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MORE TEACHING. MORE GRADUATES!  Our team began the day at Arthur Davidson Children’s Hospital—the only children’s hospital in Zambia and currently the only functioning pediatric hospital central Africa. (Another is being built in Cameroon, but not anticipated to open until 2029!) As a bit of history, Arthur Davidson was a mining magnate with an interest in providing healthcare for tiny people, specifically the children of miners, and the hospital opened in 1966. We share that interest and were privileged to teach “Helping Babies Breathe” (HBB) techniques here to physicians, midwives, and nurses, empowering them to enhance newborn care in critical moments. We also worked with nursing students, guiding them through bag valve mask ventilation and proper bulb suction skills, crucial tools in saving young lives. During our hospital tour, visiting the pediatric ward and NICU reminded us of the grace and resilience embodied by the staff who continue to provide care despite facing shortages. They expressed how encouraging it was to receive suitcases packed with essential medical supplies we had brought. A nursing leader shared that it becomes discouraging when critical supplies are unavailable, yet today felt like a gift for everyone involved. LOVING ON THE CHILDREN!  Later, we returned to Child Life Touch Orphanage, a familiar place of safety and warmth for many children. It was a joyful reunion, filled with memories of those we had met in past visits, now moving forward into vocations, advanced training, and even marriage. This visit reminded us of the deep connections and lasting impact our time here can create. As we wrapped up the day, we enjoyed refreshing watermelon, selected with the skillful guidance of Cori, who picked it fresh from a roadside market. Kevin, thankfully, joined us on this outing, his health restored thanks to azithromycin (and Vaseline, as he humorously reminded us). Health and well-being are slowly returning to each of us (thank you Cipro), allowing us to embrace each moment more fully. YEP! MORE TRAINING AND MORE GRADUATES!!!  THE SIGHTS ON THE JOURNEY...AND WATERMELONS!!!  In between activities, we shared a simple yet delicious lunch—peanut butter sandwiches, a few crispy crisps. Crisps are what Zambians call our “potato chips”, which in our past lunch experience are not always crispy. “What are chips then?” you may ask - french fries. These little comforts, though modest, lifted our spirits as we continued to support and teach and add to the curriculums from each of our specialties and life experience. In all, the day was filled with energetic dedication, a deep sense of fulfillment, and reminders of the grace in teamwork. Together, we are creating memories and witnessing the powerful gift of health and hope in action. Click on the file grouping below to see more videos of TPM in Africa! 
Tidzaonana or Inshita Iikalamba or just, So Long 
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 Today unfolded like clockwork — almost. Though we took bets on our departure time, anticipating all the typical delays, we barely made it out by 8 AM! By our “Price is Right” rules, we all started the day losers. The early start was the beginning of a day filled with edifying experiences and rewarding interactions, so by the end we all felt like winners. We kicked off with a courtesy call to the Ministry of Health and then to the clinical director of Thompson Hospital. Their support is affirming, showing us that our shared mission for the wellbeing of mothers and babies is deeply appreciated here. The day’s teaching began seamlessly, and our team is now gelling and working with an almost natural cohesion. Instructing the Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) program alongside trained and working professionals in a hospital with 300 deliveries per month added a different layer of effectiveness to the session. This allowed us to deliver impactful training to midwives from 10 clinic sites within the district, empowering them to take these life-saving skills back to their communities. Click below to see the videos of TPM in Africa!!!!!!!
