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Alas, it is as they say, "All good things must come to an end". What an incredible few months it has been! Looking back, there have been many priceless moments, but some of the highlights...

Favorite quote: "I'm lazy. Lazy like cow." Riziki, 15, precocious but honest teenager.

Favorite food: Chipoti with cabbage and red beans. Wednesday was everyone's favorite day at the orphanage! Who says the kids need any food??

Funniest moment: Watching two friends scramble out the top of the safari truck (it was stationary) when a monkey jumped in to grab the banana on the dashboard.

Best sound: Elias (cook at the orphanage) banging the pots and pans around at 5:30 in the morning. Not really, but it was reminiscent of Mom and Grandma. Not to be cliche, but the kids giggling is pretty endearing!

Favorite driver: Jonas. That man could drive a Land Rover straight up Mt. Kili in a rainstorm with elepants charging us, and I would still be whistling Dixie.

Memorable moment: Heading out at sunrise for the early game drive on the Serengeti, singing Christmas songs to wake ourselves up.

Toughest realization: No matter what I do, no matter how great, there will be more sickness, more poverty, more sadness than I can ever touch.

Best reality: Even though what I do may be small, forgotten tomorrow, it will at least help in that moment, and sometimes that's all we have.

I could go on and on about the great things of this place, but I do also have mental list of the first things I want to do when I get back to the USA. Now, it goes without saying that what I am looking forward to the most when I return are all you guys, a big hug from Nolan, seeing my family, etc, (you can put yourself on the list somewhere), but mushy stuff aside, here is what I can't wait for:

1. 8 hours of undisturbed slumber...or 10...or 15...

2. Starbucks! I know, I know, I know, but it's a comfort thing! Caramel macchiato, thank you very much.

3. A long hot shower without flip-flops. Oh, to be squeaky clean again!

4. A wiggly welcome from my dog--the little bugger better remember me, even though she IS getting the royal treatment at Grandma and Grandpa's!

5. Sushi, salmon, goat cheese, fresh green salad, dark chocolate, grilled chicken breast, mint chocolate chip Haagen Daaz, pie-any kind that's homemade, real milk, real coffee, okay, better stop my drooliing is getting out of hand.

6. Manicure and pedicure. Oh, dear, it is BAD. Missing a toe nail after Meru, think I can get a discount?

7. Seeing the world from the saddle of my bike again...

Looking forward to talking with and seeing everyone again...I head out tonight for my 36 hour airplane odyssey...Lots of love!

Piece of Paradise

White sand beach. Hammock. Good book. Can't imagine a better way to wrap up my time here.

Zanzibar is a little island off the east coast of Tanzania, in the Indian Ocean. We are on the east side, which is a little less touristy...but with the holidays, it is still more white people than I've seen in a while...bit of a culture shock.

It has been relaxing, once we finally arrived. The friend of our taxi driver was arrested at one of the police stops on the island. Was mayhem for awhile, including 6 white girls encouraging him (um, very strongly) to get out of the car, because he wouldn't get out, but we couldn't go anywhere until he did. There are no rooster crows to wake us here...just the prayer calls at 2am and 5:30am. We ventured to Stone Town yesterday, which is the hub of the island, and it was like being in yet another world, as the Muslim influence is very strong there.

It is hard to believe my time here is almost done. As I reflect on the last 3 months, and think of living in the developed world again, I know what I will miss the most is the simplicity of life here. Doesn't matter what you look like, if your clothes match, if your hair is a mess. Hamna Shida, No problem, Hakuna Matata.

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon, and I will savour my last few days here in this little piece of beach paradise. Happy Holidays!

Safari

Wow. I just quickly read my blog, didn't remember what I wrote. Guess I was pretty tired. Nothing like camping for 2 weeks straight to make you appreciate a bed! And a shower.

You know you've been in Africa a while, when sighting a baboon, elephant, giraffe, or zebra by the road doesn't phase you. But they still are incredible to see. Safari was incredible, saw so many animals. Lions. Check. Hippo. Check. Hyena. Check. Hyena OUTSIDE OUR TENT AT NIGHT. CHECK. Water buffalo. Check. Wildebeest, hartbeest. Check. Monkeys, several kinds. Check. Impala, gazelle, antelope. Check. Lots of animals I can't think of at this very moment. Check.

