So today is my first full day back in Canada, and I thought I'd share some final thoughts about this whole experience, although I'm sure it will take more time before I've processed it all.
This has been THE most incredible experience of my whole life. I would not trade it in for anything. I've been fortunate enough to travel quite a bit in the past, but no place has gotten under my skin quite like Tanzania. It has such a rich and beautiful culture, gorgeous landscapes, and the people are incredible. There were definitely things that took some getting used to, we all experienced quite a bit of culture shock and had many frustrations along the way, but in the end, after all the hard work we've put in all year, and all the setbacks we've had to overcome, what I've gotten out of this experience is so much more than I ever could have put in.
The best part of the experience for me was hanging out with the CCF boys in Arusha. These boys have grown up largely without guidance from parents or other authority figures, and have relied on each other to survive. Currently, they live in a building with no running electricity, their doors are pieces of fabric hung over door frames, their windows are holes punched out of the concrete walls, and they sleep on pieces of foam on the ground. Their kitchen is a sink in an open courtyard shared between the neighbours. They each own just a few pieces of clothing, but their clothes are always clean and their shoes much cleaner than ours, as they take good care of the few things they have (I should have gotten a few pointers before I left, as my previously white shoes are currently a very dirty shade of brown!). Despite this, they are among the happiest, most good natured people I have met. Most are in high school, and some are even in, or have finished, forms 5 and 6, which are two years you can do after graduating from high school, and are required for entry into University... and some are planning on going to University. And they have many other talents as well. When I think of all the support from my family that has gotten me to where I am today, and I think of these boys that are on their own, I am in absolute awe that they have made it this far despite all their obstacles, and I am sure they will go far in life. One song that we heard played everywhere this summer reminds me of them every time I hear it now: "When I get older, I will be stronger, they'll call me freedom, just like a waving flag..." They're so supportive of each other, and are a family in every sense of the word. And they took us in as part of this family. Spending time with them would always brighten my day, and I was always in a great mood after seeing them.
Dr. Mhando and his family were so welcoming to us, and were wonderful to spend time with! MedOutreach is a family event for them, as they have been doing it for 16 years now. Dr. Mhando is an excellent clinician and we were fortunate that he was able to take some time to teach us about medicine in Tanzania. Dr. Julius in Nkoaranga was an excellent teacher, and we learned a lot from him. Medically speaking, we saw things we would have never had the opportunity to see in Canada, and saw how medicine is practiced in a low resource setting, and how healthcare workers make do with what they have and treat patients given resource limitations. It also made me really, really appreciate the healthcare system in Canada!! Actually it made me appreciate everything I have here in Canada, and made me realize that even if I don't have all these luxuries that I am used to (sitting toilets, toilet paper, warm water), it's okay, I can handle it. I can be dirty and share my room with rats and my sleeping bag with crickets, and my campsite with warthogs, and share a minibus (daladala) with 40 people with body odor in hot weather... and it's okay. I can wait three hours for something that should take 20 minutes, I can wait in line for an hour to use an ATM that doesn't work, and I can still get on with my life. And in fact, I'm lucky that I have a room, that I can take a daladala rather than walk, that I can afford to go camping in the Serengeti with warthogs, and that I have an ATM card, and above all, I'm incredibly lucky that I was able to have this experience in Tanzania.
Thank you so much to all of you who followed our blog, and who supported us in any way, in Canada or in Tanzania. Asanteni na kwa herini!
xoxo Kasia
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
A Dental Perspective - Feliz Navidad
A Dental Perspective – Feliz Navidad
So yes, this blog update is long overdue, Chalice and I felt it was finally time to update everyone on what we have been doing these past 5 weeks in Tanzania.
Our first working experience was at Nkoaranga hospital working with Dr. Frank Nnko. We spent our first week at the hospital treating his patients under his supervision. Dr. Frank is a master at extracting teeth and was very patient with us the first few days as we struggled to get some of those stubborn teeth out. Dr. Frank’s classic line “Hakunashida” (meaning no worries), his loud deep laugh, and constant Christmas carols made us feel quite at home in his clinic. There is nothing quite like working for 9-10 hours a day listening to Feliz Navidad on repeat in the middle of July on a mountain, in Africa.
