Return to Tanzania

I returned to Tanzania on my own in early October. I have to say, it felt like I was going 'home'. I made a beeline to the orphanage to see Malinga and the other orphans. Marisa had told them I was coming and they seemed happy to see me. Malinga had grown a little since June (the last time we saw him). As I was arriving, the kids were getting home from school. He smiled at me and ran into the house. I looked over at Marisa as if to say "What is this all about?" but she reassured me that he was excited to see me but was probably running in to change his shirt, which was dirty...he appparently is very fussy about his clothes! I gave Malinga and the orphans some small toys and school books I had brought along. We made plans for Marisa and I to take all the kids out in a few days for to celebrate Malinga's birthday which had already passed back in September. The orphanage chose September 18th as a birthday for him...which I soon learned is an important day in Chile (the home of Marco, the man who runs the orphanage). It also happens to be my dad's birthday (and the birthday of one of my closest friends, Michaela Caldwell!). Marisa and I decided to take the kids to the Tanzania equivalent of Chuck E Cheese, a sort of indoor-outdoor playground with pizza parlor for the ex-pat community of Dar so all those Americans and Canadians can find a piece of home.

The next day I visited the Department of Social Welfare to see if I could make some headway with our approval to become Malinga's guardians. The person I needed to speak to was not there but I was told he would be back the next week. My plan was to visit him just before I had to fly home (which was out of Dar) the following week.

I arrived in Moshi the following day to a smiling Agnes( on eof the center administrators). It was so great to see her. We went for dinner and then to the center. She had the place looking so amazing. Plans were already underway to re-furbish the old caretaker's house at the back of the property so Agnes and her daughter Cherise can live there. It will be great to have her on site as a 'house mother' of sorts, to be able to be close to the clients who will be staying temporarily at the shelter.

Over the next few days I focused on re-connecting with people and Agnes and I worked on strategic planning for the center's programs. At Mama Minde's advice, we hired a young lawyer named Sabina who has agreed to work with the center for a year on developing programs for our clients. I was so happy to bring her aboard. The mural looked fantastic. I have posted a picture of Mama Minde, Sabina, Agnes and I in front of the mural. We have had T-shirts made of the drawing in the mural. They have been big sellers in Kingston at our fundraisers(read the blog entry called Cowing Around for info about our wacky Fall fundraiser).

I went to Kilema the next day and took Agnes with me. I really wanted to go back and see Mosa and his family. Agnes and I stopped at the market in Himo and bought food for Mosa's family before heading on to their small house. As we arrived, Mosa was coming around the corner of the house. He looked at the car with a serious look and then when he realized it was us he ran to the car smiling and yelling to his grandmother that we were back. I had brought school supplies and toys from Canada along with clothing for them. We gave them the food we had purchased. Mosa had definitely lost weight since leaving Kilema. I had Agnes ask him why he wasn't in school. He said he was having pains in his side and in the groin area from the burns and had stayed home. We confirmed the story with his grandmother. Apparently the burned areas had healed but he was getting itching and discomfort. He had been scratching as well and this had left open sores. I took him inside and examined him. His burns had healed with heaped up scars and my guess is that some nerve endings were growing back and causing odd sensations. The stretched areas were probabaly irritating as well and he was scratching them. I instructed Mosa and his grandma to avoid scratching and to keep the areas as clean as possible. I didn't have any major concerns that the wounds were infected...although it wouldn't be hard given how dirty everything was as they have no running water. We stayed for a while and then Agnes and I headed for Kilema. It was heart breaking to drive away again....I had a deep, sad, empty feeling that I sometimes got on the medical caravans and orphan days in Kilema.

It was so great to get back to Kilema. Things were running well at the new HIV clinic which was seeing many people each day. It is so amazing to have it in the community! There are several CACHA volunteer families there this year. They are all working to provide supprot to the clinci and the hospital to imprve care. The Fraser family (Chris, Stephanie, Lochlin, Eva, Sasha) and Bistra and Ivan and their boys are settled in and enjoying life and its challenges there. It was great to spend a couple of days with them. We discussed plans for the women's health caravan for April 2008 . I got to meet Rick Madore and Rainer Tan, two other CACHA volunteers who are there for a year and working on the Orphan program...amzazing and fun guys.

My friend Lise Turpin, another CACHA volunteer, visited Kilema as well and then came to Moshi and stayed at the centre with me. She runs an AIDS foundation in Ottawa and is a great source of wisdom for me....I am still learning the ins and outs of running a project like this!

I am happy to say my trip back to Dar and to the Social Welfare office was fruitful. I actually met with the man who is responsible for our file and was able to discuss why we are stil waiting to be approved. No real reason other than he likes for people to wait to be sure they want to go through with this. He also requested that I write a letter explaining what I was doing with the project in Moshi and my 'affiliation' with Tanzania. I promptly went to the hotel and did this and brought it back and hand delivered it to him. And, (big sigh) nothing has happened since then....I am writing this blog in January 2008!!!

I am returning to Tanzania in February and will camp out at his office again, and cry, and plead until he gets this process moving!! Brooke, our lawyer, says we still need to be patient. Some families have waited 2 years or more.

I'll keep you posted.