sunoverkili

Leaving for home

2011-04-03T05:17:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend in Dar es Salaam so that we could see the kids from Boona Baana, Malinga and Isaack's orphanage. Malinga used his birthday gift money (he waived gifdts this year) to take the kids out for a nice dinner. The kids have grown so much and turned into wonderful young men and womne.
Pictured here are Linus, Isaack (X2), Amina, Mandara, Eliza at Sea Cliff. We went to Spur's for dinner...kind of like South African Ponderosa. It was a fun night. I have also included pics of our taxi ride there...a Bajaji ride...Hannah can't stop talking about it.

Tender Mama's Spa Service

2011-04-03T05:12:00.001-07:00

Hannah and her friend Magali decided to open their own spa service apptly called Tender Mama's Spa service. You were 'mostly welcome' as they say here in Tanzania to any service you desired (or a combination thereof). For those of you who know Hannah, even a little bit, you will know that she can be relentless when she gets an idea in her head....she will ask you if you want a massage or a facial or a pedicure over and over again until you say YES. Then you need to receive your wonderful service and hurry up and pay her! She is going to make us a lot of money someday.
Our friend Charlie was one of Hannah's esteemed customers...that is real avacado on her face...they are in season and just falling off the trees here.

Shakira has arrived!

2011-04-03T05:08:00.000-07:00

My good friend Abbas and his wife Neema just had a baby girl. A sister to their son Shakur. They named her Shakira!!
The pictures say it all...she is beautiful and we were awaiting her arrival for most of our time here.
Congratulations Abbas, Neema and Shakur. Welcome to the world Shakira!

soccer days in Moshi

2011-04-03T05:01:00.000-07:00

There will be many amazing memories created for Isaack, Malinga, Jack and Roman who played soccer at sunset on several day seach week.
They play on dust not grass.....just imagine the dirt!

Malinga's Adoption is almost final

2011-04-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

We have made some major progress with respect to Malinga`s adoption here in Tanzania. We presented to the High Court of Tanzania on March 14th only to discover that the judge who was presiding over our case was ill and would not appear that day. We were told to return on the 21st and this time he appeared but, our social worker (who was also present) had not yet filed our final social welfare report. He delayed us for another 2 days to allow time for her to file the report with the court...he was being very accommodating because Mama Minde, our lawyer, had informed him that we were returning to Canada on April 2nd. We were very grateful for the kind treatment since that same court had lost our previous file and not allowed us to re-file a copy of it for a whole year...when they were absolutely sure it was definitely lost!
We were all a little strung out after 3 separate trips to the court house but the judge was in a good mood (although very serious too) that morning. He asked Roman and I to each swear that we promised to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help us God. He then asked questions like ‘how can you prove that you love this child as much as your other children’ and ‘how can you prove that you will be able to provide for him for his whole life?’ and he asked Malinga ‘do these people treat you the same way as they treat their other children?’ ....it was pretty intense. I teared up at one point as wel because Roman had to go first and he said some pretty wonderful things about how much he loved Malinga as a son and it made me want to marry him all over again...we have learned a lot about ourselves, our marriage and being parents through this process.
The judge then wrote some stuff in his notebook and said ok, I will grant the order for adoption and you can pick it up on Friday...and that was it.
We now have to submit these documents in Canada to have his adoption processed by Social services in Ontario. Not sure what kind of obstacles we will face on the other end as we try to make Malinga truly Canadian. I am sure there will be a few.
Oh, and in case you are wondering...his new name will be Malinga Yeates Zablocki (Yeates is his new middle name..not hyphenated with Zablocki). I wanted to get a bit of the Yeates name in there...I think having it as his middle name is the perfect compromise.
It has been quite a journey so far..but as my friend Caroline always says..’everything worth having is worth waiting for,.....

Making chappatti and eating bugs in Moshi

2011-04-03T04:44:00.000-07:00

Hannah, Malinga and Jack have become quite the Tanzanians. They have a little routine every morning with Daisy, their tutor. At about 10:30 they walk around the corner to the chapatti stand and buy freshly made chapatti and fried cassava. The chapatti`s from the stand are kind of like oily pita bread but they taste delicious. Over time, Hannah and her friend Magalie (whose mom and dad are staying with us this month) asked the chapatti lady how to make them. They then went to the duka (store) on the corner and bought corn flour. Sam, Magalie`s dad helped them make chapatti on a rainy Saturday morning. Hannah made one that looked like a happy face and then carried it around to the lady at the chapatti stand for a taste test. She told them it was `’nzuri sana, or very good! Her friend at the stand also tasted it and said...chumvi..which means salt..meaning it needs more salt...she was always a little bit grumpy at the best of times.
On that same rainy Saturday we had a big downpour and Malinga immediately noticed that the ‘termites’ were out. These termites are actually like larva with wings and according to many Tanzanians, they are quite the delicacy. Malinga told the other kids that he had eaten these bugs in his previously life in Tanzania..so, of course everyone wanted a chance to taste them. The kids proceeded to collect a bunch of the bugs and then they friend them in butter and salt (in my perfectly good frying pan!)....Jack was the first to try them. He said they taste like French fries....Malinga ate a few and Hannah chickened out...as did mom and dad.....I have tolerated a lot of ‘firsts, in Tanzania, but eating a big white larva –like bug was not going to be one of them!

The other story of Rwanda

2011-03-19T22:43:00.000-07:00

I know this post is late. I should have written it way back when Roman and I first returned from Rwanda. I wanted to tell the stories of the Gorillas but did not know where to start to tell about the genocide. After our gorilla tracking, we checked into what is now the Kigali Serena Hotel. It used to be the Hotel Diplomates..this is where the RGF had their headquarters...essentially where the government machinery that orchestrated the genocide were holed up for months prior to and during the genocide. General Bagasora was the kingpin. Just down the road was the Milles Collines, where Paul Rusesabagina, who had been the hotel manager at the Diplomates, was seconded by the hotel management company to go to the Milles Collines and keep things running. What he ended up doing was saving the lives of hundreds of Tutsis and moderate Hutus seeking safety. He risked his life and the life of his family to save others. The story is told in the book and movie called The,Hotel Rwanda. Roman and I sat around the pool bar at the Milles Collines and had a late night snack on our Saturday night in Kigali. It was surreal to reflect on the events that went on there. It was also a reminder that life goes on.

Paul Kagame is Rwanda's current president and who was the general of the Rwandan Patriotic Front that took over Kigali to push out the genocide perpetrators (essentially the army of the government of the time). He has worked very hard to restore peace by focusing on reconcilliation and restorative justice. He could not have asked thousands of Tutsis to return home to Rwanda after fleeing during the genocide and live next to their neighbors who killed their family members without helping them to cope with the horrors that ocurred, and, to help them make sense of why the genoide happened and to ever so slowly work towards forgiving those who killed. Much of the peace has also come because many of the survivors have played a hand in the process of justice by sitting in local village courts (called the grass courts) to watch the perpetrators be brought to justice. Thousands (more than 100,000) Hutus were jailed after the genocide and now many of them are being released. They reintegrate back into the communities they had come from but continue to do community work for their period of parole...you see them on the streets...sweeping, digging ditches etc. Their uniforms are pink.

Many of these Hutu villagers who were swiftly jailed on their return to Rwanda were simple people living a pastoral life but whose minds were poisoned and brainwashed by the government media, largely through radio annoucements and music that was designed to build a hatred so powerful that once provided with machetes, these men (and some women) of the Interahamwe were able to go out and kill their neighbors, friends, wives and even their own children. You see, many Hutus were happily married to Tutsis in Rwanda and both tribes had prior colonization lived in relatove peace. It was the foreigners who colonized them-Germans and then the Belgians who saw the ability to pit one tribe against the other in order to gain power. The Tutsi's have committed genocidal crimes in the past too..just not on the scale that the Hutu led government were able to in 1994.

The thing that I didn't fully understand until I read more books on the subject (Roman and I have been reading everything we can get our hands on since we visited the Rwandan War Crimes Tribunal in Arusha Tanzania in 2007) is that the genocidaires (the planners and the perpetrators) all fled by the millions to the Congo..just over the border at Gisenyi to Goma. They were able to hide out in Goma's UN sanctioned refugee camps in the Congo and were protected by the UN. While in the camps they developed new Interahamwe cells and terrorized Tutsis in the camps who had already escaped the genocide once. Many Tutsis still died in these camps at the hands of the Interahamwe. These criminals were fed and clothed for more than a year by the United Nations while Tutsis in Rwanda starved and tried to rebuild their lives with literally no focus on what had happened to them.

The world seemed to get it all wrong...even after the genocide had happened (and was still happening, the world focused on the growing humanitarian crises (cholera and a volcanoe eruption) in Goma-this focus on the refugees and not what had happened and was still happening in Rwanda was largely due to pressure from the United States who not only failed to act during the genocide but blocked UN efforts to launch a big enough force to stop the genocidaires from committing atrocities...after the genocide, the United States government (out of guilt perhaps) decided to then put 300 million dollars into the UN camps in Goma....if they had funded just one quarter of that amount to fund the UNAMIR force in Rwanda that was head by Romeo Dallaire, it is believed by many experts that the genocide could have been stopped.

I am not sure what to tell you about what we saw and did on this leg of our trip....it is difficult. We went to the Genocide memorial in Kigali first. It is funded by a humanitarian organization called AEGIS that focuses on keeping the stories of human genocide alive inour world so that we can learn from what has happened and stop future generations from suffering similar fates. The Kigali memorial tells the story of how the genocide occurred. There are testimonials and films. It is very moving. The museum also tells the story of other genocides. Some we know much about such as the Jewish Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis (when the world said Never again.... and yet still....). They also tell the story of the Armenian Genocide, Cambodia's killing fields, the Balkans...

There is a very moving exhibit of the brief stories of children who were murdered in Rwanda. I have attached a few pictures. There is a mass grave with 250,000 souls buried there. There is a beautiful garden surrounding the mass grave.

One of the meorials we went to was about 45 minutes from Kigali in a town called Nyamata. The church looks like a regular somewhat modern African Catholic church. The sheer size of the killings that ocurred there are only evident when you enter. The benches of this lovely church are filled with stacks and stacks of clothing and personal items tat were found in the mass graves in the area. The bones of these victims are buried here on site in a mass grave and others are in Kigali. There are 50,000 people buried in Nyamata's mass grave. There is a glass box with a coffin in it in an underground crypt built beneath the church seating area. This coffin contains the remains of a young woman who was savagely murdered along with her baby during the genocide. Her surviving family (who found her after she was murdered)allows her to lay in rest here as a representative of all women who died in Rwanda during the geneocide. They want her to be a reminder of the crimes that were committed against women....I don't need to go into details...you can use your imagination.

Another genocide memorial we visited was in Ntarama. In this little village there was a catholic church where 5,000 Tutsi's and moderate Hutus sought refuge. They thought that that would be sacred ground that no one would touch. They hid there for weeks and then the Interahamwe came and slaughtered them all. There are doorsways that you can see where grenades had been thrown through them and there are bullet holes everywhere. Some victims were burned alive in the building at the back where they were cooking for the massess who were hiding there. All the bodies that were recovered in mass graves in that area have been placed on display within the church as skulls and bones on racks. Most of the skulls bear the nachete wounds visibly on them. Other bodies were placed in coffins that are also located there. They put bodies in coffins that were thrown into latrines. These did not decompose in the same way as others to produce just bones...so they needed proper burial in a coffin. There are shelves of people's belongings...shoes,school books, dolls, pens, rosaries and many Tutsi ID cards that they were forced to carry. It brought tears to my eys as I examined these little items that once represented the day to day lives of ordinary people, who went to that church to try to live and survive.

The woman who gave us the tour was soft spoken (we were the only ones there incidentally). She sits all day at the site as a specially trained historian to tell the Rwandan genocide story correctly. She took us around the back to a room that looked like a Sunday school..little benches and a dirt floor...she said that this was a Sunday school when the church was functional but it became the baby killing room. It would seem that the quickest way for the Interahamwe militia to kill babies was to hold them by the feet and swing their heads against a brick wall. That is exactly what they did here. I did not know it while we were standing next to the wall...she just looked over as she told the story as she had many times before. I eventually looked at the wall I could see that blood, and bone fragments and flesh are still stuck there (I have included a picture of this wall..taken from the doorway of that little building). A gruesome but important reminder to never go down that road again. The savagery is hard to imagine and I promise you, that is the only gruesome story I will tell. There are many more but....words fail me.

More of the grand opening celebration

2011-03-16T05:43:00.000-07:00

More of the grand opening celebration

2011-03-16T05:21:00.000-07:00

Pamoja Tunaweza Grand Opening Celebration at the new building March 8, 2011

2011-03-16T05:06:00.000-07:00

March 8, 2011 was International Women's day and we chose that day to be the grand opening of our new women's centre in Moshi, Tanzania. We are sadly leaving our old location on Arusha Road. There were many firsts that occurred there and we have fond memories. The new centre is a powerful new beginning for us. We were able to purchase the land and building through the generous donation of a Tanzanian-Canadian man named Sadru Mohamedali and his wife Khairoon. We also thank his extended family, Nina and Imi Moloo and their sons Husein, Ali and Raheem for their ongoing support. We hope they will visit the centre one day in the near future so they can see the gift they have given us.

The day started off with special announcements and greetings and then we had dancing from a group of young men from a vocational training program called Mkombozi. They perform dancing and acrobatics. They were a crowd pleaser! We also had dancing from our business training and microfinance group from Chekereni Village. These women (and 1 man!) danced for us and sang in the traditional Tanzanian way. We felt so honored that they chose to participate in the grand opening in that way.

I told a bit of the history of the centre and our relationship to CACHA and Kilimanajro Women Information Exchange and Consultancy Organization. I wanted people to know where we started and how far we had come. I know that we also have a long way to go and wish I had a lot more resources to do more for our clients and the community. I really felt the presence of our motto 'one woman at a time' as I looked out over all of those women at the grand opening whose lives we have touched over the last 3 years. I also need to thank my dedicated staff and volunteers who work hard to keep us going and believe so much in what we do.
I will append some pictures of that beautiful day and will try to attach some videos either to this site or via YouTube. The dancing really was amazing.

We provided a delicious Tanzanian buffet and cake. There was champagne popped and a ribbon cutting....the ladies from Chekereni cut the ribbon and then broke into the most amazing dancing and ululation....I stood there and wept. I was home.

African Womens' Voices Project-Goma, Congo

2011-03-13T00:56:00.000-08:00

I have been interested, sad and angered about the plight of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo for several years now. During their long drawn out 'war' between rebel groups, the soldiers have used rape as a powerful weapon of war to keep women living in fear of repeated violence. There has been some attention brought to this issue by world media and books on the subject. One organization called Women for Women International has done a lot of work to sensitize the world to this important issue. There is a book by a woman named Lisa Shannon, an American woman who became insprired to do charitable 'runs' to raise money to sponsor individual women through Women for Womens project in DRC. Lisa's book of her journey is called 'A Thousand Sisters' and it describes Congo as the worst place in the world to be a woman...and after our recent journey to lay the initial ground work for our African Womens' Voices Project, we agree that it just might be the worst place. You will hear more about our project as it evolves over the next few years.

We travelled with Alyssa Ferguson, our current project coordinator at the Pamoja Tunaweza Women's Centre and with Ms. Deborah Melman-Clement, a writer based in kingston, Ontario who also volunteered on our last caravan as a logistics volunteer. We flew to Kigali, Rwanda and made our way by bus to Gisenyi. We made our way across the border to Goma, DRC....with a few small bumps along the way.
Entering Goma from Rwanda was like night and day. On the Rwandan side in Gisenyi, on the shores of Lake Kivu, it was like being in resort town like Lake Como, Italy. Many atrocities happened in Gisenyi during and after the Rwandan Genocide, but they have miraculously moved on and rebuilt, whereas, Goma (and most of Congo)are still trapped in a post conflict situation and craving for better governance from Kinshasa and help from the international community. There is a huge UN presence in Goma because that is where millions of rwandan refugees escaped to during the genocide. Unfortunately, the world poured aid into Goma's camps to 'save' the refugees....this happened because the indifference of the international community resulted in little or no intervention DURING the genocide to stop the killing of Tutsis (1 million were killed in 90 days)...when the world recognized their mistake they threw millions of dollars into the refugees situation, but, most of those who escaped to Goma were genocidaires who had been the perpetrators of the genocide and had orchestrated the murder of their fellow Rwandans. Goma has dismantled some of the camps and the Rwandans have been repatriated to Rwanda to stand trial if they were suspected of committing crimes against humanity. Goma is a different world with a large (still erupting) volcanoe towering above the dusty city. There was at times a look and feel of desperation in the faces of the people because the poverty is extreme, but in general we felt safe.

Our goal in Goma was to visit a hospital called 'Heal Africa'. It is like an oasis in a desert. You can google 'Heal Africa' and read more about the history of this hospital. They provide care for many medical problems but are especially good at dealing with injuries of the war and the issue of vaginal fistulas. These develop when a woman has a difficult labour and the baby's head is stuck in the birth canal. The injury to the vagina and surrounding structures leads to severe problems with leaking of urine and sometimes feces. These women suffer terribly as outcasts in their community. The fistulas can also develop when women are violently raped, and during the last decade there have been many women who have developed these in DRC. The hospital has a residential program where these women can stay during the long process of their surgical repairs. They help them to rebuild their spirit and bodies.

I have included some pictures of our group (which included 'Jean' our guide and translator, Goma at night and of Heal Africa.

Our Trip to Pangani By Hannah Zablocki

2011-03-13T00:39:00.000-08:00

We went for the weekend to a place called Pangani. We went with Heather, Jeff, Sully and Whit.It is a beach place that takes 8 hours to drive to from Moshi. We took a dalla dalla minibus and it was called Happy People Everybody's bums hurt by the time we got there because there was 2 hours of bumpy roads!
The hotel was a beach lodge called Emayani Beach Lodge. It was very hot and I got a big tan. We stayed in a 'banda' on the beach. It had a toilet and shower and a big bed for mom and dad with mosquito nets and a cute little bed for me. The beach lodge had a bar and restaurant and we were almost the only people there. We did a lot of swimming.
The best thing about that place was that there was a turtle rescue organization down the beach. They try to protect turtle nests and help the baby turtles get to the ocean. Only 1 baby in a thousand survive!
I have added some pictures of the babies making their way to the ocean. I have also added some other pictures of us at Pangani. Enjoy!

Our Artist in Residence..Ms Heather Haynes

2011-03-13T00:00:00.001-08:00

We were so lucky to be able to spend 6 weeks with Kingston artist and friend Heather Haynes and her family, husband and musician Mr. Jeff Montgomery as well as her two wonderful kids, Sully and Whit. Heather and her family spent a lot of tinme preparing for this trip through their World's Collide project which initially began on Heather's trip to Uganda 2 years ago. As a lead up to this year's trip she partnered with her sons' school and all of the teachers and staff prepared hand painted T shirts and accompanying packages with a photo, letter and small gift from a child at South Crosby School. Some of the T-shirts were very inspiring. Heather then made connections with several programs here in Tanzania that care for kids that are living in vulnerable situations or are orphans. There are unfortunately MANY vulnerable kids here due to poverty and the end result of several decades of HIV/AIDS...they have lost one or both parents. We visited the Tegemeo Orphan project at Kilema Hospital (pictures attached). I have also included a picture of a traditional 'African soccer ball' that Roman found in the supply room where the food rations are stored by the program.

Heather and the kids also visited the Mkombozi Centre for street children and the Msamaria centre for street children. The T-shirts and gift bags were welcomed with many cheers at Msamaria and Heather developed a great relationship with the Mkombozi boys who run an amateur artist project called the The Hard-Life artists group.
Luckily for us...Heather also painted while she was here. These beautiful paintings are displayed in our new women's centre and in the Guest House (our income generating project). Thanks Heather!

