An African villager on the Zambian Plateau made the remark that inspired the title of this book. He was describing the impact of western medicine on a community where it was previously unknown.
In 1964 the United States Government, the Government of the Irish Republic, and the Zambian Government negotiated the construction and staffing of a children's hospital on the Copperbelt, probably the richest mineral area in the world.
The three presidents, Kaunda, Johnson, and De Valera were all personally involved in the project associated with the project, a Flying Doctor Service was to be established, designed to construct and operate airfields and clinics in the remote and rural areas of Zambia.
Penicillin and chloroquine were two of the most formidable motivators for development in Africa. The advantages they produced, life instead of death, redefined the obligations of society and they had, by
themselves, the capacity to revolutionise the continent.
We have been trying to publish this since 1970 but the general feeling among friends and family is that it went into too much detail. Of course, this book was written as a true record of events in the first years of Zambia's Independence with all the ups and downs politically and otherwise.
Heinemann Publisher in 1971 agreed to publish the book, but two days later they cancelled it because their South African branch said it was too pro-Africa. Many other publishers were approached in the years following - they did not even read the manuscript, saying there was no interest in memoirs about Africa. The most galling refusal was in 2014, in the year of the Zambian 50th Anniversary of Independence. We were told they did not want to be reminded of the colonial past.
