Friday, August 10th: Hallelujah! Inspiration!

Finally, at the end of our third week, Raelyn and I were getting the hang of our work. We each came up with some great ideas that will need to be implemented within the next week!

After Raelyn’s interviews, she decided to make plastic mattress covers for the infant beds. We were able to salvage a nice crusty piece of mattress cover from storage that we can hopefully clean and tailor into zip-able covers. We’re also thinking about making dust covers for some oxygen concentrators. These ideas will definitely help to maintain the equipment and keep them clean!

On another note, in Tanzania, the power is 230 Volts, but many pieces of equipment are donated and require 110-120 Volts. We’ve noticed a few examples of damaged equipment resulting from incorrect input voltages. So we made small guides to place near outlets to direct staff about checking equipment and utilizing transformers. We hope to give the staff a presentation about it next week.

After my own interviews, it came to my attention that the female ward lacks an X-Ray film reader, which is literally just a big light with which to read X-Rays. While in our workshop, I noticed our abandoned bili lights. Bili Lights are a type of phototherapy device used for babies with jaundice (I was actually a jaundice baby!). They provide UV light to break down bilirubin, and require specific blue UV bulbs. The current bulbs installed are just regular halogen bulbs, and replacing them would be an impractical and expensive job. We can’t expect that the staff would be willing to find and purchase the UV lights on their own when they need replacing. Also, we already found and installed easy-to-maintain, EWH brand, and working bili lights. I thought it might be a cool idea if we converted the abandoned bili lights to an X-Ray reader by simply putting some type of shade over the lights and installing it in the wall. That will be another project for next week!

Brutal Honesty of Tanzanians

Something I appreciate about Tanzanians is their honesty. Some in America might see it as a lack of a filter, but I think Americans are just too “politically correct” and afraid of saying it like it is. We’re too damn sensitive!

If you’re white, Tanzanians will be sure to tell you.

If you’re a little bit heavier, or too skinny, they will also feel the need to let you know.

If you have acne on your forehead (like I did this week), multiple people will want to know if you’re okay or attacked my mosquitoes. One of the nurses, Peris, asked me if it was just, “adolescence.” -____-

Wednesday, August 8th: Nane Nane

Week three started off much better than last week. We started interviewing hospital staff to get a better idea of which equipment needs repairing and perhaps some inspiration for our own projects. Our Italian housemates also taught us how to make gnocchi! Delizioso!

Today is a Tanzanian agricultural holiday, called “Nane Nane.” Translation: “Eight Eight,” for August 8^th! Much of the hospital staff took off, and we were encouraged to relax during the holiday. Traditionally, all the farmers bring their crops to Arusha and Njiro to show off their goods and hopefully make some moneyz. We were interested in going, but it sounded like a nice opportunity to sit in traffic and get pickpocketed. So instead, we met up with some of our colleagues and set off to some hot springs near Machame called, “Maji Moto.” (meaning: “Hot water” – yet another creative African title). It was soooo nice and ridiculously fun. Definitely a highlight of my trip to Tanzania!

And a five! six! seven! eight!

Tanya convinced Raelyn and I to attend a cheap aerobics class with her on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I myself have never been to an exercise class, but thought it’d be a nice way to work off some of the African calories I’ve been accumulating. Also aerobics is just a hysterical phenomenon to me.

The class does not disappoint. I break a sweat, get to dance around to an ABBA soundtrack, embarrass myself with other middle-aged white women, and follow the suave moves of my Tanzania instructor, Amadeus.

Needless to say, I’ve attended every class so far.

Sunday, August 5th: Machame Hike

Today we went with Tanya and her friend Debbie on a day hike near Machame. Debbie is from Colorado, and worked at the hospital in 2008-2009. It was really nice of them to invite us on their hike, and I enjoyed getting to know them better!

First waterfall of the day!

Raelyn and I by the second waterfall

BATS!

August 3rd: Ending the week right

After a “pole pole” week at the hospital, we enjoyed Lasagna day once again, and then went into Arusha to pick up parts. Additionally my four-year old computer adapter decided to stop working this week, so I had to pick up a new (and extremely expensive) one. On our way home, we changed dala dala’s twice, and one of the conductors pretended we didn’t pay him. Of course we didn’t give in, such a jerk.