Tanzania Loves Barack Obama

2011-03-05T08:33:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to be in Tanzania for Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009. It was the night before we were to start the ‘Women and the Mountain’ Kilimanjaro climb of 2009 that raised money for the women’s centre. There was an all night party in Moshi that night with music and dancing and the inauguration events on the big screen. There is clear evidence that Kenya loves Barack as his father was Kenyan and they have named parks and streets after him in Nairobi…he is Africa’s son. The first black man to become president of the United States means a lot to everyday Africans.
I have clear evidence that Tanzania loves Barack because they have made Kangas (the colourful cloth that women wrap them selves in here for everyday wear) in his honour in an array of colours that say Swahili proverbs on them and statements like may God bless Barack Obama and congratulations Barack Obama. They have MANY hundreds of mini buses (a.k.a Dalla Dallas) with different versions of Barack’s face painted on them with a multitude of sayings and misspellings. I even saw one that was called the ‘kool Barack Obama bus’..very nice……
They also have gone a step further and created Barrack Obama chewing gum..strawberry flavoured and actually quite tasty according to Hannah. There are Barack Obama boxer short available in town and the piece de resistance….Barack Obama Hair Cutting Saloon (they call them saloons here, not salons)..see attached pictures of said items and imagine the other possibilities that may be coming down the line…

Kilimanjaro Marathon 2011

2011-03-05T08:31:00.000-08:00

7 years ago they held the first Kilimanjaro Marathon. It is sponsored by the Kilimanjaro Beer Company and Vodacom, a large mobile phone company. The first race had 400 competitors and now they have 4000 in total. It is a registered international race with a full and half marathon. There is also a ‘fun run’ that is 5 km and Roman and I participated in that this year. We raced this past Sunday February 27th and we felt very much a part of the Moshi community. The fun run started at 7:15 in the morning to take advantage of the coolness that Moshi experiences in the early mornings before the town heats up over the day. The mountain was cloudless and watched over the crowd in all its glory. I never get tired of that mountain…
I was impressed by all of our efforts. We all ran the race with stopping just for water breaks. They guided us all back into the stadium to the finish line. WE did make it back before the first half marathoner arrived at least! It was great to stand at the finish line to cheer on the winners…all first place winners were..you guessed it-Kenyan! The third place marathoner was actually Tanzanian and as he ran across the finish line, the crowd erupted!! The festivities soon began and people were drinking beer at 8:45 in the morning….I have attached a bunch of pictures of the stadium and some of the runners coming across the finish line.
They announcer said there were runners from 35 countries represented in the races, a truly international race. It was great to see so many Tanzanian families out participating in the fun run. There were also many NGO’s represented there with team shirts…..Pamoja Tunaweza definitely needs a team entry next year for the fun run.
Finally, the thing that struck me the most was the footwear, or, lack therof. There were young men on the half marathon with broken shoes, house slippers, converse basketball shoes, soccer cleats and, yes….flip flops…..and, they all finished before the first white person that I saw cross the line with their fancy running gear.

Macmillans Pub and Uhuru Museum

2011-03-05T08:27:00.000-08:00

Macmillan's Pub is our new neighborhood hangout. It is conveniently very near to the new womens' centre. Macmillan has recently decided to change the name to include 'Uhuru' museum. Uhuru means 'freedom' in Swahili and his unique newspaper clippings and artifacts definitely tell the story of Tanzania's history on the road to independence in the 60's.

Macmillan (see picture) is a guy who is an avid collector of just about everything. He says that since he was a teen he has been fascinated by anything relating to the history of his country. He is from the Chagga tribe and is particularily interested in the history of coffee in Kilimanjaro and artifacts relating to the Chagga people and coffee. Kilimanjaro coffee was a huge industry in the period before independence in Tanzania, however, within a few years of independence, the industry collapsed and the Kilimanjaro coffee union has struggled to regain fair market value for their beans ever since. The union is gaining strength, in part, due to the fair trade movement around coffee and paying farmers in developing countries a fair value for their beans. I have included a picture of them with their medals from this year's race. mac himself has also run and holds a certificate for one of the fastest climbs up and down Kili..something like 54 hours from top to bottom..he is a legend..
Macmillan has a unique family as well. His twin sons (named Junior and Senior!)are pictured here with their medals from today's Kilimanjaro half marathon.

Macmillan is also fascinated by Volkswagons and drives an old grey 1967 Beetle around Moshi. He also has many Volkswagon artifacts and considers himself an enthusiast. His coffin making shop was converted into a ‘pub’ over a several year period. The bar is in what was once the living room. He has a lovely garden and pond full of toads that start croaking at sunset. I have attached pictures of what the neighborhood fondly calls ‘Macmillans’….I think you would also agree that it is an eclectic and cultural gem in the heart of Moshi.

Godmark Graveyard furniture..morbid but interesting!

2011-03-05T08:26:00.000-08:00

There is a place in town that makes coffins and wooden crosses. It is aptly named ‘Godmark Graveyard Furniture’. It is owned by two Moshi businessmen. One happens to be our contractor , Lucas, who oversaw the renovations on the new women’s centre and the other is a man named Macmillan who owns a neat little ‘pub’ in our neighbourhood called, you guessed it, ‘Macmillans’…more on Macmillan’s in another blog entry.
Macmillan has told me the whole story the other evening and it was so interesting that I wanted to share it. Normally when someone dies in Kilimanjaro, the home of the Chagga people, the funeral arrangements, including the making of the coffin, historically happens the same day. The tradition and belief is that no one wants to make a coffin for someone who is not dead yet so as to not conjure up bad omens and spirits and perhaps ‘force their death’. A number of years ago, Lucas and Macmillan decided to bring a new service to Moshi, they were going to produce , ‘ready made’ coffins available for sale to the public (ie. To the families of people who had just died). They named their company ‘Godmark Graveyard Furniture’ and initially made the coffins at Macmillans house where the pub is now situated. After some time, they needed to expand into new space and looked high and low for a good location that was the right size but no one would rent to them in town. It would seem that having anything to do with making coffins ahead of time was very much frowned upon. Macmillan found that friends were getting cautious about having him buy them a beer or visiting his house…they did not like the idea of fraternizing with someone who was planning for other people to die (even though that is something that will happen to all of us and happens at a rapid pace here in Moshi due to the lack of access to reliable health care). Macmillan eventually found a location that would rent to them. By that time they had multiple sizes available for sale right off the shelf. Once they found a new location and shifted the business there they needed to hire a salesperson to be around at the new shop. The first young enthusiastic woman they hired was quite pleased with her new job but upon returning home, she was told by her parents that she would need to quit that job immediately. Too many bad omens….
Macmillan eventually found someone who would work with them and the business has slowly grown and found a place in Moshi. Yes, people do like the convenience. I actually noticed that on the KCMC road there is several ‘pre-made’ coffin shops that have arisen…maybe Macmillan and Lucas’ idea wasn’t so bad after all.

My Trip to the Hot Springs By Hannah Zablocki

2011-03-05T08:24:00.000-08:00

We went to the hot springs with our friends Heather Haynes, Jeff, Sully,and Whitney Montgomery and our other friends Eric, Abbas and Abbas’s brother Robert and Abbas' little boy Shakur..he is inthe picutre with Malinga. We all slept in tents on a piece of land that was over the water!There were chefs that would cook us breakfast lunch and dinner,the driver was very nice! There was a little river that led to a big pool of water.We went to a little river to see all the goats and the cows cross the river! There was lots of really long and flat tree’s that were perfect for climbing! When we woke up in the morning our other friend Mark was already playing the guitar and the fire from the other night wasn’t even out yet! After lunch it was time to head back to Moshi, and a big thanks to the driver that didn’t get us lost!!!

My Safari to the Serengeti and Ngorogoro Crater By Hannah Zablocki

2011-03-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

We went on safari with our friends Heather,Jeff,Sully and Whitney Montgomery and our friend Stacey. We saw lots and lots of animals! We staid at two lodges,they were right over the Crater national park! One of the lodges had an acrobatic show! The whole lodge was made out of stones and rocks.The food that they served us was really really good!!The next day in the Crater we saw a very very big elephant and a very very big rhino!!!There was a wort hog that made the rhino stand up right infront of us!!!It was kind of scary because it was like the rhino was going to charge at us!Thanks to the drivers advice he did not charge at us!
While we were at the tented camp there was a guard who was a Masaai. His name was 'Milk'..like the drink. He was so nice. Malinga and I showed him how to get a hand massage and an ear massage. He really liked it! There are pictures of us giving him a massage. I have also added a picture of Malinga and Sully sitting in the roof of the safari truck!

More caravan 'action' shots from Chekereni, Kahe and Mabogini villages

2011-03-05T08:20:00.000-08:00

Trekking with the Gorillas in the Volcanoes National Park

2011-03-03T21:59:00.000-08:00

Roman and I took a weekend for ourselves and completed another item on our "bucket List" yesterday morning by trekking with the Eastern Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda on the Congolese Border in the Parc du Volcanoes National. The pictures don't do it justice and I still cannot believe that we were given this once in a lifetime chance. We booked our permits through Amahoro Tours a number of months ago. At $550USD this is not a cheap activity but the conservation efforts that have been underway (using money from the permit fees) have been extremely successful. I had that feeling that despite the horrible things we hear about these gorilla populations, there has been real results and a steady increase in numbers. The 'trackers' who take you to find the group/family that you have been assigned to are so deeply protective of their gorillas that they have 2 trackers following each family all the time to protect them from poachers and from falling into traps set by poachers to catch other bush meat (but that gorillas can still fall into). The trackers grunt all sorts of different grunts as we approached..giving the message that we were coming in peace..it was like a low deep throaty sound and you can hear the gorillas answer back with an almost identicle sound. We found the group fairly quickly and it wasn't long before the only male in this group, a silverback approached from behind the group. You could smell him first...like a stinky athlete...like human body odor but 10 times stronger. He didn't pay much attention to us. We were a group of 8, the maximum allowed per trekking group. We were allowed one hour with them. There were twins in this group, known as the HIRWA group. They are a few months old but they were hidden by their mother. We did seea two week old newborn who was nursing on her mom and we saw some cute little infants and toddlers....one of them ranand grabbed by jacket and tugged on it and ran back to the nearest female...I just froze...we had been told..do not touch them or sneeze or cough or spit near them...they have 97% of our genes and can therefore catch human illnesses....influenza could easily kill them.
The trek back to the main centre ended with a certificate presentation to each of us. We caught our last few glimpses of the beautiful volcanoes towering over the valley..breathtaking. The one in t he picture is called Sabinyho..which in Kinyarwandan means 'old mans teeth'.... I can see what they mean.

The trip out of the Gorilla View Lodge to head down the volcanoe to Ruhengeri was one of those things we wished we have on video to post on YouTube...as we drove out of the gate of the lodge the truck ran out of gas. The driver was very embarrassed and couldn't believe he had allowed that to happen...he is a seasoned guide who travels all over Rwanda weekly. Well, as it turned out, we started to coast along the road....and then we coasted some more...we ran over about 20 speed bumps and after 15 minutes had travelled 19 kilometres down the volcanoe!! Without gas!! WE passed through some small villages along the way and people were looking at us probably wondering why a big old safari truck was so silent..we just drifted along. At onepoint Roman and our friend Gary got out to give it a tiny push and then hopped back in. As we reached Ruhengeri and a bust intersection we drifted through a stop sign and managed to turn left into traffic!! We then negotiated a right hand turn right into a gas station and floated right up to the diesel pump....we were killing ourselves laughing...you had to be there to belive it.

I will tell you more about Rwanda later...there is a whole other story to tell...and sometimes words fail me. The genocide is ever present. The country has come a long way in 16 years since the 1994 genocide that killed 1 million people. There is immense development going on but there still remains extreme poverty. I have attached a picture of the kids who met us at the trailhead when we arrived back from the trek. The poverty is real.

Feels Like Home-Return to Tanzania 2011

2011-03-03T21:26:00.000-08:00

It was great to return to Tanzania and the little town of Moshi. It has undergone some change since we last lived here in 2007 and although I travel here regularly, I noticed a big change from when we were last here. There are 3 new banks and several ‘high rise’ buildings (well, 6-8 floors) that house some more Western types of businesses such as hair salons and travel agencies and retail clothing stores that would be used by wealthier Tanzanians. Hannah, Jack and Malinga seem to have settled in well. Hannah has been enjoying the company of two visiting puppies named 'Chewy' and 'Simba'. They are staying with our security guard, Omari for a few weeks because our friend Lucas can't keep them at his house right now. Dogs are not typically pets here, they are either stays or guard dogs. Malinga is using some of his Swahili with the neighborhood children who come over to play soccer (or, try the iPods!). The house we are living in (which functions as the Pamoja Tunaweza Guest House-an income generating project for the women’s centre), is very comfortable. Roman has found a local place to play soccer in the evenings as he used to do at Kilema when we lived in Tanzania in 2007. There is a local hotel nearby that is used by Kili climbers called Keys’s Hotel and it has a pool and a new pizza oven…it has become one of our favorite places to go and hang out at the end of the day. They also often have Championship league soccer on the TV so Roman and the boys can catch the games and mingle with many of the locals. I have attached a picture of the Guest House where we are living. Roman has taken on several jobs such as renovating a bathroom and stripping some paint off the floors. He has found some great local guys who provide good work for a good price and they have worked on this house and the day care project (more on that later).

We live about a 25 minute walk from town in what would be considered a middle class area, so that has been a great way to avoid living like tourists all the time. We have made friends with many of the locals and have some great friends here who work with the women’s centre and it has been nice to spend more time with them.
The January medical caravan has come and gone and we have had a steady stream of volunteers and other guests living in the house with us.

The medical caravan was a big success (I have attached 2 beautiful pictures of Heather Haynes and her son Whit in Kahe Village with the school children who came out to greet us so enthusiastically...their smiles are infectious). The 'daycare build project' that also took place in parallel with the medical caravan was also a huge success. There was a lot of sweat equity invested in that building by our amazing Canadian volunteers: Brian Payne, Paul DeRosse, Jeff Montgomery, Roman Zablocki, Peter Morrin, Duncan Bourke and Monty Bourke. I can't thank our dedicated volunteers enough. These amazing people raised the money to come to Tanzania and worked themselves to the bone on a daily bases while they were here. There is of course some perks to a volunteer stint with us...the Serengeti and Mount Kilimanjaro, both which are in such close proximity that you can visit either or both. I have appended some pictures of caravan and the day care building as it looks now. It still needs walls and a cement floor. We have been focusing on finishing the new women’s centre building renovations so we can move the health clinic and offices over from the other building that we currently rent. The new women’s centre looks AMAZING!!! We are so pleased with the amount of space we will have for our staff and also very pleased with the way that the clinic area has worked out. The building was previously used as someone’s home and this has actually worked in our favor. There are built in cupboards for storing drugs and we converted the ensuite bathroom into a laboratory area. The plot is large (about 1 acre) with many fruit trees and a large space for a garden. The fruit trees include mango, papaya, lime, and banana. There is an outbuilding on the back side of the property that will be converted into our new shelter space with 2 dorm style rooms and an outdoor covered cooking area as well as a shower and toilet.
I have attached some pictures of the kids with their teacher Daisy and one of Malinga and Stacey Thompson, one of the CIDA interns working with the centre.
We will hold the official grand opening with ribbon cutting ceremony and all on International Women’s Day which is on March 8th. We have invited all the local NGO’s that we come in contact with or who work on related issued. We have also invited staff of the local government agencies we deal with. There will be lunch and music and dancing as well as information sessions on what we do and who we serve. We will provide tours of the new building.
I would be wrong to end this initial blog entry of our Tanzania 2011 journey without personally thanking Mr. Sadru Mohamedali as well as his wife Kairoon and the entire Moloo and Mohamedali families for their generous donation that has made the new centre possible. We are forever grateful and look forward to you returning to Tanzania to see what your kindness has accomplished.

The Women and the Mountain

2009-04-13T09:27:00.000-07:00

Many of you have asked about or trip to Tanzania in January. We were a huge group (31 in total) and held several days of free clinics and then climbed that darn mountain (I know I said I wouldn't do it again!!).
Well, it was a fantastic journey...we are all a little different than when we started out....and my toes survived unscathed!!!

The proceeds from the fundraising climb were used to purchase a new (used) vehicle for the women's centre. This will help our staff to make home visits on our clients and with the day to day running of the centre. The remaining proceeds will fund the centre's ongoing programs.

The women's shelter is currently full. The medical clinic is busy and we have started a 'guest house' to try to make ourselves more sustainable (help pay our rent without Canadian donations). We are calling it Pamoja Tunaweza Guest House. It will be approximately $22 per day for bed and breakfast. 40% of the net profits go directly to the centre. The rest go to our kind landlord who gave us the house on consignment...ie. if we don't make money, neither does he..worked well for us..with very little up front risk.
I will keep you posted on our progress. our website is being re-furbished so watch for changes there and links to our projects at www.tunaweza.org

One of our volunteers (Marie Hemming) has written extensively (and from the heart) about her journey with us. I thought having someone else's perspective would be refreshing for all my faithful sunoverkili blog followers.
Her Blog..which still is awaiting the entries on the actual climb itself..is at www.thewomenandthemountain.blogspot.com

Thanks Marie for taking notes....I was just too busy( and tired) this time!!

Some of you may not know yet that we had a filmmaker involved in this climb. Mr. Gary Kibbins, is a film studies professor at Queen's University. He filmed the journey (almost to the top) of the 6 African women who climbed with us. He filmed on behalf of a documentary filmaker, Nadine Schwartz, who is putting together a film called The Women and the Mountain, to tell the stories of some of these amazing women who are involved in orhave been clients of our centre...stay tuned for more details.

Images of Malinga's first 6 weeks

2008-11-19T12:48:00.001-08:00

These pictures are of:
Malinga as superMalinga
Doing his chores and his first night in his new bedroom!

Malinga is almost Canadian

2008-11-19T09:49:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a busy and exhausting and beautiful 6 weeks since Malinga's long awaited arrival. He is many things....motivated, engaging, ACTIVE, comedic and loveable. That is not to say that we have not had our challenges!! Many of the issues are around situations that he finds stressful (that we may not have perceived as such). For example, he was being bullied at school by a few older boys for a few days and this manifested at home as him having difficulty getting to sleep (attention seeking as well) and at times pushing Roman and I almost to the brink (who knew a 7 year old orphan could do this??) Malinga knows how to push our buttons...apparently many foster children in his situation do.
The next morning he got ready for school and then went upstairs and got back into bed and pulled the covers over his head. I had to drag him out and finally I coaxed out of him what the issue was. He said 5 boys were pushing him around at school during recess and they were calling him stinky, dirty, stupid boy. I promised him that we would talk to Madame Dodd, his fabulous second grade teacher. I was able to get him to go to schoool and he reluctantly went into the classroom with Roman at his side. Madame Dodd was extrmely supportive and said that she would get to the bottom of it. The culprits were quickly identified and she reassured Malinga that it would not happen again. He knows to tell an adult right away if it does. He had a bounce in his step today...he can be very black and white about these types of things. He has lots of 'baggage' but is able to move on quickly from situations that may remind him of bad memories or are just plain stressful in their own right. He is LOVED by his class. Madame Dodd says that the girls hover over him to make sure he understands everything. He has akindred spirit in a little girl who immigrated from Russia last year and spoke no English at all. Malinga's says she is 'bossy' but she is still his friend!

One big milestone is that he is learning how to cuddle and hug and give kisses. We are a cuddly family and this was quite foreign to him. The little boy who didn't know how to hold hands 6 months ago is now asking for 'mom' to lie with him in bed. He snuggled his head right into my breasts the other night (after a particularly difficult day where he was a bit out of sorts-again related to the bullying)...it is moments like that that I think of whenever he is pushing me to the edge with a behavioral issue. I have to alternate with different kids on most nights though because Jack and Hannah do feel jealous of any attention he gets from Roman and I that is directed at him in that personal way. We try our best to spread the love around....it takes practice with three!!

Roman and I are also realizing how we coddle and baby our other two, Jack and Hannah. Malinga's independence has really brought this out as an issue. We are finding ways to push everyone to be more independent in a constructive way...three is a lot more work!!

Malinga has taken a real liking to ice hockey. he is facinated by skates and cannot wait to try a pair on. He is practically a 'trick' rider now on his bike now too. He can jump up with his feet on the seat while riding (helmet of course!)....I have to close my eyes.

On a super cute note, he LOVED Halloween. He went as red Power Ranger to school and went as Superman (with a blow -up muscle custume) on Halloween night.

He just could not believe that you go up to people's houses and they throw a piece of candy in your bag!! He caught on pretty quickly and counted his candies twice when he got home...126 in total. He has been good at rationing them too. He eats 1 or 2 each day. He shares too.

Two other exciting things have also happened in the last 6 weeks. He moved into his own room. We decorated it in an African safari style with a giraffe bed cover and a cheetah painting on the wall and wooden animal carvings. I even found a goat skin mat for the floor. He loved it when he came home from school and Roman and I had finished setting it up. He kept saying 'cool' I love it.
He also says 'what the heck?' and 'Oh my God!"....not sure where he heard those???? On his first night in his new bed, when he suddenly realized he would be sleeping alone, he said 'No, I can't! It's too scary". I asked him why it was scary and he went on to describe what a scary dream is like "what if the scary man comes to take me when I close my eyes?". Roman and I reassured him that we would leave a light on in thd hall and all the bedroom doors open. He still refused and then I offered him $5 to TRY. He immediately said 'ok'. He responds very well to positive reinforcement (ie. money! Allowance etc). He slept through the night without a sound and came into our room in the morning and said' Mom, Dad, I did it....give me my money please!!"...works every time. Roman and I reminisced about how much cheaper Malinga's new bed transtiton was compared to Jack's when he was 3 and still sleeping in our bed....we had to bribe Jack with a 'big boy bike' to get him out of our bed!!

