Wednesday I went into the BOMA and met with some education officials and found one possible person to be in a group working on bring internet to Chadiza district schools. Then I spent the rest of my time running around trying to getting things and trying to help an education officer with computer troubles but I needed to leave before I had fixed the solution (reinstalling windows). When I got home and started to make supper my lower body felt like I had just biked the 90km from Chipata not the 10km from Chadiza. That night I felt awful and hardly got any sleep. The next morning I finally decided that I wouldn’t feel that much worse if I was up, which was obviously a naive wish as the pain behind my eyes was excruciating. I made it to my chimbuzi just in time, then I looked up the symptoms of malaria in my PC medical handbook and sure enough the symptoms matched. I took my Coartem and txt’ed my PCVL and PCMO (PC Volunteer Leader and PC Medical Officer) and I was told I needed to come to the PC house. I tried to find transport but I guess the only one I could find was of my closest volunteers’ atate driving me at 5:00 to the bus, then me taking the bus to Chipata. Well I went to bed really early and that night got a much better sleep so that felt much better though that morning and wasn’t sure why I needed to go to the PCPH, save for the fact that I had to wake up at 4:00.
Well as it turns out I didn’t because my ride never showed at 5:00. At 6:30 I decided I would have to try to bike in. So with a backpack packed like I was riding in a vehicle, I started to try to make my way to the BOMA. After we got to the top of the first hill my ride showed up. I guess I was going to be going in a flatbed truck owned by the manager of some businesses in Chadiza and we finally got going at about 8:45 and got there at about 11:30 and fortunately I didn’t need to ride in the back. When I got there I tried to call the PCMO but forgot it was the Fourth of July back in the states and PC offices are closed then. I finally got through to the 24 hour line and she first said I should take a test but I think the parts were from several different kits and the instructions looked like they had been typed on a typewriter 10 years ago. After having called her back she said that that if I was feeling better I wouldn’t need to try to take it and wouldn’t need to go to Lusaka. I will probably be here for the weekend and then go back Sunday afternoon or Monday. The house is having a 4th of July party so I guess it was kind of good timing in which to get sick.
Here are some Photos although I need to take more and my singal strength is low:
Banja (family) and I use this land as our garden
A view from one of the many hills that jut almost vertically up
My banja working on making a sturdier fence
Some of my intake before we were posted
