Advance the hospital & school work @Katoka,DRCongo

Katoka Hospital has seen it's first case of covid this week.  Thankfully the lady concerned is responding to treatement and making a good recovery. However, it is an indication that covid is making it's way to some of the most remote areas of Congo, having previously been mainly concentrated in the cities and urban areas. Thankfully test kits are now readily available in the area which will enable cases to be quickly identified and treated.  Mary is pleased to be back from her visit to the UK where she was able to get her two covid vaccines. She assisted in the birth of a very healthly baby boy earlier this week, both parents were delighted! The schools in the area didn't start as planned last week as the teachers were on strike due issues of pay. It is hoped this can be quickly resolved so pupils can start their studies again. Like many parts of the world school was disrupted during the last academic year due to covid. 

It has been a busy few months at Katoka Hospital. The heavy rains continued well into May making travel and transport of medcines and patients a real challenge. There is a concern about increasing cases of malnutrition in children. This is thought to be partly due to the closure of the border with Angola due to covid-19. This has prevented the transport of protein rich fish and chicken from Angola which the local population rely on. The hospital has recently been able to support Daniella, a baby with a tumour to travel to Lusaka the captial of Zambia with her parents for a life saving operation. The operation went well and Mary asks people to pray that this baby will make a full recovery. Mary reports that it has been sad to see the numbers of children being brought to hospital due to hunger and starvation.  Mary returned to the UK in May to see family and have her covid-19 vaccines. She plans to return to Katoka at the end of July.