On the allowance end of things, he loves to earn it and save it. His job is to vacuum the mudroom where everyone takes off their dirty boots and shoes.

He bought a remote controlled car this Saturday and paid the lady at Toys R Us himself. He has had issues sharing it with Hannah and Jack which has caused some battles. It may be that it is the first really great toy that he has ever owned (new too). I am not sure really but he does LOVE it. The sound is driving us crazy so we conveniently let the batteries run down and surprisingly can't get any more until Saturday.

That is all for now......I am trying to keep track of all of the amazing things (and challenges) that are happening on a day to day basis....

2008-10-07T14:02:00.001-07:00

Malinga has arrived!!

2008-10-07T12:26:00.000-07:00

Well, this saga is almost over...but not quite. We still need to finalize the adoption over the next year but for now, we are HOME.

Malinga had a rough week or so after Roman and I left in August. He stole some money from one of the children and ran away from the orphanage on 2 occasions. Brooke and Marco took him to their house after the second incident. He was upset and frightened but wouldn't tell them much. Marco went over to the orphanage to tell the kids that he had found Malinga and that he was in jail, which is where you go when you steal things. The kids were upset and it eventually became clear that they had been tormenting Malinga (which is probably why he ran away). I can't imagine how hard it was for them to know that he was being adopted and would be leaving soon. They are all wonderful kids who I have come to really care about as I get to know each of their very different personalities. If you want to know more about where Malinga came from and the wonderful work that Brooke and Marco do in giving these kids a loving home go to www.boonabaana.org. Malinga's picture is there from when he was first brought there after being found in the bus station. He was just a little guy.
I cannot thank Brooke and Marco enough both for helping us to make Malinga part of our family and for giving him such good care over these past 2 years. We owe you a lot.

I returned to Tanzania on September 19 with Jack to try to complete the requirements for bringing Malinga to Canada. Through the help of Brooke and Janet we acquired a letter from social welfare that gave us permission to take Malinga for a visit to Canada. As he is our foster child (and will be until the adoption is final), we need to ask the social welfare authorities for permission for these types of things, which is to be expected. With that letter, we were able to apply for a travel document (a substitute for a passport because foster children cannot get passports in Tanzania). This took a few days to acquire as well but eventually came through. Hi sbirthday was chosen as September 18th, 2001..which makes him 7. We are all satisfied that that is close to the age he probably is. As I spend more and more time with him and I watch him interact with children that age, I think it will be fine. He is Hannah's size and is wearing size 5-6 clothes. I am waiting to see if he grows on a Canadian diet!! He is a bit of a picky eater and we had one episode where he refused to eat spaghetti while we were out for lunch in Moshi. Jack felt like spaghetti and Malinga had eaten nothing but chicken and chips for a week (as that was what he always requested), I thought we would try something different. He looked at the plate like it was poison...I tried to coax him to eat it (as did others we were out with). He started to cry and got up from the table and hid under a table nearby. I felt terrible. Then Agnes suggested that perhaps he thought it looked like worms! We will try penne next time...I'll let you know how it goes.
Once we got the travel document we were able to fly to Nairobi to try to acquire his Canadian visitors visa. The Canadian High Commission in Nairobi (which does all immigration issues for all of East Africa) kindly let me in for a private appointment on a Friday morning when they are usually closed to the public. I had contacted them several times with details of my situation and told them in advance that I was to be in Nairobi at a dialysis conference at the end of September and that I had hoped to have Malinga with me and his Tanzanian papers. They took my paperwork and presented me with a Visa 2 hours later...I was ecstatic!!!

The next few days i attended the dialysis conference while my good friend Peninah, who works at the womne's centre as a clinical officer, andis a Kenyan, entertained Malinga and Jack. She took them to a movie and a local animal rescue centre.
On our last day in Nairobi after the conference had ended, we all went to a giraffe sanctuary outside the city and fed the baby giraffes. It was a lot of fun. We then went to the Nairobi National park to the baby elephant rescue program for their 11am feeding time. It was a beautiful experience for all of us. They first brought out the very little ones (1-4 months old) who had all been found in dire circumstances after their mothers had been poached or died from other causes. One of them was being treated for depression....and he looked depressed! They are so human-like in many ways. The other babies would saunter over and wrap their trunks around the little guys neck as if to say 'its ok, don't be sad, I'm your friend'. It was a memorable day.
We flew to Kilimanjaro that night and had another 5 days in Moshi. The boys continue to get re-acquainted with each other and I worked on global health stuff. All is well at the women's centre. Our programs continue to expand and we are able to do more andmore for the clients. Our clinic hours will expand soon too (officially, now that we are fully licensed!).

I forgot to mention..the flight over to Nairobi was Malinga's first time on an airplane (see picture!). He stared out the window for most of the journey and eventually fell asleep. When we walked out onto the tarmac to board the plane his eyes got huge and he said 'we go in there??'
The flight to Canada was also great. He particularly loved the meals with all the little trays and compartments of stuff (although he is a picky eater and didn't eat much other than the bread and fruit salad!).
He and Jack were awesome travellers for the 21 hour journey home through Amsterdam and to Toronto.
I cried when we walked out and saw our families there and Roman (with tears in his eyes) and Hannah waiting. It was such a long journey to get this far....and I don't think I really realize what a toll it has taken on me our us...we are just so glad to have him here and enjoying moving on with our lives as one family.

He continues to amaze us with his exploration of our world. He has thoroughly explored the house and loves all of the toys Jack left out for him. He has learned to pee neatly in the toilet and lift up the seat (not what I can always say for Jack!!). He has eaten at Saigon Delight (Allison and Hardy and all the other Kingstonites old and new will appreciate that..the spring rolls were his favorite). He has stared at the washing machine and is eager to put his clothes in there to see how they turn out. He learned to ride a bike on Sunday in 15 minutes! He is extremely determined to do things onhis own...(a man after my own heart). He was outside this morning before school going up and down the driveway on Hannah's bike again...and Jack and Hannah weren't even in their coats and shoes and ready for school.

At the mall he discovered 'shopping' for clothes and quickly put on everything he could find that fit him in that kids section including a bomber jacket (he looked very handsome), hat, mitts, and boots. He then said 'mum..buy me??' They learn fast. He needed those items anyway...it was zero degrees celsius here this morning!!

Today he started school (his choice) as we were quite happy to let him settle in a little longer at home. He was bored after one day at home with Roman and missed Jack.
His new teacher (Mrs. Dodd) and class welcomed him this morning with his desk all ready. He just kept on smiling in his usual Malinga way. She said 'comment ca va?' and he responded 'yes!' (close enough...at least he is trying!) with a big grin. I showed him what a locker was an where to put his lunch bag etc. He waved and ran right back to the teacher and into the class. I don't think an adult would be able to be that open and easy going after so many huge life changes. He just seems to breeze through every new thing he tries.
I am really going to try to continue to keep writing this stuff down ...it is all so amazing and fun. His personality is really starting to come out and I love him so much more than I thought was possible.
I have posted as many pictures as I can so you can see him too. He is a wonderful addition to the Yeates-Zablicki family. We are truly blessed.
Welcome home Malinga!!

We have custody!!!

2008-09-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

I went today to meet Miss Moyo at noon as she requested and she handed me my approval letter. I practically kissed her...but not quite. I then took my letter and went to the orphanage to pick up Malinga. I told her I would be back. On my arrival with Malinga she was actually quite kind and asked him a few things in Swahili. He looked so scared! I filled out the custody undertaking and was told that , of course (this is Africa, where women have no rights!) Roman needed to sign it. I told her I would DHL (courier) it to Canada tonight and I would return on Thursday for a letter to allow Malinga to travel to Canada. I will return on Thursday with my letter to request a travel document. In the meantime, I laid the groundwork today to get hima Tanzanian passport (it will cost me).
All for now. Malinga and I are going to the Tanzanian equivalent of McDonald's, a South African company called Steers. We will have a burger to celebrate!
Once I get the travel letter, Brooke will help me apply for a Tanzanian passport for him. Once it is ready we will submit his files for a Canadian Visa. I spoke to them today in Nairobi to get all the details. I will return at the end of th emonth to pick him up. I am actually returning to teach a dialysis course in Nairobi with the Kenya Renal Association that is sponsored by the International Society of Nephrology. We are trying to start a peritoneal dialysis program in Tanzania (the first!). I will travel with a group of people from the conference to Tanzania and we will meet with the people who are partnering with us in this initiative. I will pick him up them.
More soon and pictures of Malinga and Miss Moyo....she actually asked for a copy!!!!

Monday-back to Miss Moyo

2008-09-01T04:42:00.000-07:00

I nervously walked to Miss Moyo's office this morning. I guess I was nervous that she would still be away AND that perhaps people in the office had told her that I came last week and cried and went straight to her boss and that she would be angry with me!
I was happy to find her there with her typical serious face (she is really skilled at showing no emotion!). She was having her 'chai' so I said I would wait in the hall until she was finished. After about 15 minutes she walked out and called for me.
I sat down and said,'I came last Wednesday as you requested and you were on safari. I went to Mr. Charwe to see if he had our approval letter, I hope you don't mind.'

She offered, WITH A SMILE..'sorry for your trouble. I heard that you were upset...(yes I am sure she did hear about the sobbing Mzungu Mama in Charwe's office)I apologize for going away at the last minute. I will prepare your letter today for Mr. Charwe to sign and then you should come tomorrow morning to get it. He will be here then as well.'

After just about falling off my seat, I calmly thanked her and re-confirmed what time I should return tomorrow and walked out. That was easy...keep praying though, this is Tanzania!

I will continue to keep you all posted. Thanks to everyone who has sent supportive emails and messages on the Blog..it really has been a ridiculous saga!!

Return to Tanzania (again!) and the Malinga saga

2008-08-31T11:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I know many of you are wondering what is happening in our adoption process of Malinga. Roman and I returned to Tanzania on August 20th for a much needed vacation (time alone) and for the sole purpose of gaining custodoy of Malinga; our soon to be adopted son. We had 12 days to finish the job!

Roman and I arrived and met with our representative from social welfare, Miss Moyo, who is the person responsible for putting our file together. She is the one who repeatedly requested copies of our resident permits, passports, home study etc. She communicates this with the assistant commissioner, Mr. Charwe, who will ultimately grant us custody when he decides that we are both fit to be foster parents (required for 3 months before we can apply to adopt) , AND, that Malinga is fit for us (that he is indeed an orphan), AND, most importantly that we have waited as long as possible and been tortured by an extremely inefficient system that works at the speed of a dead snail and has no real deep down respect for vulnerable children and the importance of them finding families (although they pay a lot of lip service to the fact that they do and that they are following the rules to PROTECT the children.

Miss Moyo told us on arrival that she had not yet received the police report and the letter from Malinga's social worker to confirm his history of abandonment and that he is an orphan. I gave $30 (1 weeks salary) to Mama Sharifa, Malinga's social worker to 'assist' her in obtaining the police report on Malinga in July when I was here. She guaranteed me that she had requested it before I left Tanzania. When Roman and I went to the Mangomeni Police Station, which is not in the best part of Dar es Salaam either we (with the help of Brooke's (our lawyer) assistant Janet),ultimately talked to the right person.

She was a lady named Ericeezia, who prepares the reports and gets them signed by her boss, the chief. She had received the request for a report on an abandoned child named Malinga Ranadhani from Mama Sharifa, but, was provided with no age of the child, date of abandonment or a reference number. This made it impossible for Ericeezia to locate any file on the child to write the report and guarantee that the police had exhausted the search for his family and that the case was closed. They never search although they say they do... but after 3 years, they are confident in closing the case. The orphanage directors did go to where he said he was from and searched for relatives using photographs with the help of a local 'investigator' just after Malinga was abandoned in the Dar bus station. No one admitted to knowing the child.
So, here we are, in a torrential downpour in a dirty and loud police station in Africa, with arrested men and women sitting against a wall with their feet and hands tied together, trying to get a report on this orphan kid that was lft like a stray dog in one of the most dangerous places in town when he was 4 or 5.

So we went back to the social welfare office where he was originally brought to by the police who had no way of caring for a 4-5 year old, and we begged a woman named Mama Bishunga to help us find his social welfare file so that we could give it to Ericeezia to find his police file. ok, you need to see the state of the social welfare office and the police station.........I was feeling quite hopeless that this child would have no report to be found. The files were piled against walls, they looked like they had been wet in a flood (and probably had during the heavy rains) and they looked completely like no filing system existed. Malinga could be in limbo forever (along with us). Mama Bishunga's assistant told us to come back tomorrow (famous last words) because she was going home early to prepare for her brother's wedding. Mama Sharifa, who was supposed to be doing all this stuff, was no where to be found. Ultimately we heard that her son had died, which is horrible but made our situation worse as well.
Mama Bishunga said it would take her a few days to find the file. We begged and asked if we could 'check back' tomorrow. She nodded 'yes', probably just to get us out of her office!
I called Brooke and explained the situation and she had the great idea of looking through the orphanage files to find the exact date he was brought to them, that would be close to the date of abandonment and might shed light on Mama Bishunga's search for his file.
It worked!! I returned later that day and gave the letter to Mama Bishunga. She said, with a glimmer of kindness in her eye (as she saw my desperation) 'I will try for you Mama, come back tomorrow morning'. The next day, we got a call from Janet, who had called Mama Bishunga, who had found Malinga's file and taken it at Janet's request, across the street to Ericeezia at the police station!!! It was Friday and the weekend was on its way which meant we probably would have no report until Monday, so Roman and I hopped a flight to Moshi to visit Mama Agnes and the Women's centre, who are like a family to us now.

We returned to Dar on the 7:30 am Monday flight and went straight to the Police Station after picking up Janet. Ericeezia was there and had found his file but had not written the report yet. She told us we could wait. So we did...for almost 2 hours. When it was completed she called us inside and she slowly folded it and stapled it and mumbled something in Swahili about payment for her work. Janet pretended she didn't hear her but she repeated it in a louder voice. Janet asked me if I had any money and I handed over 5,000 shillings, or 5 bucks!!.

We then took the report to Mama Bishunga across the street and, after some convincing, she wrote a letter, by hand, to the Commissioner for social welfare to support the police report and claim that she was satisfied that as on eof the memebrs of the social welfare office responsible for him, to the best of her knowledge, Malinga was an orphan.

I hand delivered the letter to Miss Moyo that afternoon, with Roman at my side. We explained to Miss Moyo that we were on a timeline and that we were going to Canada on Sunday night for a 'visit' (although we have fulfilled our residency requirements for foster care and adoption, we didn't want to raise any suspicions in anyone's heads..they make up their own rules sometimes and might decide that they don't want any Mzungus taking orphan African kids to Canada...ie. I am not Angelina!). Miss Moyo looked us in the eyes and said, this should be fine. I will prepare it for the commissioner with a letter and you can come on Wednesday to get your approval for custody.

So, we spent Tuesday with Malinga and his buddy Issakwissa at the hotel and I returned on Wednesday at 2pm as suggested. Roman stayed at the hotel with the boys. I immediately knew there was a problem when I arrived. Her desk was cleaned off and almost no one was around. I asked the lady who sits across from her and she said she was 'on safari(journey)" and that I should return on Monday. Well, I guess a year and a half of frustration just hit me at that moment. I started to cry and wandered out to the office in the hallway where the main secretary sits. I knew we were not getting custody this week and we had flights to return home (again) on Sunday. Out of desperation I thought, if Moyo isn't going to help me, I am going to the top. I asked to see the commissioner (Mr. Charwe). He was in a meeting but the secretary actually said I could wait. So I did..for over an hour. It was getting near time for 'Chai' (tea) which here in TZ is about 3pm. I saw the people leave his office and walked in and introduced myself. I poured out my story between tears and sobs and after about 15 minutes he said "Mama, why are you so upset, that is just the way things are, we cannot always change them, it is God's will, you need to be patient' . I told him I had been patient and that I was upset that Miss Moyo told me to return and then left with no message (she knows how to reach us) or the letter that we needed. He said he had not seen a police report or signed a letter about a boy named Malinga and that we should come back tomorrow (Thursday). I begged a little bit more, until I knew I had exhausted my options. His helper offered me tea and he actually said'are you ok now Mama, should we find someone to take you home?"...Boy, I must have been pretty pathetic.
The next day I returned with Roman at my side. Brooke held out no hope that he would have found the report or prepared the letter (after years of experience with this office). He acknowledged us as we arrived but was in a meeting. We waited for about 45 minutes and then he invited us in. I gave him a copy of our foster parent approval letter with our reference number so his secretary could try to track the letter (if Moyo actually prepared it!). After 30 minutes she returned with no letter and Mr. Charwe informed us he was away on Friday, along with Miss Moyo, and that we should return Monday. So we left his office totally dejected and desperate. I called Swiss Air and asked if they could switch one of our flights. We had called that morning and at that time there was only business class seats available on any flights for the rest of the week and I was informed all flights are fully booked leaving tanzania until Septemebr 12th.

This Thursday afternoon, in my moment of desperation, I got lucky because someone must have cancelled and there was one seat available in economy for Friday night (September 5th). We called Brooke to ask who should stay behind, Roman or I, she immediately said it had to be me as they really only respond to the Mama's..men are just not that involved here.So, I called Swiss and for $182 I moved my flight. I also immediately contacted my boss at work to let him know of the situation. He was just working on the September schedule so the timing was ok.

Roman and I were moping around the hotel room and decided that since nothing was going to happen until Monday (provided I make some headway!) then we should get away from the city and have some time alone at the beach. We didn't have the energy to get on a plane or a ferry to go to Zanzibar...we were just feeling emotionally drained. We didn't think we would be good company for Malinga either. So we went to see 'Ian' our travel agent when in Dar and asked him to recommend a place to go that wasn' t expensive. He called a place called "Lazy Lagoon Resort' that is an hour south of Dar on a small island just off the coast. It is a small resort with 12 'banda's or huts with bathrooms that are on a 9km island that is a nature reserve. They provide a set menu of meals and have sea kayaks and snorkelling. The price was good so off we went after a few phone calls. We checked out of the hotel and called our taxi driver. Ian called the resort to have the boat pick us up at the marina. Despite our disappointment about the whole week, we had a wonderful and romantic time. The beach was like icing sugar and the water was beautiful. The food phenomenal and we totally relaxed (see pictures).

We returned to Dar today and I had a teary goodbye to Roman. I hate staying behind by myself but I plan to do work that I brought and spend time at the orphanage with Malinga and the other kids. This is an improtant time for them too. They are anticipating his leaving and this is hard for them. The kids are also returning to school this week but Malinga will stay home and be tutored full time by a volunteer who is currently at the orphanage. He is not reading well at all and will definitely struggle in second grade. We want him to have that one on one time with someone and she is experienced and comfortable. Her name is Elizabeth and her husband is an American medical student who has a public health degree and is here ona research project for a year. She will fill her days with volunteer work. She is lovely and kind. I think she is originally from Alabama.

I am feeling a little bit sorry for myself and shouldn't. I am almost at the end of what has been a frustrating process..bu tit willpass. I have already had so many amazing experiences with Malinga and the orphans from Boona Baana. I am sorry to be missing the first day of school for Hannah and Jack who are anxiously awaiting Malinga's arrival. It has been hard for them too. As my friend Caroline says...anything worth having is worth waiting for.

So here I sit, alone in the hotel room...waiting for tomorrow when I go to find Miss Moyo. I will be nice even though I am angry at her for messing up our week. I will request that she send the report and letter immediately to Mr Charwe and that he is waiting for it. I will be sure to tell her that I asked her boss for something that she was supposed to have provided to him and didn't...Brooke said that should be my M.O!! I will let you all know tomorrow night how it went...please pray for us.

On a lighter note, one of the pictures I have uploaded is Malinga and Issakwissa in the hotel seeing a microwave for the first time. We made 3 bags of microwave popcorn in a row!! They had NEVER seen anything like it. See, these are the kinds of things I need to keep track of so that when Malinga is a 16 year old Canadian boy, I can remind him of all the cute things he said an did as he learned about life outside the orphanage.

Safari Njema

2008-05-04T05:43:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-04T05:28:00.001-07:00

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...

2008-05-04T05:15:00.001-07:00

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...

2008-05-04T05:09:00.001-07:00

More memories...

