Chinyingi is a
Capuchin mission and
hospital
A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...
in the sparsely populated
North-Western Province of
Zambia
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
, on the west bank of the
Zambezi
The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...
River. An estimated 6000 people live within a seven kilometer radius of the Chinyingi mission. The mission's hospital, Chinyingi Mission Hospital, serves the local community with a 52-bed hospital and several health outreach programs, providing everything from
first aid
First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with a medical emergency, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery until medical services arrive. First aid is gener ...
to services for people with HIV/
AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
, which affects some 25% of Zambia's population. The mission also operates a school.
In the 1970s, a Capuchin brother named Crispin Valeri constructed a
pedestrian bridge over the Zambezi River. Valeri was motivated by the deaths of five people who
drowned in the Zambezi River as the tragic result of four people trying to use a
dugout canoe
A dugout canoe or simply dugout is a boat made from a hollowed-out tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. ''Monoxylon'' (''μονόξυλον'') (pl: ''monoxyla'') is Greek''mono-'' (single) + '' ξύλον xylon'' (tr ...
to ferry a sick person to the hospital for care.
He solicited donations of material from the
copper
Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
mines of Zambia's
Copperbelt
The Copperbelt () is a natural region in Central Africa which sits on the border region between northern Zambia and the south eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is known for copper mining and is the second largest global reserve of copper, ...
, and employed local unskilled labor to construct the bridge, which despite Valeri's lack of training or expertise, proved sturdy and reliable and still spans the river . At the time, the bridge Valeri constructed was one of only five crossings along the 2,574 kilometer length of the Zambezi. A
pontoon bridge
A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, is a bridge that uses float (nautical), floats or shallow-draft (hull), draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the support ...
was later constructed underneath it to allow vehicles to cross.
Chinyingi's elevation above sea level is 1,100 meters.
Chinyingi Mission Hospital redesign
As of May 2016, the Chinyingi Mission Hospital was undergoing renovations, with hospital staff consisting only of one nurse. The remainder of the staff had moved elsewhere, looking for employment at rural health outposts spread across the North-Western Province of Zambia or at th
Zambezi District Hospital located across the Zambezi River in the village of Zambezi. The priests of the Chinyingi Mission noted that the redesign and renovation of the hospital was a necessity, as they were unable to find a doctor that wished to practice at the facility. Instead of closing the doors to the hospital permanently, they initiated renovations in order to keep the facility up to high standards, and to provide medical care for the villagers on the western bank of the Zambezi River as Valeri intended by building the suspension bridge.
See also
*
List of crossings of the Zambezi River
References
*McIntyre, Chris
"Chapter 17: The Western Provinces" ''Guide to Zambia'' (online edition). Bradt Travel Guides. 3rd edition: November 2004.
(2002). Capuchin Franciscan Friars Province of Stigmata of St. Francis. Retrieved August 10, 2005.
Falling Rain Genomics, Inc. Retrieved August 10, 2005.
{{coord, 13, 21, 15.5, S, 23, 00, 38.7, E, region:ZM_type:city(500), display=title
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20161031114933/http://www.panoramio.com/photo/110335782
Christian missions in Zambia
Populated places in North-Western Province, Zambia