Tarangire and the Ngorongoro Crater were so stunning, but the Serengeti was my favorite...maybe it was the lion family, or just the incredible vastness, it's kinship to the "Lion King", not sure, but it was amazing. I can never step foot into a zoo again. Seeing these creatures in their natural habitat is just, oh, what's a good word...incredible, better than incredible, fascinating, so cool (my English is stellar right now). The sunrises and sunsets were some of the most beautiful I have seen. Truly no city lights to interfere.

Now my favorite animal--yes, the elephants are adorable, the giraffes elegant, and the lions magnificent, but the warthogs, they are just hysterical! I laugh out loud every time I see one. The wildebeests are a close second with their goofy faces.

We arrived back to Arusha last night, and I head to the coast today, will be sticking my feet in the Indian Ocean in just a few hours (hopefully). Happy Holidays to everyone!

P.S. The coffee was exquisite! And I am so proud of my brother's ability to eat! Maybe that's where I got it from.

Mt. Meru

It was beautful and brutal. My friend and fellow volunteer, Maria, and I spent the last 3 days climbing Mt. Meru, the second largest mountain in Tanzania. It is 4500 meters and some change. For us Americans, that translates into just shy of 15,000 feet.

You can do it in 3 or 4 days, and we opted for the 3 days. The plan is to hike the first day to the camp site at about 8000 some feet, then the second day hike to the next camp at 11,700 feet. You then sleep for the afternoon, and head out at 2am for the 3-4 hour hike to the summit, and then come back to camp for breakfast and the total descent. The weather had been consistent for the past few nights of pouring so hard that it would wake me up for hours as I waited for the roof to collapse. We met a group descending our second day who had not been able to summit because of the weather. Our guide suggested we could try summiting during our second day instead of waiting, as we are "strong Americans".

As also logical Americans, we figured the weather wouldn't change for our sakes. So...we hiked to camp 2, rested for an hour, then headed for the summit. 6 1/2 hours of climbing. We did it. 2 1/2 hours back to camp. in one piece. Hot tea and dinner in our sleeping bags. Many more details you probably could care less about. Like I said, it was beautiful and brutal. Very exciting accomplishment.

We descended the rest of the way today, savoured our shower, and are heading to bed for hopefully a very long night. Love to all, and good night.

Kenya

Kenya compromised some of the best days here in Africa. It wasn't so much the location, but the people I was with...friends, familiar faces, and those I didn't know at first were friends by the end of the week.

It is a 5 hour shuttle ride between Arusha here in Tanzania, across the border, and into Nairobi. And there's a whole lot of nothing between here and there, except for the border. It is wide open spaces, bush country, Mt. Meru, the occasionaly Maasai with their cows or goats, but no towns or even villages.

Nairobi was a culture shock. There were city LIGHTS and billboards in English and even a shopping mall! Crazy, crazy. It was absolutely wonderful to have real coffee with real milk, I must say. We ventured over to the edge of Kibera, one of the world's largest slums, sat at a coffee shop, and generally enjoyed spending time together.

*Important tip: DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT, even though you realy really want to enjoy your coffee while you can, drink three cups of coffee before getting on a 5 hour shuttle ride with no pit stops.

Bittersweet

Last night as Benja was dancing around with his pajama bottoms hiked up and belt cinched across his pouched-out belly pretending to be Santa Claus, he had the boys and myself laughing so hard that Siadi threw up. So much for bedtime! And I knew once again that I will miss these kids when I leave.

It does not seem possible that today is my last day here at the orphanage, but time has been quickly marching on these last few weeks, and so here we are. As I was walking with my Computer Class to the library, Josephat (love that kid) called (yelled) from Kindergarten to please come play with them—if only cloning was possible. Yes, I will miss these kids and the people here. This place has become a little haven and home in the midst of Africa.

It helps that I have 3 weeks of traveling and adventure ahead of me to ease the pain of leaving here. In fact, I’m quite excited about seeing more of this country, as well as part of Kenya. It’s to Nairobi for one week where I will be meeting up with friends, even some from California! Hiking Mt. Meru is next, then safari through Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater, and Serengeti National Parks. I finish at the coast on Zanzibar island before heading back to the USA.

Today is a mix of emotions, but know it is hard to leave because my heart has grown a little more, which is really a good thing. But enough of the sappy stuff! Happy days to everyone and talk to you soon!

World of Tanzania

Several people have asked me questions about life and culture here, so I will do my best to explain from what I have seen and heard.

