Beyond Mvuma

Angie: FYI

My brother Peter Michael passed an article in the Wall Street Journal on to me via email at the same time that my cousin Stewart handed me the printed version. Unfortunately it can't be accessed online unless you have a subscription. Summary: Zimbabwe--Once a Breadbasket, Today Cant Feed Itself. Politics, Drought, AIDS Bring A Severe Food Shortage; Aid is Coming up Short. Here is an exerpt:

By ROGER THUROW
PUPU, Zimbabwe -- There will be no traditional Christmas goat roasting on a spit here this year, and no Christmas chickens, either. The prospect of Christmas beer dried up long ago, along with the supplies of sorghum used for brewing.The big holiday helpings of corn meal will be smaller than usual, for corn, the nation's staple food, is the scarcest commodity of all."We don't have enough food to really celebrate this year," says Luka Philip Ngwenya. "Christmas will just come and go like any other day." For most people, that will mean a small ration of corn meal, supplemented with the roasted Mopani caterpillars and dried wild fruit that have helped keep villagers alive for the past couple of months.

Mr. Ngwenya, a 63-year-old peasant farmer, stretched out under a dying Msasa tree in one of the hungriest places in one of the hungriest countries in the world.

Upcoming Holiday

According to todays BBC news story, the holiday season is looking even more bleak for Zimbabweans. I also saw Oprah's show today which was about AIDS orphans in South Africa. I am only left with these thoughts: We have such abundance here in the US. We are so lucky. I take so much for granted.

30th Birthday

Today is my 30th birthday. The average life span in Zimbabwe is approaching 37. That puts it all in perspective.

HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe

Many people have asked me about the HIV/AIDS situation in Mvuma. Here are some statistics about Zimbabwe from the CDC's Global AIDS Program website.

• Between one-fourth and one one-third of all adults are infected with HIV.
• In the past decade, life expectancy declined almost a quarter century from 63 to 39 years.
• By 2010, more than 35% of all living children are expected to be AIDS orphans.

The good news is that Dr. S and the hospital in Mvuma have implemented a Mother to Child Transmission Prevention Program and have had success.

If you haven't taken a look at the Stoughton's July 2003 Newsletter on the MDA website, here is an exerpt:

We have been involved in a "Mother To Child Transmission" (MTCT) prevention program for nine months now. It involves educating pregnant mothers(and their husbands) about the need for the mother to have an HIV test to see if she is positive or negative. If positive, then we make sure that she delivers here. She gets an anti-retroviral agent during labor, and the baby gets a dose soon after delivery. We then carefully instruct the mother in proper breast feeding technique, and also that she does NOT give supplemental feeds of any other foods for the first six months. We follow both mother and baby closely after discharge, and at five months we do an HIV test on the baby. If it is negative, then we have the mother stop breast feeding, and instruct on what other foods to now feed the baby. By doing this, it is hopeful that we will decrease the transmission of the HIV virus from about 50% when the baby is six months old, to around 10 to 15%.

About 75% or more of our mothers are electing to be tested. Of those tested, we have about a 30% positive HIV rate. So far, of the first nine babies that we tested at five months, none of them were HIV positive. When I heard that news, it sent a shiver up my spine. At last, we have something that we can do to prevent this terrible disease.

Language and the meaning of Mvuma

Besides English, Shona and Ndebele are the more prevalent languages. But a quick google search gives several meanings for 'mvuma' in Swahili, including 'rumbling,' 'rustling,' and or 'bellowing of animals.' I have no idea if Shona or Ndebele are related to Swahili. And, no idea if this is why Mvuma is named Mvuma but it sure sounds cool: a town named for the bellowing of animals.

My Mailing Address while in Mvuma

Angie Reynolds
c/o Dr. Dick Stoughton
St. Theresa's Hospital
PVT Bag 7015
Mvuma, Zimbabwe

*Warning: One guide book says "the postal service, while reliable and safe, is painfully slow." Not sure how slow is 'slow.'

St. Theresa's Hospital

Here's a slideshow about St. Theresa's Hospital (where I will be working) in Mvuma put together by Dr. Stoughton of Mission Doctors Association.

Politics

Here is a 'quick and dirty' Q&A about Zimbabwe's current political situation from the New York Times.