Week two was easily Chalice and my favourite week of the trip thus far. We ran a community dental clinic which was advertised in local churches and schools. Everyday for 3 days we arrived at the clinic to find up to 10 people sitting outside waiting for us to open shop. In 3 days we saw 165 patients. We had one dental chair and one make shift chair set up and worked until all the patients who turned up that day were treated. We encountered many challenges as we worked such as occasional power outages, limited numbers of our favourite instruments, and huge language barriers. The Medical and Nursing students came to our rescue in many occasions on their breaks helping us by holding flashlights, translating, and sterilizing extra instruments. Chalice and I also learned to be very resourceful and realized how spoiled we are at home with a wide selection of tools and instruments to choose from. We also tried our best to learn some dental terms is Swahili while we were there such as “Where does is hurt”, “Sit”, and “spit”. Asking people to spit was one of the most interesting parts of the treatment. Since we were working with one real dental chair and one fake chair there was only one bowl for spitting in the clinic. Every time we asked the patient in the fake chair to spit we would point to the bowl on the opposite side of the room and say “tema hapa” meaning “spit here”. Nobody ever spat there. People spat on the floor, they spat in napkins, they would spit in the wrong part of the bowl and once a young boy simply marched over to the window and horked through the grate. Needless to say it was always exciting to see how “tema hapa” would be translated.
Once we completed our community clinic, we descended from the mountain back to Arusha to work at the Seventh Day Adventist Clinic (SDA) with Dr. King and Dr. Zuma. This has been a totally opposite experience from Nkoaranga. The clinic is much more well equipped and the treatment options available to patients is far more abundant and expensive. The patients on the mountain could choose from either an extraction or a filling while the SDA clinic offers pretty much everything dentists in Canada provide. At SDA we are treating a wide range of patients with a variety of problems. This is teaching us a lot as well as helping us learn to keep up with the pace of a regular dental office (no more of those 3 hour appointments).
We continue to work at SDA on select days but have also completed dental screenings in the evenings for the boys belonging to Children for Childrens Futures (CCF). Up to this point we have completed all of the screenings and are working on arranging appointments for them to come in for treatment before we leave Tanzania.
This week we have started our screening for 8-9 year old children who attend Themi Primary School. Today was the opening day of our screenings and created quite a buzz. A newspaper reporter and a news program turned up to cover the event. We are told we will be on the Arusha news tonight, and the weekly paper this weekend. So if anyone out there is a subscriber to the Arusha Times, keep your eyes open for us….
- Abby Donovan
So yes, this blog update is long overdue, Chalice and I felt it was finally time to update everyone on what we have been doing these past 5 weeks in Tanzania.
Our first working experience was at Nkoaranga hospital working with Dr. Frank Nnko. We spent our first week at the hospital treating his patients under his supervision. Dr. Frank is a master at extracting teeth and was very patient with us the first few days as we struggled to get some of those stubborn teeth out. Dr. Frank’s classic line “Hakunashida” (meaning no worries), his loud deep laugh, and constant Christmas carols made us feel quite at home in his clinic. There is nothing quite like working for 9-10 hours a day listening to Feliz Navidad on repeat in the middle of July on a mountain, in Africa.
Week two was easily Chalice and my favourite week of the trip thus far. We ran a community dental clinic which was advertised in local churches and schools. Everyday for 3 days we arrived at the clinic to find up to 10 people sitting outside waiting for us to open shop. In 3 days we saw 165 patients. We had one dental chair and one make shift chair set up and worked until all the patients who turned up that day were treated. We encountered many challenges as we worked such as occasional power outages, limited numbers of our favourite instruments, and huge language barriers. The Medical and Nursing students came to our rescue in many occasions on their breaks helping us by holding flashlights, translating, and sterilizing extra instruments. Chalice and I also learned to be very resourceful and realized how spoiled we are at home with a wide selection of tools and instruments to choose from. We also tried our best to learn some dental terms is Swahili while we were there such as “Where does is hurt”, “Sit”, and “spit”. Asking people to spit was one of the most interesting parts of the treatment. Since we were working with one real dental chair and one fake chair there was only one bowl for spitting in the clinic. Every time we asked the patient in the fake chair to spit we would point to the bowl on the opposite side of the room and say “tema hapa” meaning “spit here”. Nobody ever spat there. People spat on the floor, they spat in napkins, they would spit in the wrong part of the bowl and once a young boy simply marched over to the window and horked through the grate. Needless to say it was always exciting to see how “tema hapa” would be translated.