There are about 120 different tribes here in Tanzania. The main ones in this Crater area are the Maasai, Iraq, and Chaga. A Tanzanian has told me that this is such a peaceful country because there is no one tribe that is particularly bigger than others. However, one of the most well known is the Maasai, maybe because they have managed to cling all the more tightly to their life as many other tribes have been converted by missionaries and traders over time.

In this area there are Lutherans, Episcopalians, and Catholics. Catholic monks run one neighboring coffee plantation, and incidentally supplies Starbucks…heard of the Rift Valley blend? Yep, comes from here. Nope, can’t get it here! (Unless you want to pay twice as much as you would in the States.) The coast is primarily Muslim, influenced by the Middle East, which is just across the water. I will be traveling there in a couple weeks, and am interested to see this “different world”.

Tradition is still thick, particularly in the Maasai world. The men like their many wives and still pay for their brides--unless they have a deformity of any sort, such as cleft palate, then they are free. The Maasai believe that all cattle in the world belong to them, which as I would imagine, has caused some turf wars over the years. As one Maasai jokingly told me, “time is cows”. Very important possessions, you can see. Ironically, time does not seem to touch them. The active volcano near Lake Natron is believed to the birthplace of the Maasai gods, but no one seems to know if they actually pray to them. The witch doctors have great influence in beliefs, and being here, I have come to appreciate the psychosomatic facet of medicine. Rubbing antibiotic cream has mended more “sprained” ankles during soccer games faster than you can sing “Happy Birthday.

Approximately 50% of the population is under 20 years of age. Approximately 20% of the country is infected with HIV. You do the math, and can appreciate the effects this has on the economy. And you can understand the need for orphanages…and for many more orphanages. Secondary school, our equivalent of high school, costs $1500 USD a year, which is about 3-4x what the average Tanzanian makes each year. So the need to survive supercedes education, hence more shidas (problems).

Recently I was wondering how I could remain touched by what I have seen here, how I would remember how lucky I am. It coincided with the end of our Computer/English class. As a female, I feel a particular responsibility to help the girls, and thought of the girls in my class. A handful of other volunteers have offered to help out, so between all of us, we are going to sponsor the top two girls through secondary school and hopefully give them a chance at a better life. The little pain I may feel of having to give something up to pay for them, is nothing compared to what these people live without every day.

There are numerous NGOs (Non Government Organizations) such as Dr. Frank’s FAME and India Howell’s orphanage here. There are HIV safe houses, orphanages, research groups, etc. Yes, there is aid sent by other countries, but as with many developing countries, the money and resources sometimes have trouble making their way to the people who actually need it.

The good news is that there ARE such organizations and people like Dr. Frank, Susan, India, and Paula who have dedicated their lives and endless energy to helping this beautiful country. And not to forget, the incredible people of Tanzania who inspire us to do what we can.

Summer Vacation

It seems that children love summer vacation as much in Africa as they do back in North America. They were so excited they were awake even earlier than usual for their first day of vacation. The school year here runs with the calendar year, so the kids had their last day of school this past Friday, complete with an awards ceremony and singing. And, man, can these kids sing. It’s beautiful.

Here’s a question for you: How in the world do parents juggle work and kids and life? We (Dr. Frank, myself, and some volunteer doctors) have been doing health screenings these 2 weeks for the children in standards 1-6 at two local schools, about 1000 children in total. After getting the kids up and ready for breakfast, a group of us head off to clinic, then home in time for bath, dinner, and bedtime. Whew. I find that our kids get just what is left of me at the end of the day. Is this how working parents feel? Except that I don’t even have to cook or clean OR pay bills!

So, once again, I find myself reminded of how lucky I am. Thanks, Mom, for doing it for years on your own. And thanks, Dad, for coming along and helping her out. Kudos to those of you who continue to juggle it all! I understand better why some parents like their kids to be in school! =)

For restoration, I try to steal away for a few quiet minutes at some point during the day. There’s always the option of simply hiding in the coffee fields—which, mind you, is especially wonderful right now as the coffee trees are in bloom with white flowers, and it’s similar to the smell of jasmine floating through the air. It’s like an African White Christmas.

Speaking of holidays, we had a memorable Thanksgiving dinner this past Saturday at Mama India’s house, thanks to our Tanzanian staff who did their best to give us an American feast. We had the only turkey in Tanzania, probably East Africa, or maybe even the whole continent. It was complete with stuffing, cranberry sauce brought over in a duffel that came with a recent volunteer, and pie as close as possible without an oven that works properly. We enjoyed it immensely!