Before the teaching began, one of the hospital directors shared clinical data on neonatal mortality and morbidity, impressing us with a well-prepared PowerPoint presentation. This insight into the challenges and progress in neonatal care underscored how critical today’s work was. Together afterward, we covered essential topics to improving outcomes: Helping Babies Breathe, Helping Mothers Survive, Essential Care for Every Baby, while demonstrating techniques like hand expression, spoon feeding, and the importance of initiating breastfeeding within the GOLDEN HOUR. Our graduation ceremony afterward was particularly vibrant, a highlight of the day. It’s a joy to work with Zambian colleagues who share this passion for supporting mothers and babies. Their enthusiasm and dedication make every challenge we face here worth it.  After a quick lunch, we visited the Chibolya Clinic. Originally designed to be a pediatric hospital, it is now used for outpatient services due to limited funding and staffing. Touring the space, we couldn’t help but dream of adopting this hospital as the “Tiny People Matter Hospital of Hope” — when funding is part of God’s will and plan for this work, we’d love to make it a reality. A few minor frustrations accompanied us back to our quarters: Kevin’s ongoing efforts to manage both illness recovery and the task of wrangling staff to keep our air conditioners running, alongside the rest of us who are soldiering through antibiotics and Vaseline application. But after a restorative nap on the bus and a day so fulfilling, these seem minor hurdles. We ended the day with the promise of pizza. A Hawaiian or Margherita pizza never sounded so good, and we managed to find an Italian style restaurant and delivery service “near” our lodging in Ndola. As we write to you now and wait for our celebration pizza meal, we feel a profound gratitude for the meaningful work we’re part of again today. It’s been another day in Zambia, marked by challenges and immense rewards, reminding us why we’re here, and filling us with hope for what’s to come. As a perfect close to the day, we learned a new celebratory cheer – “Wele!!” It means prosperity, happiness, and well-being, which couldn’t be more fitting for today! Our Tiny People Matter team taught Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) at Roan Antelope to a dedicated group of third-year midwife students, instructors, faculty, and hospital staff. Starting with over 100 midwife students, we covered basic resuscitation skills—vital techniques that can make a life-saving difference for newborns. Watching them absorb and apply these skills brought a real sense of purpose to our work, and their enthusiasm for learning energized us all. One of our own, Kevin, had a bit of a tough night, feeling unwell. Thankfully, our team of nurses stepped in and are nursing him back to health. His recovery today was reassuring; he’s in good hands, and this unexpected moment of “forced rest” is giving him a chance to recuperate amidst a demanding schedule.
In the afternoon, we shifted our focus to a comprehensive HBB training for the hospital faculty and staff. Together, we worked on refining their resuscitation techniques, creating a collaborative environment for learning and growth. Walking through Roan Antelope’s Labor and Delivery Ward, Nursery, NICU, and Pediatric Ward was both enlightening and humbling. This hospital delivers approximately 150 babies each month, and their dedicated staff is doing everything they can with the resources they have. The NICU team shared their wish list with us, including incubators, ventilators, suction machines, and infusion pumps—tools that could greatly impact neonatal care here. It was inspiring to see how they’ve managed to innovate with bubble CPAP in creative ways to support their tiniest people. Today left us all feeling incredibly thankful and accomplished. The hard work and resilience of the staff at Roan Antelope remind us why we’re here. We came to share knowledge, but we’re leaving with just as much gained. “Awesome” truly captures the feeling of the day.  After a few rousing rounds of the card game Palace last night (always good for bonding!), today our Tiny People Matter Zambia 2024 team really got down to Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) business. The team visited locations in the Copperbelt region focusing on healthcare, education, and collaboration with key leaders. Amidst all the work, we made time for some more fun and reflection, making this trip both impactful and memorable. Here are the highlights:
Political Engagements We kicked off our work today by meeting with the President of Ministers for the Copperbelt Region, the Minister of Health in Luanshya, and the Nursing Director for Maternal and Child Health. These discussions are crucial in strengthening political and clinical partnerships to improve maternal and neonatal healthcare in the region.  Roan Antelope School of Midwifery At the Roan Antelope School of Midwifery, we met with the Dean, faculty, and 100 enthusiastic third-year students. They cheered loudly as each member of the team was introduced, but the VERY loudly for Amy (who is a nurse and a midwife ) and for Kevin (when he announced that he was a retired policeman AND engaged to be married to Melissa - they REALLY loved that and cheered LOUDEST!!! ). We discussed our plans to teach essential neonatal resuscitation skills through HBB, which will equip these future midwives to handle newborn emergencies and improve healthcare outcomes in their communities. We also will augment the neonatal education in HBB with integrated World Health Organization (WHO) education named Helping Mothers Survive (led by Amy) and additional education that focuses on breastfeeding (led by Sara) and neonatal aftercare in the immediate postpartum period. A Day of Errands (and a little fun)