To unwind after a rough week, we helped out at the orphanage! The kids are so sweet, and a little mischievous! It’s nice to go in the evening because it’s when the Mamas have the least amount of volunteers to put the kids to bed. The children are starting to get to know my name! :D (Well, “Lili,” if you can call that my name) 

Neema stealing my glasses!

My little friend Andrea and "Mama Lili"

Absolute Chaos

Wednesday, August 1st: Taking the Initiative

This week we had the arrival of some new housemates! Martina, Lorenzo, and Daria are medical student from Italy. They help out tremendously around the hospital. Anne also arrived within hours after the Italians, but from Germany to volunteer at the orphanage. Our house right now is PACKED with 11 people!

Unfortunately, week two of the hospital has been off to a rocky start. I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather, and had a hard time focusing at work. I worked at the house Monday afternoon and wrote up some cute little instructions for phototherapy lights we’d like to install that we found in the OB ward.

What has been bogging me down the most is the how Nkoaranga operates. It can be so unorganized, and no one is really aware of what equipment the hospital owns. The staff lacks a certain initiative to look through a cabinet and maybe plug some equipment in to see if it works. So far we’ve been digging through the wards, and finding some perfectly good equipment that has been neglected.

Donations to Nkoaranga are also just as frustrating, not because the equipment is broken, but because the donations are usually irrelevant. It would be nice if our hospital used ECGs, nebulizers, or ESUs, but it doesn’t. Therefore good equipment collects dust in storage. Our friend, Tanya, is a nurse from Belgium. She’s been working here for almost four years now and wishes she could ship all the useless donations back because most of the time they just sit here taking up space!

Sunday, July 29th: Being a typical mzungu

On Saturday, I got to meet up with many of my colleagues (who I missed so very dearly) at a coffee farm in Usa River! We got to pick our own coffee, learn the Tanzanian way of preparing the beans, and, most importantly, drink it! Needless to say, it was a tasty and unique experience.

On our way home, we stopped by the supermarket in Usa River, and had yet another African experience that I thought I’d share. As I was climbing into the dirty-ass dala dala, a local was sort of harassing me. I’m quite used to guys yelling and talking to me as a “mzungu,” so I wasn’t phased, ignored him, and hopped into the world’s crappiest public transportation vehicle. Well, my dala dala conductor must’ve had a beef with this particular gentleman, because the conductor punched him square in the jaw. Classic, and ohhh so satisfactory.

Today, Raelyn and I checked out a mzungu church called, “Arusha’s Vineyard.” We heard about it through Daryl and Shirley, Baba’s Canadian friends working on “Dashir Lounge.” They’re both very involved in the ministry, and it was one of the best Christian services I’ve ever been to. I never thought I’d be so happy to hear the song, “This Little Light of Mine.” It helped remind me of how lucky I am to have the opportunity to serve God and others in Tanzania.

Gotta pick the red ones!

Grace and Oriane with them beans.

Interesting bean squishing mechanism...

Friday, July 27th: Surgery - The African Way

Our first official week is already over! We’ve been having a fantastical time getting to know our housemates. We hang out, cook, and eat together. Lately we’ve been watching some sweet Louis Theroux documentaries after dinner. We’ve also been able to escape Nkoaranga a few times after work to visit our host family (they’re doing great!), spend the night with our lady engineers in Arusha, pick up spare parts for some equipment, and even discover our new favorite food obsession: Lasagna Fridays at Tanz Hands. It’s a Mzungu-friendly place to eat in Usa River, and also school for the disabled! Check it out at here.

Thursday was my Dad’s birthday! Happy belated birthday Daddy! J Thursday also marked the glorious day I got to watch a Tanzanian surgery! In classic African fashion, I literally walked into the surgery unit (scrubbed in, of course) to watch. No problem. Hakuna matata. The pulse ox actually malfunctioned a bit during the surgery, so I got to touch the patient's hand and equipment. Again, hakuna shida.

Last year, I shadowed at Huntington Hospital on Long Island, so I was curious to see the differences. The surgery itself was really boring. It was a hernia repair - YAWN. So I watched for a bit, but I was more curious about the things occurring around the patient. Here at Nkoaranga, they don't use an anesthesia machine - they give the patient a drug called ketamine. You may have heard of it, it's a horse tranquilizer. They only used a pulse oximeter, automatic bp monitor, and oxygen concentrator (patient was breathing on his own) to make sure the patient fared well during surgery. Dr. Julius also didn’t use an Electrosurgery Unit, just a good ol’ scalpel. This surgery, and generally all surgeries performed at Nkoaranga, went really well. Dr. Julius is a really skilled doctor and surgeon. He’s actually the only doctor at Nkoaranga. 