2008-05-04T04:58:00.001-07:00

Women's Health Caravan Memories

2008-05-04T04:30:00.001-07:00

I can't believe its over!

2008-05-03T05:36:00.000-07:00

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.

Caravan escapes continue...

2008-04-30T06:10:00.000-07:00

It has been a wonderful and exhausting week. The volunteers had a wonderful safari on the weekend and re-energized themselves for a busy week to come. The Ngorogoro Crater was in full bloom and awe inspiring. They saw the BIG FIVE (which is what every safari goer wishes to see...Rhino, Leopard, Cape Buffalo, Lion, Hippo). They even saw a black Rhino Mama and Baby!! They enjoyed the Masai Village and spent money on many types of jewelery and other souvenirs. They were in three safari trucks and one group had a terrifying experience on the way home to the hotel in Moshi after leaving Arusha. They were stopped after dark by a Masai with a spear and a stick standing in the center of the highway. There was a group of men in the ditch area and everyone thought it was a carjacking. In turns out that they were stopped to help transport an injured man to hospital. A Masai riding a bike had been hit in a hit and run and left injured in the ditch. Our group (most health professionals!) took him and a friend to the local police station so a report could be made. The police were then to transport the man to the local hospital. Despite all my time spent in Africa, I have to admit, that woul dhave started my heart pounding as well...

We had a stellar day at the women's center on Monday. Immigration came by twice apparently looking for me but both times I was off running an errand! They did not harass us further and we saw about 300 Mamas and babes that day. We acquired another women's center resident, a 19 year old woman who is pregnant. She was employed as a maid in someone's home and was made pregnant by one of her employers. When they discovered she was pregnant they expelled her from the house. She returned home to her grandmother and was told she was not welcome and she should return to those who got her pregnant. She somehow found her way to us and will stay in the shelter until we can find her a more permanent and secure solution.

We spent Tuesday at Kilema Hospital in rural Kilimanjaro region and saw approximately 250 Mamas and babes. The population in th eregion is much poorer than in Moshi, mostly subsistence farmers. KWIECO came and provided legal counseling as well, which they have done at each site. Mama Minde's comment at the end of the day was that most of the women who asked to see her largely have issues of poverty, not necessarily legal. The Kilema experience was very satisfying for everyone. We had some interesting and sad stories presenting to us. It was good to be able to provide them with a free health assessment, education and HIV testing. We had a number of positive tests and much time was spent to counsel them about what the diagnosis means and what they need to do to continue living.

We went to Himo on Wednesday and arrived to a large and quietly assembled crowd of over 300 women and kids. We gave out 200 numbers as we were only 2/3 of our group (with the others doing a second day in Kilema). We told those who did not receive a number that they could come to the women's center for the final day on Thursday. We only have a half day on Thursday and hope to see about 175. We have referred a number of women back to the center in a week to meet with Mama Agnes so that we can learn more about them and sort out what the center will be able to do for them with its various programs that we are developing.

The women are incredible and inspiring (see pictures and you will fall in love). We have posted a number of pictures of them. The kids are beautiful and the mud is disgusting! The rains have hit us hard this week in Himo.

Canadian Passports are bulletproof...sort of

2008-04-27T02:58:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a great day in Himo Town on Thursday with our full group of volunteers minus 2 who were ill. Irene arrived quite sick with a Canadian Flu and has taken a while to bounce back. Despite her best efforts to come to Himo (she is a trooper!), the heat and likely the smell in the building we were working in, sent her back over the edge. I sent her back to Moshi in a taxi to take Jess (Jenn's nanny from Canada and a future public health professional)some cipro (antibiotic) as she was bed ridden with stomach grumblings. Valerie Macloed, one of the family medicine residents who is here with us (who climbed Kili last week and started the caravan the day after coming off the mountain!), was down for the count from the previous day, having been admitted to hospital here with vomitting and dehydration. They gave her some IV fluids and we picked her up that evening. It seemed like a good idea to get her to stay home from Himo...it is a bit hard on anyone's constitution!

The day went well. We saw 315 people. We sent away more than 100 and told them to return next week for our remaining day there.

On Friday we were had almost a full contingent of volunteers and arrived at the women's center for our third caravan day there. There were over 1000 women and children waiting to be seen...I actually felt a sense of panic but after about an hour we had a system wereby, 200 were given numbers and told to stay and another two hundred were given numbers and told to come back on Monday. The remaining people were told to go home and try again on Thursday or to come back to the center when our clinic was up and running three mornings a week. We don't know the exact date we will open but we hope that it will be within a week or so of the caravan ending.

We had started to process people through the gate and 20 orphans (of a group of 60) had arrived from a local orphange for testing and check-ups when all hell broke loose. A couple of men from the regional immigration office in Moshi arrived earlier that morning and asked if everyone had volunteer Visa's. I assured them that we did and that I would bring all documents along with my resident permit and Tanzanian Medical License to Immigration on Monday morning. They agreed that that would be acceptable. It obviously was not....within an hour, the head of regional immigration and 4 of his cronies (one female) and the head of the police (avec Tanzanian Paddy wagon ) arrived at the center. They got out and the small man with the uniform started to yell at me to stop everything and shut it down. He then demanded to see everyone's passports (some of which had to be retrieved from the hotel in town). The chief of police was informed about why we were here and that we were all here legally with appropriate permits from the Tanzanian High Commission in Ottawa. He took a look around and told the immigration officials that they should not be harrassing us. He could see nothing wrong with what we were doing. He got in his truck and left after giving me a look of sympathy.

We then set about collecting passports and they were taken by the group of officials who started to go through them and write down information from each one. After about 30 minutes they told me to come to the immigration office in town and I followed them in the KWIECO vehicle. They told everyone to stay at the center. By this point Mama Selikana, KWIECO's accountant and second in charge when Mama Minde is away, had arrived and was also trying to negotiate with the officials. She accompanied me to immigration and called her friend who is a lawyer and asked him to meet us at immigration. Too bad Mama Minde was in Zanzibar at a meeting. Incidentally she was on her way home to Moshi when this ocurred. Someone had texted her and she somehow go the message that the Wazungus (white people) had been beaten! I waited at Immigration for 2 hours while Mama S did the negotiating. They had an issue with my resident permit (which I carefully renewed in February of 2008) but they were unable to find the file at first (ie. didn't even look for it). It was eventually retrieved and they realized that I was also legal as were all the volunteers on their list. The sticking point was that were needed another permit (not true) and by not having that permit, we were subject to a fine of $400 US each! Mama S was negotiating that issue and ultimately paid a bribe to make that issue go away. We had our documents returned to us and a relieved group of volunteers went to email their families. The day was a bust in terms of patients. We saw less than 30 by the time everything was shut down. They will all be back Monday. We did get to see the first group of 20 orphans. 1 was HIV positive. A man that we tested on Wednesday (who was positive) practically carried his sick wife to the gate along with their children. We let him in and she tested positive and was treated for a number of other ailments and referred for a free CD4 cell count at the government hospital HIV clinic. HIV care is free in Tanzania. But, it is getting people tested and willingness to follow-up with care that is the challenge...all related to stigma.

There was another issue with our medical registration as a group that needed some sorting out on Friday but that is a whole other story. I had to also spend some time with the regional officer for health. He was very helpful and no bribes were paid. Needless to say, we sorted it out because there is a lot of good will on the part of most Tanzanians to have us here and support us. By the end of the week the women's center will be officially registered as an independent health facility in Tanzania!

We all blew off steam on Friday night with the group going to Glacier, and outdoor pub. Dialo, one of our triage translators is the lead singer in a reggae band. He was terrific. We danced and partied until late. I am sure many of the volunteers had heavy heads the next morning as they departed for their 2 day safari to Lake Manyara and the Ngorogoro Crater National Parks. They return Sunday night and we are back on track for Monday at the center.

Wednesday 378!

2008-04-24T09:37:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 378!!!!

It was an exhausting day. We arrived at the center in the morning to a long line up of moms and babies. We closed the gates before 10 am and told those who we could not let in to return on Friday. In the end, we had let in 378 people. We worked as efficiently as possible to get people seen and we had some interesting cases. We don’t have our stats for the day with respect to the number of HIV tests and counseling we did. We seemed to have fewer positives but it may be because we had so many more people. We had a few heartbreakers though with a ‘bibi’ (grandma) coming with three young children. There were twin boys and a girl. They were so cuddly and huggable and crawled all over Wendy Anderson and I for half an hour while we saw them and she tested them. Unfortunately one of the twins was positive. The others, thankfully, negative. The bibi then told us that the mother of the boys was dying of AIDS and that several of her other children had already died. She had 7 orphaned grandchildren. We invited her to come back to the center for some extra support when the caravan was over.

The mosquito nets have been highly cherished items. Thanks to our donors who made the nets possible….you know who you are. We have almost run out and will purchase more tomorrow. Our visit with each client is just a few moments to counsel them on health issues and give out some meds (everyone gets de-wormed…anemia and malnutrition are closely related to the presence of worms here and worms are common..en masse de-worming is one of the useful public health initiatives we can provide). The nets however, are a lasting preventative measure to prevent malaria in young children and pregnant women, the two groups who are most likely to have severe disease and die.

Jenn’s children, Sid and Adam brought a thousand toothbrushes donated by Madeleine de Roybon school and Empire Life Financial and the Emergency department at Kingston General Hospital. They are a huge hit…the kids and adults will brush if they have one!

On a sad note, one of our many translators asked to be tested yesterday at the end of the day for HIV. She is a young woman who is aspiring to be a teacher. She is positive, and we are devastated…..but, we vow to support her through this and she will hopefully turn to Agnes or Sekunda, two of our women’s center employees, who are living productively with HIV.

Caravan Day 1-smiles galore

2008-04-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

We've had some changes from previous CACHA caravans to consider as we were seeing only women and children and providing HIV testing and administering a survey looking at our client demographic and HIV knowledge. Monday started off slowly with women and children trickling through from 8:30 am. The slow start was great as we were able to get our feet wet. Marietha Moshi, on of my favorite translators from last year’s caravan said, ‘do not worry, Dr. Karen, the women will come, they will send their brave friends here to see what this is all about. They will come in larger numbers on Wednesday, you will see.’ All told, we saw 174 women and kids the first day!! We performed 88 HIV tests and had a 15.7% prevalence rate (the Tanzanian rate cited by the government is 6-7%!). There is something special about bringing women together and providing a safe environment that leads to a greater willingness to be tested. The government here has had a powerful campaign about ‘knowing your status’ and I think that has been very successful. That being said, very few women are even willing to look at the condoms that we are trying to give out!! They look down, say no, giggle….we clearly have an uphill battle….

Tuesday orientation
We had a ‘down day’ today that was still quite exhausting. We went to the center for 10am and met with Mama Agnes Urasa who spoke to us about the social welfare system and what they ‘try’ to do for those in need. She is an excellent speaker and truly dedicated to her job. She is also the chairperson for KIWAKUKKI. KIWAKUKKI is an amazing organization that was founded in the early nineties by women who wanted to learn more about HIV and help to prevent spread. They now have a number of programs whereby they can support people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA’s) in their homes with home-based care. They provide financial support to mothers with HIV with assistance with school fees. They have a small office in town staffed by volunteers where people can seek information and receive testing. They do community outreach and education. They are mainly volunteer based with HIV positive and non HIV positive members providing support. After that we broke into groups and worked with the translators to make up health information sheets in Kiswahili that we will hopefully have finished by next week. We’ll keep copies on file for use within the center and future CACHA caravans. Our topics include reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, nutrition, fatigue(anemia/TB?HIV), malaria, tuberculosis, diarrhea, dehydration, alcohol abuse, grief, menopause and others. We realize the literacy rate is low but we have tried to keep them at an elementary school to early high school level. Health information is hard to find here and many people know very little about their bodies. Through health education we hope to empower women further. Understanding your body and how it works is something that we tend to take for granted (especially working in the health care field).

Anonymous thoughts from the volunteers…
1. ‘My first day was incredible and eye opening. The first case was so sad to me as an elderly woman said she could not afford her medicine and she had HIV. She and I fought back tears as she spoke. As the day went on there were many interesting stories to hear. Some people came to get a check up. The children were beautiful and the women so kind. I am so happy to be part of this fantastic team….
2. ‘What a wonderful way to experience Tanzania. The women’s centre is a beautiful place with terrific ‘grounds’. The food is delicious! It is a privledge to have women share their concerns with us and it is fun to work with a local translator.’
3. ‘My impressions of the first day include sore feet, swollen legs and the man ‘asante sanas’ (thank you very much). Tanzania is beautiful, green, and poor.’
4. ‘An incredible accomplishment from the first creation. The women and families of Moshi will be enriched for years to come. An honor..’
5. ‘This is a whole world away from pediatric emergency care in Canada. I am humbled at the things that women live with here..’
6. ‘I made it ! And I am not talking about the 28 hour flight but the 11 years of my African dream. Finally I did something about it and my first day at the women’s center when this little boy gave me a hug and said ‘asante’, thank you so much to you little guy. So far I am still trying to take it all in, I know the experience will be life changing and I want to enjoy every minute of it. Asante sana Karen for your amazing inspiration..’
7. The first day, a little apprehensive not knowing what to expect! It was great. The smiles on the kids faces when we gave them a sticker on their hand was a reward for a job well done.
8. ‘The mission is amazing…the medical clinic days are the heart and soul of the compassion that I had hoped to be part of..’
9. 'This was one of the happiest days of my life. Just being a part of helping the women and children and even some dads...such an overwhelming feeling. They are very appreciative and are happy...I am so proud to be here!'

Inaugural Women's Health Caravan 2008

2008-04-24T09:01:00.000-07:00

The women’s caravan ‘team’ officially arrived in Moshi on Saturday evening to a heavy rainstorm that is typical of the rains we have seen in the evenings during Tanzania’s long rains which run from the end of January until late May. We have been extremely lucky with the weather during the day so far. It has been hot but not terribly humid. We are 22 volunteers and MANY supporters on the group who live here locally. Everyone is truly dedicated. Our own volunteers had to spend or raise up about $4000 to make the two week trip to miss time at work and work long hot days!! Thank you to you all, we could never have gotten here without you.
We have 12 translators and two drivers and several other important people such as Agnes and Vicky, who have been keeping everything afloat at the women’s center for the last 6 months. Prior to our arrival, the center’s outreach programs have been going well, expanding slowly with several women utilizing the shelter. Our most recent tenant has been there a month. She is a young woman with HIV who as a 14 month old child. She was ill and now pregnant with a second child and had basically given up on life due to difficult circumstances in her home. Her husband was an abusive drinker and they were living in extreme poverty. She had left her child at her village home and travelled to Moshi and was sleeping outside under a tree at the social welfare office for days prior to Mama Agnes Urasa (who incidentally did our home study for our adoption of Malinga which is STILL being processed) brought her to our center. We were able to provide her shelter and social support. By fate she delivered her second child on Saturday morning, the day we arrived. She named him Charles and we won’t know for 18 months if he has HIV. The testing available here in Tanzania cannot safely confirm infection prior to that age. Agnes and Vicky sent someone to find her other child at her village home after she arrived at the center and he was found lying naked and unable to sit up on a mattress in her home, with no adults to be found. His name is Charles and he is also too young to test his HIV status. He is thriving at the center with his nutrition improving significantly and he now smiles and is able to sit up (which a baby can usually do at 6 months). Her new baby was taken on Monday to a regional orphanage because she cannot care for both and cannot breast feed the new little one as she is HIV positive. She will not be able to afford formula so has no choice but to give him up. Their separation will be for up to one year. At the one year mark she must decide whether to retrieve her child from the orphanage or relinquish him to the social welfare department for potential adoption. The whole process has been heart breaking for her but she has been brave and accepting and for the last day or so seems to be re-bonding with Stephen, her 14 month old, who needs his mother. Her energy is improving postpartum, which is probably a huge factor.

We also acquired another house resident on the first morning of the first caravan clinic day. Once again, Mama Urasa brought a homeless HIV positive woman who has two children that have been relinquished to social welfare and are in an orphanage. She will stay until we can try to find her accommodation. It is not clear yet whether she will ever be well enough physically and mentally to get her children back. She probably has a psychiatric illness, perhaps related to years of untreated HIV. It is unlikely that we will be able to do anything particularly meaningful for her as I don’t think she can really be helped and she can’t stay at the center forever. We will try to locate any existing family and try to convince them to take her in.

Return to Tanzania (again!)

2008-04-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

Back to see Malinga

Jenn Carpenter and Sid and Adam and their friend Jess and I arrived in Nairobi after 16 hours of traveling with the news that our flight was delayed. We managed to keep ourselves busy. Then it was off to Dar es salaam with a 1 am arrival and 2 am to bed! The kids handled it better than the adults I think...

The next morning Brooke brought Malinga to breakfast so that we could spend the day with him. Adam and Malinga immediately hit it off. Sid was the big sister of sorts. It was so wonderful to see them together. Malinga had grown and was happy from what I could tell. We spent time with him at the pool at the Movenpick Hotel in Dar es Salaam and then made our way to the orphanage in the afternoon. Sid and Adam had brought a duffle bag of gifts for the kids and I had brought Crocs that had been donated by some families at my church. We also had some craft kits and beads and skipping ropes (also kindly donated by a wonderful family at my church). The soccer balls brought by Sid and Adam were also a hit and resulted in a busy game of soccer. Issakwissa, Malinga, Sid and Adam played for almost an hour. It was hard to leave for the airport at 4pm but Malinga seemed satisfied when I told him I would be back in two weeks. He seems to fully understand that we are his special family now and that we want him to come to Canada. The other children at the orphanage seem to know as well.

Cowing Around For Africa

2008-01-23T12:23:00.000-08:00

We have had a few fundraisers for the Pamoja Tunaweza Women's center since last September. We held a 'Pay the Rent' Home shopping party at my home in October that was a big success. The following weekend we held our 'Cowing Around for Africa' event which was wacky AND successful. We will probably do it again next year.

The cow idea came from my cousin Derek in Dublin. He had used a similar idea to fundraise for his musical theatre group. The concept is what I call Cow Patty Roulette...can you guess?? Well, we sold tickets for 'squares' in a downtown park across from City Hall in Kingston. Each square was $20. We only planned to sel 450 tickets (so great odds) and in the end didn't sell all of them. Each ticket was given a number for a square on the grass (2 by 2 feet). We then had a local farmer bring in his cow and let he graze in the enclosed areas until..PLOP!!! The square with the plop won a caribbean cruise for two donated by Dialysis at Sea Crusies (the company that I have done dialysis crusies with, and who are big supporters of our project). It was a family event with music and face painting. The weather cooperated too, which was wonderful because it was October 21st and could have been horrible.

I have posted pictures of the beautiful cow who participated. Mr. Lloyd Orser kindly agreed to bring her down and wait while we watched. This was exceptionally kind of him because dairy farmers work non-staop from what I gather. It took her just over 2 hours to eat enough grass to get the job done.

The fundraiser raised $5500 for the Women's center project.

Right now we are planning for the Women's Health Caravan which leaves Canada on April 18th for 2 weeks. I will post more information as we move along. I can't believe we have come this far. It wouldn't have happened without the supprot of our families, friends and the Kingston community.

The other two big events will be a New Year's Eve Gala in support of the center and to publicize our Kilimanjaro Climb in January 2009. We have plans underway for almost 20 women (4 Tanzanians) to climb the mountain to raise money for the center....yes, I know I said I wouldn't do it again...I guess it is like giving birth, you forget pretty quickly about the pain and only rememebr the good parts!

Return to Tanzania

2008-01-23T11:41:00.001-08:00

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.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s Orphan Legacy: Mosa’s Story

2007-06-13T09:18:00.000-07:00

Well, things are getting back to normal. I am back at work full time looking after hemodialysis patients and writing research papers. The kids are back at school and seem to have settled in nicely. Hannah told me this morning that she made a card for Daddy that says 'Je t'aime Papa' and that 'It's for that special day that's coming on Sunday when all the dads have a birthday!' (So cute..I tried not to laugh..she is so sensitive with those things). Anyway, Happy Father's day to allyou dads out there. I have no further news on Malinga or when he will get to Canada. I do know he is doing well at the orphanage and at school.

I wanted to share the following article with you. I wrote it as another commentary for the Whig Standard (our Kingston paper). It was printed today (June 13th, 2007) and they gave me almost a full page! They also printed the accompanying photo of Mosa and his family. We have 'adopted' them too and I will bring clothes for them on my next visit.......Read on to hear Mosa's Story.

