Dr Gloire is the head doctor at the Lwamba hospital. He grew up and was educated in Kolwezi, approximately 186 miles from Lubumbashi where CAM missionaries are based. He qualified as a Doctor of Medicine in 2015 and then went on to specialise in surgery. Dr Gloire joined the team at Lwamba in 2017 and, with his skills as a surgeon, has been a great asset. In 2019 he was promoted to head up the hospital work.
Over the past six months alone the hospital has treated 5,560 patients at the hospital. Almost half of these patients are under the age of 5 years. Most of the time the beds are full to capacity, meaning that sometimes patients have to sleep on mattresses on the floor. Malaria remains the most dominant illness which kills many in surrounding areas, despite the increase in campaigns to distribute impregnated mosquito nets. Waterborne diseases still persist, especially where contaminated water is used. There has also been a significant rise in diabetes and high blood pressure over the last 2 years. In addition, the management of premature babies still poses a major problem, mainly due to lack of specialist equipment.
In 2020, the construction project of an operation block for our hospital began. This block will solve many problems for the hospital, including the capacity issue. The hospital staff have been working very hard to get together the construction materials – stones, gravel, bricks, cement, roof sheets, etc. They have done a great job and were very excited when Paul Stephenson, CAM Trustee, agreed to go out last year to oversee the construction. Unfortunately, Covid prevented him from travelling but he has been in contact with colleagues in Lubumbashi and Lwamba so that the work of clearing the land, marking out the dimensions and digging the foundations began.
This week a lorry has travelled to Lwamba over horrendous roads. The lorry was loaded with metal window frames, doors and frames, and roof trusses for the construction of the new hospital block at Lwamba. The builders have been working with Paul Stephenson to get the building up to lintel height and now await the arrival of the supplies to be able to continue. Please pray that they will have God’s protection and man’s favour all the way there and back, and that they will be an encouragement to the people of Lwamba. It is exciting to see this project taking shape.