Wednesday, July 25th: Adventures from Kilala to Nkoranga

Since Nkoaranga is situated a little ways up the mountain, it is necessary to commute up and down the 4km road to get to the main road. There is a Dala Dala stop called “Kilala” conveniently placed at the bottom on the main road.

There are three ways to get up and down this (thankfully) paved, steep road. Dala dala, cab, or piki piki. The Dala Dala both ways is 500 shillings, but they are annoying because you need to wait a while for the entire van to fill up. It’s cheap but slightly inconvenient. We usually take this up the mountain.

Cabs are the same price, hold less people, but also require waiting time in order to reach its human maximum capacity – which always astounds me. The cabs are 4-door sedans, but I’ve been in cabs with 12 people (4 in the front, 4 in the back, and 4 in the trunk) AND with 8 people and about 30 chickens in the trunk. Remember what I said about chickens? Yep – on market day, there were about 30 chickens in the trunk of our cab.

Our new favorite way is piki piki, which is essentially a small motorcycle. You just hop on the back of a dude’s bike and go. They are 500 shillings on the way down, 1000 on the way up. Piki piki are preferable on the way down because they are cheap, quick, and sometimes the driver won’t need to use gas until ¾ of the way down! Just make sure to tell the driver, “Pole pole, tafadhali,” and they’ll drive slow. One time I was taking piki piki up the mountain (I was in a rush) and about ¾ up, he ran out of gas, told me to get off, and then drove away! So I just kept walking up until another piki piki driver swooped to my rescue. Always an adventure.  

Monday, July 23rd: Lily and Rae Takeover

Nine of our lady colleagues work in hospitals in Arusha, and ALL live together in a (realllly nice) guesthouse! We’re a bit jealous, and since Arusha’s only a 20 minute Dala Dala ride, we visited them this Saturday and spent the night! It was a great way to enjoy the weekend.


When we returned to Nkoaranga, we got our housing situation sorted out, and we’ve moved into the guesthouse with the other volunteers. They are all so awesome, and work at the neighboring orphanage. Becca lives with us, and organizes tons of resources for Nkoaranga Orphanage. She’s started a non-profit (The Small Things) for the children and is in the process of adopting a child!


Things at the hospital are going so well! Today, our teacher Miguel paid us a visit! We had such a productive day, and worked on some more complicated equipment. Unfortunately, we need to buy some parts to complete projects like Bili Lights and a Pulse Oximeter. 


In other news, Raelyn and I are enjoying getting to know the hospital staff, but I’ve noticed that Tanzanians in general have difficulty with our names. L’s and R’s are pronounced nearly the same in Swahili, so “Raelyn” and “Lauren” sound pretty similar. To help them out, I’ve been introducing myself as “Lili,” Swahili for Lily, which was my great grandmother’s name. Raelyn has also made name sacrifices, and calls herself, “Rae.” Which is funny, because that’s my grandmother’s name, and she’s the daughter of great grandma Lily!

Chickens

When we walk to our home on the hill, we run into at least two cows and a few goats. But the chickens… they’re everywhere I go in Tanzania. I just can’t escape them. They keep you up at night, they crap everywhere, and they’ll walk in your path. They just do whatever the hell they want - and I kind of love it! I’ve always joked that I will pick up a chicken. So I finally picked one up. Although… I “chickened” out and only grabbed a baby.

Chickens that DGAF

Saturday, July 21st: Open Door Policy

Welp! I’m here at Nkoaranga Lutheran Hospital! It has been an exhausting two days.

On Thursday, we were literally plopped at our hospital. Like… Bus dropped us off and peaced the hell out of there. Raelyn and I put our Swahili to good use, introduced ourselves to a few hospital staff members, found our accommodations, hunted down the keys to our new “office/workshop,” and bought some food for the week (we are cooking for ourselves this month!). It was pretty overwhelming, no one here tells us what to do or where to go. Also, few people speak English!

