Looking back on our time in Zambia, my favorite part was definitely working in the clinic and getting to know the physiotherapists and patients in Macha. We saw a wide variety of injuries from strokes and SCI to fractures and soccer injuries. A lot of our time was spent analyzing x-rays and casting. We were even able to assist with two fracture reductions in the operating theatre. Each of us worked with different patients and had different experiences.
Hannah and I spent a lot of time with one patient in particular. He is a 28-year-old that had a hip replacement in September after a fracture while playing soccer. Nine months after surgery he was still using crutches for mobility and was barely able to get up on the treatment table due to weakness and pain. The first time we saw him he was less than enthusiastic about coming to physical therapy. We spent a lot of time working on hip strengthening and eventually progressed to weight shifting and stepping in the parallel bars. By our last day he was adding reps to each exercise. Every time I told him two more, he would say, “No, five”. Once he started in the parallel bars it was hard to get him to stop. Every time I asked him if he wanted to take a break, he said, “No, I want to walk.” On our last day he tried to convince us to stay another week to finish up his physical therapy. It was encouraging to see the progress he made in such a short time. I really enjoyed getting to know him and seeing his attitude toward physical therapy change.
In between treating patients, we spent our time with the Macha physiotherapists reviewing and discussing different topics such as special tests, PNF, and NDT. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences in treatment. I enjoyed getting to know the physiotherapists and learning from their experience. We also got to spend some time with them outside of the clinic, watching the sun set from the top of a water tower, playing card games, and doing aerobics. By the end of our time at Macha it was hard to say goodbye. It is amazing how much of an impact people can have on your life in just two weeks. I hope to someday get to see my friends in Zambia again, but until then we all plan to continue exchanging resources and knowledge.
-Mallory
On Wednesday morning, we joined the team from new day orphanage and headed back to Livingstone for our excursion. Our first stop was an early lunch at a local restaurant where we ordered pizza. Afterwards we headed to Victoria Falls- one of the seven natural wonders of the world! When we arrived, baboons were waiting for us to see if they could snatch some food or drinks. They roam freely around the falls and are known to take snacks or other food items from tourists. Once we got into the park we hiked around the falls.
After hiking we went to the Big Air Bungee experience. Jamie, Mallory, Brandon, and I bungee jumped off the Victoria falls bridge at the Zimbabwe/Zambia border. Hannah signed up for the swing, thinking she was in for a luxurious and relaxing swing over Victoria falls- but ended up unexpectedly free falling 111 meters off the bridge before the swinging part actually happened. This bungee jump is the second tallest jump in the world right over the river at the base of Victoria Falls. After the bungee jumping we went to the local market for some souvenir shopping. We spent the evening at a candlelit dinner joined with the New Day team.
The next morning we woke up super early and headed to Botswana for a safari. On the way in we had to go through border control and took a ferry (with local truck divers) over the Zambezi River to get to Botswana. We were able to enjoy some coffee and sandwiches before beginning the first bit of the safari. We headed to a small river in Chobe national park and took a boat for the morning safari. On the river we saw crocodiles, hippos, various birds, water buffalo and other animals going to the river to drink water. After the boat tour we headed to a nice lodge for lunch and went back out for part two on a safari jeep. We saw some more elephants closer in person, kudu, impala, a python, and some more hippos and crocodiles. Such a cool experience!! I think everyone on the trip enjoyed these last two days. It was a nice way to close out our time in Africa together.
-Morgan
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