Once we completed our community clinic, we descended from the mountain back to Arusha to work at the Seventh Day Adventist Clinic (SDA) with Dr. King and Dr. Zuma. This has been a totally opposite experience from Nkoaranga. The clinic is much more well equipped and the treatment options available to patients is far more abundant and expensive. The patients on the mountain could choose from either an extraction or a filling while the SDA clinic offers pretty much everything dentists in Canada provide. At SDA we are treating a wide range of patients with a variety of problems. This is teaching us a lot as well as helping us learn to keep up with the pace of a regular dental office (no more of those 3 hour appointments).
We continue to work at SDA on select days but have also completed dental screenings in the evenings for the boys belonging to Children for Childrens Futures (CCF). Up to this point we have completed all of the screenings and are working on arranging appointments for them to come in for treatment before we leave Tanzania.
This week we have started our screening for 8-9 year old children who attend Themi Primary School. Today was the opening day of our screenings and created quite a buzz. A newspaper reporter and a news program turned up to cover the event. We are told we will be on the Arusha news tonight, and the weekly paper this weekend. So if anyone out there is a subscriber to the Arusha Times, keep your eyes open for us….
- Abby Donovan
PICHA!!!!!
1) Abby and her assistant, Kasia, at the Nkoaranga Community Dental Clinic.
2) Chalice also hard at work at the community dental clinic, assisted by Paulo.
3) Learning how to read a malaria slide? Good job, Aaroni.
4) The kids at the Nkoaranga Orphanage looove stickers, and friends like Cotton!
5) Traditional Zanzibar dhows on the beautiful dusk backdrop
6) Sun rising on the Serengeti
7) Hanging out with the CCF Arusha boys!!
6) Sun rising on the Serengeti
7) Hanging out with the CCF Arusha boys!!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Things you learn in Tanzania
Well hello everybody! It has been a great weekend for all of us! Paul, Chalice, Abby, & Genni headed off to Zanzibar to enjoy a relaxing weekend at the beaches while Aaron and Kasia headed off to climb up a volcano (I'm sure Kasia will post a blog about her exciting adventures doing that!). Sam and myself were able to go with Deepal (an MO-er from last year's team who has returned to do a scholarship program for the CCF kids)up to the Maji Ya Chai. Deepal had arranged for the CCF Arusha boys to have a soccer match against the Maji Ya Chai CCF boys, so we tagged along to hang out and watch the game. They were all AMAZING players!! We had a great time hanging out with the kids, just loving on them, playing soccer with the little ones (since I am NOT talented enough to have played real soccer with the older boys!), and sharing candy with them.
I've been keeping track of some of the strange, entertaining & interesting things that we've noticed about Tanzania, so I thought I'd share some of them with you!
- no matter who you are or where you are, it is apparently completely socially acceptable to pick your nose at any given moment. Digging for gold included.
- There are no fenced in fields of grazing animals. Single cows and goats are literally tied up in the ditches at the side of the road.
- Chickens are EVERYWHERE. We have yet to determine how anyone actually keeps track of who's chicken belongs to who.
- "Muzungu's" (aka non-African people, usually white skinned) are a hot item to be stared at, waved at, pointed at, and frantically yelled at with a "Mambo Muzungu!!"
- Perhaps most surprisingly, everyone has a cell phone. I was in one of the clinic waiting rooms and an elderly Masaai woman (a VERY traditionally dressed tribe) carefully put on her glasses and then pulled out a cell phone and started texting. Who knew!
- It is not uncommon for the electricity to just cut out for minutes to hours of time. This happened to us a few times at the hospital during surgeries - with no back up generator! - causing us to grab our flashlights and headlights for light.
- real toilets are hard to find, they're usually just holes in the ground. Toilet paper is even harder to find, followed by paper towel or even normal towels to dry your hands.
- It is perfectly acceptable for bugs to be everywhere - one day we were working in the maternity ward with this HUGE green grass-hopper just hanging out on the patient files. If bugs like this were found in canadian hospitals I'm pretty sure four residents would be trying to shoo it out while four nursing students shrieked and begged the residents to not kill or hurt the bug (but please still get rid of it! lol).
That's all for now! Tutaonana rafiki's!!!
xo Court
I've been keeping track of some of the strange, entertaining & interesting things that we've noticed about Tanzania, so I thought I'd share some of them with you!
- no matter who you are or where you are, it is apparently completely socially acceptable to pick your nose at any given moment. Digging for gold included.
- There are no fenced in fields of grazing animals. Single cows and goats are literally tied up in the ditches at the side of the road.
