It’s another busy morning at Mibila Rural Health Post and there’s a steady queue of people beginning to congregate under the veranda sheltering from the 38 degree heat. Many have walked or cycled up to 15kms through the bush just to get here. The majority of the women have children strapped to their backs and the men tend to be kitted out in clothes dirty and ragged from cultivating in the fields.

We’d made the slightly longer journey that morning (by car!) of 56kms from Chingola (the nearest town) and as we bumped along the dirt track children waved at us and word quickly began to spread “the doctor is here”.

The routine of the morning was broken when news reached us that a lady in a nearby hut was in labour and bleeding heavily. We rushed to her roofless building armed with our basic kit to find Monica lying on the dusty floor with just a few sheets of material as cushioning and a bowl of water on standby. It was apparent that she required specialist equipment and treatment so we hurriedly helped her into our car to take her to a health centre with a midwife, 20kms away. However that day the midwife was not there.

To cut a long story short it took two more journeys to another Health Centre in Chingola then onto the Hospital on the opposite side of town before Monica was safely settled in a bed with the appropriate care for her and her baby. Eight hours later a baby girl was safely delivered and both should be discharged back to the village in a matter of days. Thankfully we were there to help, but on a normal day in the life of Mibila there isn’t a vehicle to take acutely unwell patients to a hospital and the result may have been very different.

The clinic in Mibila Village has registered over 1600 patients in its first year of being open with about 50 new registrations per week. The village is slowly being transformed by having a medical facility that people can freely access; businesses have started, people are building houses. We are seeing an amazing thing happening in this place. We know that at the moment our efforts are small but as the proverb goes from small acorns mighty oaks grow. That is our dream for this village. In partnership with local people we are seeing sustainable change and development. We are seeing Dignity being afforded at last.

To read more about Helen and Adams time in Zambia and tales from the Mibila rural health post see their blog www.thefirths.net