way. As I crested a small hill, looking down, I saw a dozen Cape Buffalo grazing on the left side of the road. About twenty feet from the road, watching vigilantly over his herd, stood the alpha male, menacing and mean. I know that the buffalo and the hippo are amongst the most unpredictable and dangerous animals on the planet. My first instinct was to look for calves – there were none. Calves would make the herd hyper-vigilant and potentially more dangerous.
Some years ago, whilst camping at a Provincial Park in British Columbia, a game warden came to advise campers that grizzly bears were in the neighbourhood. We should stay in camp if possible. If we did leave, we were to go in groups. In the unlikely and unpleasant …sic… situation that we did encounter a bear, we should stand upright and face him directly. We should raise our arms to look greater than life, and we should scream loudly. That was one’s only line of defence.
As I cycled down towards the herd and the watchful bull, I realized that my ‘grizzly bear’ moment had come. I pedalled to get maximum speed. As I approached him, I stood up and faced sideways, waving wildly, and screaming ‘yeahhhhhhhhh’.
The bull looked up, saw this strange apparition waving and shouting from moving cycle. He hesitated, and then, along with his herd, he bolted into the bush. If it hadn’t happened this way, I would not be posting this blog today!!
Reaching Maun on the edge of the Okavango delta, who of all people were there to meet me? Jessica and Lianne. They had borrowed Lani’s 4x4 and had come to join the Tour on our day off. We plan to take the flight over the delta today. Did you know that the Okavango and the Jordan are the only rivers in the world that do not enter an ocean? The Jordan with scant flow drains to the heavily salinated Dead Sea. The Okavango drains to the delta, the largest wetland in the world. The fact that it is not a saltpan is a testimony to the wonders of wetland regeneration of nature.
I’ve been riding now for 17 days, and my legs seem to get more painful and stiffer each day. The night’s rest before each ride doesn’t seem to allow me to fully recover. Apparently, this is what other riders felt early on when leaving Cairo. So……. I’ll just keep on pedalling, and maybe I’ll break through soon.
I am missing my two travel mates, Jessica and Lianne. They sent their bikes back to Lusaka, rode the lunch truck with us across the Botswana border, took the Chobe river cruise with the Tour riders, before bussing on to Gaborone to see Lani, a friend from UBC Okanagan.
On the river cruise we saw elephants, hippos, a lion, Marabou storks, fish eagles, hammerkops, crocodiles, monitor lizards, kudus and more.
As we broke camp leaving Kasani in northern Botswana, we were told that we may see game along the road.
As usual, at the start of each day, the riders and racers spread out quite quickly.
On this day as we rode, Carol and Andra found themselves surrounded by a large pack of wild dogs who seemed very interested in them. The dogs circled and bayed.
Fortunately for the riders, a car approached from the rear, saw their dilemma and rode behind them for about 10 minutes. The dogs finally broke off and left, disappointed that their morning ‘meal’ was denied!
Many of us saw giraffe on the road. Patrick and Wayne saw elephants.
As I rode, alone, I saw an oncoming car flashing his lights on and off as he passed. A few moments later a safari game-viewing vehicle stopped me to advise that I was to be cautious. There was a herd of Buffalo on the roadside ahead. With that warning, he sped on his merry way. As I crested a small hill, looking down, I saw a dozen Cape Buffalo grazing on the left side of the road. About twenty feet from the road, watching vigilantly over his herd, stood the alpha male, menacing and mean. I know that the buffalo and the hippo are amongst the most unpredictable and dangerous animals on the planet. My first instinct was to look for calves – there were none. Calves would make the herd hyper-vigilant and potentially more dangerous.
Some years ago, whilst camping at a Provincial Park in British Columbia, a game warden came to advise campers that grizzly bears were in the neighbourhood. We should stay in camp if possible. If we did leave, we were to go in groups. In the unlikely and unpleasant …sic… situation that we did encounter a bear, we should stand upright and face him directly. We should raise our arms to look greater than life, and we should scream loudly. That was one’s only line of defence.
As I cycled down towards the herd and the watchful bull, I realized that my ‘grizzly bear’ moment had come. I pedalled to get maximum speed. As I approached him, I stood up and faced sideways, waving wildly, and screaming ‘yeahhhhhhhhh’.
