St. Francis Hospital

So, wedged between Malawi and Mozambique sits the eastern edge of Zambia. St. Francis Hospital is actually rather large with an inpatient unit, surgical unit, pediatric in patient and a huge, and I mean huge, ambulatory wing. They have about 3,800 patients on HIV treatment and another 5000 in care currently. The kicker is there are currently 3 doctors serving this population, and 2 of them leave to go back to Australia after a year here next week. It's a pretty amazing place. By about 5:30 am people begin arriving at the entrance en-mass. By 7 am the waiting areas, open courtyards ringed by exam rooms, are filled with people. 20 people to a bench that about 5 Americans would sit on. People sitting in front of them with their feet dangling into the concrete well in the middle. The very sick lying down. Somehow order is maintained. People file one at a time into the exam rooms as others file out. Just about every woman has a baby on her back. Many men are also carrying young children. We sat in one of the rooms where a community health worker administered the patient survey. Four of us around a 2x2 table on chairs and stools, the top stacked high with charts and water and coke bottles. 110 degrees outside but we kept the door closed so the patient would have some level of privacy. The people here are so gentle and friendly. I didn't take any pictures inside the clinic, I always feel like an unkind voyeur when I do that. Like their suffering is somehow a tourist stop, a brief holiday for the mzungu to bring home and show around. So the pictures of people generally come as I pass them at 120 km per hour. But here is a look at the grounds. You can see a bit of the purple jacaranda flower carpet below the tree.