To make the evening complete, I was on nurse duty with one of our kids who had meningitis (our best guess with no lab tests). He was on 5 days of IV antibiotics. When he got sick, we luckily had two volunteer doctors here to help with our clinics, and it was a wonderful 3:1 ratio! It was African medicine at its best, with the IV bag hanging from the handle of a spoon shoved under the mattress of the top bunk bed.

So I have one more week here at the orphanage before I head out to do some traveling around Tanzania. Time has flown, but I will be sure to make the most of it these next few days of summer vacation!

Happy Thanksgiving

It’s that time of year again for pumpkin pie, turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, Mom’s awesome yam casserole and biscuits, and so many more of my favorite foods. Oh, yes, and it’s the time to be thankful.

As I have mentioned before, this place has shown me over and over again how lucky I really am. We have all those things I have taken for granted…those basic things needed for survival that so many here do not have…Water. Food. Shelter. Clothing. Health. And those priceless gifts…Family. Friends. Fellowship. Love.

Words are insufficient, or I’m not eloquent enough, to express how thankful I am for all of these and I hope I always remember how lucky I am. There are a few other things for which I am extremely grateful, especially since being in Africa.

1. Hot showers. I’ve had a handful over the past month, and they were true luxury.

2. Freedom. Oppression still does exist, especially for women and children, in this world of poverty, genocide, female circumcision, child labor, child prostitution. I am so lucky to be a female born into the land of privilege and justice, home of the free and brave.

3. Guardian Angels. It was an eventful night in the big city of Arusha where I had gone last weekend, and met up with two other volunteers. It was dark, so we hopped into a taxi to grab dinner across town. Now, there are cement trenches, about 5 feet deep and same across on each side of the main roads (for water in rainy season?). The taxi driver went off the road and we landed sideways in it, snugly tucked down in, the car smack on its left side. We scrambled out to safety, gratefully unscathed. I may be sending my guardian angels into early retirement, but I’m so thankful they are working hard now!

4. The native staff who are the Mamas/drivers/escaris (guards)/market-goers/solar power fixers/creepy-crawly killers/everything else we need them to be. They look after us like we are family, and I feel completely safe in their watch.

5. Toilets that flush. Toilet PAPER for that matter.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Enjoy this wonderful holiday, eat lots for me and others here, and be thankful!

A Nurse's Work is Never Done

There is no such thing as a 12 hour shift or regular working hours around here. Duty calls all times of day…in the middle of class, during meals, and (my favorite) just after I’ve settled into bed. Sometimes they are even sick! =) It’s good to be useful though.

This past Sunday is a great example. It is the one day of the week when volunteers are off duty. I was leaving the Volunteer House after breakfast to find Paolo, 7, sitting outside crying. He lifted up his shirt to show me some fresh scrapes on his belly from a fall. Now, he knew not to come inside but was patiently hanging around until I appeared. Smart little guy, he knows I won’t turn him away. As most of them do, it seems. Bugger, didn’t know I was so transparent! We ceremoniously cleaned and applied bandaids, and he proudly showed me his healed boo-boos the next day.

We currently have mumps spreading around the children, and each morning there seems to be another waking up with a swollen neck. I’m a little relieved to have missed the chicken pox outbreak this summer. The one thing children are great at sharing is all their bugs!

My toughest patient has been on-going, a lady from a nearby village who came in late one night with second and third degree burns covering her arm and face. She had tripped and spilled hot porridge on herself. Thankfully Dr. Frank was here for the weekend clinic! She says she’s 60 years old, but looks every day of 95; she’s tiny, tough, and completely endearing. She lives the next village over, so we asked her to come back every other day (instead of every day) for dressing changes, but she no-showed, and we sent out a search party…it was 4 days before she came back. With burns, that’s a looong time. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, I was NOT prepared for what I saw…between the smell, the pus, and the collection of charred skin…

It was nearly 2 hours of painstaking work, painful for her, and it was just the beginning. Despite giving her as much Tylenol and Motrin as one liver should have, I could not make her comfortable. No surprise. She cussed me out in Swahili (or at least scolded me) and practically levitated from pain, but stuck it out. Like I said, she is TOUGH. After two consecutive days, I could still not get it under control; it was just too far gone to clean well with my equipment, and I was in tears (again—goodness!) for her pain and my frustration on not being able to help her like I wanted. With the dirt, dust, and poor living conditions, it is nearly impossible to keep a wound clean and infection-free. This is where my Western medicine training got the best of me again…I know how it could be done, but did not have the means to do it, and it was my mental roadblock. Mama India gave me perspective in that she has seen worse here, and the man survived.