We met Mosa on our first day making rounds in Kilema Hospital. We didn’t know his story then, but we do now and I think it is worth telling. Mosa was quite sick when we first saw him. He was lying with a makeshift ‘burn frame’ over him. These wooden frames are primitive, but, keep the flies off and, allow the burn victim to be kept warm without the blanket touching their open wounds. This little hospital on the slopes of Kilimanjaro can get cold at night.
Mosa was in the Men’s ward and when my husband, Roman, and the other Canadian volunteer nurse, Sharm, first examined little Mosa his burns were in a bad state. He had been brought in to the hospital, near death, about a week before after he and a friend had accidentally pulled a bucket of boiling water onto themselves. Roman and Sharm worked as a ‘wound’ team throughout the duration of our 4-month stay in Kilema and performed hundreds of dressing changes in addition to teaching the local nursing staff about ways to maximize wound healing. Mosa, who we later learned was 11 years old (only slightly taller than my 9 year old son, Jack) received a much larger burn than his playmate with approximately 40% of his body affected, which, in a child, even in North America, can be fatal. His anterior chest, abdomen, upper and inner thighs, and, his groin had severe 2nd degree and in a few areas, 3rd degree burns. Once the damage was surveyed, Roman and Sharm went to work at trying to help this child heal. The daily dressing changes were not easy as the hospital has little in the way of pain medication. Mosa would wince and cry and occasionally, scream in agony as they tried to remove bits of dead tissue and clean the areas. Luckily, Canada-Africa Community Health Alliance (CACHA), the group we were volunteering with, had at some point in the last year, brought jars of the burn cream known as ‘flamazine’ as a donation to Kilema Hospital. Roman and Sharm knew the cream was available as they had been helping the sisters to organize the donated supplies and had labeled things that the nurses and sisters weren’t sure what to do with. The flamazine now had a purpose and I really believe that Roman and Sharm, and, the flamazine saved Mosa’s life.

For almost the entire duration of our stay in Kilema, Mosa was there. It was wonderful to see him heal. Initially, it was impossible to get a smile from him. He was in pain all the time, with every move. We learned through translators that he was one of many children in his family, an orphan, living with his grandparents near Himo Town (an area with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS). As such, he never had family visits and therefore was expected to fend for himself in terms of bathing, finding clean clothes and food. Like many hospitals in developing countries, the staff-to-patient ratio is low and family members are expected to care for all the basic day-to-day needs of their loved ones. The hospital provides two small meals per day (porridge in the morning with tea and Ugali (cooked corn meal) with beans, at late midday. We were pleased to see that some of the families of the other men in that room seemed to help Mosa with basic things that he couldn’t do for himself as we were not always there to check on him.

After a number of weeks, we started to see his smile emerge when we entered that room. After about 6 weeks, he was finally up and walking around with a Kanga (traditional Tanzanian women’s body wrap) around his body. He limped to the front of the hospital steps and would sit there for hours to fill the time. Every time we came and went from the hospital we would wave and make a big deal out of the fact that he was our favorite patient. It wasn’t long before he would smile and then eventually wave, and then eventually wave emphatically and run after our car.

In many ways, Mosa was like a metaphor of our African experience…it gets better (and you love it more) with each passing day. Over the last few weeks Mosa has been able to wear clothes and he regularly came down to the house and would hang about with Jack or wait for Roman and Jack to go to the soccer field at the end of each day. To see him play soccer with the boys was Roman’s pay back for all those dressing changes. His legs were so badly burned that it really was a miracle.
On the day we left Kilema Hospital in preparation for our return trip to Canada we took Mosa home. Somehow his wounds had healed just in time, and we felt he was ready. We had learned through translators that Mosa was excited to go home and see his family. We, on the other hand, were anxious about leaving him.

Mosa directed our driver to his house. It was a cinder block dwelling with a metal roof and a wooden slat mud hut next to it. There were quite a few children there as we arrived. Out of the house ran an older man and a woman. The woman was quite hunched over but they were both shouting and smiling. The reunion of Mosa with his ‘Babu’ and ‘Bibi’(Swahili for grandfather and grandmother) brought me to tears.

They took us on a tour of their house and his grandfather apologized that the house wasn’t quite finished. You see, he used to have cows but each of his 5 grown children slowly got sick and died of ‘long illnesses’. The way he described the situation to my friend Agnes, our translator that day, was that as each adult child got sick he would sell a cow. By the time the money from the cow had run out (to pay for medicine), that child was dead. He raised his arms in the air and said in Swahili ‘Now all 5 are dead and I am left with 10 orphaned grandchildren…and no cows’. It was very emotional for us to leave Mosa there. We were unable to do any more for them that day but vowed to come back with some money, on our next visit, to help them out.

As you read this, we will be home from Africa. We have ‘moved out’ of our little house at Kilema Hospital but we will have left with hearts that are a little bit heavier than when we came. We have passed through and contributed what we could but we have left so much to still be done. I know that despite how painful it was to see Mosa’s reality, we needed to see it. His life and story is one of millions being played out across Africa. There is a continent of orphans (literally millions) who need the world to care about them. Who will raise this generation of children so that they can be educated, productive citizens? Who will love those children, who unlike Mosa don’t have a Bibi and a Babu to hug them? Is it the responsibility of their impoverished neighbors who may already be sharing what little food and resources they have? Is it the responsibility of African governments to step up and help the children orphaned by HIV? It is all of these things, but, for this generation of children to live and contribute to the world around then it will take a massive effort on the part of people just like us and our governments to say that these children are our responsibility and that we really do care.

Thoughts on returning home and the opening of Pamoja Tunaweza Women's center

2007-06-06T08:46:00.001-07:00

The two weeks after climbing Kili were a whirlwind. Roman and I were able to help coordinate and complete the 'facelift' on the ground floor of the women's center building. It will soon become our office for our part-time administrator and our part-time social worker, both of whom we are in the process of hiring. The opening ceremonies were held on Monday May 28th. Th entire staff of KWIECO attended with great enthusiasm. We shared ideas about our vision for the center and partnership between them and us (CACHA's women's project) and, overall ,we just had a good time.
The highlight of the evening was the activity around the 'condom' basket. I had carried a large box of about a thousand condoms back to Tanzania after my visit home in March. I put the condoms out in a basket on the desk near the drinks during the opening. Before the end of the night, Roman had already refilled the basket once and our visitors had stuffed their pockets and their purses. Apparently they are a very hot commodity in Moshi! There was a lot of giggling and laughing about how they were snatched up and we were able to speak a bit about how that whole subject is still so Taboo in Tanzania and many parts of Africa. They told me to bring more on my next visit! I have posted some pictures of the evening. The day after the opening, the artist started on a wall mural (in the reception area) that will become our motif for the center. The artist's name is Abbas. He is quite accomplished and has a studio in Moshi. I was referred to him through my friend Jerry (the most connected soul in Mosdhi-who helped me with all my organizing of workers and translation). Abbas' main theme of his work is women and children. He finds those themes inspiring and is very involved in youth outreach as well. He showed me his work and I told him which of his paintings and themes I liked the best, we then came up with some ideas for the mural. While I was on Kili, he painted two 'sample' paintings for us to choose from. They were available for the opening and the group 'voted' on their favorite one. The mural was almost complete when we left for Canada. It is about 4 by 4 feet (with the edges fading out) and has two bodaciously figured African women holding hands and two children holding their hands on either end. The women have their backs to the viewer and are walking into the sunrise towards a glowing Mount Kilimanjaro. The colours are orange and yellow , green and blue. I think it will be beautiful and inspiring for women who come to the center and see that painting on the main wall. The opposite wall will also have a Swahili rendition of the words "Imagine a world where everyone is created equal" painted across the top. Abbas has promised to send digital pics when it is complete. We will use the motif for fundraising items such as gift cards, posters and T-shirts as we get more organized. I have high hopes for the center and the women it will help and I really feel like that is reflected in the mural.

As I sit and write this post I am already home in Canada and back to my old life. It is amazing how quickly you can switch between two very different worlds. I miss my wonderful friends and my 'life' in Africa but it has been healthy to re-connect with family and friends. Returning to my old reality also has helped me to reflect further on what I did and saw over the last 4 months.
Despite being 'home' I wanted to update you on the remaining time I had in Tanzania and keep you posted on progress regarding Malinga's adoption. He wasn't able to return home with us (as I had already hinted) however, we are confident that it is just a matter of time. He is busy at school and well cared for at the orphanage. Despite this peace of mind, we are anxious to get him here to be part of our family and to experience our 'world'. I plan to continue the blog posts regularly after he arrives in Canada. I want all of you to hear about his arrival and the way that he experiences our world in Canada through his eyes. I think he will have a lot to teach us all.

Climbing to the 'Roof of Africa'

2007-05-28T01:27:00.000-07:00

Kili Climb:Rongai Route
Day 1
May 19, 2007
From Rongai Gate to Simba Camp

The first day got off to a late start. We were up early with the anticipation of our incredible journey and Jasper (our climb operator) was supposed to pick us up at Kilema Hospital at 09:30. It was almost 10:15 by the time our guide ‘Entold’ walked up the steps of CACHA house (perfectly on time for Tanzanian time). We were going through last minute checklists in our heads to make sure we would have everything we needed for the 6 day hike and climb. We initially thought our guide’s name was ‘Anton’ and actually called him that for 4 days! It wasn’t until I signed one of the log books at one of the camps, right after him, and I looked at the spelling of his name that I realized. He didn’t seem to mind. The climb operator provides the food, guide, assistant guide, and 6 ‘porters’ to carry all of our stuff (food, tents, folding chairs, buckets to collect water from nearby streams and cooking utensils). We were only responsible for carrying a day pack that would need to contain everything we would need for each day of hiking. The porters breeze past you on the trail and go ahead to set up camp each day, so, if there is something in your large backpack that you will need then you are out of luck…carry it in the day pack. This includes rain gear as well as the weather can change at any time and you can be very wet for the remaining hours of the hike. We left Kilema in a safari truck and headed to the village of Marangu for our final briefing with Jasper. We then traveled to the main gate of Kilimanjaro National Park, known as the Marangu gate. It is the start of the Marangu trail as well, which is known as the Coca-Cola route because it is relatively flat and you sleep in huts along the way. One of the camps also sells Coke and Beer, which is how it got its name. We registered at that gate for our 6 day climb and then went back to Marangu to pick up our food. Jasper wanted it to be ‘fresh’ so it was all purchased that day. Humphrey, who acted as a porter during the hike and a cook at each camp would be our ‘chef’ for the entire duration. We then left Marangu gate in the truck with several of the porters in tow. The rest of the group would be meeting us at Rongai gate. The journey to Rongai was 2 and a half hours around the base of Kilimanjaro to just before the Kenyan border. We also ascended several hundred feet as well and you could see the tree line shrinking with smaller banana trees and stumpy looking corn. As we approached the gate we drove through a very desolate shanty town. The main source of income in this area looked like subsistence farming but the land was nothing like the lush land in Kilema. From the gate we could see out over Kenya and the border of Amboseli National Park (where we had been on safari only a few weeks earlier). I really felt like we were getting to know the mountain. The trail head looked like nothing really, just a skinny little path leading into a corn field!! We spent a while at the gate as the porters had their packs weighted. We found out after the climb that the weight is taken for several reasons. There are regulations on how much a porter can carry (25kgs) and the weight of all the gear is used to calculate how much weight in should come down the mountain. There are strict rules on how much garbage you must carry back down. The mountain used to have a history of being very dirty, especially on Marangu route. It has a clean up team now and looking back on the trip, was, on the whole, extremely clean…and besides, having climbed it now, my guess is that it is the tired and careless climbers, not the porters who leave their garbage on the mountain. It looked like our porters were carrying more than 25kgs, maybe more like 30kgs (and we found out later that that is what they had carried after paying the gate warden a bribe). It is done by tour operators to save money on porter salaries (which are already terrible at about $3.00 to $5.00 per day, guides and cooks make double that or even a bit more). The companies rely on the good hearted and generally happy to be back climbers to provide the rest of the income for the porters…usually about triple what the tour operator has paid them per day. That just seems to be the norm here whether on safari or climbing Kili. It would be hard not to tip them well from the moment you see them lift that big, bulky, heavy bag on their head to start walking for six hours, UPHILL and one of them was wearing flip flops!! They are mostly young guys out of secondary school or with even less education. Some were older and had families (Hassan, our assistant guide, and Entold, our guide both had children as did Humphrey the cook). Two of the porters who I adored, were kind of ‘porters in training’. Both spoke good English and one of them was even in the Arusha Wildlife College to become a guide/safari driver etc. Our trip was one of his placements. He still carried the requisite load on his head though. He was a Masai named Obadia. He told us of how his family had left their Boma (village) in the Serengeti and his father had taken his family to Arusha away from the traditional ways. He wanted his children to be educated…girls too. Obadia was a great companion to have along the way. He served us all our meals and towards the end was practicing his Spanish with Dharma. Many of the educated Masai men here speak several languages. Roman and I met one on the beach in Zanzibar who spoke Italian, English, Spanish, Swahili and Masai!!
After an hour of walking through corn fields uphill we entered a rain forest ecosystem. The trees and flowers were beautiful. After a few minutes a park game warden joined us on the path with a large rifle. He would be walking with us to Simba Camp (our camp site for the night) and would stay overnight. This side of the Kilimanjaro National park borders on Amboseli National Park in Kenya…the home to the largest herd of elephants. At this time of year the elephants regularly climb up the hill side to feed on the lush greenery that grows during the rainy season. We passed elephant poop not long after the ranger joined us and I was glad to have him along. We arrived at the camp at dinner time and Humphrey was already preparing our meal. We got our sleeping bags organized and waited for dinner. We were all hungry and we couldn’t believe how cold it got as the sun went down (close to zero according to Dharma’s thermometer and very damp). After dinner we tried to sleep but the tent was on a slight slant and it was COLD!! I slept most of the night with my head inside the sleeping bag. Roman wore his toque. That was the way we would sleep for the next 5 nights. I haven’t even mentioned the toilet situation yet. There were a few outhouses at Simba camp which I avoided. As you look for places to pee you see little blobs of toilet paper in various stages of decay all around the camp site. They were left, I assumed, by likeminded people who were also avoiding the outhouses. Suffice it to say, I did not venture into one of those outhouses once in 6 days, But, I very respectfully collected all my toilet paper along the way (honest!!). The porters kept a garbage bag for each site which they would carry back down the mountain.

Day 2 Simba Camp to Third Cave
We awoke to a glorious sunrise and a clear, cloudless Kibo Peak. (the main peak that you see in post cards is called Kibo, the smaller peak, which is jagged and pointy and 17 Km’s from Kibo is also part of the mountain, is called Mawenzi. The day was already looking good and after breakfast we headed out on a 6 hour hike. The cook gave us each a packed lunch of a small sandwich and a hard boiled egg and fruit. We carried boiled water for the day in our day packs. The trail from Simba Camp to Third Cave was beautiful. About every hour or so the landscape changed as we entered a higher vegetation zone. The flowers were unique and surprisingly colourful. We continued to see plenty of elephant and Cape buffalo poop along the way. After 6 hours or so we reached Third Cave. There is a series of rock cuts that have caves in them along the way…this was number 3 (original name). Our tents were already assembled as the porters had arrived ahead of us. We rested for a while and then played cards in the sunshine. The view looking down into Tanzania was awesome and we were just ABOVE the cloud line at that point at 3800 meters or about 12500 feet elevation. We didn’t notice the altitude unless we tried to do something very quickly, then we felt a little bit short of breath. We had decided with Entold, our guide, to make Third Cave our acclimatization camp. We would be staying here for two nights. Tomorrow we would hike to the ‘Outward Bound’ school hut which is at 4750 metres and then back to Third Cave. To improve acclimatization it is recommended that you hike ‘high’ during the day and sleep ‘low’ before your ascent. We were all a little bit nervous about how we would feel on our hike the next day. The Outward Bound hut is used by schools from around the world. They take teenagers there to ‘challenge them’ and help them realize some difficult goals. We all had a terrible sleep that night. It was cold but not damp. I blamed it on the altitude (which often causes insomnia as one of its common, albeit, mild, symptoms), Roman blamed it on the faulty air mattress that failed to hold any air for the entire trip. It did serve to insulate him from the cold ground though. He was very kind to let me keep mine…the only one that worked on the trip. The ground still felt hard despite it. I spent most of my nights lying awake thinking how cold I was or how high the mountain was or reflecting on my life and the last four months in Africa.

Day 3 Acclimatization Day Hike to Outward Bound School Hut
May 21, 2007
We were allowed to ‘sleep in’ a little the next day as it was just a day hike and we had no tents to pack up. We headed off after breakfast and made our way across a desolate looking plain and a dried up river bed. Kibo was in front of us but was soon shrouded in clouds as the morning progressed. The air got cooler as we progressed to the hut. By the time we reached the hut three hours later it was zero degrees and windy. The hut was deserted and kind of eerily sitting on the lower slopes of Kibo. Looking up I felt a sense of panic at how high the peak really was….I wasn’t too convinced that I could make it. It was also really lonely up there. There were some bunks in the hut and remnants of cooking utensils left behind by the last group (including a frozen onion and an eggplant). There was a bucket of rain water that was frozen as well. We all felt a little bit ‘weird’. I had tingling in my fingers and lips. Roman and Dharma had headaches. We all felt a little bit short of breath. The air was definitely thinner up there. The school hut is actually 50 meters high than the next camp we would be staying at just prior to our ascent…so a good choice for acclimatizing. On the way down the hill from the hut back to Third Cave was when I realized that my boots were going to give me trouble on the way down. My big toes felt sore and my right heel had the makings of a large blister. The boots were new but I had tried to work them in by wearing them on different hikes in Kilema. They had felt fine until now.

We made it back to camp in about an hour or so…it is always quicker to get down. We felt more normal again as well, which was a good recovery sign. We rested in our tents until dinner and then feasted on another one of Humphrey’s amazing meals (all cooked over one flame of white Onyx gas). I slept fitfully again, although Dharma and Roman said that they had slept quite well that night. We packed up in the morning for our hike to our final camp, Kibo Hut, 4700 m or 15600 feet.

Day # 4 Third Cave to Kibo Hut
May 22, 2007
We got on our way pretty early and made our way back in the direction of the school hut but veered off to the left towards Kibo Hut. Kibo Hut is the last camp for the Rongai and the Marangu routes before you attempt your ascent. Machame route ascends from their last camp directly to Stella point. Kibo hut had several buildings including the Ranger’s station and the hut building with a small dining area where we were given permission to eat our meals. It was a stone hut and colder in there most of the time then outside. Without the sun shining the temperature was about 5 degrees Celsius and windy. We had sleet that afternoon while we rested in out tent after our arrival. It was cold peeing behind the rocks but I stuck by my plan! We met some British climbers while we ate lunch. They had just descended. The woman was very cheerful and full of excitement. Her boyfriend was happy but more reserved. He had had a difficult climb. She said that he was delirious and had crawled from Stella Point to Uhuru Peak (the top), which on foot should take an hour! They had both made it despite his troubles with the altitude but I was feeling nervous. It sounded like a painful experience. As the afternoon progressed we met other climbers who had come along the Marangu route. They had stories to tell of other climbers they had seen who had to turn back due to altitude sickness. We all felt reasonably well and our hopes were high that we would make it. Our main symptoms were mild headache, insomnia and loss of appetite. The schedule for the day was that we would have a light dinner and try to sleep until 10:30 pm. We would be awoken for another light snack and would be expected to be ready to start our ascent at 11:30 pm. The walk from Kibo Hut to Gilmans Point (the first main accomplishment along the way) would take 5 hours, up some steep paths, in the dark. We would be using headlamps to light the way and following each others footsteps.

