February 6th, 2012: I had a very nice weekend! On Friday I stayed home to try to beat my strep throat. I was sad that I couldn't go to the female ward. Today when I was back at the hospital on childrens ward (which is where I will be all week), I was touched that the students from the female ward found me and made sure that I was doing okay because they heard I had been ill.

On Saturday, all 22 of us went on the "Zuno-Canadian Nurses Fundraiser". It was a boat cruise down the Zambezi for $10.00 Canadian. There was food provided for us (some interesting meat, pasta salad and lots of alcohol and softies) and music for the ride back that we danced to. I even learned a few Zambian moves! I taught one lady that I met named Monde the sprinkler. It was really funny :). We stopped half way down the river to see the lower royal village in Mongu where the King has one of his palaces. We listened to one of the royal members talk about the palace. I learned that the king has one wife which bears the royal children, but the king has many other women he can call on that live in the palace. I thought it was interesting how the queen and king live in separate buildings. You never speak directly to the king. You speak to the king's speaker who then speaks to the king and then tells you what the king has said (even if you have heard it from the king). We saw where the king sits before he starts the big Koemboka Ceremony. The ceremony is huge here. People come from all over, my other friend Memory said that about 8,000 people show up and it continues to grow. The king starts from this palace that we saw and starts on the boat on the river which by the time the ceremony comes, is at it's peak and very high. He sits in a white tent thing on the boat which has 200 paddlers. It is said that if you make a mistake while rowing, you are thrown out of the boat and then someone in a speed boat comes to get you. So, don't make any mistakes! One of the customs is that when you see the king you kneel and clap three times as a sign of respect. Every member of the palace wears a red hat to signify royalty. We saw the man who whips you if you do not behave while in the palace. The whip was rather intimidating, it was made out of layers and layers of rhino skin. After the boat ride most people went to Oasis to dance and continue the party but I went home to sleep and make sure I was better for work on Monday!

Sunday was a lazy day. I did my laundry, bought many beautiful bracelets that were made by women who are HIV positive. They are made out of paper and say inspirational things on them like 'peace' and 'passion' and that. Buying one bracelet fed one child for a month and buying three fed a malnourished child for a month. So needless to say, I loved them so much and the cause that the money was going to that I think I fed a few kids for a year? We played some crib and while we were making dinner the biggest storm to come to Mongu since we have been there hit. Some of the girls were outside excersizing and they were drenched! I couldn't believe the rain and the thunder. I even did some of my laundry outside in the rain :). We watched Harry Potter before going to bed which was nice, it reminded me of home a little bit.

Today I was at the Children's Ward. I was delighted to see the little boy that had severe malaria and almost didn't make it through go home today. It was a really nice reminder that through all the deaths here, some do survive and what we do can make a difference. The family agreed to let me put the child's picture on the internet, so when I can, I will. I saw many malnourished children and it was interesting to see what the doctor's did about the malnutrition. A pediatrician from Kelowna arrived today and it was wonderful to work with him. He is so knowledgable and joked that he probably cared for me as a baby, considering he has been practising for 30 years in Kelowna! We saw a dose of Digoxin that was for an adult, not an infant. The pediatrician from Kelowna caught it and the dose was changed which was excellent. I saw a lot of malaria and a hernia. Working with the students was interesting as always! I really like working on the children's ward but find that besides assessments, not much can really be done until the pediatricians come around. Which is different for me coming from the female ward where I could a LOT.