The bull looked up, saw this strange apparition waving and shouting from moving cycle. He hesitated, and then, along with his herd, he bolted into the bush. If it hadn’t happened this way, I would not be posting this blog today!!
Reaching Maun on the edge of the Okavango delta, who of all people were there to meet me? Jessica and Lianne. They had borrowed Lani’s 4x4 and had come to join the Tour on our day off. We plan to take the flight over the delta today. Did you know that the Okavango and the Jordan are the only rivers in the world that do not enter an ocean? The Jordan with scant flow drains to the heavily salinated Dead Sea. The Okavango drains to the delta, the largest wetland in the world. The fact that it is not a saltpan is a testimony to the wonders of wetland regeneration of nature.
I’ve been riding now for 17 days, and my legs seem to get more painful and stiffer each day. The night’s rest before each ride doesn’t seem to allow me to fully recover. Apparently, this is what other riders felt early on when leaving Cairo. So……. I’ll just keep on pedalling, and maybe I’ll break through soon.
Lianne..... 'Oh the Places you go...
Oh the Places You’ll Go…..
I think our experience as a part of Tour D’Afrique has been described by my two friends who have a beautiful vernacular, and therefore I will try to describe the experience from a humorous standpoint.
Firstly I would like to ask who thought I would be able to ride over 1000km in the African Sun??? Exactly…I didn’t either! But we all did it, and we did it gracefully. This time in Africa I have learned many things, but one of the most inspirational being the power of believing in oneself. The three of us really really wanted this bike ride and we trained and we rode hard….and the payout was the completion of a very difficult event. It goes to show that you really can do anything if you put your mind to it.
Secondly, I would love to express my passion for nursing. How we linked nursing with riding your bike across an African country is still mind boggling, but it has been done! I’ve enjoyed spending my time with the two nurses on the tour and learning the art of fluid replacement, rash management, and sadle soreology…..which I may or may not have been a patient of the later ailment.
Looking back it is hard to believe it is over. What is even more surprising is how much I am going to miss it. Who in their right mind would miss waking up at 5 am, packing up the tent again, and applying cream to a very sore bottom only to get on your bicycle to ride over 150km in the hot African sun? I do…and it makes me want to do it over again!
One of the finer memories from this trip was the noises you would hear at night…they were pretty much the typical African sounds, dogs barking, people dancing and playing music, and those darn roosters crowing all night. But wait….don’t those roosters belong to the tour staff?? On a few occasions the local staff who drove the support vehicles bought roosters to eat. However, they often took a few days to prepare the meals and riders patience would slowly be pushed as the roosters kept us up at all hours of the night.
Another favorite memory of mine was day 3 without running water…Not that bad, I know. But 3 days of riding your bike and producing more sweat than you ever have in your life and knowing you have to share a tent, that is a little more challenging. We were quite good at using the sun to “sterilize” your clothes and baby wipes to shower with. But on day 3 we stayed at a camp with a water pump. I will never forget the sheer joy on peoples face as people took turns inching themselves under the water pump for a shot of fresh skin sans salt!
On a serious note, I will truly miss the amazing food. Who would not love 4 solid meals a day with the portion sizes enough to feed a mother pregnant with triplets? The best part was the guilt free feeling that was accompanied by a hard day of riding. I am currently working on shrinking my stomach back down for my return home.
So in closing I want to express how much I have enjoyed the members of Tour D’Afrique, my fellow riders, and my two closest friends Bill and Jessica. I feel quite sad to know that this trip has come to an end, but on the positive side I am left with new outdoor enthusiast friends, stronger relations with my existing colleagues, and a deeper love for Zambia and it’s beautiful people.
I love biking. I love Zambia. I love these times of my life!
Kilimanjaro next year team?
Lianne
I think our experience as a part of Tour D’Afrique has been described by my two friends who have a beautiful vernacular, and therefore I will try to describe the experience from a humorous standpoint.
Firstly I would like to ask who thought I would be able to ride over 1000km in the African Sun??? Exactly…I didn’t either! But we all did it, and we did it gracefully. This time in Africa I have learned many things, but one of the most inspirational being the power of believing in oneself. The three of us really really wanted this bike ride and we trained and we rode hard….and the payout was the completion of a very difficult event. It goes to show that you really can do anything if you put your mind to it.
