A trip to Kalabo...

by Nicole Tardio, IWM serving in Mongu, Zambia. Here Nicole shares a bit about a recent trip she took to a new part of this mid-east African country.

This past month I had an awesome opportunity to travel to Kalabo, Zambia, which is a village about 50 Km from Mongu. This time of year with the rains the only way to get there is by boat - about a 2-3 hour trip. I traveled with a volunteer nurse from South Africa, 3 people from Mongu who work for the church here, and 2 nursing students from Canada, so we were 7 in total. We all met at the harbor of Mongu at 7 am monday morning to begin our adevnture - by 1 pm the boat was full and we were headed across the plains. It took about 1 hr to reach the Zambezi river then we had another hour winding through the plains on the other side to reach Kalabo.

Monday afternoon we settled into the parish where we were staying. I got to spend some time with a good friend from Mongu who had recently moved to Kalabo. Tuesday morning we were up bright and early to get the day started. I took a walk at sunrise - I was amazed by the beautiful vastness of the surroundings. Kalabo is a village with not one taxi and very few cars, it was just a beautiful calm all around.

That morning we went to the hospital and the clinic in town to find malnourished children to enroll in the feeding program. I learned a ton about what to look for in children, because often a baby's chubby cheeks and round belly can be deceiving. We spent lunch time at the market getting accustomed with the local foods, and figuring out what would be practical suggestions to provide to the families for a balanced diet. We spent the afternoon doing various educational pieces for the caregivers that will be running the program, so that they can in turn teach the mothers when they bring their children in for weekly meetings.  The day was full and productive, and we rested up that night for the full activities of the next day.

Wednesday we ran the feeding program in the morning. We registered 9 babies in the program, gave an education talk on hygiene and milk preparation, and distributed food for the children for that week. Each week the parents will bring the children for weekly weights, education, and to receive the food. The children in the program ranged from 1 year to 8 years old. All were moderately to severely malnourished and can definitely use the additional support. They are admitted to the program until their goal weight is reached and maintained for a time period.  In the afternoon we geared up for home visits. The parents brought their children from the surrounding villages, and a team of three of us set out across the river and into the plains around 1 pm to visit the village of Simbi where two babies admitted to the program lived.

This trip to Simbi was definitely the most exhausting thing I have done so far in my time here in Zambia. We walked through the water at times up to our chests, also through the sand, and across the plains in the afternoon sunshine. It took us three hours to reach the first village, just to find out the other baby still lived about an hour further. The families were so grateful for out visit they gave us gifts of corn and cassava: crops grown by the villages. I was amazed by their generosity, seeing how little they had but their offering it to us without even knowing us. The walk back was equally challenging, but as we passed each person along the way I was reminded that this is a daily reality for many people and I can certainly do this once. We arrived back at the parish around 8pm very tired and wet from our swimming/ hiking adventure to Simbi and beyond. I have not ever fallen asleep as fast as i did that night!! :)

The next morning marked our trip back to Mongu. We got the Kalabo harbor around 9am after making one more stop by the hospital to make a visit. We got the last seats on the boat back to Mongu for that day, arriving back around lunchtime/nap time for me! It was a whirlwind of an adventure blessed with experiences and friends I will never forget.