- Chickens are EVERYWHERE. We have yet to determine how anyone actually keeps track of who's chicken belongs to who.
- "Muzungu's" (aka non-African people, usually white skinned) are a hot item to be stared at, waved at, pointed at, and frantically yelled at with a "Mambo Muzungu!!"
- Perhaps most surprisingly, everyone has a cell phone. I was in one of the clinic waiting rooms and an elderly Masaai woman (a VERY traditionally dressed tribe) carefully put on her glasses and then pulled out a cell phone and started texting. Who knew!
- It is not uncommon for the electricity to just cut out for minutes to hours of time. This happened to us a few times at the hospital during surgeries - with no back up generator! - causing us to grab our flashlights and headlights for light.
- real toilets are hard to find, they're usually just holes in the ground. Toilet paper is even harder to find, followed by paper towel or even normal towels to dry your hands.
- It is perfectly acceptable for bugs to be everywhere - one day we were working in the maternity ward with this HUGE green grass-hopper just hanging out on the patient files. If bugs like this were found in canadian hospitals I'm pretty sure four residents would be trying to shoo it out while four nursing students shrieked and begged the residents to not kill or hurt the bug (but please still get rid of it! lol).
That's all for now! Tutaonana rafiki's!!!
xo Court
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Night falls on the Serengeti...
It is day 2 of our 4-day safari to Lake Manyara, the Serengeti, and Ngorogoro crater. So far, no casualties, although we are currently in an open air encampment, a stone's throw away from where we came across troupes of zebras, impalas and gazelles. One of our tents has the zipper to the door broken, which is a tad unsettling... if a creepy crawlie so desired, it could easily slip in in the middle of the night - eek! Oh well, Genni and I slept in there yesterday and it was fine.
Speaking of creepy crawlies - we were quite lucky today in catching sight of a BLACK MAMBA!! that slithered across the road in front of us as we were driving along in the safety of our safari truck. For any of you that have seen Kill Bill #2 (I think), it had a small role in that film. The black mamba is one of the most dangerous snakes on earth. It has a neurotoxin in its venom, and a bite will kill a human being in about 15 seconds! (so I've been told by the locals). About 5-10 minutes after sighting said snake, we arrived at our campsite, in a clearing in the middle of the Savvanah. No fences, fortresses, nothing to separate us from the African wildlife! However, our guide said it was the first time he has ever seen a black mamba in the Serengeti (and he's been in the business a long time), and the fourth time he has seen one in the wild; they are a rare sight. It was a relief to hear that because, statistically speaking, chances are we will not be seeing another one tonight in one of our tents!
We are now in the center of the Serengeti, and it's been a beautiful, albeit bumpy drive. We exerienced two roadblocks today - one caused by a herd of elephants about fifty strong, the other by a family of zebras. Yesterday was baboon day - we saw a ridiculous amount of monkeys and baboons, they were quite adorable, especially the babies catching a piggyback ride on their mamas. We also saw hippos, warthogs, flamingos, and giraffes. Today we saw elephants, wildebeasts, impalas, gazelles... and (arguably) the most majestic of them all... lions!!! It was really incredible to be a mere two metres away from them - they were beautiful! And we haven't even hit the migration yet... In August, animals migrate from Masai Mara in Kenya to the Serengeti in Tanzania. Judging by how much wildlife we saw today, I cannot fathom how it must look after August!
We all look super tanned right now, but a wet cloth will show that it's just the layer of dust that is coating us and every single thing we own. It as if we were rolling around in a sand box, the dust is everywhere! It doesn't take too long to figure out this is the dry season.
Today Aaron and I wandered into the grasslands surrounding our campsite, risking a buffalo attack to get a photo of the perfect African Serengeti sunset (and we got it!). Yesterday's would-be photographers were not so lucky. Well, they came away unscathed, but it was a close call. Not sure if they got their photo or not.