As for our accommodations… We are a little confused. EWH is expecting us to live in a the guest house with other volunteers, however it seems the house is currently full and we are living in a much smaller house much higher up the hill with Mama Neema, a matron in the hospital’s General Ward, and her daughter Irene, who works in the Maternity Ward. The house is decent. Our room is very tiny, our kitchen is lacking, and I still don’t understand how to use the toilet, which doesn’t flush. However, it seems that Mama Neema and Irene are sharing a single bed right now to accommodate us, which is the only thing I’m not okay with. They are absolutely welcoming though, and we feel almost bad for wanting to move. We will have it sorted out this weekend.

On Friday, we began work and our routine. The hospital begins with a short service (in Swahili) every day at 8am. We introduced ourselves at the service to the best of our abilities, and got to work! We have to take an inventory first of medical equipment – good thing the hospital is small! The only inventory we were able to obtain was of furniture…. Not too helpful. We were also able to do some quick, easy fixes as we went from ward to ward. We put a suction machine and oxygen concentrator back into working order!

Raelyn and the Oxygen Concentrator!

The Workshop - Open Door Policy in place 

View of Nkoaranga from up the hill where we live

Wednesday, July 18th: Leaving the Nest

The time has come… I’m leaving my homestay and moving to my hospital tomorrow! School is winding down and we had our final Kiswahili exam today (think it went alright!). I hung out with my colleagues a bunch these last few days. Since we’re all being placed in different hospitals, I won’t see most of them until our final conference August 18^th! L

I’m also so sad to be leaving my homestay. Baba gave us these cheesy T-shirts with lots of twiga (giraffes) on them. They also say “Karibu Tanzania!” Needless to say, it’s my new favorite shirt. They also fed us… SO MUCH. Rice, chipati, lentils, stew, parachichi (since they know that avocadoes are my absolute favorite!), and even… ICE CREAM!

I gave them some of their gifts too! I gave Baba two NY mugs and some candy, Christina got Tupperware, new sponges, and a solar powered dancing monkey, Brenda and baby James got a coloring book and one of the robotic mice that my cousins, Sabrina and Samantha, let me take to Africa. Most of my cousins’ donations will go to the orphanage at my hospital. Although… Brenda is OBSESSED with this mouse! I'm so thankful for the time I've spent with my host family.

I’m a little nervous, but really excited about my hospital. It is situated on the side of Mt. Meru, and I’m not sure what my transportation and housing will be like… but I can’t wait to get my hands on some equipment!

Monday, July 16th: You Only Tanga Once

My coordinator gave us Monday off this weekend, so me and nine other colleagues decided to take a trip to a small port town on Tanzania’s East Coast called Tanga. We thought about Zanzibar, but traveling to the island requires a bus ride and ferry or an expensive flight, so we decided to be time and cost efficient. We definitely made a great decision, and the weekend only cost me $115 for everything…

Tanga is an 8-hour bus ride away from Usa River, and it’s definitely not touristy. We felt really safe (safer than we feel in Arusha, which is always bustling with activity and tourists), and had just enough to do for the weekend. Friday afternoon, we piled into a rented out Dala Dala (which played MUSIC) and had a mini party until we reached our hotel, Inn by the Sea, around midnight.

True to its name, our hotel was indeed by a body of water – even though this body of water is the Indian Ocean. The beach was a sight and experience I’ll never forget. To prevent boring  you, I’ll give a quick overview of the weekend.

Saturday was categorized by lots of beaching, finding a random guy with a boat to take us to the nearby abandoned “Toten Island,” Christine shouting, “HAPANA! SIJUI!” (NO! I DON’T KNOW!) for no explicable reason, exploring the town of Tanga, waiting inordinate amounts of time for every meal, crappy bar coupons, a terribly constructed drinking game titled, “Star Cap,” plankton that lights up in the ocean when you walk, and heading off to “Nani Nani Land” (AKA sleep).

Sunday consisted of more beaching, relocating to a cheaper hotel in the town of Tanga with a sweet view of the ocean, PB&J sandwiches for all, more Dala Dala rides, exploring Amboni Caves and Galanos Hot Springs, primordial screams while on canoes, pumzikas, more waiting for food, and a ridiculously fun and strange Tanzanian club called, “La Casa Chica.”

We returned to Arusha on a public bus, which turned out to be a luxury Dala Dala. We stopped pretty much every half hour, but managed to get home in 8 hours. All was well with the world.

View from Toten Island

View from "Inn by the Sea"