Nonetheless, Dr. Frank obliged to bring some GOOD drugs from his clinic to make her comfortable so we could get her scrubbed properly. Now, this is a great doctor for you—despite being sick himself, Dr. Frank agreed to make the hour drive with an IV cocktail for the following day’s visit. It was redeeming when she made sure I would be there, not just the doctor, for the following day.

So today was quite the experience with my little lady. Dr. Frank was a beautiful sight as he brought his magic meds for our burn scrub. I understood his dilemma in not having exactly what he wanted either for her sedation, but it was better than nothing. It was a little rough going down and coming out, but she did well. We accomplished what we needed, got her fixed up for today, and sent her home with some food and medicine to survive until we meet again.

Tomorrow is another day with new challenges, but today we did what we came to do. All in a day’s work.

Thursday 15 Nov

Days Off

It has been nearly 4 weeks here in Tanzania, and time for my allotted days off…

So, I was off to Lake Manyara with 3 other volunteers last week. It is only about an hour from here once you hit the main road, so it was an easy day safari. We headed out at 7am to catch the morning wildlife, and the animals were so obliging! We saw giraffes (one of my favorite), water buffalo, impalas, hippopotamus (love that word), elephants (another favorite), wild hogs, baboons (gotta love them!), flamingos, zebras, wildebeest, and even a cheetah!

We had pulled over to watch an elephant at a watering hole just a few yards away, as it hosed itself down with its amazingly dexterious long nose. Our guide pointed to a group of low trees on the other side of the road, saying there was a cheetah under them. We couldn’t see a thing, so turned our attention back to the elephant. After her bath, she ambled over to us, looked as if she would walk right over us, then detoured to go in front of the LandRover. She then headed straight to the group of trees with the alleged cheetah, and flushed the cheetah out! Before I could blink three times, and definitely before I could grab my camera, it was gone. SO fun to see all these amazing creatures in their true environment.

The following day, I got to meet up with 2 missionaries from my faith in Karatu, our closest town. It was the best 24 hours I have had here, seeing familiar faces and sharing wonderful conversations. It has been an adventure being here alone, and has made me appreciate even more the moments I have with family and friends.

This weekend, some locals took a couple of us across to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, illegally of course, to a beautiful but secret waterfall. For part of it, we followed a trail made by the elephants, but the last quarter mile was true trail blazing. Guess the elephants aren’t into waterfalls. It was gorgeous with a small pool at the base, and a few were brave enough to jump into it. I’ve seen enough funky diseases and rashes to squelch a little of my adventurous side! =)

Thank you again for everyone’s emails. I AM trying to get back to everyone. Hope all is well back home!

Hug!

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for your emails and comments. Asante sana sana. It means so much and helps ALOT. As one volunteer said—A bad day here is so much worse than a bad day at home. On the same token, a good moment here is even more amazing than many good days at home.

Yesterday, I had such a moment. Myself and another volunteer didn’t have bathtime duty so we went for a walk on one of the many trails through the coffee fields. Just as we were passing the local primary school, the kids came flooding out to head home. In a matter of seconds, we were surrounded by nearly 30 kids crying “Hug, Hug!!”

What a great gift—easy to dispense, free, and a limitless supply. These children see our kids here at the orphanage getting plenty of hugs and attention, and here was their chance to get some too. We made it through all of them, some coming back for seconds, others giggling and jumping up and down in their excitement. Definitely a great moment.

Thank you again for your support from home. I am so happy to have it! Hugs to all!

Doctor Amber, Part II

Wednesday: Day of Acceptance

I could not fix everyone, but I can do what I can, in this small part of the world. Dr. Frank helped me to reframe. Maybe they will be sick again in one month, but we can help them in this moment. And if that is what I can do, then that is what I will do. No one left me empty-handed. Multivitamins for everyone, even if it is just a week’s worth. We have to start somewhere.

It is simply amazing to me that anyone survives at all. No clean water, if there is water at all. Not enough food. Always dirty. I can never complain again.

Our 84 year-old man was back for more Tums.

Dr. Frank has an entourage, I must tell you about. Carlos (photographer) and Meredith (reporter) are with the San Francisco Chronicle, and are doing a story and documentary on FAME (Foundation for African Medicine and Education—Dr. Frank’s organization). They are cool cats, and have captured so well what we have experienced. For my Bay Area friends, keep your eye out! They plan to run the story in December. (Save one for me!)

