We woke up early and gathered on the front porch of the guys house for devotions. Zukiswa gave us a message about the broad and narrow paths in Matthew chapter seven. After personal prayer and devotion time we exercised. Most of my respiratory symptoms had cleared but I had a persistent cough and could not breathe when I tried to jog. We had breakfast and walked down to the riverfront to see Zukiswa, Muyereka, and several other missionaries off. Erin and I were given Zambian names. Lovemore decided to call me Michelo (pronounced “Me-jello”) which is a Tonga name that I was told means fruit. The local people had a hard time saying Erin, so they called her Ellen.
An eye surgeon and his team from Lusaka had come to provide free cataract removal for the people of Chilubi Island. Erin, Daniel Park, and I were asked to assist the eye team at the hospital in Santa Maria. A vehicle came to take the eye team, their equipment, and us the 15Km to Santa Maria. When we arrived we were reunited with Lily, she took us to the missionary houses and we left our bags there and returned to the hospital. Dr. Mumba and the two nurses who had come with him where already setting up for surgery. We changed into scrubs, washed our hands and joined them in the operating theater. It was a little surprising to see such a modern OR in such a rural place.
Dr. Mumba explained how he would perform the surgery and quizzed us on the anatomy and physiology of the eye. That was my first experience watching eye surgery and it was fascinating. First the ocular muscles were paralyzed and the pupil dilated. The opaque lens was then removed through the dilated pupil and a new lens was inserted. The entire process took about 30 minutes. We assisted with five surgeries and then took a late lunch break.
After lunch, another 7 surgeries were performed. One man came in wearing a shirt that was full of holes; it was so bad the shirt was practically falling apart. Before we took him into surgery we gave him a new shirt. I have never seen someone so thankful for a shirt. He cheered, clapped his hands and said “natotella mukwai” (thank you) over and over again. It was such a sweet experience to be able to contribute something to someone else. I thought of the words in Acts 20:35 “I have shown you all things, that working in this way we ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.”
I helped the nurse with the pre and post-op patients. The main problem was finding a place for the patients to sleep for the night. The wards were all full and I had to ask the administrators for beds several times before they decided to help me. It was after 9pm when all the eye surgery patients had mattresses and blankets for the night. We walked back to the missionary houses and went right to bed.
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