It was our pleasure to host in Katondwe, for two weeks, our friends from Łódź: Doctor Filip Styrzyński and seminarist Kamil Bielicki. Out time spent together was full of warm kindness and very positive emotions.

For Doctor Filip Styrzyński, it was yet another visit at the Sacred Heart Hospital. He posted on social media his observations about the changes that occurred in our hospital since his last stay.

Can you remember the big package of equipment that was finally delivered to the Sacred Heart Hospital in February, after many obstacles related to the pandemic restrictions? Among the many other gifts, the parcel also contained two lamps for operating rooms.

The very installation of the lamps was not easy. The ceiling structure in the operating room was not designed to support such a heavy device, so a quick renovation was necessary to strengthen the ceiling.

This nice and likeable young man in the photo is Bartholomew K. Kamlewe.

Bartholomew belongs to the team of the Sacred Heart Hospital. He is a qualified midwife and a teacher, very committed to sharing with his students the secrets of emergency obstetrics and neonatal care. Moreover, he holds important positions on many committees at medical organisations. He is the first person from Zambia to participate in the Young Midwives Leaders (YML) Programme of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM). He is also a member of the Midwives Association of Zambia (MAZ).

We had very busy days at the Sacred Heart Hospital, occupied with difficult surgeries and medical procedures. However, these were also the days of making new friends and companions. We enjoyed the time of exchanging knowledge and serious talks, but also the moments of funny chats and laughter. Yesterday, with a heavy heart, we said goodbye to our guests from Poland, but we believe we will meet again.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the time we shared!

At the beginning of each day, we find a moment to pray and gather our strength for our daily challenges, and reassert our faith in the meaning of our work.

Today, a Holy Mass was held in the chapel of the Sacred Heart Hospital, attended by the entire Sacred Heart Hospital team, students from the hospital's nursing school and our guests from Poland.

We thanked God for the time spent together and prayed that Katarzyna, both Ann, Hanna and Paweł safely return to their homes.

At the Sacred Heart Hospital, we welcome each baby with equal care and pray to God for their happy future. However, receiving a little human into the world is not always easy. As in any hospital, we also have cases of complicated births, and the African reality of Katondwe makes providing medical assistance much more difficult.

This time, another healthy baby was born, assisted by the gynaecological and surgical team which will stay in the Sacred Heart Hosting for several more days.

Dear little Maria, welcome to the world!

Last week, we hosted representatives from Swiss organisation SolidarMed, which supports hospitals and medical facilities in Africa, as well as the SolidarInvest-Zambia organisation (SolidarMed-founded) and the Hilthi Foundation. Such visits take place every 2-3 years to verify the effects of cooperation and planning further joint activities.

Yesterday was the first day of Holy Week – a very important time in the Church. It is the remembrance of the events leading to the salvation of the world. In the chapel at our Sacred Heart Hospital, people gathered with green palm leaves in their hands. We celebrated together with the liturgy of Palm Sunday that way – the symbol of Jesus entering Jerusalem five days before his crucifixion. Attending the Holy Mass on that day means that we agree to carry the cross, suffer together with Christ and accept our lives as given to us by God.

The young people who study the difficult and beautiful profession of nursing at the Sacred Heart Hospital spontaneously decided to help an orphaned child from our community in Katondwe. Their empathetic approach to the problem and their genuine concern let them very quickly organise a fundraiser to secure the orphan's vital needs and to purchase a supply of milk for the baby. Once again, they showed that their decisions are guided by a genuine desire to do good and to help those in need.

We are very proud of them!

The Sacred Heart Hospital in snapshots.

The end of the week. The hospital is busy, and we are not asleep. Patients arrived injured by gunshots.

A fortnight earlier, a young man came to us. He walked for five days. He managed to do this despite his peritonitis and bowel obstruction.

There is also a little girl we call Basia. She had surgery on a contracture of her right arm. We are happy to see she can raise her hand over her head.