The Knot

Maureen wrapping her baby

It shall forever remain a mystery as to how babies are secured with a simple knot holding a cloth wrapper across the mom's back and shoulders.  What keeps the knot in place when the babies wiggle?  How can the mom be sure it's tied securely? The answer isn't obvious but the outcome certainly is.  Babies the world over are safely carried for hours on end with a simple granny knot we all learned in grade school.  It's obvious looking at the picture of Maureen, neither she nor the baby are worrying about this long-trusted system failing them.

Well deserved recognition!

Four of our Kasompe Kafwa are proudly wearing the official government name tags they were recently awarded.  This is a prestigious milestone and makes the Kafwa eligible to attend government training and collaborate in community health services for mothers and babies.

Ireen Matete (second from left) said they wanted to send a message to HealthEd Connect supporters that the only reason they were officially recognized was because of the training and support they'd received from Healthed Connect.

High Tech treatments

A brave volunteer demonstrating
a warm moist pack to treat
dry eyes.

No she's not crying!  Instead she'd demonstrating one of the new "nshima water" treatments discussed during the recent training at Chipulukusu.  We called it "nshima water" treatments because we could conserve on time, cost, and work-load by capitalizing on the water heated over the little charcoal fires that were prepared to cook the maize (cornmeal) nshima.  In actuality only the water was used -- no nshima was added😊

The 5 treatments demonstrated included:

1.  Warm moist packs for stinging or dry eyes.
2.  Warm soaks for infected fingers or hands that could be submerged.
3.  Hot moist packs (covered with plastic and a towel) to treat large infected wounds or sore muscles.
4.  Steam from the hot water to treat respiratory congestion 
5.  Warm water to prepare a salt gargle for sore throats.

They loved this lesson which was practical, easy to demonstrate, and applicable to problems commonly encountered.

Kitchen to be proud of!

The Zamtan Kafwa finally have their long dreamed of kitchen!  They have made-do for years with a little make-shift shelter that resembled a sieve when it rained.  That shelter was torn down last month to erect the new cookshack and the discarded boards are now temporarily piled in front.  The blue pipe structure to the left is the conveniently located water tower which brings water right to the door making it readily available to cook the porridge for the 300 appreciative students.

 Jackson Manjai, our Zamtan treasurer, is proudly posing in front of the newly completed cookshack.  As the on-site overseer for construction of the cookshack, he found this project even more challenging than the classroom blocks.  Workmen skilled in making thatched roofs do not live in the immediate area nor do the special thatch grasses grow nearby.  But Jackson found both the workmen and the grasses and was able to bring the cookshack to reality.