DAVIDSON IN MWANDI

Bio368 | Study and Treatment of Human Disease in Zambia

Please visit the official Davidson in Mwandi program website for complete information on the current program and archives of past projects.

While in Mwandi, students attend rounds and do rotations in the hospital under the supervision of health care workers.  Students also have the opportunity to travel to rural health centers in the hospital catchment area, where they help with immunization programs.  The academic portion of the course requires each student to write a paper on a particular aspect of health care in Zambia.  Past projects have focused on malnutrition, traditional healers, HIV/AIDS, adolescent health, women’s reproductive health, malaria, and other topics.  The service component of the course includes an on-campus fund-raising campaign to support a specific project in Mwandi (e.g., the Orphan and Vulnerable Children’s Center) and volunteering time and labor for a project while in Zambia (e.g., painting the Outpatient Clinic).  Students also learn a great deal about the Lozi culture by participating in activities at the school and church, as well as by just getting to know the people working and being treated at the hospital and clinics.

The Mwandi United Church of Zambia Christian Mission Hospital is located in the village of Mwandi, on the Zambezi River, midway between Livingstone and Sesheke, in the southwest corner of Zambia. The hospital is a mission of the United Church of Zambia, which has been assisted in this work by the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Medical Benevolence Foundation, and Medical Missions, Inc. of Columbia, South Carolina. In addition, a management team, operating out of the Thyatira Presbyterian Church at Mill Bridge, Salisbury, N.C., provides leadership and logistical support, and guides the fund raising efforts for the hospital community.  In 1995, Davidson College began its affiliation with the Mwandi Hospital when Charles Newsome of Thyatira Presbyterian Church in Salisbury, Salvador Garcia de la Torre, physician at the mission hospital, John Kuykendall, president of Davidson College, and Inyambo Yeta, senior chief of the Lozi people agreed to cooperate in joint venture that would provide Davidson College students with a service/learning experience at the UCZ mission and would also benefit the people of Mwandi, Zambia.