10:30pm May 22, 2007 The Ascent
One of the porters woke us at 10:30 pm. I don’t think any of them learned my name during the whole trip. They were polite but perhaps dealing with aggressive women who want to climb mountains wasn’t really their thing. I never felt disrespect but they always woke us by coming to the tent and saying “Mr. Roman, time to get up” or “Mr. Dharma, time to get up”. We all admitted to having butterflies in our stomachs…in anticipation of THE HELL that was to come!!. We nervously had a cup of tea and some cookies in the freezing cold hut. We were in full winter gear with ski jackets, ski pants, hats, gloves and face shields. We packed a lot of water for the trip thinking we would need it but none of us felt like eating or drinking for almost the entire duration of the ascent. We started off, moving slowly up towards Gilman’s Point. We could hear the other small groups (and see their headlamps) of climbers and their guides emerging from the camp and trekking their way up behind us. About an hour into the climb, Entold realized how heavy Roman’s pack was and decided to carry it himself. It colder as we ascended; we just continued ‘pole pole’ (slow slow). The pace seemed to work for us and we stayed in the same order that we had hiked for most of the trip with Entold, Dharma, me, Roman, and, Hassan. We took several breaks over the 5 hour hike and just as I felt like I couldn’t go any further we had reached Gilman’s Point. We took a 5 minute break here. We all wanted more time to rest but with the sweat under our jackets, you could feel yourself freezing when you stopped moving. Every time I felt like stopping or seemed like I was struggling I could feel Roman’s hand on my back, supporting me and urging me to go on. We trudged onward along a particularly steep snowy path with cliff to our right and mountain on our left. When I saw that path later on our way down in the daylight, I was really happy that I didn’t know how far the fall would have been…I guess ignorance is bliss, especially up there. We arrived at Stella Point about an hour later and took another rest. There was a group from Pittsburgh there. They had just come up Machame route. We rested for a short while realized that the sun was just starting to emerge on the horizon, in the East behind us. As we left Stella, the sky started to take on a beautiful orange glow and it slowly lit up the peak ahead of us to our right. We were to hike slowly, uphill on icy snow for the next 45 minutes to Uhuru Peak….the TOP of Kilimanjaro. As we approached the peak the sun was completely up. We could see out into Kenya and Tanzania. The shadow of Kibo peak could be seen partially obscuring Mount Meru, the second highest mountain in Tanzania, about an hour away near Arusha. The Kibo glacier was clearly visible in a large valley to our left. Roman and I both found the size of it mind boggling. You can’t see it from the bottom, but, believe me, it is HUGE. You could see multiple hues of grey and blue through out it, signifying the various stages in time over which the glacier had formed. To our right across a large cliff and valley was the Kibo crater. We were unable to look into it as the lip of the crater was almost higher than where we. It also looked enormous. You could picture how it was a volcano 100,000 years or so ago. I was so cold (and crying hysterically) at the top that I wasn’t really able to take pictures. Even my kneecaps were shaking. Roman and Dharma managed to get out their cameras and took lots of pictures. We got the requisite picture at the sign that says ‘Congratulations, you have reached Uhuru Peak, 5896m or 19350 feet, The Roof of Africa”. I actually couldn’t believe that I made it. Even now, as I reflect back on that night, it was the hardest thing I have ever done. After about 15 minutes at the top we headed down. The trip down is faster than the trip up but I thought it was equally as painful. The sun was out so we started to slowly defrost but my feet started to get really sore…those toes again…they are always my weakest link!!. We made our way back to Gilman’s Point and then descended down a steep section of the cliff. I just figured we would head down the same section of path that we came up but after a half hour or so down Gilman’s we reached an area of the mountainside that was all soft sand and scree. Entold. Our guide looked at me and said “ Go ahead, you can run down it”. I actually thought he was joking. I started looking for the path we had come up but didn’t recognize it. I knew there was no way my ankles would make it down that mountain without twisting or breaking. Entold took my hand and arm (ina sort of death grip!) and literally ‘skipped’ down the scree with me. Roman and Dharma and Hassan followed behind. Within 20 minutes or so, allour thighs were burning. We took several breaks along the way. Towards the bottom, the pain in my toes was excruciating and I knew that my blister had extended above my right heal. At the bottom, the sun was shining and the porters came out to greet us and welcome us back. We collapsed into our warm, sunny tent after I gingerly removed my boots and assessed the damage. My right foot was a mess. I fell asleep in minutes wondering how I was going to wake up in an hour and a half and walk another 9kms to Horombo Hut.

Day 5 After the Descent, Kibo Hut to Horombo Hut
May 23, 2007

After an hour and a half one of the porters woke us and told us our ‘chai’ (Swahili for tea) was ready. I knew as soon as I awoke that there was no way my hiking boots were going back on today. I couldn’t even pull a sock over my right foot. It was just too painful. I put on my Birkenstock’s and limped to the dining hut. We left the camp just after noon that day (having been awake the entire night) and walked to Horombo Camp across what is known as ‘the saddle’ between Kibo and Mawenzi peaks. The walk was slowly downhill and my feet seemed to withstand it using a walking stick and moving slowly. After about 2 hours my feet were throbbing though and I leaned on Roman for support on the left and my walking stick on the right. The path was quite rocky and proceeded downhill. The last two hours of that 4.5 hour walk felt like forever. When we arrived at Horombo Huts our tent was already assembled. We set up our beds and then went to play cards in the dining hut. The sun was setting and you could feel the cold, damp clouds moving in. I was still barefoot in my sandals but after a couple of Tylenol my pain started to subside. We met some other climbers in the hut and discussed the climb with those who were on their way up. We exchanged stories with those who had also climbed the same night as us. Before the end of the evening, two climbers had gone to their huts to get me some ‘blister bandages’. One had been given them by a friend who said they worked well, the other had used his himself and also vouched that they had worked well. We headed to bed as it started to poor rain and slept reasonably well. We were all so exhausted that the ground just didn’t seem as hard that night.

Day 5 Horombo Huts to Mandara Hut and then Marangu Gate
May 24, 2007
We awoke to another sunny day and reflected on just how lucky we had been with the weather for the majority of our trip. I complained again that I didn’t think I could put my hiking boots back on but Roman insisted I try once he had bandaged my heal up with the donated blister bandages from the night before. He was right, it didn’t feel as bad as I expected. Nevertheless, we carried my sandals in the day pack as a back up plan if my feet got bad. Entold and I also discussed that there was a rescue truck that could come to pick me up about one hours walk from the Mandara Huts. I only had to walk 12 kilometres with these feet and then another 2-3 past Mandara and they could pick me up. I said yes, anticipating that by that time my right foot would be sore. I limped a little bit but with my walking stick and a couple of Tylenol, I seemed to manage. The trail was beautiful with unusual plants (see photos of the famous Sinicia Kilimanjaro tree). There were mountain streams and meadows and eventually rainforest. As we approached the Mandara Huts we even saw the black and white Colobus Monkeys which fly between trees and have a long white tail. At the huts there was no break for lunch, we were told to get moving but not until I had signed the ‘Emergency Rescue Book’. Entold had already filled in part of the required information (our permit number and dates etc). He wanted my full name and signature. As I filled in the book I looked at the names of the people above mine. There was a smattering of people from around the world who were of varying ages. There was a section that said ‘Condition’ and I read quickly down the list. They all said either ‘Condition: serious” or ‘Condition: Poor’. Then there was mine ‘Condition: Blister’. Roman and Dharma got a laugh out of that one. I chuckled too, ok, it is pretty hilarious, that I needed to be rescued from the last 2 hours of walking but, to be fair, my foot really did hurt!!
We descended further down the path for another hour until we encountered the waiting rescue vehicle’ A plumb older man was lying back in the drivers seat. There was a bench and space for a stretcher in back. We all climbed in (those guys were tired too but used my blister as an excuse to get a lift the last part of the way). Dharma took some shots of me looking like I was suffering etc. At the bottom we went to the desk to get or certificates stating that we had reached Uhuru Peak. I immediately took off my boots as well. It felt so good to be done!!!
Next, we gathered ourselves and our belongings up and drove to Marangu village. We sat and had some drinks and food with the porters. They cheered for us and sang the famous Kilimanjaro song (which incidentally in Swahili says something like ‘white person, why do you climb me like a snake, do you want to eat me’) and the ‘Jambo Bwana’ song. It was a wonderful relaxing time. It didn’t smell too great on that little patio though as none of us had had a shower for 6 days!!! After a couple of hours we made arrangements to meet the porters and guides the following day in Moshi to pay them their tips. As I mentioned, the tips are pretty hefty, so we needed to hit a bank first.
As I sit and write this, it has been a several days since we came down the mountain. It is still all so fresh in my memory and I think will remain there for some time. It was a truly incredible experience and climbing Kilimanjaro with Roman, my soul mate was what made it so special. But, please....don’t ever ask me to do it again!

Gender Inequality and the HIV Epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa

2007-05-28T01:16:00.000-07:00

This commentary was published in the Kingston Whig Standard on Friday May 18, 2007
Just a few more thoughts before I leave this beautiful country. As always, your feedback is welcome!

I have been living and volunteering my skills as a physician in Tanzania, East Africa for long enough now to begin to understand how lucky I am, as a woman, to have been born in Canada. My colleagues at home will attest to the fact that I often complain about how difficult it can be to be a woman working in the field of medicine. I often harp on the challenges that women physicians face as they struggle to develop academic careers, care for patients, and, raise children. Those challenges are no less important now and are still very much a part of my world back at home, however, my time here in Africa has provided me with a daily reminder of how lucky I really am. Sure, I have faced challenges along the way but these pale in comparison to the reality that women and girls must face everyday in Sub-Saharan Africa.

You see, women in Tanzania, and in most countries in Africa do not enjoy the basic human right to equality. From the day a girl child is born into most African families, hers is an uphill struggle to be a child, rather than work, to become literate and educated like her male siblings, and, to be protected from gender-based violence. Girls in Tanzania are kept impoverished by a society where they are married off at an early age, and, forced to give birth when their bodies are not ready to become mothers. Women in Tanzania are born to be someone’s daughter, sister, wife, and, mother. Their value in this society is often judged by how many children they can produce within a marriage; or face abandonment if they can’t.

Despite their low status in this society, women are the backbone of this nation; they cook, clean, work in the fields to feed their families, and, care for elderly parents or relatives. They will walk for miles to fetch water; usually with one of their children slung to their back. Despite their essential roles, they suffer from greater illiteracy, poverty and sexual abuse than their male counterparts, and, significantly higher rates of HIV infection.

Indeed, women in Tanzania have made great strides over the last three decades as awareness has been raised and laws have been modified to protect them from gender inequality. That being said, tradition and custom that affords men distinct power and privilege over women continues to prevail in most communities especially in regions of the country that are largely rural and where both men and women remain poorly educated. No written law can protect a woman from having her land stolen by male relatives or male neighbors after a her husband has died or abandoned her, when customary law (what has always been) dictates that she is not really a person and therefore cannot keep the land that the law states is rightfully hers. Land rights violations here in Tanzania are a metaphor for a vast number of problems that women in Africa face but, they have recently come to the forefront of the women’s rights discourse as the issue has become increasingly common in the face of the HIV epidemic that is still gripping sub-Saharan Africa. Not only are these women negatively impacted by gender inequality throughout their lives, but this inequity has clear and destructive disadvantages for their children, often disproportionately affecting their female children who may share a larger burden in caring for siblings, parents or grandparents.

How can this inequality be reduced? The answers are not simple. Improving the status of women in countries such as Tanzania will take generations. From the day that children are born here they are socialized to accept that men hold the power and make the decisions. Change will require massive shifts in the way that Africans live and think about the status of women. Moreover, women themselves will need to alter the way that they see themselves in African society; with roles in all levels of government and business. Do I feel hopeful that things can and will change for Africa’s women? My answer is a definite yes; especially now after spending several months trying to better understand Tanzania’s remarkable, and, incredibly resilient, women. In many ways, they have been a source of ongoing strength for me. More importantly, I feel even more deeply that things must change. I and others believe that HIV infection rates will continue to rise, largely unabated, across most countries in Africa until women no longer face the current level of gender inequality. It will not occur until women are empowered in the relationships they hold with men. Unless they play a more equal role they will continue to lack the ability to effectively protect themselves against HIV infection. Simply put, true societal change, and, successful empowerment of women will only occur when both men and women in Tanzania believe that gender inequality is unacceptable for what it is; a violation of a person’s basic human rights.

Welcome to God TV

2007-05-28T01:03:00.000-07:00

The day we flew back from Zanzibar with Roman’s mom and the kids we were standing on the tarmac behind the terminal at Kilimanjaro Airport. We noticed a private jet land on the far runway and within minutes it had taxied its way towards us. There was a symbol on the tail that had an Arabic flair and I said to Roman’s mom, “I wonder who will get out of this jet? Maybe it’s a Saudi Shaik!” Within minutes an attractive flight attendant with a very short skirt and a pretty uniform climbed down the steps of the plane. Shortly thereafter she was followed by 6 white men all wearing snazzy suits (Armani etc) with some roguish haircuts. They walked a few feet and were greeted by a welcoming committee of Africans carrying signs that said ‘Welcome God TV’. Now I was getting curious. What were these obviously wealthy looking, expensively dressed, white men doing in Africa and what was God TV?? It wasn’t long before a cameraman appeared from the plane with all his gear. He was actively filming their arrival. I asked Roman what he thought and we both decided that they were Evangelists of some sort. Finally they came through the luggage hall and passed us on their way to their waiting shiny, new, white safari trucks. They were traveling in style. I asked Roman to ask them who they were. He asked one of the guys in suits what organization they belonged to. He jumped to the challenge and the man he approached seemed quite willing to provide all the necessary details. They were on a ‘humanitarian mission’ to ‘fix up a some schools and health clinics’ (sounds pretty legit?). He then went on to say that they were with the largest Christian television network in the world, broadcast out of Israel but based in Britain. They were quickly whisked away to their waiting vehicles and drove away. I wonder why they needed a private jet to come to Tanzania for a ‘humanitarian mission’, wasn’t commercial air just as good, and cheaper. I was dying to know exactly what type of work they were doing and who their donors were who could afford to have them fly in private jets.
A day or two later Roman and I Googled ‘God TV’. You can do it too, go ahead. It is a fancy website with many different fancy windows to click on if you too ‘want to be saved’. Apparently, we gather, from the website, one of the snazzy, TV-like personalities was ‘Rory’ of ‘Wendy and Rory’, God TV’s , married, dynamic duo who provide tips on how to find Jesus. When you read their history they both have business backgrounds and worked in business before saving the world from itself (you don’t say!). I have to be honest, I have never seen a single broadcast (but will search for them on satellite when I get home).
I am sure there are lots of opportunities for you to donate money to them to further your spiritual well-being, and, provide for their private jet for their humanitarian African mission. Sorry for sounding so crass and cynical but this is why good and generous people sometimes wonder why sub-Saharan Africa can’t get ahead. There are too many people with their hands in the pot.

Zamani Kempinski Zanzibar

2007-05-28T00:42:00.001-07:00

Bagamoyo

2007-05-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

It has been about a week since I last updated the blog and a lot has happened. We are all currently healthy (which I think is still an important thing to have achieved afetr all this time here...well ok, a little bit of malaria thrown in but who is counting). The kids left Tuesday night (May 15th) with Roman's mom from Kilimanjaro airport. They have arrived in Kingston safely and according to my dad, Jack even went to school today. Hannah starts next week and her first priority was to go and play in her play room. When you are 4, these things are important.

We decided to give Roman's mom a classy send off by taking her last Friday on the bus to Dar es salaam (again) to visit some of the last few sights she needed to see before leaving Tanzania. She has been a real trooper. It is not easy living here and I know she was out of her comfort zone a good proportion of the time. The cockroahces here are larger than life and difficult to kill. She had a 'killing' routine every night before bed and my heart did go out to her (I pretty much ignore them by this point...you need to block it out of your mind or it will make you crazy). Nevertheless, she wasn't quite ready to block them out. The poverty also got to her and she often would comment on simple things that would make life easier for the people here that simply aren't done...and she was right about almost all of them. The one thing that really got her was the size of the Masai huts. They are very small (you cannot stand up inside) and poorly ventilated. She could not understand why they continue to make them so small!! I gave some basic answers like, well they are supposed to be temporary, as the villages are dissassembled every few years so the clan can move to new land. They are only for sleeping was another answer. It wasn't until we had our hike with our Masai guide, Jonathon that I thought to ask why the huts were so small when Masai tend to be so tall? He thought about it for a minute and answered 'why it is simple, the huts are the work of women and Masai women are not as tall as the men nor do they have ladders or other tools to make the walls or roof higher'. I think she and I were both satisfied with that.

After a not too bad bus ride we arrived in Dar with the excitement of seeing Malinga again and spending time with him.
We picked him up Friday just before lunch at his school. I think he looked smaller than we had all remembered but he was definitely beeming from ear to ear with his trademark smile.
We left that afternoon for Bagamoyo which is 72 kms up the north coast of Dar on the Indian Ocean. Bagamoyo is now a sleepy old fishing village that also has a well known arts college and cooperative. It looks like nothing as you drive through it with old primitive derelect buildings and palm trees but it holds such historical significance for East Africa, and, for world history. Fishermen and farmers were the first to settle there in the late 18th century. The site is the closest mainland site to Zanzibar with Zanzibar only an hour away by boat (whereas it is 3 hours from Dar es salaam). The site, like Zanzibar was settled as well by the Omanis who were involved in the slave trade. Its closeness to Zanzibar is what was so enticing as it was less work to shuttle the slaves (who had ust walked from central or West Africa) to Zanzibar for trade to the rest of the world. Ivory export was also big here as well. Bagamoyo means 'lay down my heart' or 'be quiet my heart' thought to have come from the lament of slaves who thought they would not see their homeland again. There are also several memorials to Dr. Livingstone who I have spoken of previously, and, who helped abolish slavery. The first Anglican church in this part of Tanznaia is there and is now called the Livingston memorial church. It is a tiny little stone church with a tin roof. Livingstone actually visited the church while alive. I took a picture of myself in the little doorway that he passed through. He is considered a pretty important person in these parts for obvious reasons. The two other points of interest we visited before the rain started was 'The Cross By the Sea', which is where father Antoine Horner of the French Holy Ghost fathers first crossed from Zanzibar to the East African mainland. It was the site of the first Christian (actually Catholic) church on the mainland. The other site we saw was the site of the old 'Freedom Village' where the Holy Ghost Fathers set up a mission. Once they were established they 'bought' the freedom of many young men and women. Some of the slaves stayed at the mission site and it got the name freedom village. I have read a bit more about this village and it seems that only a few thousand had their freedom purchased because the mission did not have a lot of money. But, the symbolic nature of what the missionaries did was felt to be more important for that time.
We only stayed in Bagamoyo for about 24 hours. We had planned to stay right until Sunday but left on Saturday as the beach was not a good swimming beach at this time of year after extensive rains during the rainy season. We ended up going to a water park (yes, just like home and even called 'Wet and Wild') at Kunduchi Beach just outside Dar. The kids had a blast while I arranged a last minute trip to Zanzibar. We weren't going to go but I felt that Roman's mom wanted to see it. The kids fell into bed that night (literally). Malinga slept at the hotel with us in Dar for our last night with him for a while. In the morning the mood was a bit down as we all knew we would be saying goodbye to him. We don't have a date yet for when we will have full guardianship and until then, he can't come home with us. I anticipate it will be a couple of months. He is eager to come to Canada but was not disappointed about not coming with us as we had not given him any dates or timelines in order to prevent him from having a big disappointment. To be honest, I think Roman was the gloomiest of all....I was trying to see the positive side of it all and just focus on the fact that he will come to Canada, we just don't know exactly when.
After Malinga was picked up (with lots of Jack's hand me downs in tow) to go back to the orphanage, we headed for the airport for our 15 minute flight to Zanzibar..yes, it really is 15 minutes.
We have learned how to utilize our Tanzanian resident permit well and I managed at the last minute to book us into the Zamani Kempinski Hotel (at the resident rate which is half of what you would normally pay to stay there in low season but still expensive by my standards). I justified the cost as we have been pretty frugal on a day to day basis( yeah, whatever..just rationalizing my need for creature comforts for a few days!). It is on the North Coast of Zanzibar. I was told it was a magical place and it definitely came close to living up to that. See the pictures I have posted. It truly had the magical blue Azure water and white sand. We were the only people on the beach for miles around. Jack and I went sea kayaking off the massive jetty that the hotel has built that goes hundreds of yards into the ocean and is fully equipped with decks for sunbathing, water sports, a full bar and toilets!!.

I gotta go now as Roman and I are climbing Kilimanjaro tomorrow (via the Rongai route). It will take us 6 days. We will climb with one of the medical students who has been here in Kilema for the last month (Dharma Mcbride). Dharma should be a good climbing partner as he is very outdoorsy and very in tune with nature...a really peaceful guy who is a pleasure to be around. We are hoping that the three of us will be able to push each other on if things get tough. It will take us 6 days (summit on day 5 at night). We will climb with licenced guides and porters to carry our stuff....but, (deep sigh) NO PORT-A-POTTY!!!.
I'll keep you posted on how it all goes. Please send us some good Karma...see you in a week!

Tortilis Camp and Kilimanjaro

2007-05-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

I have to say that Tortilis Camp was beyond what I had even hoped for. This wonderful safari camp is situated at the base of Kilimanjaro on the Kenyan side. Kili is entirely in Tanzania but the view from Amboselli is second to none. The snow cap actually looks quite different from Kenya as the top of the mountain (Kibo Peak) is quite square and has more snow. The route that Roman and I have chosen for our Kili Trek is from this side of the mountain and is called the Rongai route. It seemed fitting that we got to see Kili from this side having lived at its base on the other side for 4 months now. The camp has about 16 tents that each sit on a permanent base and have banana leaf canopies above them. They are ‘luxury’ tents with a beautiful shower and flush toilet…I felt a bit colonialist about the whole experience (which for me as a person who works with Aboriginal Canadians and has Irish parents has a negative connotation of course) but on the lighter side, I felt like I was in ‘Out of Africa’ and that I should have a British accent of some sort!

