Last Wednesday Jen, Esau and I made our way to a neighboring Sukuma village, 3 km south of Usolonga. Our purpose for the visit was twofold; a) we were curious to see how the Sukuma tribe lived and to gain a better understanding of the health and nutrition issues they may have and b) we had to pick up a chicken that the ‘head mama’ (a former patient) had promised us! This mama (I have no idea how to say, let alone spell her name!) had walked two hours to the clinic the week before with labor pains only to be sent home again and told to come back when she was further along in the delivery process. She ended up delivering her baby at home but had to walk to the clinic soon after the birth because of a retained placenta! (i.e. when the placenta fails to come out after the baby –a serious condition where the mother can bleed to death) Thankfully there was a Diocese vehicle that had just arrived from town, and it was able to transport her to Iringa! She took the bus back the next day, and we happened to meet her at the junction (a fork in the road where the bus drops you off -12 km from the village!) where we were picking up our guests who had come for the weekend. We gave her a lift home and arranged to come and visit her the following week, her reply; “Karibuni
Our visit didn’t last too long, it involved asking questions, eating maize, and chasing chickens! We were unsucessful in catching the chicken, but are planning on picking it up on the next trip!
HIV/AIDS Seminar
Our first HIV/AIDS Seminar was scheduled on Saturday, April 5th early in the morning…but no one showed up! The two main reasons being that the chairman forgot to do the announcement, and everyone was heading to their shamba to farm! After meeting with the health reps and nurse, we decided to hold it the next day, after church! Sunday is the only day that people will stay home from the shamba and rest; in hindsight we should have planned to do it on Sunday from the beginning! 30 people, including the presenters came; not an overly large crowd, but a decent turn out for our first one! Interestingly enough, more men were present –a fairly rare phenomenon here when it comes to health-related seminars! Questions were asked and there seemed to be a geniune interest in learning more! It is a relatively ‘new’ topic of discussion in the village –everyone has heard about HIV/AIDS, but not too many know a lot about it. When doing home visits, or just chatting with local villagers, I am often asked where they can get the medicine that will cure the virus –you can imagine their shock when I inform them that there is presently no cure! (only medicine to help prolong your life!) The seriousness of the issue is starting to be comprehended in the village –we’re praying that people will start taking action to stop the spread! Iringa region is currently #1 in all of
More Babies
Four more babies were born at the clinic in the span of one week! Three of the births happened in the middle of the night! I had fun in assisting in each one, and I must say, my knees are growing less weak with each one as I’m getting my (gloved) hands dirty. I won’t go into any details of the actual births(for those with weak knees) but will say that three healthy girls and one healthy boy have made their presence known in Usolonga!
Limbo Competition
Andrew and Miriam both turned the big 3-0 this year! We celebrated Andrew’s birthday at the end of March and Miriam’s yesterday! There was a rumor going around (the EI house) that Andrew was the “limbo king”. . . now that he’s 30, we felt he should reclaim the title! After a delicious dinner together, we and our guests (Edd, Paul and Kat) took part in a limbo competition! Edd and Andrew were the two finalists. . .and I believe there is a new limbo king in Iringa. . .Congratulations Edd!
