Antiques perfect in new setting

Brians Chisenga and Priscilla Koota, workers at Macha Mission Hospital, prepare one of 44 mechanical beds donated by MCC. MCC news photo: Amanda Martin

Macha Mission Hospital, a Brethren in Christ hospital in southern Zambia, recently received a shipment of 44 mechanical beds and other medical equipment from Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).

MCC collected mechanical beds that can be raised and lowered by hand from hospitals in British Columbia that now use only electrically powered adjustable beds.

“The new beds, although considered antiques in North America, are perfect for the hospital,” wrote Amanda Martin, who teaches in a nursing school at Macha Mission Hospital. “Automatic/electric beds are standard in North American hospitals, but here they would be a problem (due to frequent power outages and lack of electrical hookup at the bedside).”

The shipment also included 55 hospital mattresses, which replaced old foam mattresses at the hospital.

Macha Mission Hospital serves a large, rural area of southern Zambia with a population of about 140,000. The majority of patients are treated for HIV/AIDS and related infections.

—Tim Shenk, MCC Communications