Our bed looked simply luxurious and when the tent windows were open it really felt like we were sleping out with the animals…ok who’s kidding, we REALLY were sleeping out with animals!! There is a low electrified fence which apparently keeps the hyenas out but the larger animals walk right over it! The piece de resistance was that while lying in bed we faced Mount Kilimanjaro. Wow. The tour package we purchased included all meals everyone ate in the main lodge which was at the top of a hill with spectacular views of the park and Kili. The sunsets were spectacular and every night they lit the pathway with kerosene lanterns around the camp. The lodge had some old safari antiques as well and the food was Tuscan style for the most part as the owner is an Italian named Stefano Cheli.

On our first full day at Tortilis Camp (which is named after the acacia trees that dot the landscape..they are known as Tortilis acacia in Kenya and Flat top acacia in Tanzania). We did a morning game drive in search of some of Amboseli’s elephant herds. There are between 600 and 800 elephants in Amboseli; the largest herd in Africa. There is an elephant research center in the park as well which has the longest running elephant research study in Africa. They are currently concerned with the survival of the elephants as the herd grows as they could run out of food if the acacia trees decrease in number. The acacias may start to diminish if the snow peak on Kili melts (as it is expected to in the next 15 to 20 years) as the water run-off is substantial and supplies at lot of natural irrigation to the animals and plants of Amboseli (and Tanzania on the other side). I tend to be an optimist and being in Amboseli amongst all these beautiful creatures made me think that we humans will manage to slow global warming….we really don’t have a choice. The elephants were out in abundance and the pictures are posted for your enjoyment although you really needed to be here.

After our morning game drive we relaxed by the pool and then went on sunset nature walk with a Masai guide named Jonathan. Jonathan has been working at the camp for more than 2 years and was very knowledgeable about plant and animal species. He tried to keep it interesting for the kids by also pointing out animal droppings (guess that dropping) and a variety of animal footprints. Jack fellinto a very prickly bush at along the way as well and it took three adults to free him. I even was 'pricked' temporarily as I tried to untether jack's bleeding legs! After we dealt with the trauma of the whole thing(my son can be very dramatic), Jonathon quietly mentioned that it is aptly named the 'wait-a bit' bush/tree. We had a great chuckle over that one...it certainly makes you wait (until someone comes along and sets you free!!). We also ventured past the football ‘field’ that the Maasai in the area had built. It consisted of only one wooden goal post because the elephants had taken down the other one during their travels…yes, I am being totally serious and I have posted a picture of only one lonely goal post to prove it. I think it is one of the best pictures of the whole trip with my two men, and, Jonathan in the Maasai ‘football field’ with Kili in the backdrop. It was a nice walk for the kids and the sun was starting to set as we arrived at the top of a big hill that looked out over Amboseli on one side and Kili on the other, and, just to keep it civilized, a bartender had set up a nice bar with cool beverages and some comfy safari chairs. I think it was one of my top ten experiences to date. Very magical indeed. It seemed that somehow the clouds that normally shroud Kili’s peak moved away just as we arrived that evening. We felt like we were on top of the world. Roman’s mom just kept saying “I can’t believe it…the clouds moved just for us!” We stayed until the sun was set and then drove back down in the safari trucks that were waiting for us…no walking is allowed after dark; even with a Masai who has a big spear!

On to Kenya and Amboselli National Park

2007-05-10T12:14:00.000-07:00

The drive to Namanga after leaving Arusha was about the worst ‘main’ road in Tanzania that I have ever traveled on. It was so narrow and dangerous. Fred our driver knew us by now (especially Roman’s mom) and kept speeds down to a minimum (pole pole as they say in Kiswahili..take it slow). Despite the road, the scenery towards the border was beautiful. We passed through a mountainous area with many Masai herding their animals to grassier ground. The border was hot and complicated and not a nice experience. Before leaving Tanzania you have to fill in forms declaring that you are leaving an East African country. When you get across the border you fill out forms again saying you are entering Kenya, another East Africa country. Then when you get into the Kenya Immigration office you need to fill out new forms and hand over cash to purchase a Kenyan entry Visa. The whole process was hot and tiring. Fred had to do it all as well and have the safari truck registered to leave Tanzania and the insurance forms and safari license verified to enter Kenya. Once across the border we headed straight for Amboselli National Park which is about an hour from Namanga. Here we forked over another bunch of cash for two days in the park. Funny enough, the 30 or 40 kilometers of road before entering the park had amazing wildlife. We saw a lone bull elephant, a family of giraffes and a whole bunch of Ostrich before we even entered the park. The ostrich were running in a group of about six along side the road. One of them veered out at one point and was running in front of the car. Fred clocked him at over 40 kilometers per hour!! It was hysterical. I caught the whole thing on video too but I am sure the camera was shaking because the road was bumpy and I was laughing so hard. Once in the park we headed straight for Tortilis Camp where we were booked to stay for two whole luxurious nights. We chose this tented lodge because my friend and fellow nephrology colleague, Marcello ‘Cello’ Tonelli from Edmonton was planning to be there with his wife Shannon and their two children Alex (5) and Bronwyn (7). We had hoped to meet them there for lunch but we arrived late thanks to all the hold-ups at the Namanga border.

Day #2 continues: Gibb's Farm

2007-05-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

We were pretty happy to arrive at Gibb’s Farm after a long day of bumping along the dusty roads of the Serengeti. It was a wonderful day though. We did a lot of bird watching and animal spotting. I even took the time to take pictures of some beautiful acacia trees, which I think are my favorite tree on earth. Gibb’s Farm is a small eco-tourism resort situated down a long bumpy road in the town (maybe it’s a village) of Karatu. The area is quite poor and the farm employs about 150 local villagers. Gibb’s is a working coffee farm that has over 100 acres of coffee trees and some beautiful gardens. They grow almost all of their own food and everything is certified organic (if that is important to all you granola eaters out there!). We were just really happy to have some wonderful veggies (even broccoli) and fresh bread. In case I haven’t mentioned it before, Tanzanians aren’t known for their bread. Roman’s mom has been desperate for a good loaf of rye but that has proven to be almost impossible. The farm is owned by an American who runs a huge tour company here called Thompson Tours and Safaris. They are high end from the tour perspective and super high end if you are climbing Kilimanjaro. I have mentioned to Roman on several occasions that the only way he will get me to the top of Kilimanjaro is if we go with Thompson. You see, its not that they have a great record of climbers summiting or anything, but, they bring their own toilets!! Yes, a porter actually carries a nice looking (and probably sanitized ) port-o-potty up the darn mountain; on his head no less. For all those of you who have had the pleasure of camping with me, you’ll recall that I hate outhouses!! Nevertheless, our wonderful African adventure has left us rather broke and when Roman and I climb Kili next week it will be with the ‘middle of the road’ climbing company so alas, no portable toilets, just wonderfully stinky outhouses or really nice looking bushes.
As you approach the farm on foot from the parking area it feels like you have actually left Africa. The farm house is quaint and cozy and sits atop a ridge that overlooks a valley that borders on the upper edge of the Ngorogoro Crater. Looking out and watching the sun set felt like I had left Africa and arrived in Napa (yes, California). The guest rooms are situated off the main farm house and are really rustic and comfy cottages. The foliage is awesome and there are more than 200 bird species in the area. There are daily nature walks and theyhave a holistic Spa and a Masai artist in residence who paints daily up in the main farmhouse. We were sorry that we only had a day there. It is a wonderful place. The workers also benefit because the farm gives back to the community by supporting the school and local health clinic. It makes sense because healthy workers who can educate their children probably make better workers!
We all slept well that night and headed out the next morning for the Kenyan border town of Namanga.

Day 2: Elephants are on the loose

2007-05-07T04:17:00.000-07:00

We all slept like logs and awoke to the most amazing sight. I actually got up before everyone else and watched the sun rise and while I was sitting on our little back patio I thought that to myself that this would be a great area to see elephants. The acacia trees that the elephants and giraffes love so much were abundant around the huts and out into the Serengeti plain behind the wildlife lodge. I even listened for them because although they walk very quietly despite their size, they are easy to hear because they rip entire trees apart with one pull of their trunk and that is not hard to hear. After the sunrise I hopped in the shower and was there for less than a minute when Roman yelled "oh my God, there are elephants behind the kids house!" Roman's mom and the kids were sleeping in the next hut over. He tried calling their room so the kids could see the elephants but the line wouldn't work. I told him to go out the front door and run across to wake them up. When he opened our door he found 4 elephants in the front of their little hut!! Two mommas and two babies!!! The bull (male) was not far behind and was the elephant that Roman had seen behind the hut. Nevertheless, he bravely bolted to their door (one of the mom's raised an eyebrow or two) and knocked frantically. The kids were at the door in no time and were squealing with excitement. It isn't everyday that you end up with elephants outside your front door!
I managed (with a towel around me) to take a picture of the kids looking out the door staring at the mom and baby. It was a great way to start our day. Once all the commotion settled down and the elephants moved off we made our way to breakfast with an escort. The hotels are pretty wary of guests getting trampled or eaten. It just isn't good for business.
We spent that morning on a game drive in the Serengeti and did quite a bit of bird and animal watching. We had lunch at another lodge and then made our way out of the park back towards the Crater. We were planning to stay outside the Ngorogoro reserve that night and still had a fair bit of driving to do. On our way out of the Serengeti we saw tons of animals including two male lions snoozing under a tree like a pair of house cats. Yep, they were just lying on their backs with their paws in the air in the shade under a bush. I think it is a miracle that Fred spotted them at all. One of them opened one eye to take a look at us as we clicked away taking photos. They have no real enemies and certainly were not threatened by us not all that interested. They were having a cat-nap (sorry).

After we left the Serengeti we went to visit a Masai village. We went to a different one than we went to last year. One that was slightly smaller and closer to the crater. They tend to feel a bit commercial despite the fact that the people who greet you really do live there and deeply value their cultural ways. The women did a welcoming dance for us and then we walked around and explored the huts and the school. The school had all the kids waiting there to greet us (it is really like a kindergarten because the older kids do go to primary school now that the government is paying for it and heavily encouraging education among the Masai...for boys AND girls). Jack was his usual self and just walked right in and sat down with the kids. He shook hands with a few of the older kids as well. It was really special. I actually thought he was quite brave because your senses are really bombarded with a lot of sights and smells while in the villages. It kind of smells sickly sweet, like buttermilk mixed with cows blood (honestly, that is how my nose would describe it). They live on milk and meat and have no running water to speak of for bathing so I guess that is what you would expect it to smell like.
After the visit to the school, I could see that Fred was getting anxious about hitting the road so off we went for our next stop, and our bed for the night, Gibb's Farm in Karatu, just outside the Ngorgoro Reserve.

Day 1: Safari Njema 'Have a Good Journey'

2007-05-07T03:19:00.000-07:00

Our safari with Roman’s mom last week was a truly amazing experience. Roman and I had already been on a safari when we were here last October but I was really looking forward to my children seeing wild African animals. When we ‘safaried’ in October, the animals were abundant in all the parks as it was dry season and many come out into the open watering holes in search of water. It is the ‘long rains’ in Tanzania and Kenya right now and considered low season for safaris because many animals are deep within the parks and game reserves where water is abundant. Nevertheless, we felt very lucky with the game we saw. The other draw of safari during this part of the year is that the great migration of zebra and wildebeest is on. During this period over 1 million wildebeest and zebra migrate from the Masai Mara in Kenya, down through the Serengeti in Tanzania. The make their way to the Ngorogoro crater area where the female zebra and wildebeest give birth, then the herd eats all the grass available and moves back up to Kenya. They arrive there in July each year. The migration occurs in part, because the animals are in search of the green new grasses in the lower grasslands of the Serengeti and the Ngorogoro reserve. During the migration there tends to be a lot of predators (lions, leopard, cheetah and hyena) as they find it easy to prey on the young wildebeest and zebras or on old wildebeests who have become sick along the way and fallen away from their herd.

We left our makeshift ‘apartment’ at the women’s center in Moshi last Friday morning and after a stop at the bank, made our way to Arusha with Fred our driver and our 6 seater Toyota Landcruiser (with the pop-up safari top) that we rented for the trip. We were full of excitment and the anticipation of seeing the animals. I was most excited about spoiling ourselves with a bit of luxury (nice lodging and good food)along the way. The ‘safari’ experience has been well branded here in Tanzania with over 200,000 foreigners visiting the Serengeti each year and according to Fred our driver, over 1.2 million in Kenya. The parks in Tanzania are Africa’s best kept secret as Tanzania has not marketed them as well as the Kenyan parks. The Tanzanian national parks tend to be less crowded and have more wild life.
We made our way straight through Arusha to Ngororgoro conservation area. All those entering the park must pay a transit fee…even just to drive through it to the Serengeti. This is a fairly lucrative way for the government to collect extra tourist dollars but the money collected goes to preserving the park and protecting the animals. Rhinos in the crater were heavily poached until just a decade ago. There are a herd of only 14 left there now but efforts are underway to continue to protect them and there are high hopes that the herd will grow in size. There is a separate fee to descend into the Crater itself. Roman and I descended on what I like to call the 'death trap road' into the crater in October and saw many animals. The crater roads are wet and slippery this time of year and the drive down tends to be tedious. We opted to just stop at the edge of the crater, look down and then head straight for the Serengeti. My main concern was keeping the kids interested (and not going over the side of the road and tumbling into the crater in our truck!). I have attached a picture of us at the crater edge. The crater was formed from the cone of an extinct volcano from thousands of years ago. The whole place has a very ‘prehistoric’ feel to it. You almost expect to see a dinosaur walk by.

After the crater we made our way towards the Serengeti. Within an hour we found ourselves within a group of thousands of wildebeests and zebras. Fred our driver is a soft spoken ‘rasta’ but boy did he know his wild life! As we approached the herd he slowed the car down to a crawl, we kept driving along and then Fred said, 'well, here it is, you found the migration...you're right in the middle of it' We sat there for quite a while watching the herd cross the road. Mom's and calves frolicked and baby zebras were everywhere. Apparently the wildebeests and the zebras travel together and rely on each other. The zebra for their keen eye and the wildebeests for their sheer numbers in being able to alert each other when a predator is near. I have attached a picture but I really don't think it does the sheer numebrs of animals justice...there really wewre thousands...really!!

After we passed through the migrating animals we went through the main gate of the Serengeti National Park (and paid the requisite fee, again). The road after this point was quite bumpy and dusty but Fred was on the move so we could see some game and make it to the hotel before dark. We drove with the roof up and Roman used his hawk eyes to spot game. He really has a keen eye, probably from all those years of fishing and standing out in the middle of nature. We knew this portion relatively well as it was the area we spent the most time in when we were here in October. We had seen several lions here as well and we were hoping that the kids would get to see some that day. After about an hour or two of driving, as we approached an area of rock formations called the Kopjes (said as copies) we saw her, a beautiful lionness up on the rocks surveying her territory. As I've said before, the women do all the work of hunting and killing and bringing the meat home for the man of the house. This lionness was looking for prey. They sun was starting to set and it was a really beautiful sight. There are actually four of those formations in that area of the Serengeti. They are called the Simba Kopjes because they have four seperate groups of lion prides who have long since inhabited that part of the Serengeti grasslands. One of the formations is what I named 'Pride Rock' and I am almost 100% certain that the graphic artists who came to the Serengeti to draw their prints for the Disney film 'The Lion King' must have drawn these rocks as Pride Rock in the movie. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that they also conveniently chose names for characters by their Kiswahili names. For example Rafiki means friend and Simba means lion. I am not sure what Pumba or Timon mean. Fred didn't think that Pumba was the right word for warthog. Everytime we saw a warthog (and we saw quite a few along the way) someone would sing "when I was a young warthog!.." you know the rest. Hakuma Matata means 'no problem' ...something I like to say often here in my beloved Tanzania!
After we saw the lionness our car stalled and we had to get a safari truck who came up behind us to push us with their bumper while Fred cranked the clutch or gas or something else to get it going. Once we got re-started we picked up the pace as it was getting dark and there are strict rules about travelling after dark in the National Parks. Most animals hunt at night and trucks and people are not very conducive for those activities!! While we were clipping along we almost hit another female lion who was sleeping at the side of the road, completely oblivious to our truck. It was close. Fred mentioned at that point that the fine for killing a lion was $200 US. A little skimpy if you ask me. I would have thought more like $10,000 for hitting such a beautiful beast.
We eventually made it to the Serena Serengeti Lodge. We were pleasently surprised to find that we were in individual huts (with walls and windows to keep out the animals). We got cleaned up and went straight to dinner. On our way to dinner Jack spotted a tiny Gazelle called a Dik-Dik (yes, he also got a lot of mileage out of that one!). They are beautiful little delicate creatures. They mate for life and we saw two pairs of beady eyes staring back at us, a husband and wife, just outside our rooms.
We watched some African dancing that the hotel provided after dinner but we didn't last too long. Bumping along those roads for 10 hours was actually quite exhausting despite the fact that we were just sitting doing nothing. We headed off to bed and planned for an early start the next day.

Countdown is on...

2007-05-02T03:04:00.000-07:00

We have just returned from a 5 day safari in Tanzania and Kenya. It was absolutely superb and will get it's own blog posts!

For those of you who are wondering, Jack has fully recovered from his bout of malaria and is back to his old self. We had a dreamy 5 days and I will work on new blog posts of our journey over the next few days. I tried to keep notes along the way so I wouldn't forget any important details. In other news, we are still waiting for Malinga to become part of our family. The system is moving along albeit at a snail's pace. Keep up the prayers for all those of you who are the praying type.

We have plans to go to Bagamoyo at the end of next week so that we can have three days at the beach with Malinga before the kids return to Canada with Roman's mom. We have decided to send them home two weeks early (I guess the malaria was the deciding factor and that the kids are quite homesick). Of course Grandma and Grandad Yeates agreed that it was a fantastic idea! They have not seen their beloved grandkids for over two months.
Bagamoyo is on the Northern Coast of Tanznaia, about a half day drive from Dar es Salaam. It was the last mainland site that slaves were transported to before being 'sorted' (like cargo) for 'shipment' to Zanzibar or beyond. It is a small fishing village on the Indian Ocean now but there are memorials to the slavery missionaries like Livingston and the like who worked to have slavery abolished once and for all( or have we?...not always sure when I look around here).

The Universal Language of Soccer

2007-04-23T03:42:00.000-07:00

The following is a commentary piece that I have written for the Kingston Whig Standard. It will be published today (Monday April 23rd). Just some reflections on life as we know it.

The Universal Language of Soccer
We have been living in Tanzania for more than 6 weeks now and it has truly been an experience beyond all others. We have worked hard to become part of our little rural, mountainous community of Kilema, Kilimanjaro and, in return, have received nothing but the warmest welcome from these wonderful people whose spirit of giving seems endless.
When I look back on how we became friends with these hard-working, impoverished people, I realize that it was soccer, and the universality of its language, that brought us together.

Not long after we arrived, my husband Roman, and, my eight year old son, Jack, insisted that we take our new soccer balls out to the field behind the hospital. School had finished for the day and children were milling around the field behind the school. When they saw Roman and Jack with the soccer balls in hand they quickly made their way over to where we were. I wish I had my camera because the site of more than 300 African children yelling in Kiswahili and running towards my unsuspecting family was something to behold. The children quickly made it known that what they wanted was to play soccer, with the first real soccer ball that many of them had seen in years. You see, the children in this region are poor, with the average family income at less than $30 per month. Most live in small dwellings with no running water or electricity. Although they all wear a school uniform, most are threadbare bits of clothing that resemble what was once a school uniform. The children carry water in old gasoline containers or bundles of wood on their heads to school each day so that they can help to prepare their noon meal which is provided through the school; typically a bowl of corn maize and beans. For some it is the only meal they will have that day and many display the tell-tale signs of protein malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies.

On that day it wasn't long before their game got off to a raucous start with most of the older boys holding onto the ball and running for the end of the field. Roman, through plenty of hand signaling managed to get a game underway. Jack was beaming from ear to ear…he really looked like he had finally found something in common with these children who lived such completely different lives; the love of soccer.