Thursday: Day at the Boma

We left Minjingu and went off the beaten track again to a boma, or little accumulation of huts out in the bush. These were pure tribal people, some had never seen white people it seemed. This village was all women and children as the men are off working in the tanzanite mines for months. I have never seen such a sick group of people. The infections and malnourishment was overwhelming. And I thought I had seen sickness. EVERYONE was sick, and many very sick. TB, malaria, HIV, everything from the past few days plus more.

I had seen plenty of scars by this point from works of witch doctors, but today I saw a fresh wound that was most disturbing. She was 3 years old and so trusting of me, as I slightly moved her cloth to listen to her lungs. Peeking out at me was some dirty gauze and tape, who knows how long it had been there. She leaned into me and never flinched as I began taking it off. It was almost disturbing that she was so trusting, It was as if she was used to being man-handled. Even I almost lost my stomach. Pus oozed from a wound on her rib cage. After I cleaned it away, I found a circular abscess as if a chunk of her had been cut away. If I had seen the witch doctor, he would have seen the witch come out of me. How could you do such a thing to a child?? I understand there are major cultural differences here, and in their minds they are helping, but to me there is a huge line being crossed when children are being hurt this way.

Once again, we do what we can…one person at a time, right?

Doctor Amber, Part I

Medical school, sch-medical school. I got promoted from RN to MD by Dr. Frank, after a 10-minute crash course on tropical medicine. With 300 children to see, and only myself, Dr. Frank, and Dr. Stella from Arusha, we had to pool our resources. Thank goodness for 9 years of experience, and the wonderful physicians I have worked with over the years who have taught me well. Thank goodness as well for Dr. Frank’s patience. African medicine is medicine in its simplest, yet most-honed (is that a word?) form. There are no labs, no x-rays, no diagnostic tests. You have your patient and your intuition. As for meds, you have what is available, what was donated, what was cheapest, what the government will allow. It is not ideal medicine, but it IS the only medicine some will ever receive.

There was a group of 8 of us, including other volunteers and Susan, Frank’s wife. We headed out Sunday afternoon to a little village about 3 hours from here. We were met there by Paula, an American and Occupational Therapist, who has an organization to spy out different needs and arrange for services. We stayed at the “Guest House” in the village, which is usually occupied by prostitutes when not filled with mzungus (white people) such as ourselves. This place made camping look like the Ritz Carlton, and the orphanage seem glamorous. The toilets were holes in the ground, and we had dirty buckets of questionably clean water with which to bathe. I didn’t pee or poo for 5 days. We all have come back with suspicious bites all over out bodies, which I am guessing to be bedbugs. We ate the native ugali (maize type grain), goat meat, and bananas. It was a taste of life as many know it here. Aahh, the price of adventure.

Monday: Day of Hope and Anticipation

We headed out for the first of three days to do wellness checks on approx 300 children at the local school. On our 40 minute ride down a “road” equivalent to driving over cement blocks, six giraffes amble across the road in front of us! Such elegant creatures. Then another 10 minutes off-roading to the school. By the time we arrived my bones were in a different anatomic order. Fungus, worms, and malnutrition were prevalent. Throw in the occasional bug in the ear, wound abscess, malaria, and welcome to African medicine. We powered through about 100 children, while Dr. Frank saw the local adults who filtered in to see the white doctor. Our much needed comic relief came in the form of a 84 year-old man complaining that he was only able to “be with his wife” three times a day instead of his usual 9. We appeased him with some Tums. We had a focal group of seizure patients, most with epilepsy due to cerebral malaria. It didn’t take long for me to recognize the glassy look of malaria versus the gray look of worms. How do they even survive?

Tuesday: Day I Cried

It was overwhelming. The day started off well enough, with a young lady with a snake bite on her foot swollen twice the size, After lancing it, (skip ahead if you are faint of heart) pus came pouring out, and I wonder how she managed to walk for 2 weeks on it. I met an 8 year-old girl with a broken elbow that was casted wrong at the hospital, so it “healed” at an odd angle, and would never have full use of her arm. The family did what they could to get help…Life is not fair. She already has odds stacked against her.