Secondly, I would love to express my passion for nursing. How we linked nursing with riding your bike across an African country is still mind boggling, but it has been done! I’ve enjoyed spending my time with the two nurses on the tour and learning the art of fluid replacement, rash management, and sadle soreology…..which I may or may not have been a patient of the later ailment.
Looking back it is hard to believe it is over. What is even more surprising is how much I am going to miss it. Who in their right mind would miss waking up at 5 am, packing up the tent again, and applying cream to a very sore bottom only to get on your bicycle to ride over 150km in the hot African sun? I do…and it makes me want to do it over again!
One of the finer memories from this trip was the noises you would hear at night…they were pretty much the typical African sounds, dogs barking, people dancing and playing music, and those darn roosters crowing all night. But wait….don’t those roosters belong to the tour staff?? On a few occasions the local staff who drove the support vehicles bought roosters to eat. However, they often took a few days to prepare the meals and riders patience would slowly be pushed as the roosters kept us up at all hours of the night.
Another favorite memory of mine was day 3 without running water…Not that bad, I know. But 3 days of riding your bike and producing more sweat than you ever have in your life and knowing you have to share a tent, that is a little more challenging. We were quite good at using the sun to “sterilize” your clothes and baby wipes to shower with. But on day 3 we stayed at a camp with a water pump. I will never forget the sheer joy on peoples face as people took turns inching themselves under the water pump for a shot of fresh skin sans salt!
On a serious note, I will truly miss the amazing food. Who would not love 4 solid meals a day with the portion sizes enough to feed a mother pregnant with triplets? The best part was the guilt free feeling that was accompanied by a hard day of riding. I am currently working on shrinking my stomach back down for my return home.
So in closing I want to express how much I have enjoyed the members of Tour D’Afrique, my fellow riders, and my two closest friends Bill and Jessica. I feel quite sad to know that this trip has come to an end, but on the positive side I am left with new outdoor enthusiast friends, stronger relations with my existing colleagues, and a deeper love for Zambia and it’s beautiful people.
I love biking. I love Zambia. I love these times of my life!
Kilimanjaro next year team?
Lianne
Saturday, April 17, 2010
So why Western Province, Zambia?
People ask me, ‘Bill, why do you go to Western Province to do your work?’
As stories go, it’s a short one……..
Five years ago, reaching a point in my life where I would be free to give back to Africa, the continent of my childhood, I set out in search of my University of Toronto Medical School classmate, Chifumbe Chintu.
He was easy to find. The Professor of Paediatrics from the day he returned to Zambia, then the only trained Paediatrician in the country, he’s now an international icon in terms of his multiple and diverse contributions to health care in Africa.
In the bowels of the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, there was my graduation class picture on the wall of his office.
At different times, most of my family members have been to Zambia with me, Rebeccah, Bev, Sarah, Mary Ellen and Rachel. I attended a Freeman Patterson photo workshop in Namaqaland in the Western Cape with Martha. Mar, you are next to come with me to Zambia.
Chifumbe directed me to Dean Mulla, who asked if I could help to develop Thoracic Surgery in Zambia. It did not take long for me to realize that Thoracic Surgery development in Zambia wasn’t going to happen any time soon. In Canada, and other first world countries, we cantilever Thoracic Surgery off a sophisticated General Surgery platform. Here in Zambia, surgical development is still quite basic, especially in rural areas.
Over the next three years, I met with several Surgery types in Lusaka but never gained any traction. I arranged to spend a month with one surgeon one year. When I arrived, he was away. He had forgotten my offer to work with him, and so I began looking elsewhere.
Along the way, I met with Dr Margaret Maimbolwa, Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Medicine – and it was here that we began to make headway.
Through Margaret we saw a Memorandum of Understanding between UBC Okanagan and University of Zambia come to fruition. The long-term outcome for this MoU will likely be in the field of Nursing education and simulation lab teaching.
Through Margaret we were directed to support health activities in Western Province, sometimes known as the ‘neglected province.’
