I recently returned from Zambia where PIVI is in the second year of an exciting partnership supporting a dual vaccination campaign to protect health workers against influenza and hepatitis B.
While much of this work is happening inside hospitals in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, we are also reaching more rural communities, including the Rufunsa District, northeast of the city.
After turning off the main highway, we traveled more than an hour along bumpy dirt roads to reach Shikabeta Rural Health Center, where Nurse Aliness Angelina Phiri (pictured) cares for patients across a network of surrounding villages. She shared how being vaccinated helps protect not only her but the patients and families who rely on her care.
During our visit, a young woman in active labor began experiencing complications. An ambulance had been called, but it was still at least an hour away, navigating the same rough road we had just traveled.
Without hesitation, members of our team stepped in to help. Two registered nurses from our partner organization Ciheb Zambia (including Beauty Phiri, pictured with me), and a nurse-midwife from St. Luke’s Hospital, who had been on-site to support vaccination efforts, quickly began assisting the clinic staff. What was meant to be a one-hour visit turned into three, as they helped safely deliver a baby and support a new mother in a critical moment. There is no doubt in my mind that the mother and baby would’ve suffered life-threatening complications without the team there to support her delivery.
It was a powerful reminder that while PIVI’s core work focuses on strengthening vaccination systems, those systems are part of something much larger. When health workers are protected through vaccination, they can show up for everything from routine care to life’s most important moments.
As we approach Mother’s Day, I’ve found myself reflecting on this brave new mother in Zambia and the people who have shown up at the right place and the right time in my own life. People like my mother, my daughter, and so many others who form the systems of support I depend on.
Around the world, strong health systems make those moments possible. Through partnerships that expand access to vaccination, strengthen infrastructure, and support frontline health workers, we are helping build systems that protect not only individuals but also families, communities, and future generations.
-Amanda
Amanda Bolster is the Director of Communications and Development at PIVI