October, 12 2004

Aid to Africa: The birth of the first DFL clinic in Mozambique, Zavora.
Letter written by Mark Keiser

Mark Keiser at a lake near Xai-Xai

"The first month after the start of DFL's first clinic in Mozambique has just flown by" writes Mark Keiser, a trained medical assistant and volunteer from the USA, after returning back to DFL's head office in South Africa for a short while.

"I have been here in Mozambique for the past month working at this clinic that was just started there by Doctor's For Life. We are in a small town called Zovora which is really out in the bush. It's down a dirt road about 12 miles from the next town (which really isn't much of a town either). It's really a beautiful spot since we're only a few miles from the ocean, but there's not much there as far as phones or electricity. We set up our tents where the missionaries live, under the cashew trees (which are everywhere and great for shade). The clinic is actually a big tent that we divided into a pharmacy, office and reception area. "

Accommodation for the medical team in Zavora

"We had an international team that went there, a pediatrician from England, a nurse from Germany, a nursing student from Holland a translator from Angola, and me. The team was a little smaller for the last 2 weeks consisting of the nurse and me. But it was quite amazing what God was able to accomplish through us. We had seen 770 people over the 16 days of the clinic (and some of those days were half days).

The patients are pretty much the same all over the world with aches, pains and colds. We did see a lot of people there that had parasite, river sickness and a few things we weren't sure of.

The people of Mozambique are quite peaceful. They had 20 years of civil war there and the people are just tired of fighting. This was one of the few places that I had been to where people would let others get ahead of them in line if they had traveled a long distance to get there. Most days we had to turn people away and ask if they could come back the next day since there were so many to be seen. "

The clinic: A tent pitched in the shade... The aim is to build a proper clinic in this area on the land given to DFL. A borehole has been drilled, and foundations dug, but might not be completed for quite some time.

"I would usually start the clinic off with some public health topic and then lead into a short devotion. It's really quite difficult since many of the people there are so poor, have very little education and have no understanding of who Jesus Christ is. There was no church in the area which is why the missionaries had come to this place. Some of the devotions I had been sharing were from Matthew 9:1-13 where it says that Jesus has the authority to do both, to bring healing and forgiveness. He offers an invitation to a changed life to those who are down and out. And verse 12, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." The people in Mozambique have lived in darkness for years where ancestral worship is very much a part of their life, even those who claim to be Christians. Health wise they are still very much in need since many of the people still see the traditional medicine (witch) doctor. There is just no medicine available for them unless they travel to the next town (12 miles away) or travel to the hospital which is about 80 miles away. "

Many of the local people make a living from fishing, collecting of crabs, prawns and shells from the nearby reef

"I'll share a story of a five year old girl called Vivote that we had seen. We had seen this girl brought to the clinic in a wheelbarrow which seemed strange only to find out that she had completely burned her right leg. The family had been bringing her to the witch doctor for the past 2 weeks who was treating her burn with a mixture of dung, hair and who knows what else. This girl had no expression when she arrived and really didn't even look at anyone. It took some time to clean the wounds and bandage her, but she was quite a strong girl to endure this pain. We had told her family that the witch doctor can only bring them bondage and take their money. The family had agreed to cutting off the strings tied around her waist (many people have superstitious bracelets or strings to ward off evil spirits) and we had prayed with her. When she left (and even came back the next few times for redressing of the bandages) she was smiling, and interacting with everyone (even though we were the ones that cause the pain of changing the bandages). So this is how the work at Mozambique is, little steps at a time."

Some patients waiting to be helped

"The missionary couple that is there are in their 60's and it's amazing to see the energy that they have and the love for the people there. They are from South Africa and I have a new vocabulary to learn to know what they are talking about. They have words like 'pap' (which is Afrikaans for breakfast porridge), 'pow' (which is Portuguese bread) and a 3 legged 'potjie' (pronounce poykie) - a pot which is a big cast iron kettle they cook everything in. "

The man who brought his daughter in a wheelbarrow.

"Mozambique is really a beautiful country. It was once a popular resort area since the beaches are so nice. There's a coral reef that is close to the mission where you can walk on in during low tide. We can even see whales swimming by the beach too. The food here has been great. A lot of it is cooked on an open fire, mostly beef. But I think it's time to have some chicken, there's a rooster here that has his alarm clock set for 3:20am every morning."

Mark (USA), Tineke (Netherland), Helena (Germany) and Dr. Sian Bennet (UK). The translator from Angola, Mario Rocha, took the photo.

"Thank you all for your prayers. I know that what little I am able to do is only by God's grace. Love, Mark"

The local pastor

Dr. Bennet attending to a patient

Mark examining a little girl