This Is Sparta-Whoops, I Mean Zambia!

Yeah, yeah, I know the movie 300 came out years ago but I still get urges to yell the above phrase when I accomplish something that I think is equivalent in effort to climbing Mt. Everest.

And whhhhy do I feel like shouting that phrase like I have some sort of nervous tick?  Well, it looks like the AMAI team's plan to create a 24-hour toll-free hotline is off to a great start.  My project supervisor at AMAI mentioned a while back that she wanted me to work on developing two more things: a 24 hour hotline for health workers to call in emergencies and a website.  This hotline will service both Lundazi and Nyimba districts in Eastern Province.  Inside my head I laughed because I love a good challenge.  Then, anxiety took over.

How was I going to pull this off?

Where There's a Health Worker, There's a Way

The lack of human resources continues to pervade the health sector across Zambia.  In an effort to earn a living, health care workers move away from family and their normal support systems to serve in remote locations.  Some health centers even try requesting unmarried service providers because they believe it lessens the likelihood of the person leaving.  However, without any familiar support, unmarried workers may face more obstacles in coping with living in unfamiliar and difficult environments.  A health worker, stationed at a site roughly 6 hours away from the town, explained that living and working alone in unfamiliar and isolated territory plays a huge role in service providers not wanting to work inaccessible locations.