I think the word “appreciation” adequately describes one of the outcomes of last week’s events for the team of nursing students from Prairie (Canada). The week was kick-started by them spending 3 days in homes in the nearby local community. One of their objectives was to glean information about community health and there’s no better way to do that than to interact closely with one’s subject! So for each morning, from Monday to Wednesday, the students and instructors paired up to go spend the day in nearby homes participating in daily activities as rural Mozambicans do (at least as much as possible). They carried babies on their backs, pounded corn with a mortar and pestle, hauled water on their heads (ouch!), savoured local food, planted gardens, wove grass, etc.

At the end of their experience they had a much better appreciation for the challenges the people here face in order to simply survive.
On Thursday last week we accompanied the staff from Vanduzi Hospital on a community vaccination blitz to Chitundo. There was a miscommunication about dates so attendance wasn’t as good as expected, but we drew a crowd regardless.

Lynn Lagore (our medical guru) was responsible for taking care and co-ordinating these nurses. Lynn understands culture and her influence on the group was contagious! (Maybe not a good word to use with nurses!) Lynn is a qualified Canadian nurse and it is wonderful to have her on the base.