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!