Safari Njema

Christa and Dialo (lead singer) serenaded us with 'leavin on a jet plane' and we danced and danced...until the sun went down. As I write this last caravan entry I am sitting at home in my kitchen looking out at the tulips in my flower beds in front of the kitchen window in Kingston, Ontario. I feel a thousand miles away (9000km to be exact) from Kilimanjaro and the women's center yet I continue to carry the women and their stories in my heart. I will ensure that their story continues to be told, because it is an important one. The survival of this planet depends on it.

To all our wonderful volunteers....remember what they say about Africa: you don't go through Africa, rather, Africa goes through you...its harsh beauty becomes a part of you. Safari njema rafikis!

Caravan Stats and final goodbyes

The caravan saw over 2100 women and their children and performed over 1600 HIV tests of which 58 were new positives. We dispensed over 2900 prescriptions and performed HIV surveys on over 40 women to learn more about knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices surrounding HIV. This survey was designed at Queen's University by one of our med student volunteers, Christa Dakin. It will help to inform future caravans regarding targeting HIV/AIDS education and interventions for clients and their partners. We distributed over 500 mosquito nets to pregnant women and women with children under 5 years of age. We gave out 1000 toothbrushes...and wished we had more. Donated clothing and shoes were given to the neediest of families and a large amount of clothing was left behind at the women's center for use for our most needy clients and their young children.

More...

The smiling African woman with the condoms in her hands was our 'pharmacy assistant' named Happiness...and boy was she happy..Many thanks need to go out to our many translators who painstakingly translated hundreds of client histories for us. It became easier as we went along but there were still challenges and difficult stories to deal with...We hope they will continue to work with us on future caravans. Many thanks to KWIECO (Kilimanjaro Women Information Exchange and Consultancy Organization) for their unending support, getting me out of immigration jail and helping to advertise and support the caravan. It was quite an event for Moshi and we have definitely set the bar high. The picture of the young people with the African drum are a theatre troop who do traditional plays that depict stories about prevention of HIV/AIDS and acceptance of those with HIV. They spoke of ways to protect you and your partner and helping to educate others in the community. They performed during the last day of the caravan to the waiting crowd (a captive audience). It is my hope that we can get them to perform on each subsequent caravan at all caravan days.

And more...

More memories...

Women's Health Caravan Memories

I can't believe its over!

Those are the words I kept hearing on Thursday from our hard working volunteers. It has been a wonderful 2 weeks and I think we managed to accomplish a lot. We have a long way to go and this is just the beginning of things for Pamoja Tunaweza. We had an completely exhausting day in Himo Town on Wednesday. The group worked later then they had on any other day. The crowd of patients to be triaged continued to grow despite our telling patients that they would not be seen if they had not received a number that morning. The need is so great. There were a few irate people and a lots of desperate faces. One old woman cried. But, you can't see one and not the others and tired volunteers and darkness are not the best way to keep things postive. Our last case of the day on Wednesday shook everyone. One of the volunteers was testing two sisters one 22, the other 9. The 9 year old was HIV positive. After some wrangling of info from the two of them, it was discovered that the 9 year old had been raped in the village a year earlier. The perpetrator was never brought to justice(the usual case in sub-Saharan Africa). The mother was not with the girls as she travels into Dar es Salaam regularly. She was contacted about the news and it wasn't clear from any of the discussion and post-test counselling that the girl would be supported or would receive medical care. We arranged for Sekunda, one of our HIV counselors to go and meet the two sisters the next day so that more discussion and counseling and follow-up could be carried out.
The girls showed up (despite the fact that it was a national holiday)...and we are all relieved that we will be able to continue to support them through the center's activites.

The final day at the center was a half day (so that we could debrief and PARTY!!). The day went well and we finished on-time (first time ever).

Dialo, one of translators who helped with triage throughout the caravan, brought his Reggae band and a wonderful time was had by all. He started with 'No Woman No Cry' by Bob Marley and then 'Strength of a Woman' by Shaggy. Several hours (and alcoholic beverages later), he finished with One Love by good ole Bob. The last hour of the party (dusk) Kili decided to show her beautiful face for the first time in 2 weeks. She can be seen perfectly from the patio at the center. It was a magical moment and many hugs and sighs and a few tears were had. None of us could believe it was almost time to say good bye...
Thank you to all of you for all you have done, and a special thank you to all our donors, who allowed us to go the extra mile and offer a little bit more to our women and kids on this caravan.
I pray that it will be the first of many more.

As I write this, I am sitting in Amsterdam Airport. I am filled with so much emotion about all that we have seen and the gifts we have received by having had this time together.
We are all a little more aware of the fragility of life around us and the need to continue to reach out to those in need, at home and abroad. Thank you.