Monday I had managed to be resilient as child after child came through with complaints of stomachache. Ask them what they had to eat that day, and they hadn’t….even at 3pm in the afternoon. Every single child. I don’t know what it particularly was about this one 10 year old boy, but he was my breaking point. He had the usual complaint of stomachache from hunger, but also had a cough at night. I asked if he was cold at night. Always cold. Asked if he had a blanket at night. No blanket. Asked if he had more clothes to put on. No more clothes. And he answered with his head hung down, as if he was ashamed. Not asking for more. He was simply being honest. His humility was heartbreaking. The futility of what I was doing just overcame me. How could we even put a dent in this poverty and sickness?
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Josephat

As I was making hug and kiss rounds last night at bedtime, I got my first “I love you” whispered in my ear. And I realized, I am falling in love with these kids. They test you, drive you crazy, and make you want to sit them on their bed and leave them forever, but then you spend one on one time with them, and they snuggle into you and you see the little child in them that just needs a little TLC.

Josephat, 7 years old, is one of my favorites (don’t tell anyone). But you cannot help but love this kid. They all look alike the first few days, especially with shaved heads, and he is the first one whose name I learned as he looks distinctly different. The native staff believes he matriculated from somewhere other than Tanzania, it’s anyone’s guess where, as he has darker skin and sharper features. When he speaks, his voice comes out with this force, like he just got punched in the stomach, and he has one volume: LOUD. Tell him “SHH”, and he downgrades to a raspy whisper. He runs like a little hyena and when he sees you coming from across the property, he will yell out the morning events in one sentence, rattling off everything that everyone has done, and what are you going to do, what are you going to do, huh, huh, huh?

The other night, as we were piling into the common room for bedtime story, he nudged the volunteer that was sitting next to him, and pointed out the window.
“Yes, the moon is bright tonight!” she said.
‘WHERE THE COW?” he asked.
“He must be taking the night off.”
“WHY?!”
“Well, wouldn’t you get tired if you had to jump that high every night?”
Silence. He looked very pensive as he gave this some serious thought. Let me tell you, he redefines pensive when he scrunches up his little face.
“YES!”

Marietha, 8 years old, is quiet, smart, and sweet. Most of the time. At tutor time, she picked out some stories to read, one of them being “Are you my Mother?” As some of you know, it’s about a baby bird that goes looking for his mom, and asks a pig and a duck and a bulldozer among other things. As we were reading it, she turns to me and says, “I don’t have a mother”. Hmmm. I was at a loss for a moment, and to make up for it, I just gave her a big hug, and talked about how many Mamas she had here. But we both knew it wasn’t the same. They know they are loved, but it doesn’t take away the knowledge that something is different.

This coming week will be away from the orphanage, as I will be heading out tomorrow (Sunday, Oct 28) with Dr. Frank to do wellness checks and sick clinic all week in a Maasai boma (village). It will be somewhere outside Arusha on the way to Tarangire National Park. An adventure! Removed from civilization with no running water or electricity for 5 days. Wish us well! Hope everyone is well back home. I love getting emails!

6 days in Africa

Only 6 days in Africa, but so much has transpired it seems like a month!

On the 4 hour drive from Arusha, we passed through bush country and home of the Maasai tribe, had wild baboons crossing the road with their young clinging to their underside, and saw giraffes as we passed Lake Manyara. My driver taught me how to count to ten in Swahili, but now that I’m here it appears he taught me how to count in Mbulu instead. Once we turned off the main road, it was another 45 minutes down a long, BUMPY, and red dusty road to Rift Valley Children’s Village.

The natural beauty of this place is amazing. We are on the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater, and nestled between the Serengeti and Tarangire National Parks, famous with safaris. The days are hot and the nights are cool. And the sunsets and sunrises are to die for. Which I’ve certainly been seeing the sun rise!

Not that any day is typical here, but they all start by 6am, if not earlier, by some catastrophe or another. Kids are up at 6:15, get dressed (in hopefully their own clothes), breakfast at 6:30 (some can have this, others cannot), backpack check, and a short walk to school at 6:45. We (volunteers) eat breakfast at 7:30 and get a break until 9, when I teach English/Computer and Confidence class to local village teenagers with another volunteer for 2 hours. Confidence may be the hardest of all three, but hopefully an inevitable result of the first two. Take Standard 2 kids (once you find their hiding spots) to school at 11:30, pick up Standard 1 after you peel them off the playground, then lunch and nap time, After nap, it’s tutor and play time for the afternoon, chores (not a favorite), bath (that either), put on CLEAN clothes, egg and bread snack, movie, then dinner at 6:30. Have you ever tried to keep calm with 11 kids around the table, all with something important to say (particularly if it gets someone else in trouble)? Whew. Then it’s pajamas, brush teeth WITH toothpaste, story time, hugs and kisses, good night.

