An Incredible Day at the Sidvokodvo Clinic

What an incredible day! Words cannot describe what we saw and experienced on our first medical clinic.

We left at 8:00 in the morning on Monday and got back close to 2:00 a.m. the next morning. A crowd of nearly five hundred people, young and old, were already there waiting around the open dusty area for our arrival. The women and young girls were carrying babies on their backs and baskets on their heads; one family brought a foam mattress for one very disabled child.

The Luke Commission team members quickly set up different stations which included:

~ registration including their medical complaints and problems
~ nursing for blood pressure and blood work for diabetes and HIV testing
~ prayer
~ doctor exam
~ dental exam if needed
~ eyeglasses
~ pharmacy.
~ waiting area:The Passion of Christ was run twice during the day so people could watch the movie any time they had time.

While the stations were being set up, the CLC Dayton team members started assembling bush friendly wheelchairs. After they were assembled and assigned to the patients they were presented to the recipients to the great delight of everyone including the crowd. Young children were able to hand crank their “wheelchair” and move themselves around without assistance. Adults who could barely walk with crutches were provided with these wheelchairs so they, too, could move independently in their environment. Those who were unable to use the hand crank were assigned a pull cart to the delight of their families. It was very exciting to see the joy on their faces. To learn more about the wheelchair ministry, cut and paste this web address to your browser:

http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ViewInBrowser.aspx?pubids=57m%2ffULUUNqyTuzlcB36zg%3d%3d&digest=fVAvn0GI%2bTUoOzxH7dcryg



At the medical clinic we evaluated an eight year old boy named Banele who was very sick. He was HIV positive and had pneumonia and was too sick to be able to care for at the bush clinic. Echo promised Banele's mother that we would take her son for treatment to the Manzini hospital at the end of the day.

The people were really patient as they waited in the long lines for triage from the nurses. They were quiet and courteous and didn’t complain about how long they had to wait. They knew from past visits that The Luke Commission would not leave until everyone had been seen.

A total of 535 people were seen at the Sidvokodvo North school site.

~ About 25 people saw the dentist with a total of more than 50 extractions.
~ 175 were fitted with eyeglasses
~ Everyone went to the pharmacy for medications and vitamins.

As it got later in the evening people were waiting and asking for Bibles. At 11:45 p.m. the team started to pass out Bibles in both English and Siswati depending on the preference of the patient. This was a very joyous time for the team and concluded with Harry offering a call to know Christ as their personal savior. About 70 people came forward and accepted Christ as their Savior! The translator ended the day with a prayer in Siswati, and the Swazi’s concluded with a beautiful harmonious song.

Then we challenged the world record for how many people could fit in to the back of a truck to travel home! We, Banele and his mother bounced on the dirt road for several miles until we finally got back onto the main highway. We were tired but full of joy from the day as we headed back to our Swazi apartment home. Echo then continued to the hospital with Banele.

We quickly ate some junk food and headed to bed. End of bush clinic day one!