At Interbike last year we heard about the Zambulance, a bicycle ambulance, developed by ZamBikes. The developers of this bike believe it can make a difference in the developing world. The president and co-founder, Dustin McBride recently shared a story on how much of a difference this can be.
A Letter From the Director:
I don’t cry often. And when I cry, it’s usually because of a tragic loss of a loved one or some other serious pain that is ‘close to home’. Last week I visited some villages in Kamuli, central Uganda to check on Zambulances that we’ve distributed in partnership with Plan Uganda a few months ago. We visited many patients and the stories were touching, powerful, and some very hard to hear.
One story we experienced was about a woman, Susan, who was pregnant with twins. She gave birth to the first twin at home in the village but because of complications was struggling to deliver the second baby. The Zambulance was able to transport her to the hospital where she had a C-section and safely gave birth to the second twin. In a way, the story seems beautiful and victorious. But the story doesn’t end there. Susan has mental disabilities and is HIV+. We assume she was raped since the dad is in hiding and Susan can’t identify him. Because of her mental state, her healthy, beautiful twins were sent to an orphanage in another town.
Susan has been in the hospital for six weeks since her surgery and because of her weak immune system, she’s struggling to heal. Her family can’t afford the mounting hospital bill, Â but the nurses can’t bear to stop treating her so they are helping however they can. When we met Susan and her mom, they were both very ill and had run out of food. Most hospitals in Africa don’t feed their patients so, as a result, families have to stay on site and prepare meals.
My wife was interviewing them and collecting the story in the hospital ward. We started to break down. The pain and sadness we felt for Susan and her mom were and are immense; It was too much to handle. My wife prayed for them and we helped to pay some of her bills but it didn’t take that pain away.
In one very real sense, Susan would not be alive today if it weren’t for the Zambulance. At the same time, our hearts break for Susan, her mom, and the fact that there are many others in a similar situation. We can’t fix all the problems but we are blessed to play our important role of connecting villages to medical treatment. This year, we have already begun distributing Zambulances thanks to you! We are on track to distribute at least 200 into villages to help people like Susan.
Thanks for your support!
Dustin