We're sitting in near-pitch-black darkness right now, watching a sky-full of twinkling Serengeti stars. I can't wait to see what the next two days have in store!
xoxo Kasia
Speaking of creepy crawlies - we were quite lucky today in catching sight of a BLACK MAMBA!! that slithered across the road in front of us as we were driving along in the safety of our safari truck. For any of you that have seen Kill Bill #2 (I think), it had a small role in that film. The black mamba is one of the most dangerous snakes on earth. It has a neurotoxin in its venom, and a bite will kill a human being in about 15 seconds! (so I've been told by the locals). About 5-10 minutes after sighting said snake, we arrived at our campsite, in a clearing in the middle of the Savvanah. No fences, fortresses, nothing to separate us from the African wildlife! However, our guide said it was the first time he has ever seen a black mamba in the Serengeti (and he's been in the business a long time), and the fourth time he has seen one in the wild; they are a rare sight. It was a relief to hear that because, statistically speaking, chances are we will not be seeing another one tonight in one of our tents!
We are now in the center of the Serengeti, and it's been a beautiful, albeit bumpy drive. We exerienced two roadblocks today - one caused by a herd of elephants about fifty strong, the other by a family of zebras. Yesterday was baboon day - we saw a ridiculous amount of monkeys and baboons, they were quite adorable, especially the babies catching a piggyback ride on their mamas. We also saw hippos, warthogs, flamingos, and giraffes. Today we saw elephants, wildebeasts, impalas, gazelles... and (arguably) the most majestic of them all... lions!!! It was really incredible to be a mere two metres away from them - they were beautiful! And we haven't even hit the migration yet... In August, animals migrate from Masai Mara in Kenya to the Serengeti in Tanzania. Judging by how much wildlife we saw today, I cannot fathom how it must look after August!
We all look super tanned right now, but a wet cloth will show that it's just the layer of dust that is coating us and every single thing we own. It as if we were rolling around in a sand box, the dust is everywhere! It doesn't take too long to figure out this is the dry season.
Today Aaron and I wandered into the grasslands surrounding our campsite, risking a buffalo attack to get a photo of the perfect African Serengeti sunset (and we got it!). Yesterday's would-be photographers were not so lucky. Well, they came away unscathed, but it was a close call. Not sure if they got their photo or not.
We're sitting in near-pitch-black darkness right now, watching a sky-full of twinkling Serengeti stars. I can't wait to see what the next two days have in store!
xoxo Kasia
Sunday, July 11, 2010
woot
Mambo!
So it's Monday July 5th (this email won't be posted until later though, due to lack of wifi access), and it's been a week since MedOutreach arrived in Tanzania! We are now at Nkoaranga hospital, about a 45 minute drive from Arusha... although you can get there much faster if you take the 'pikipiki's' (the motorcycles). We saw someone wipe out on one yesterday; I think I will pass! Nkoaranga is at higher altitude and as a result is quite cold. The hospital we are at is fairly large, and has a maternity ward, a surgical theater, a moratorium, as well as other departments. Today was our first day working here; the medical and nursing students did rounds, where we met patients and learned their histories. The dentists spent the day pulling teeth, and were very satisfied with their day. Right now I can hear Chalice in the next room learning Swahili so she can communicate with her patients a little better. We have traded in 'panya kubwa's' (large rats) for 'sungusungu's'... giant biting ants! We probably look like we're performing an elaborate dance as we're climbing up the hill to our house, but we're just trying to jump over the ant trails. I don't know how, but in the 20 seconds it takes to run from the dirt anthill to the house, the ants managed to make it up our pants, shirts and into our hair.
Our house at Nkoaranga has a lot of character. We sleep on hospital beds, with hospital bedding, one of our kitchen sinks empties blindly into the wooden cabinet below it, we have an attic that few have ventured into (and come out alive), and our house is haunted by a cow carcass that lives in the attic. Although his head has since migrated onto our porch. At first it was creepy, but now we treat him as a sort of 'guard cow.' Our house has not been broken into, so I think he is doing his job quite well. The nice thing at Nkoaranga is that we have a kitchen here so we can make our own food. Although food in Arusha is quite cheap compared to Canadian standards, food in Nkoaranga is about ten times cheaper than Arusha, and it is nice knowing what you are eating. We occasionally go into Arusha to do groceries, and it reminds me of the movie 'The Beach,' when every month or so two people would travel to the mainland and come back with groceries, toiletries, etc... such is the excitement among us upon seeing Pringles or Diet Coke when people return.