Alexi, 8 years, and I tutor together. We worked on math today in the “library”, a room with the books and extensive movie collection. However, Mole found us and wanted to practice math too. Mole is our little moral police, as he likes to ask if things are good or bad, and will go through a book asking about each object. Now, seriously are those characters in Dr. Seuss good or bad? He had me stumped on a few. Then Ishmael wanted a story, and Coleta couldn’t be left out of that fun! It is certainly never dull here.

Right now, the orphanage holds 41 very adorable and equally precocious children, from the age of 2 to 17 years.. Despite the size and number,this place is structured without the feeling of institution, There are 4 houses of children, each with 2 native Tanzanian “Mama”s who cook and clean. There are 10 of us volunteers right now, and we have a variety of duties. Some teach kindergarten and some teach English at the local school. Now that word is getting out that there is a nurse here, there are random villagers coming up to see me with various ailments. And with 41 of our own kids, there is plenty of business for me. Band-aids and Tums are my cure-all. And amazingly enough, they DO cure all!

I have a few stories to share, but will do that next time. THIS chic has a 9:30 bedtime!

Safely arrived

After years of dreaming, and 8 months of planning, it is finally happening! I am safely tucked away at my hotel for the night, and will be picked up tomorrow for my 3 hour trip to the village that will be my home for the next few months. Kilimanjaro airport was hopping with one luggage carousel, 4 custom booths, and more taxi drivers than passengers. And, as my luck would have it, I got singled out at the Declaration Area...Bringing donations is a good thing, but guess you have to pay for it!

Nevertheless, I am quite excited, nervous, and my head is in a bit of a fog, but I'll blame that on traveling for 24 hours. In other words, 4 liters of water, 10.5 (line was too long)trips to the bathroom, 1 paperback, 2 plane movies, 13 tissues, half my ipod, and 56.2 gazillion germs later, I am on terra firma in Arusha, Tanzania.

I would love to tell you of the exotic animals and incredible scenery thus far, but it has been dark since my arrival 2 hours ago, so I'll save that for the light of day. FOr the record, it is 10 hours ahead here of Pacific Coast time...

Good night and sweet dreams.

FAQ's

What is it about change that brings us out of hiding? I've been approached by friends and strangers alike about my trip, and it's been entertaining to see the curious, incredulous, admiring, and downright opinionated sides of people. Here's a typical conversation:

Person: What's this I hear about you taking off for Africa?

Me: Well, yes, I am going to Africa. What would you like to know?

Person: Why are you going? What are you going to do?

Me: I'm a crazy girl who loves adventure and giving my parents gray hair. (Or less hair, sorry, Dad) More importantly, I'm going to volunteer with an American physician (Dr. Frank Artress. His website is www.fameus.net ) who is building a hospital there, and to help at the orphanage nearby (www.tanzanianchildrensfund.org).

Person: That's great! Won't that be sad, though? I think that would just break my heart. I'd want to bring them all back with me, won't you?

Me: I'm sure I'll be tempted, but parenthood is for the strong and brave of heart. I AM excited to be with them and help out for awhile. They are amazing little humans for what they have survived. We ARE accepting donations if you're interested in helping out...

Person: Oh yes, I'll bring you some things. What country are you going to, anyways?

Me: Tanzan-

Person: TANZANIA?! That's where the devil lives!!

Me: Huh? OH! No, that's TasMANia. I'll be in TanZANIA. Whew, had me there for a moment!

Person: Oh, that's right! Where is that anyways?

Me: East Coast of Africa, just south of the Equator...home of Mt. Kilimanjaro...Maybe you've heard of it?

Person: Yes, I believe so. That's going to be a LONG trip!

Me: Funny how traveling halfway around the world takes awhile. I've been practicing my Apparition skills (that's the ability to teletransport yourself from one place to another to you clueless non-Harry Potter fans), but I keep losing my luggage, so I figure my chances are just as good with traditional transportation.

Person: Hmm. When do you leave?

Me: I'm not disclosing the details, to keep the papparazzi at bay, I'm sure you understand, but just to throw them off we'll say my departure is Tuesday, October 16, and come back at New Years time...

Person: You're missing the holidays!

Me: I'll bring cool presents though. How are things going for you?

And so on...