Lianne and Jessica, then recent graduates from UBC Okanagan School of Nursing, had volunteered to go to Mongu, Capital of Western Province to teach at the local two-year diploma Nursing School there.
Knowing nothing about Mongu, the needs, the suitability of such a venture, safety issues, housing options and a raft of other issues, I took it upon myself to go to Mongu in person to check it out.
It was in Mongu that I met Dr Andrew Silumesii, CEO of the Lewanika General Hospital, and with nursing school-teachers Mumbuwa Silumbu and Pelina Chibanje. Administratively, the School of Nursing also comes under Dr Silumesii’s purview.
This was just the beginning of what would develop into wonderful friendships with these colleagues and with many others.
Jessica and Lianne taught at the Nursing School for six months. They stayed with Sister Christina at one of the Catholic Orders. They built relationships with all and sundry. In doing so, not only did the citizens of Mongu take them into their collective hearts, but also they returned their affections in equal part.
They became known fondly as our ‘makuwa Lozi girls’; white women trying to learn their local language.
And then, like in Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘The Tipping Point’, as if like gifts from the gods, others signed up to join our Zambian mission; Gary O’Connor – Orthopaedic Surgeon, Linda Hawker – Family Physician, Cameron O’Connor – then UofA Science graduate, now medical student, Kim Lefevre – Neurosurgeon, Tim Murphy and Ken McKenzie - Family Physicians, Felour Berlouzi and Nicole Arnt – Registered Nurses, Glynn Jones – Hospitalist, Joan Basset-Smith, Fay Karp, Joan Bottorff, Carole Robinson and Muriel Kranabetter – all Faculty members at UBC Okanagan, Tom Kinahan – Urologist, and my daughter Rebeccah – a very experienced consultant in international development.
We teamed up with the Canadian Network for International Surgery. In October 2009 we took an Essential Surgical Skills course to train 24 local physicians, medical licentiates, clinical officers and one Nurse Practitioner. Of course, Jessica and Lianne came with us to develop the nursing components to the ESS course, something CNIS had yet to do. We stayed at a new 12 bed house run by Sister Kathy of the Presentation Sisters.
In February 2010, Fay Jess and Lianne lead a successful 7-week student elective to Mongu for 10 UBC Okanagan fourth year nursing students.
We founded the Okanagan Zambia Health Initiative as a registered structure in Canada. Check us out at
http://www.okazhi.org
Then, Jessica Lianne and I joined up with the Tour d’Afrique to raise awareness of our work.
You can see the rest of the story at
http://cyclingforzambia.blogspot.com
The media event in Lusaka on April 12, 2010, was most satisfying for all of us. As you will see from our photos, posted at the blogspot, all of our most valuable and trusted colleagues and advisors were there; Dr Margaret Maimbolwa, Professor Chifumbe Chintu, Dr Andrew Silumesii and Dr Chayza Sikambale.
This year, as a group, we were awarded the ‘Volunteer of the Year’ award by the Canadian Network for International Surgery for our work in Western province. We were humbled and honoured.
We will return again to Western province this October.
I’ll post another blog sometime soon on our philosophy of medical health care support – the model that is defining our work.
For now, I’ve got to get my beauty sleep – at 06.30 hours tomorrow we ride out of Zambia, crossing the Zambezi river by ferry, entering Botswana - another one of my favourite countries…………
As stories go, it’s a short one……..
Five years ago, reaching a point in my life where I would be free to give back to Africa, the continent of my childhood, I set out in search of my University of Toronto Medical School classmate, Chifumbe Chintu.
He was easy to find. The Professor of Paediatrics from the day he returned to Zambia, then the only trained Paediatrician in the country, he’s now an international icon in terms of his multiple and diverse contributions to health care in Africa.
In the bowels of the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, there was my graduation class picture on the wall of his office.
At different times, most of my family members have been to Zambia with me, Rebeccah, Bev, Sarah, Mary Ellen and Rachel. I attended a Freeman Patterson photo workshop in Namaqaland in the Western Cape with Martha. Mar, you are next to come with me to Zambia.
