Our Story
How it all began
In March 2019, Dr Kazhila was invited to join Zambia Blog Talk Radio (ZBTR). (ZBTR is an online radio whose goal is “to reach to Zambians in the diaspora and consolidate on individual contributions to Zambia”). Dr Kazhila subsequently participated in more of ZBTR’s Saturday weekly discussions and at one show was asked “What about you doctor? What could you as doctors do to help?”. This question briefly caught him off guard because he was being asked what he had been asking others… a question for which he had no immediate answer! After the interview, Dr Kazhila decided he needed to do something.
In July 2019, Dr Kazhila drove to Fredericton, New Brunswick in Canada to discuss the question he had been asked with good friend Dr Sebastian Benaya another cardiologist and internal medicine specialist. The two thrashed out a few ideas and settled on the vision of setting up a state-of-the-art hospital in Zambia – which would offer the same services which they gave to patients in their care outside of Zambia. The two realised that for what they had in mind to work, they need to engage and work with other doctors around the globe including Zambia itself. They, therefore, approached a few other doctors including Dr John Musonda, a practising family medicine physician based in South Africa. Following on from that, Dr Lorita Kabwe, a cardiologist practising in Zambia got involved. By August 2019, 20 doctors were on board! By September 2019 the number of healthcare professionals in GAZHP including nursing staff had grown to 40. Now GAZHP has professionals from different backgrounds all of whom are contributory to the healthcare sector.
Progressive discussions continued taking place in WhatsApp group chats and Zoom meetings and the vision developed. In September 2019, Dr Kazhila flew to Dallas to attend the ZBTR 10th anniversary celebration also attended by the then Zambian ambassador to the United States of America, Dr Ngosa Simbyakula. After listening to Dr Kazhila’s enthusiastic presentation, the ambassador in conversation with Dr Kazhila suggested the formation of an organisation to give impetus to the idea. Also present at the event, and presenting for a group called Anakazi, was Ms Yareka Mhango who too gave a very impressive presentation which moved Dr Kazhila’s wife to suggest he speak to her with the view to asking her to come on board.
More meetings were held to put together a framework for the organisation and to choose a name and logo. The first executive team comprising Dr Kazhila, Dr Benaya, Dr Musonda, Ms Mhango, Dr Joseph Yikona, Dr Pierre Dil, Mr Steven Moyo, and Ms Nyuma Harrison was formed, and in December 2019 GAZHP was formally registered as a non-profit 501(c)3 organization in the State of Delaware United States and is to be registered in other parts of the world in due course.
This story has just begun. We look forward to your participation in this journey to give true healthcare benefit to the Zambian population.
