THE MIX OF EMOTIONS AS A VOLUNTEER IN ZAMBIA

By Katie Kampa: 

"As I complete the last few days of a ten week internship with Tiny Tim & Friends, it’s a great time for me to look back and reflect on the experiences I’ve had with the organization.  While TTF is a rather small NGO, I have been amazed at the large number of activities that they are involved in and the number of clients they manage to reach. 

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"THE DEDICATED STAFF AT TTF AND THE GRACIOUS DONORS.....
 ARE CREATING A POSITIVE CHANGE ON A DAILY BASIS"

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Since arriving in Zambia 10 weeks ago, I’ve had the opportunity to learn so much from administrative and operational tasks, counseling and testing sessions, experience how their paeditric clinic works, work in the community to provide HIV testing and counselling , and learn more about the current progress and trends related to HIV in Zambia while attending the National Paediatric ART Review Conference hosted by the Ministry of Health and EGPAF.

Volunteering with Tiny Tim & Friends as a student of Public Health at Tulane University, I've been able to put many of the skills I've learned in the classroom into practice.  After completing research and analysis of the 2013-2014 Zambia Demographics and Health Survey, it’s quite promising to see the rates of HIV transmission steadily decreasing throughout the country while the number of people receiving life-saving anti-retroviral treatment has continued to grow over the last several years.  I see these numbers as a reminder as to why organizations like TTF are so important in the fight against AIDS.  The dedicated staff members at TTF and the gracious donors supporting their work, are creating positive change on a daily basis within communities in desperate need of just that.  In a country where one in every 13 children dies before reaching their fifth birthday, it often can be difficult to recognize that progress is in fact occurring.

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"THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF OF THE DAY TO DAY WORK IN A PEDIATRIC HIV ORGANISATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA CAN BE PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY EXHAUSTING"

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A child carrying water

During house-to house visits one afternoon in mid-June, about half-way through my internship, I was helping with HIV counseling and testing with the outreach team, and witnessed the difficult reality and hardships that many Zambians living in the heart of the HIV pandemic are faced with.  As we walked through the dusty roads, littered with garbage; ducking under clothes lines filled mostly with tattered, second-hand clothing and brightly colored African wraps known as chitenges; we often had to step aside to make room for women and children quickly passing by with large containers of water that they had collected from the local well and were transporting back home - impressively balanced on top of their heads.  

A group of young women in their late teens-early twenties sat braiding each other’s hair and having an animated conversation in Bemba, their local language, outside on the front stoop of their home.  As we approached the ladies and explained the reason for our visit, they nervously agreed to voluntary HIV testing and even wanted their younger siblings tested.  

After sharing a bit of basic HIV education and counseling the women began to talk more openly with us and tell us the concerns and struggles they were facing.  The group of women were sisters and were all double-orphans for many years, they had been caring for each other, the home, and a couple children of their own.  

Women carrying fruit to sell.

We privately informed each of the sisters of their HIV-negative test results, after which they disclosed to each other and enjoyed a momentary celebration filled with dancing and laughter.  The brief happiness quickly faded as one of the women finished telling us her current hardship.  She had just given birth to her first child and had to leave school as a result of the time away.  Although she understood the importance of education and dreamed of rejoining her grade 11 peers, she could no longer afford the school fees and had been unable to continue her coursework.  The mix of emotions I felt as I walked away from this particular home has not been unique to my time here in Zambia, there is still plenty of work to be done in order to improve lives and diminish the burden of disease that HIV has caused. 

Katie and the outreach team

Katie during an outreach

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"THANKS TO THE WORK AT TTF; HIV+ WOMEN ARE GIVING BIRTH TO HIV NEGATIVE BABIES; NUMEROUS MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN ARE LIVING LONGER, HEALTHIER LIVES"

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The highs and lows of the day-to-day work inside a pediatric HIV organization in sub-Saharan Africa can be both physically and mentally exhausting and I commend the admirable staff and volunteers that I’ve met at TTF throughout my journey for their commitment to serving the community.  Thanks to the work carried out at Tiny Tim & Friends; HIV-positive women are giving birth to HIV-negative babies; adolescent boys are learning how to protect themselves and their partners from HIV transmission; youth are finding positive peer groups where they feel comfortable to openly discuss their status; caregivers are beginning to understand the special needs of a HIV+ child; the burdening stigma that accompanies a positive HIV diagnosis is decreasing; young women are developing communication skills to proactively discuss safe-sex with their partners; and numerous men, women, and children are living the longer, healthier, and more joyful lives that everyone deserves".

If you want to find out more about how you can get involved with Tiny Tim & Friends through volunteering please visit our volunteering page.