“Party, puke, shop, waterfalls, peanuts, puke”

I have not written in a few days (it is now Tuesday the 6th), and when I mentioned that to Jess last night, she said “that’s easy…just summarize it as “Party, puke, shop, waterfalls, peanuts, puke””. She’s kind of right, but I’ll flesh that out just a bit!!



Last day at the center

Karen was away most of the morning, but unlike the other days that she was gone, things were very smooth. We had planned to work till 1 pm and then pack things up, debrief and PARTY. The only glitch was that about 75 extra people found a way to sneak through the gates, so we saw more people than we had planned, but we were still done at 1:15.
The patients that stick in my head from that last day were:
1. A very small three year old came with her mother who said that she would not eat. She had been seen many times at the hospital for this but they could not find anything wrong. Mom said that the only way to get the child to eat was the hit her with a stick!!! I just did not know where to go with that one!!
2. A 36 year-old man who was there with his wife. Both were positive and he had a “stroke” 4 years ago which turned out to be a fungal infection in his brain which left him with right sided weakness, inability to speak and difficulty swallowing. He was clearly a highly intelligent man, apparently fluent in Italian as well as English and Swahili (until, of course, he lost the ability to speak) and the love and support between them will stick with me.
3. Most importantly, for me, the 9 year-old girl and her sister showed up and we were able to introduce them to Agnes and get a plan going with them for follow-up. They were still unclear as to how supportive the mother would be as she had apparently been quite abrupt on the phone. We will see…she was to return from Dar that night. We gave them money for the Dala dala to return the next day…unfortunately, we had all forgotten that it was a holiday when we told them to come that Thursday… so they need to come again Friday to register with the Malawi CTC (“treatment center/AKA HIV center). I know Agnes will take good care of them.

Once the patients were gone, we cleaned up, packed things into the medical room so that Penninah and Carole White could arrange them over the next week and then the party started. The Frasers, Jess and the kids arrived for the party and we all danced for hours to the tunes of Dialo’s band. It was a perfect evening except that Abass’ camera was stolen with all his pictures for the safari with the caravaners.
We went out to dinner with the Fraser’s (10 in a taxi n the way!!) and went back to the Leopard and Adam woke up in Jess’ bed screaming “I’m hungry” and then proceeded to vomit all over the bed. Needless to say, he was then MY bed partner, not Jess’!!

Future plans for the Center

As the caravan comes to a close, it I worth talking mentioning future plans that Karen and I have been talking about (most of which need funding so friends at home: WATCH OUT!!)
As I already mentioned, we have rented a house near the center that we are furnishing so that Peninah and med students can have a place to live. There is a woman who lives on the grounds and she will cook breakfast and dinner for whoever is there.
We would like to buy a building in downtown Moshi that can be opened as a B&B for female travelers. It would be run by the women that we are helping at the center as a way to make money to keep the center sustainable but also as a training ground for these women who often have left unsafe situations but who have no means to make money because of lack of training and opportunity. They will learn the hospitality trade and English so that they are ready to take on new challenges in the future.
We are of course, planning the next women’s caravan which will be next January before the Kili climb. We will need funds for the caravan as well as for the fundraising climb. As it turns out, the kids might be interested in coming too as the Fraser kids have climbed to the base hut twice with no problems…we’ll see.
Penina is going to work on getting the clinic up and running, a functional pharmacy and some outreach programs. Carol White is there with her for a few weeks which is invaluable to us. We are hoping that Peninah can make some connections with the Baylor Pediatric AIDS foundation at KCMC so that we have an IN to send the positive kids that we discover to them. Often by entering clinical trials, people get better (and free!) care.

I am really exited about having Peninah at the center. It will be a new experience for her. As I discussed with her, this will be the first time that she is her own boss…usually she is told what to do but she will have to take initiatives on her own now. I think there will definitely be a learning curve, but I think that with our support, she can do it.

Friday the 2nd.