Speaking of which, we're about to go on one of those shopping sprees before the stores close... It's a Sunday so the stores close early. Apples, navel oranges, milk and nutella are also hot ticket items in Nkoaranga, and we can't come back without them!
xoxo! Kasia
So it's Monday July 5th (this email won't be posted until later though, due to lack of wifi access), and it's been a week since MedOutreach arrived in Tanzania! We are now at Nkoaranga hospital, about a 45 minute drive from Arusha... although you can get there much faster if you take the 'pikipiki's' (the motorcycles). We saw someone wipe out on one yesterday; I think I will pass! Nkoaranga is at higher altitude and as a result is quite cold. The hospital we are at is fairly large, and has a maternity ward, a surgical theater, a moratorium, as well as other departments. Today was our first day working here; the medical and nursing students did rounds, where we met patients and learned their histories. The dentists spent the day pulling teeth, and were very satisfied with their day. Right now I can hear Chalice in the next room learning Swahili so she can communicate with her patients a little better. We have traded in 'panya kubwa's' (large rats) for 'sungusungu's'... giant biting ants! We probably look like we're performing an elaborate dance as we're climbing up the hill to our house, but we're just trying to jump over the ant trails. I don't know how, but in the 20 seconds it takes to run from the dirt anthill to the house, the ants managed to make it up our pants, shirts and into our hair.
Our house at Nkoaranga has a lot of character. We sleep on hospital beds, with hospital bedding, one of our kitchen sinks empties blindly into the wooden cabinet below it, we have an attic that few have ventured into (and come out alive), and our house is haunted by a cow carcass that lives in the attic. Although his head has since migrated onto our porch. At first it was creepy, but now we treat him as a sort of 'guard cow.' Our house has not been broken into, so I think he is doing his job quite well. The nice thing at Nkoaranga is that we have a kitchen here so we can make our own food. Although food in Arusha is quite cheap compared to Canadian standards, food in Nkoaranga is about ten times cheaper than Arusha, and it is nice knowing what you are eating. We occasionally go into Arusha to do groceries, and it reminds me of the movie 'The Beach,' when every month or so two people would travel to the mainland and come back with groceries, toiletries, etc... such is the excitement among us upon seeing Pringles or Diet Coke when people return.
Speaking of which, we're about to go on one of those shopping sprees before the stores close... It's a Sunday so the stores close early. Apples, navel oranges, milk and nutella are also hot ticket items in Nkoaranga, and we can't come back without them!
xoxo! Kasia
Friday, July 2, 2010
Canada Day!
It's day 5 of our trip, and things are 'poa kchizi kama ndizi' (as cool as a crazy banana)!
We had our first official meeting with Dr. Mhando and his family - his wife Mama Mhando, his children Nema and Thomas, and Thomas' wife Fidis. They were all very friendly, hospitable and helped us get started, contacting the appropriate people at the institutions we will be working at. They have all been working with MedOutreach for so many years that is has become a family affair. As Thomas mentioned, he's celebrated every birthday (his birthday is in July) with MedOutreach since his preteen years! To Aaron's delight, Dr. Mhando gave us one of his gigantic avocados that grow in his garden, which later on served as a small meal for our whole group!
Yesterday we made our way down to Nkoaranga hospital, which is about 45 minutes away. We will be working there for 10 days as of Monday, and we will be moving to the area on Sunday night. It seems like a pretty sweet place, and after all the organizination and preparation that we have been doing all year, we're all excited to start working in the hospital.
We are starting to be known in our town - and by that, I mean we have less people coming up to us trying to sell us stuff :). There is a wonderful Maasai market about a five minute walk from Centre House, where they have beautiful arts, crafts, and clothing. One of these days we will buy marimbas and bongo drums and start a band! Until then, Centre House will have peace and quiet.
We have also made some friends at Centre House - Diema (sorry if I've spelled that wrong!) who lives in the same house as us, is from an organization called HEAL, and Amy, Lindsay and T live at the main house; they are medical students from the University of Oregon. Paul also made an extra special friend - a pakya kubwa sana!! (a giant rat!). He woke up with a scream in the middle of the night when it jumped on him while he was sleeping! We're still not entirely sure if it was a real rat or a figment of his imagination, but my bets are that it is real and that it has friends!
Yesterday was an important day for our group - Canada Day! We dressed up most patriotically and made our way down to the local watering hole to celebrate in true Canadian style! We were pleased to see numerous other patriotic Canadians (one was easily spotted by the Canadian flag tattooed on his face), and we even met two girls - Emily and Marta - from Western Heads East, another organization based out of the University of Western Ontario, which we've had some contact with (and who just met Dr. Mhando the other day!). It's a small world!
We will probably not have internet while in Nkoaranga, so there may be a long gap in blog updates after Sunday. But we will make up for it and fill you in afterwards on all the exciting things that have happened!
