Delivery Under the Rain (by Dick Stevens)

Today we delivered 80 wheelchairs at the Chiradzulu District Hospital, about an hour drive from our hotel. We are here at the end of the rainy season. The weather did not cooperate, it poured. We had to unload the truck on the paved road and shuttle the chairs down by small trucks over the muddy dirt road about a half mile.

The hospital has 70 beds plus a 35 bed tuberculosis ward, but the actual number of patients is 250, so all the rooms are overcrowded. We stretched their capacity with our delivery. Another more remote hospital will pick up one half of today's delivery. Everybody pitched in including many of the relatives of the patients. Nothing is wasted here. Each cardboard box was adopted by one of our helpers. They figured out that if they helped to carry the box from the truck to the place we unpack them they would be able to keep the box and the plastic bag that came with it, very precious items here! Some of the woman helpers were also carrying a baby on their back (see middle picture below). Despite the weather, it was a cheerful effort by all. From my perspective, this is Rotary at its best.

We had the opportunity to meet Norbert from Medecins Sans Frontieres at this hospital (in the back of the picture, wearing a stethoscope). He is one of three doctors working on a pilot program directed against the AIDS epidemic in this country. It is estimated that about 20% of the adult population is infected. The goal is to provide prevention education and inexpensive treatment. At present, he has 10 outreach clinics to service a population of 250,000. About 430 patients are under free treatment with about 60-70 new cases coming up monthly. Medication manufactured mostly in India can treat a patient and offer a more or less normal life for under US $50 per month. The hope is that this model will be embraced by the government and spread through the country.