We got up and the kids and I went to the center so that I could finish up some work on the health info sheets. The kids played outside and took pictures of a baby (this piece of info will come back next paragraph!). We then went back to the Leopard to meet the group to go shopping. We went to a craft market that I had not been to before and spent a lovely couple hours looking at art and bartering with the craftsmen. I bought two paintings directly form the artists, which is a rare occurrence here.
Abass had met up with us and we needed to talk safari, so he came back with us (after commandeering a BUS to take us back!!) and we had lunch. We planned our safari and then Otto came to take us to Kilema. As we drove out of town, I again lamented that I could not find my good camera and Sid perked up that it was at the women’s center sitting on a chair!!! Thank goodness that Agnes had found it, or it would have been two cameras gone missing at the center in 24 hours!!
We arrived in Kilema and had the great pleasure of moving in to Bistra and Ivan’s home…two weeks of living out of bags is quite difficult, so it was hugely liberating to unpack!! A big thanks to B&I for lending us their house while they are in Mozambique!

What about School?

Throughout the last couple weeks, the kids and I have discussed the idea of going to the local school for a couple hours a day. It had been our plan, and I certainly thought it was a good one, but prior to coming here, I had not thought about Corporal Punishment. The Fraser kids stopped going to school months ago and have been doing morning school at their house (correspondence with a program in BC) because they told their parents that they no longer wanted to go. I know that the teachers would not touch the Mazungus, but I was not sure whether I even wanted the kids to witness the violence. I decided to leave it up to them, and they decided to do morning sessions with the Frasers. For the most part it is going quite well. It is difficult for Adam, being six, to apply himself to his work (which the wonderful Madame Brigitte sent with him) when there is no adult there, but Sid is helping him. There is no way that it will all be done by the time we leave, but I think that the experiences here far over shadow any book learning that can be done in 5 weeks!!

Second Kilema weekend

We have been so lucky with the weather…we spent the weekend doing out doors activities and were not rained on once. Saturday, was Orphan day in the morning, a kids soccer game around noon and then we went back to the Mountain Resort for a swim and to watch a game. The girls had a magical time of swimming, playing cards and doing each other’s hair. Adam played photographer with his tortoise and watched the game. Sunday we went for a nice hike led by Rainer and his friend. We spent a few minutes at his friend’s house in a village and met his kids. Then we took a “short-cut” which definitely ended up being a long-cut to get to a spectacular waterfall. Unfortunately we were followed by another “guide” who was a bit creepy, but all in all it was a phenomenal walk. We even got to swim in the river and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it.
We had a great game of Settlers. Dharma and Christa had Raha (banana wine) and I said that I would wait 24 hours before trying it to see their reaction and after effects (ie do they go blind or get gastro from the water used in making it)…so far so good. I might try it next time!

Monday May 5th

Unfortunately, Adam woke up vomiting at 12:45. It was disgusting!! Even before bed, when he was feeling well, he had a funny smell about him. The vomit was even worse! It was basically the peanuts that he had eaten on the walk. There were some real features of anaphylaxis to his presentation which reminded me of Christa’s comments during the day that she had been told that her absolute aversion to peanuts was probably an allergy. Adam has always had such an aversion to peanut butter, and now he was complaining of shortness of breath, abdo pain and lightheadedness all the while coughing/vomiting up thick mucous! He did this every 30 to 45 minutes until 5 am…I did not sleep at all and 8 o’clock sure came soon!
Unfortunately, this was to be my first day on the wards and I chose not to go in the morning because of fatigue, but as I saw Adam run and play as if he had had 12 hours sleep, I felt compelled to see some patients. The afternoon held a soccer game with the “big kids” (ie adults)…Sid and Adam played too and it was quite a sight to watch!
The other trauma today was the realization that Sid has lost her journal. She has been so good about writing her memoires both for her own recollections and to show Madame Marie-Claude. It was the only homework that she was asked to do. The loss was quite a heartbreak!!