While in Luansha we took a quick trip to ShopRite to grab essentials. Kevin couldn’t resist indulging in some “essential” ice cream while we were there! We also made a stop at the pharmacy to get medicine for Melissa’s laryngitis. Wrapping Up We capped off the evening by reviewing the skills we plan to teach and finalizing our plans for the next day’s activities, ensuring that we are prepared to make the most of our time here. This trip is not just about direct education work; is about building connections and sharing all of our core values: Educate, Empower, and Encourage others to improve healthcare in Zambia. We also managed to get a few more “E” words in there today as we tend to equip and entertain along the way! We look forward to continuing this journey with you who support the work and together making a lasting impact. Stay tuned for more updates! Today was our first Sunday in Zambia as a team. As many of us on this TPM Zambia 2024 team have experienced here before, we were immediately welcomed and enveloped into the life of people as completely as in years past. We were invited to a community church service and afterword set up for vision and blood pressure screening clinic with distribution of eyeglasses where needed and education for improving blood pressure management for those with hypertensive disease in the community. Most of our pictures from today are from that ancillary work after the service. A special thank you to all of you that have donated and supported the team in various ways to make that good work possible. Often we focus on the hardships and challenges in developing countries, indeed the TPM team is here for another 10 days or so to equip and re-train and encourage our Zambian colleagues who experience newborn and infant mortality in ways we have not for several generations in the US. Even the study and message of the church service today reminded and wrestled with the perception that hardships and trouble are experienced as a rule of life, even or especially “problems” that may create physical, emotional, and spiritual hardship or disappointment. Today we hope that you will be encouraged, as we were, by the smiling faces and apparent joy of life that we witnessed and documented. For some of the team this is the first time experiencing this magnitude and juxtaposition of hardship and joy that we saw today. It is hard to describe, and can be cognitively and emotionally overwhelming. For most of us it evokes a sense that something is missing at home - why do so many here seem so happy when they don’t have ____ (fill in the blank). Download the files below to see more videos!
We didn’t answer all the questions or solve all the problems today (and we won’t this trip). In fact there were some people that needed glasses who we could not take care of, and some that needed levels of blood pressure management and medical treatment that we could not provide today. In a few situations we had to say “no we can’t” and “no we don’t”, hoping needs will be met in ways we could not on this day. It never feels good to disappoint. Just another reminder that we have limitations - we are human. However, we witnessed that despite our limitations, joy may win the day through mutual encouragement, the fomenting of hope, and the things we choose to focus on. We were overwhelmed and encouraged by what happened and what we saw today, and in some small way through the photos and videos posted we hope you are too! We are well, we are rested, we are ready for Monday - our warmest greetings to you and yours from Ndola from the Tiny People Matter Zambia 2024 team. Dr. Matthew Heckman MD, PhD Check out more of our clinic pictures below! 
A team of 8 doctors , nurses , and educators began the very long journey to Ndola, Zambia on Friday October 25. Months and months of planning and preparations and now we were on our way! God began providing blessings early on! We all arrived safely to the airport and all 16 bags were checked in without any issues at all. I was very upfront with the gentleman at the Qatar flight check in desk when I told him several of our bags were slightly over and he was very gracious!! Then we were informed our carry on bags must be less than 7kgs! We didn’t know that …. He was amazing and checked in all our carry on bag free! (That never happens!!) All of our connections were very tight but we made every flight !!! And all the bags arrived safely !! download our short videos |
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We arrived in Ndola Saturday at 5 pm and greeted warmly by Leonard and Rose! Tomorrow we will be attending a local church and providing ABC first aide clinic and reading glass clinic for anyone who needs it!! God is good and faithful!
Thanks for the prayers back home!
Melissa and the TPM team!
Thanks for the prayers back home!
Melissa and the TPM team!
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