Chifumbe directed me to Dean Mulla, who asked if I could help to develop Thoracic Surgery in Zambia. It did not take long for me to realize that Thoracic Surgery development in Zambia wasn’t going to happen any time soon. In Canada, and other first world countries, we cantilever Thoracic Surgery off a sophisticated General Surgery platform. Here in Zambia, surgical development is still quite basic, especially in rural areas.
Over the next three years, I met with several Surgery types in Lusaka but never gained any traction. I arranged to spend a month with one surgeon one year. When I arrived, he was away. He had forgotten my offer to work with him, and so I began looking elsewhere.
Along the way, I met with Dr Margaret Maimbolwa, Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Medicine – and it was here that we began to make headway.
Through Margaret we saw a Memorandum of Understanding between UBC Okanagan and University of Zambia come to fruition. The long-term outcome for this MoU will likely be in the field of Nursing education and simulation lab teaching.
Through Margaret we were directed to support health activities in Western Province, sometimes known as the ‘neglected province.’
Lianne and Jessica, then recent graduates from UBC Okanagan School of Nursing, had volunteered to go to Mongu, Capital of Western Province to teach at the local two-year diploma Nursing School there.
Knowing nothing about Mongu, the needs, the suitability of such a venture, safety issues, housing options and a raft of other issues, I took it upon myself to go to Mongu in person to check it out.
It was in Mongu that I met Dr Andrew Silumesii, CEO of the Lewanika General Hospital, and with nursing school-teachers Mumbuwa Silumbu and Pelina Chibanje. Administratively, the School of Nursing also comes under Dr Silumesii’s purview.
This was just the beginning of what would develop into wonderful friendships with these colleagues and with many others.
Jessica and Lianne taught at the Nursing School for six months. They stayed with Sister Christina at one of the Catholic Orders. They built relationships with all and sundry. In doing so, not only did the citizens of Mongu take them into their collective hearts, but also they returned their affections in equal part.
They became known fondly as our ‘makuwa Lozi girls’; white women trying to learn their local language.
And then, like in Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘The Tipping Point’, as if like gifts from the gods, others signed up to join our Zambian mission; Gary O’Connor – Orthopaedic Surgeon, Linda Hawker – Family Physician, Cameron O’Connor – then UofA Science graduate, now medical student, Kim Lefevre – Neurosurgeon, Tim Murphy and Ken McKenzie - Family Physicians, Felour Berlouzi and Nicole Arnt – Registered Nurses, Glynn Jones – Hospitalist, Joan Basset-Smith, Fay Karp, Joan Bottorff, Carole Robinson and Muriel Kranabetter – all Faculty members at UBC Okanagan, Tom Kinahan – Urologist, and my daughter Rebeccah – a very experienced consultant in international development.
We teamed up with the Canadian Network for International Surgery. In October 2009 we took an Essential Surgical Skills course to train 24 local physicians, medical licentiates, clinical officers and one Nurse Practitioner. Of course, Jessica and Lianne came with us to develop the nursing components to the ESS course, something CNIS had yet to do. We stayed at a new 12 bed house run by Sister Kathy of the Presentation Sisters.
In February 2010, Fay Jess and Lianne lead a successful 7-week student elective to Mongu for 10 UBC Okanagan fourth year nursing students.
We founded the Okanagan Zambia Health Initiative as a registered structure in Canada. Check us out at
http://www.okazhi.org
Then, Jessica Lianne and I joined up with the Tour d’Afrique to raise awareness of our work.
You can see the rest of the story at
http://cyclingforzambia.blogspot.com
The media event in Lusaka on April 12, 2010, was most satisfying for all of us. As you will see from our photos, posted at the blogspot, all of our most valuable and trusted colleagues and advisors were there; Dr Margaret Maimbolwa, Professor Chifumbe Chintu, Dr Andrew Silumesii and Dr Chayza Sikambale.
This year, as a group, we were awarded the ‘Volunteer of the Year’ award by the Canadian Network for International Surgery for our work in Western province. We were humbled and honoured.
We will return again to Western province this October.
I’ll post another blog sometime soon on our philosophy of medical health care support – the model that is defining our work.
For now, I’ve got to get my beauty sleep – at 06.30 hours tomorrow we ride out of Zambia, crossing the Zambezi river by ferry, entering Botswana - another one of my favourite countries…………
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