Day by day

It's been three weeks since I set foot on Tanzanian soil.  My time here has been exciting and eventful as you can see from my previous posts.  Every day is an adventure.  Though the past week has been slower than usual since we've lost several of the VCOM students.  I've also been trying to shake a cold that came out of nowhere.  That being said, I felt as though I wasn't hugely productive.  But I am thankful that the Lord knows best.  I have been learning from Him on a daily basis.  We've now added to our schedule a medical training class from 10:30a-12.  Ty teaches us about various health issues pertaining to medicine and approaching these topics with both first and third world perspectives.  I have enjoyed this time so much!  Ty is extremely knowledgable about medicine and has a gift for teaching.  We also include the two main workers at the clinic, Dennis and Dr. Ben, so that Ty can educate them as well.  He hopes to mentor these two men in order for them to provide the best care possible and eventually these men will equip other healthcare leaders in their community.

Now that it's been a couple weeks, I have been able to identify various health burdens in Ntagacha.  We see so much malaria, worm infections within the GI tract, and TB.  Since the clinic in Ntagacha has only been open for a few weeks, we have no records yet.  We also have no real data on HIV infection in this community.  We have pregnant woman occasionally seeking antenatal care but unfortunately we don't have all the resources necessary for proper care so we refer them to the clinic in Magoto.  We will have complaints of headaches and back pain.  I had one young lady come in who complained of abdominal pain that occurred about once a month.  She said it has been ongoing for several years.  I asked if it occurs around the time of her menstrual cycle and she said yes.  I was surprised she did not know that having abdominal cramping during her menstrual cycle was common!  So it was a great teaching opportunity for me and she was relieved to know that the pain was normal.  I am looking forward to assessing and treating many more patients in the next few weeks ahead.  I also hope to continue one of the community health projects that were started during the first few weeks of the course.  For example, one particular tradition practiced by the Kuria people in Ntagacha is female circumcision (otherwise known as FGM - female genital mutilation).  The more I have learned about this, the more it upsets me and motivates me to engage with these people about the practice.  I can explain more on this topic later but it's an obvious violation of female rights, not to mention the evil spirit of the practice itself.  I hope to go about this with sensitivity, patience, and prayer if I do have the chance learn more about this topic from the people of this community.

In the afternoons we meet again to discuss community health practices as a group.  Today we read through Dan Fountain's "Let's build our lives".  We then walked around the "shamba" (farm/field) to look at different trees and plants.  After our walk, Abi and I decided to join the children working in the shamba.  We harvested the maize with them, learned swahili songs and taught them songs in english.  It was a great way to get to know some of the school girls at City of Hope.  These children work the shamba in the mornings before school and in the afternoons.  And the food they harvest is the food they eat!  It's pretty amazing to learn such ways of life.  I am encouraged and inspired by these young children.  And their hearts for God amaze me too.

I look forward to sharing more with you soon!  As for now, it's time for bed.  We get an early start each morning, especially if I decide to go running.  That's a 5:45a wake up call :)

Habari ajouni! (sp)

"goodnight"

Love,

Laura