Asante sana!
Kasia
We had our first official meeting with Dr. Mhando and his family - his wife Mama Mhando, his children Nema and Thomas, and Thomas' wife Fidis. They were all very friendly, hospitable and helped us get started, contacting the appropriate people at the institutions we will be working at. They have all been working with MedOutreach for so many years that is has become a family affair. As Thomas mentioned, he's celebrated every birthday (his birthday is in July) with MedOutreach since his preteen years! To Aaron's delight, Dr. Mhando gave us one of his gigantic avocados that grow in his garden, which later on served as a small meal for our whole group!
Yesterday we made our way down to Nkoaranga hospital, which is about 45 minutes away. We will be working there for 10 days as of Monday, and we will be moving to the area on Sunday night. It seems like a pretty sweet place, and after all the organizination and preparation that we have been doing all year, we're all excited to start working in the hospital.
We are starting to be known in our town - and by that, I mean we have less people coming up to us trying to sell us stuff :). There is a wonderful Maasai market about a five minute walk from Centre House, where they have beautiful arts, crafts, and clothing. One of these days we will buy marimbas and bongo drums and start a band! Until then, Centre House will have peace and quiet.
We have also made some friends at Centre House - Diema (sorry if I've spelled that wrong!) who lives in the same house as us, is from an organization called HEAL, and Amy, Lindsay and T live at the main house; they are medical students from the University of Oregon. Paul also made an extra special friend - a pakya kubwa sana!! (a giant rat!). He woke up with a scream in the middle of the night when it jumped on him while he was sleeping! We're still not entirely sure if it was a real rat or a figment of his imagination, but my bets are that it is real and that it has friends!
Yesterday was an important day for our group - Canada Day! We dressed up most patriotically and made our way down to the local watering hole to celebrate in true Canadian style! We were pleased to see numerous other patriotic Canadians (one was easily spotted by the Canadian flag tattooed on his face), and we even met two girls - Emily and Marta - from Western Heads East, another organization based out of the University of Western Ontario, which we've had some contact with (and who just met Dr. Mhando the other day!). It's a small world!
We will probably not have internet while in Nkoaranga, so there may be a long gap in blog updates after Sunday. But we will make up for it and fill you in afterwards on all the exciting things that have happened!
Asante sana!
Kasia
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Mwanzo
Day 2 (or 3 if you count the entire day of travel) begins.
We all arrived safe and sound in Kilimanjaro late Monday, quickly passed through immigration, picked up all our luggage, and then our only road block was getting through customs, which also resolved after about 20 minutes of inspection & interrogation. Otherwise our travel, though lengthy and exhausting, was pretty hassle-free.
We went straight to our accommodations at Center House in Arusha, and went straight to bed. The evenings are quite cool which is very nice. In the morning we got our bearings around town, and bought a couple necessities for our stay. We went out to "Bamboo" Restaurant to enjoy our first "family meal" together.
Today, we'll meet with Dr. Mhando and arrange other meetings with our other stakeholders. We're all really excited and quite pleased with our first few days here. We'll post more with pictures soon! :)
We all arrived safe and sound in Kilimanjaro late Monday, quickly passed through immigration, picked up all our luggage, and then our only road block was getting through customs, which also resolved after about 20 minutes of inspection & interrogation. Otherwise our travel, though lengthy and exhausting, was pretty hassle-free.
We went straight to our accommodations at Center House in Arusha, and went straight to bed. The evenings are quite cool which is very nice. In the morning we got our bearings around town, and bought a couple necessities for our stay. We went out to "Bamboo" Restaurant to enjoy our first "family meal" together.
Today, we'll meet with Dr. Mhando and arrange other meetings with our other stakeholders. We're all really excited and quite pleased with our first few days here. We'll post more with pictures soon! :)
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Greetings from Amsterdam!!
Hi MedOutreach Supporters,
Well, our adventure has begun!!! 7 of us (Kasia is en route from Poland) are sitting/sleeping in Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam awaiting our next connection to Kilimanjaro. So far, our travels have been going smoothly, despite having to rearrange a few of our supply bags that were overweight in Toronto :p It feels surreal to be so close to the destination that we have been looking forward to reaching for months. Saying we are "excited" does not accurately describe the emotions we are feeling right now!! Thank you for your on-going support and we will update the blog once we arrive in Arusha.
Tutaonana!
Chalice
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)