The Heart of Africa and its heroes
- 20 Jan 2025
- Dorota Malag
The Sacred Heart of Jesus Hospital in Katondwe is more than just a location on a map. It's more than a medical facility. It's more than a place where the Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception carry out their mission. This hospital is a story. A story about patients for whom the hospital is often the only chance of salvation. A story about the people involved in its operation and development.
But it's also a story about those who give meaning to this entire endeavor.
A man, attacked and severely injured by a crocodile, makes a desperate attempt to save his life. He walks to Katondwe. Exhausted, after three days of wandering, he ends up in the surgical ward. Now he can share his story.
A little girl in critical condition with extensive burns. She is transferred from Lusaka to the care of us. Skin grafts, blood transfusions for five months, a long recovery. She is alive and well.
A woman in her eighth month of pregnancy walks all the way from Malawi. She knows this is the best place for her and her unborn child for a dignified, safe, and hygienic birth. She knows that the hospital in Katondwe never refuses help to anyone.
Women in this part of Africa traditionally interrupt their work only briefly for childbirth. Here they stay longer. They get shelter, help with childbirth. Finally, they have a moment to simply rest.
They, and thousands of other patients, are also part of the story of a place where compassion, passion, commitment, and professionalism combine synergistically.
Professionalism can be learned. You can be a great surgeon or radiologist. This is a very important asset of any hospital, including this one. But to create an atmosphere of warmth and trust, you need something more. You need to "have your heart in the right place". To have respect for the patient, patience, to talk to them, to treat them holistically, and sometimes to simply say a dignified goodbye.
Patients feel this. They can express gratitude for the fact that for so many years they can come here and always receive support. It is said that "they trust in God, but they trust the sisters." Because this is their story – the story of Katondwe Mission Hospital in Zambia.
