Week One

I started trying to post last night, but right in the middle of a (really witty and interesting) sentence, the power went out. Lost to the world forever. Let's have a moment of mourning...

Alright then! Actually, I have a little more time to ramble this morning, so see how you all get to benefit?!

In brief: I am well, I had one day of yucky-feeling-ness (there are a few people who are looking fairly green around the gills the past couple of days) and "Medical Mission in Africa" is a great diet.

We have made one trip to a small village in the mountains of Tanzania, called Bumbuli. There are honestly no words that can describe the experience in any way that could do it justice.

Bumbuli, a small village in its own right, is made up of five smaller villages. We focused on one of those smaller villages, called Mbokoi. Our first day, we travelled from home to home, collecting information on who lived in the household and finding out if there was anybody who was sick and wanted to go to clinic. We were in groups of three, plus one translator. Our first day, my group made it to 17 homes. It took a long time, because the places were pretty spread out, with all these hills and valleys in the way. We also had contingents of children following us around the whole time, which would sometimes slow us down.

"Mzungu" means 'white person,' and the kids always run up to us yelling it. They always seem really happy to see us, but when you try to talk to them, they get really shy and hide behind each other. I know enough Swahili now to say 'hi' (jambo!) and 'how are you' (haberi gani) and 'great!' (mzuri). Some others in my group have gotten really good. I do also know a couple of songs in Swahili, which always amuses the kids. If you're nice to me when I'm back in the states, you might even be able to get a command performance of me singing 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' in Swahili.

Our second day in Mbokoi was a clinic day. As Rebecca and I are the only people with much actual clinical experience, we were looked at as the unofficial experts. I was really a tad stressed about that at first, but after a few patients, it became pretty obvious that there were a set number of complaints - ascariasis, hookworm, amoebiasis, malaria, musculoskeletal strain... oh, and toothaches. LOTS of toothaches.

By the way, when I say 'clinic,' I mean a tiny, three-room, clay-walled, dirt-floored building with one window in each room to provide light.

I have never been so constantly dirty in my life as I was these past few days. Thank goodness for Purell.

Our last two days in Mbokoi were a repeat of the first day - one day of triage, one day of clinic.

We drove back to our home base in Moshi yesterday, and later today, we are leaving for our second village, Rombo. We are told that the people of Rombo are a little more reticent and less likely to actually come in for care. The village is also on flat ground, not mountains. It will be totally different. Later this week, we will be doing the same thing in "Maasai Land." The Maasai are nomadic people, so they don't really have an established village, just an area. They think that all the cows in the whole world belong to them.

I'm claiming the sugar. All the sugar in the whole world belongs to me! Hahaha!

One last thing, as I've been an internet hog for a tad too long now (and, despite my cunning and devious planning, I am not the only person in the world). For some reason, I was declared the 'leader' of this rag-tag bunch. Again, the curse of seeming competent... Anyway, there are now several in the group who refer to me as 'Mama.' It makes me laugh every time.

I don't think I'll be able to post again until early next week. But keep checking, just in case!