Celebration Health has been doing a great deal of work particularly in the urban and high density areas of
Harare in responding to the cholera epidemic, and details of this shall be given in later posts. However, the medical crisis goes far beyond just parts of Harare – it has affected the whole nation, virtually crippling the entire health care delivery system. However, it is in times like these that our light shines brightest, and the Kingdom of God continues to advance. As Operation Outstretched Hand continues to reach out to the nation of Zimbabwe,Celebration Health has over the past month managed to carry out a medical outreach to the rural district of Karoi treating 2000 patients in less than 48 hours and establish a Cholera Treatment Centre in the city of Chegutu.
§ Karoi Outreach 28-30 November
Under the mandate of Pastor Tom Deuschle, Celebration Health carried out a medical outreach to the rural district of Karoi, just over 200km out of Harare.
The team of 150 young doctors, nurses, medical students, pastors, choir members and volunteer support personnel was ably led by Drs. Tarisai Nyahoda and Tinashe Maduke. The people of Karoi came in their multitudes to receive treatment and medication. 18 people were operated on. One baby was delivered by caesarian section and 200 tooth extractions were done by the dental team. In total, 2000 patients were attended to in one and a half days and 4000 prescriptions for drugs were filled out and given from a store of drugs donated to Celebration Health. The medical students visited two secondary schools there and gave career guidance and teaching on how to identify and pursue one’s purpose. The whole team also carried out crusades which saw 1800 adults and children attend and half of those give their lives to Christ. As a result of this tremendous effort, a Celebration Church has now been planted in Karoi. A 102 year old man said he had never seen anything like that outreach in Karoi in his whole life, and he had lived there since he was born! We look forward to hearing more great testimonies coming out of that place.
§ Chegutu Cholera Treatment Centre 12 December 2008 (still ongoing)
Celebration Health has been able to set up a cholera treatment Centre in Chegutu, approximately 100km away from the capital city, Harare and with a population of 165 000.
On Friday 12 December, a strong hit squad of 6 young doctors and 10 nurses led by Drs Jabulani Nyenwa, Andrew Reid and Kuda Katurura was sent by Pastor Tom Deuschle and Dr Matthew Wazara to bring relief to that area, in response to an urgent request for help. It was reported that huge numbers of patients were flooding in from a high density suburb of Chegutu. In fact, one night had seen over 200 patients come in to the hospital and the only 3 nurses on duty were simply failing to cope with the influx of cholera cases. As a result, several of the patients did not survive that night. There was and still is no resident doctor at the hospital, and there remains a great need for human and other resources.
The outbreak in Chegutu had been caused by sewage filtering into and contaminating the water supply of the high density area due to low water pressure and vandalized, burst pipes resulting in the sewage and municipal water mixing.
The Celebration Health team was mobilized and deployed quickly, armed with medical supplies from Celebration Health and the Ministry of Health. On arrival in Chegutu, the team was met by patients who were severely dehydrated, with some lying in their own diarrhoea, and the smell of decaying bodies, cholera stool and chlorine all mixed together. The sight was almost overwhelming but the team remained resilient and persevered in carrying out the mandate given by Pastor Tom. They started work at midnight and administered 1200 litres of fluid (Ringers Lactate) in 7 hours to the nearly 200 patients on site. The immediate impact of this intervention was seen and felt as the mortality rate of patients came down from 15 people a day to one person a day. The team worked tirelessly all night, battling to keep those with fearful, sunken eyes, and desperately dehydrated, frail bodies from crossing the thin line from life to death. Not only did they regain proper levels of hydration, they also began to regain their peace and reassurance as they saw the hand of God literally stretching out to touch and save them. Many came back to life in more ways than one.
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Total
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Deaths
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Friday 12 Nov
|
|
|
|
Total IN Patients
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253
|
15
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|
Saturday 13 Nov
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|
|
|
Total IN Patients
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216
|
1
|
|
Sunday 14 Nov
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|
|
|
Total IN Patients
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173
|
0
|
One of the attendant nurses, Sister Alice, burst into tears as she was so touched by what she had witnessed and the impact of what she and the team had been able to accomplish in such a short space of time.
Over the next few days, the team helped to put in place administrative systems and structures so that the relief efforts could be sustained and the mortality rate of cholera kept down as large numbers of cholera patients continued to stream into the treatment centre, and, thankfully, out as well. Some NGOs that later came in to provide further relief and assistance in that area, were able to continue to build on what Celebration Health had instituted and laid as a solid foundation, and a good working relationship was established.
Even over this Christmas period, our teams have sacrificed quality time with their own families and are in Chegutu working flat out to make sure that morale remains high at the cholera treatment camp where, unfortunately, the number of cases has reportedly surged once again since the beginning of the week.
We are so proud of our young team and they are to be highly commended. We saw doctors and nurses being proud and even thrilled to be doctors and nurses in Zimbabwe at this time, thrilled to be used by God to save lives, to be living out their calling and have that calling affirmed by their selfless involvement. They will tell you that, as difficult as it can be sometimes, nothing in life is as fulfilling and satisfying as being able to play a crucial part of saving people’s lives, knowing that you can make a difference….and actually making it.
In order for us to continue medical relief activities and operations in Chegutu and to enable us to respond to calls for assistance coming in from other quarters, we require the following supplies and equipment:
o IV fluids [Ringer’s lactate] x500 boxes
o Cannulars - size 18 x1 000, size 20 x1 000, size 22 x1 000
o Fluid giving sets x1 000
o Adhesive tape x100 units
o Examination Torches x50
o Protective wear [gumboots, aprons, face masks] x1 000
o Cholera beds x 100
o Buckets x 300
o Ciprofloxacillin antibiotics x1 000doses [500mg stat]
o Gloves -latex x 100 boxes
-heavy duty x 100pairs
o Aquatabs
o Disinfectants [sodium hypochloride, bag of lime]
o Disinfectant sprayers x 5
o Stationery [paper, pens(blue and red), clipboards]
o Accommodation fees
o Transport [30seater bus] and fuel
o Laptop
o Meals and allowances for staff