As the afternoon progressed, a group of older youth, and, men in their early twenties also started to appear on the field. Jack and the remaining boys moved their game to the other end and Roman and the men quickly got a lively game of soccer organized. These young men, mostly unemployed youth (as unemployment is more than 30% in this age group in Tanzania), played for more than an hour and a half. Roman worked up quite a sweat and a referee soon appeared with a whistle to officiate the game. We officially had our own Tanzanian soccer team.

Since that day, there have been endless hours of soccer. Roman, and Jack, the 'Mzungu Kakas', which means White Brothers in Kiswahili is expected at the field each day at 4:30 in the afternoon. And the men have appeared almost everyday, rain or shine, with snow peak of Mount Kilimanjaro sitting majestically behind them. The local priest has now officially welcomed Roman to the community in a formal celebration, and thanked him for working hard' to bring a ‘new life’ to the young men in the community. Indeed, other volunteers and locals alike have told us that there is an energy here that seems to build when foreigners come and live and work. Perhaps, seeing others investing time in your community motivates you to give a little bit more, even when many people here feel they have nothing left to give.

Since that day, the 'Kilema Soccer Team' has walked to neighboring villages for impromptu matches where it seems that the whole community has come out to see, my husband, the Mzungu Kaka, work his magic. What is most incredible is that all of this has developed with Roman and these young men never uttering a word that the other can really comprehend.

In our experience, soccer truly has broken down barriers of income, race, and, language. The language of soccer, and any sport, can be universal. It requires no money or special skills, just a love of the game and good sportsmanship. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could take that philosophy beyond the soccer pitch and into so many other aspects of our lives. I believe that the world would surely be a better place.

Jack has Malaria

2007-04-23T03:24:00.000-07:00

Well, just when we thought we would get away unscathed..Jack gets sick. It started yesterday with fever and back ache and headache..then vomitting and diarrhea. We had a blood smear done today and saw a doctor and his parasite load is quite high. He is now on treatment and seems better as the day is progressing. The whole family is getting tested today as we have all lived in the same house and Jack is also on malaria prophylaxis, which should have already decreased his risk, but, we are in an endemic area especially now that it is rainy season. We may as well be sure that none of us has it. We leave on Friday for a 5 day safari in the Serengeti and into two national parks in Kenya (Masai Mara and Amboseli) This is a major treat to ourselves for our hard work!. I want everyone to be healthy for the trip, especially since we'll be far from medical aid.

Jack is actually quite proud of himself and has already told two friends and the lady who served us coffee in the coffee shop this morning! He kept the lab sheet showing the positive test so he can paste it into his journal. The lady in the lab also let Roman and I have a look at those pesky parasites under the microscope...very fulfilling for the doctor in me but disconcerting to know it was my son's blood film!
I'll update you all later regarding the rest of the family's test results, including Roman's mom's (who already feels like we are trying to kill her by suggesting that she come to Africa for 2 months!).

Crazy Tanzanian things and Kiswahili Proverbs

2007-04-22T06:44:00.000-07:00

I still don’t really think my blog has done this country justice yet (or ever will). There are so many wacky and quirky things that we experience on a daily basis that go beyond what I am able to convey. i try to write them down but many just seem to slip away.

Some examples...

1. The speed limit on the road is determined by how fast your car can go. I have never seen a 'maximum speed' sign.

2. This morning at mass a person decided to sit next to me where there was no seat. What this means is that they put their behind down on the very edge of the pew and forcefully push you and all the people next to you over so that their bum has a seat. Everyone looks straight ahead while this is happening too, pretending like they are not feeling like they are being squished beyond any level of comfort and that their personal space has been seriously violated. Occasionally, the person on the other end of the pew falls off and then the whole exercise repeats itself as they put their backside back on the pew and push the opposite direction.

3. A car stopped in front of the women’s center house yesterday and the man opened the trunk and out jumped a goat..just on their way home, I guess.

4. There are crazy old buses (luxury coaches that saw their day in China or India about 15 years ago) that take people around to various destinations in this country everyday. Many of these buses are run by private operators who compete for passengers (specifically, how full they can pack the bus), speed, and, how gaudy(or beautiful, depending on how you see it) they can paint the outside of the vehicle. By far, the most important thing about these buses is that they all have names. The ones in Moshi town that I have seen are as follows:
The Hans Blix (yes, the UN guy who looked for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and didn't find them)…with, of course, a lovely mural of Hans himself on the back of the bus. There is the Paris Hiton (yes, sadly, the bus painter spelled it wrong..but who really cares) and unfortunately the back of the bus has a bad picture of Paris herself...she would not be pleased. There is the God Save the Queen bus (yes, you guessed it, the Queen is on the back)and, the Jesus Saves Us bus (with the Black or the White Jesus depending on the bus). I can't forget the long list of Rasta looking Bob Marley buses as well. There is one called Child's Play and Hero and Eddie Murphy..I could continue, but I won't because I think you get the picture…I am perpetually on bus alert as they are usually speeding by trying to kill us. Despite all the great names, I think The Hans Blix is still my favorite!

On a more spiritual note, there are lots of sayings in Kiswahili that are difficult to translate into English because of inherent differences in language structure and norms but, there are some Kiswahili proverbs that are easily translatable and nice to ponder. Here are a few of my favorites taken from my perpetually lifesaving Tanzanian handbook (Rough Guide to Tanzania)...

Haraka haraka haina baraka : Hurry hurry has no blessings
Mtumai cha ndugu hufa masikini: He who relies on his relative’s property, dies poor
Mchumia juani, hilla kivulini: He who earns his living in the sun, eats in the shade
Kila ndege huruka na mbawa zake: Every bird flies with its own wings (My favorite)
Ulimi unauma kuliko meno: The tongue hurts more than the teeth
Heri kujikwakidole kuliko ulimi: Better to stumble with toes than tongue
Haba na haba, hujaza kibaba: Little and little fills the measure

Some food for thought on a hazy Tanzanian Sunday.

Women's Center Pictures

2007-04-22T06:22:00.000-07:00

Pamoja Tunaweza (Together We Can) Women's Center

2007-04-22T05:48:00.000-07:00

We have had the keys to what will be our women’s center now for almost 2 weeks. We are all sleeping in the house as well when we come to Moshi from Kilema. Somehow the stars were crossed in our favour, because I really can’t believe how fortunate we have been to find this place. The purpose of the center is to provide additional support and services to women in need in the Moshi area and hopefully we will eventually have links to more rural areas outside Moshi. Impoverished (and often rural) women are often in the most difficult situations due to lower rates of education; with shocking illiteracy rates. The center has been the vision of Mama Minde, the director of KWIECO (Kilimanjaro Women’s Information Exchange Consultancy Organization). KWIECO established ties with CACHA a few years ago and CACHA ultimately sponsored Mama Minde to come to Canada in August 2006 for the World AIDS conference. Elizabeth (as I usually call her) presented her work on women’s land rights in Tanzania. She won an award at the conference and is definitely a trailblazer of women's rights in Sub-Saharan Africa. As I have ranted about in several blog entries, women need someone to champion their cause here and Elizabeth has been that person for more than a decade now.

KWIECO started as a small NGO funded by a Norwegian funding agency. They started with providing information and education on human rights (because it in the simplest sense, women’s rights are human rights). Elizabeth was somewhat of a one woman show initially, providing free legal counseling and going to court for women in need of legal defense. I am sure she was not well liked initially as customary law in Tanzania has dictated for centuries that women are ‘property’ of their husband and their husband’s family. They don’t really own anything within their marriage and when their husband dies, they often have difficulty retaining ownership of their land. The land is typically absconded with by a male relative of the husband (brother or father or even a male neighbor), the women can be left destitute and homeless, or, have some sort of arrangement with their in-laws to work for food and shelter for her children. HIV/AIDS has increased the number of women in this situation by a hundred fold and if the women is HIV positive, God help her, as her husband’s family is likely to shun her and her children completely. The option of returning to her parent’s home is not usually there as she is no longer wanted (and seen as a definite liability). Once a woman is married off here, she is her husband’s ‘problem’.
Many women in Tanzania are poor and unaware that the law does state that they are worthy of all rights afforded to men. Many of them have lived in marriages where they must get consent from their partner to go to the hospital, to work, to take on any role higher community role or try to further their education. A recent study completed by The Dignity Project in Tanzania looked at the causes of maternal and child mortality during childbirth and examined the rate of obstetrical fistula (where a canal develops between the vagina and the urethra..typically, these women leak urine, or between the rectum and vagina-they leak stool, or if they are lucky enough…they leak both). In 90% of cases of obstetrical fistula the baby dies. The fistula develops when the baby’s head is stuck in the birth canal for long periods. This happens because rural and even urban (yet poor) women live long distances from medical care or are unable to pay for it. The study showed that even after arriving at a medical center, many were turned away for being unable to pay or received sub- standard care because the center was incapable of performing a cesarean section. The study also determined that the type of relationship the woman had with her partner also impacted on the time it took to seek care. Many husbands insist that their wives deliver at home (even when the women have been instructed to go to a medical center to deliver because they are short in stature or have other pre-natal complications). In addition, the women who suffered from fistula also recounted that their mother-in –law had played a major role in the decision to take the women to seek medical care. Many women felt they were unable to make any of the decisions regarding the delivery of their own child. They also live with guilt for not feeling empowered enough to be able to save the life of their own child. These women are then subjected to a life as a social outcast if they cannot find or afford the specialized surgery required to repair their fistula. In simplest terms; they smell bad. This example of obstetrical fistula really provides a lens into just about all aspects of a poor and uneducated woman’s life here. The same type of empowerment issues also exist around HIV/AIDS. Many women know they need to be tested but are unable to have it performed because their husband or his family fears stigmatization from the community. Positive women who have received any pre-natal care have usually been told that they should deliver in a health care facility so that they can be provided neveripine during labor and deliver to prevent transmission of the virus to their newborn. The newborn is also treated with anti-retrovirals after delivery. This can lower the vertical transmission (mother to child) by 2/3rds. Tragically, these women are often prevented by their husband or family members from receiving this preventive care as well because of the stigmatization. Why am I on this tangent? Well, the issue of land rights (and human rights) in the simplest sense, is at the heart of all these issues. Elizabeth’s work to provide ‘one woman at a time’ with the right to land that is in all respects her’s is the first step to empowering women in many other aspects of their lives. KWIECO now also educates boys and girls about human rights issues.
The women that KWIECO serves are in need of more than legal aid. It has been Elizabeth’s vision to provide a safe and compassionate place for further social support and counseling to get these wome to the next step; beyond rightful ownership of their land. For those with HIV, even more indepth care is needed. We even hope to provide for the most at risk women, a safe place to stay if they are in dangerous marriages and are in the process of re-establishing a life for themselves and their children outside of the marriage. The building we are leasing has a self-contained apartment on the upper floor and would serve well as a place for volunteers to stay or women who need temporary shelter. The ground floor will house an office, meeting room and a counseling room. The counseling room will ultimately double as an exam room when we have a free women’s health clinic here (my dream).

I have uploaded pictures of the house. Roman and Jack burning brush from the garden, the office, bedrooms, upstairs kitchen, living room, patio and grounds (view from the front gate). I feel good here.

It is our eventual hope to provide free, open, safe access to women’s health care (mental and physical). We hope to provide education in reproductive and sexual health as well as offer HIV testing and treatment that goes beyond the norm, the taboos and the stigma that still exists here. It is my hope that our women’s center will one day fulfill that mission. I'll keep you posted.

Visiting Malinga...again

2007-04-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

We were missing Malinga and needing a break from Kilema so we took the luxury bus (an oxymoron if I ever heard one) to Dar es Salaam. Roman's mom is now officially African as she survived the trip and seemed to enjoy looking at the beautiful countryside. We have done it a few times so it isn't quite as interesting and the high speeds, broken toilet and lack of air conditioning for 8 hours were enough to send me over the edge. The kids are currently fighting over who will sleep next to Malinga tonight as I type this from the hotel room...thank God for good internet in the big city. It has been a great day and we are all looking forward to when he will be with us permanently. The update on the adoption process now is that we have done all paperwork and it is in the hands of the Tanzanian social services person who will handle our case. Her name is Miss Moyo. She will meet us tomorrow for the first time. She needs to get our foreign reference report from Canada and then she will put our file before the Assistant Commissioner for Social Welfare. He is an imposing and often difficult to deal with senior government official named Mr. Charwell. Once he approves us as fosterparents/guardians we can pick up Malinga at the orphanage. We will then need to apply for a Tanzanian passport (and likely pay some bribes...I can't believe I just said that) to get the whole thing done in time to take him home. One of us needs to get back to Canada soon to work as we are running out of money...but it will have been worth every penny.

Orphans, orphans, orphans..

2007-04-15T08:27:00.000-07:00

We had another orphan day on Friday and I think in a weird subconscious way it is getting easier. The kids are wonderful, tragic little human beings. The grandmothers who occasionally accompany them to the 'orphan day' are saints. We are compiling a list of those in the program who are HIV positive so that those that need treatment can start on ARV's. A pediatric HIV physician from the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation was at the hospital last week. He asked if we could produce a list in the next month or so of children for him to see in May on his next visit. We tested 10 children who lived the farthest away from Kilema (ie. they had walked more than 5 kilometres on mountain roads to see us that day). These children I chose to test all looked relatively healthy and only one of the 10 we tested was positive (I was overjoyed). We made a list of those who had already been tested over the last few months and have 56 children. We have about 40 more to test from this group. We are at the tip of the iceberg as this group has already been identified as the high risk group (in need of as much care as we can provide right now) but, there are hundreds more that we see on the roads everyday who are not known to us. There is one orphan, Augustina (see picture) who is two years older than Hannah and a waif of a thing. I fear she will die in the next year if she doesn't start treatment soon. She has recently been sponsored by a Canadian woman who purchased foam mattresses, clothing and food for the family and plans to provide money for food so that nutrition for the whole family can be improved. Augustina cannot be started on ARV's until she is 'healthier' ...a crazy irony I guess. The little girl with that looks like a baby Aunt Jemima (picture) is also positive and I had to try really hard to not bring her home with me. She came with a kind hearted neighbor who has taken her and her older sister in after the death of their mother and father this past year. I was thinking yesterday about what North America spends on doggy beauty parlours....it is a crazy, crazy, world.

Our days in the hospital

2007-04-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

It has been a good week. Roman and Canadian nurse , Sharmilla continue to be the extraordinary wound team at Kilema Hospital. They feel guilty now when they need to take a day off to go to town. The hospital we are working in functions reasonably well for minor ailments and women in labor but does not deal well with severely ill patients, especially children. We have no blood bank (families need to donate blood on theh spot for their loved one)and we cannot check kidney function, electrolytes or blood cultures. Writing an order on the chart and seeing it carried out can take hours even if a child is dying. I guess that is just the way things have always happened here. Human life is improtant but not seen in the same precious way that we see it in North America or in Western society in general but we are realizing that it is very difficult to change things with any significant speed. There is a definite resistance to trying new techniques and 'changing old ways'. It may be due to years (more like decades) of having only basic medicine and equipment available. Now that newer drugs are available (provided either by the Tanzanian health care system or by donations from various organizations), there is a reluctance to institute changes in care. I am not entirely sure why, there is certainly the feeling that we need to save things for a rainy day even if it means treating a burned child with inferior medicine or life threatening techniques (minus any pain control). I haven't quite grasped the whole situation yet but I am trying hard to understand it and make slow changes where I think they will take hold. There is a new computer here with satellite internet that is finally working but it needs to be locked up tight with only one of the nuns holding the key for fear it will get stolen. That will make my plan to teach the docs and clinical officers how to do a pubmed search somewhat difficult. I am trying to find a way to work around it. You often need to take the time to convince the powers that be that it was 'their' idea and then you can start to make new changes. The most iverwhelming issue we have in our hospital right now 9although the doctors assure me it is not new) is an epidemic of TB. The male medical ward has 8 out of 13 patients with TB and 4 of them have co-infection with HIV. Two of them are dying because they have stopped their antiretrovirals and chosen to be cured by a witch doctor. It hasn't worked. They have infected wives as well and several have infected children. We have a government funded 'TB coordinator' who I have not managed to meet or find yet. I asked this week how tracing of infected family members is done and they said it isn't as she is too busy with patients who come to be seen at the hospital clinic each weekday. The WHO advises that contact tracing be carried out for all potential contacts...this does not happen in our region. We just wait for them to appear at the hospital. HIV and its down stream effects seem to have taken over how i practice medicine here. Almost everyone I see needs testing or is already known to be infected. Getting people onto ARV's is difficult as they can be started but often run out of medication and don't get a refill because they cannot get to the clinic due to illness or family issues or distance. Stopping ARV's is good and bad as it can breed resistance...it is worse if they stop their anti-TB meds as well.
One positive is that the doctors and clinical officers that I make rounds with are very keen to learn (unlike the nursing staff)and seem to want to try to institute some of the suggestions I have made. The biggest (and most fixable) issue I see right now is that there is no running water in the pediatric ward (a nice looking broken sink) and moms (the dads are rarely around) who have babies with diarrhea cannot wash their hands easily. The families do all bathing and diaper changing of all patients (adults or children). If the sink does not work they need to go to the patient washroom area (and supply their own soap and towels) which is small and filthy and serves the whole hospital...you can see how disease gets spread...lets just say that Purell is my best friend! They are also expected to supply food if they can. Patients with no family are given millet porridge or maize porridge(ugali) and beans.
I have added picutres of a child receiving burn treatment (happy to say that Roman and Sharm pulled out the Flamazine that was locked in a cupboard for a year and the child has now gone home!), other pics of our soccer teams and some children at the nearby school.

Easter Blessings and small things

2007-04-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy week with no internet access. Roman and Jack and Sharm (Canadian nurse extrordinaire) and I walked to the Kilimanajro Resort Hotel to use the internet. The walk from Kilema Hospital is beautiful with several waterfalls along the way. We had a wonderful Easter morning. The Easter Bunny some how found his way to Kilema...he even put Easter chocolates UNDER the mosquito nets! The kids had great egg hunt and we went to an early mass with some of the most beautiful singing and ululation (when the women click and roll their tongues to make a chanting sound). We walked to the shack of a large and very poor family who we had seen when we did the stations of the cross on Good Friday.
The hill behind the hospital, which I have mentioned before, has 'the way of the cross'on it...basically the steps Jesus took to his crucifixion (for all you non Christians!). It is a holy journey for us Cathiolics and Roman's mom, Hannah and Roman and I made our way up the hill on Good Friday. It was a great hike and very beautiful. Roman's mom said the $5000 was worth it (which is what her airfare, shots, anti-malarials and spending money cost her!). Anyway, I think my children really witnessed what it means to share.
This family with many children and a grandfather who seemed to be caring for them looking overjoyed to receive our cake, chocolate eggs and toys. Jack and Hannah willingly parted with a large amount of our candy that I had brought from Canada on my visit home. It is so much more enjoyable to share it (Pictures now uploaded).
It was a nice break from a busy few days in the hospital. Roman and I had a tough day on Friday (prior to leaving on our hike) as we lost a young boy (12 years old) who presented way too late with what I think was Rift Valley Fever. With this virus , which is transmitted by mosquitos, you get a flu-like illness and bleed from many mucous membranes. We got family members to donate blood and did everything we could with the resources we had. He died during our hike with his 15 year old brother at his side.

Karen is officially Tanzanian!

2007-04-03T03:49:00.000-07:00

Hello again,
I have been away for 9 days in Canada then Germany (all work related) and now I am 'home again' in Tanzania. It was wonderful to see all of my beloved (and you really are) family and friends in Kingston. My house felt opulent and castle like for th first 24hours and then I started to feel that it was my new reality once again. It is amazing how you adjust to two very different worlds.
I had an interesting experience on arrival home in KIngston and, Jenn Carpenter is my witness. The story goes like this: I have had a small sore on my left big toe for more than a month now. I thought it was a bloo blister at first and didn't really know how I managed to get it. I sort of picked at it and tried to pull it off a few times but it would not budge nor did it seem to be healing in any way. When I arrived in Kingston and started wearing closed toes shoes again (although my feet really wanted to wear sandals. I started to feel some pain over that site. I described it to Jenn one day and asked if she would look at it to see if she knew the diagnosis. She said 'sounds likethe chiggers'. My heart sank and I felt sick all at the same time. Chiggers are a flea that burrows under the skin of feet in the part of Africa where we have been living. I had seen children with many of them on their feel but generally they were large infected sores so it never ocurred to me an early version of this DISGUSTING parasite. Any way, several hours later and after a glass of wine, we did the operation. Jenn soaked my toe in peroxide nd went and got a small foreps. I picked the top of the lesion off and out popped a white wormy like thing. She ran into the kitchen gagging (I am totally serious) and I felt very pale and sick all of a sudden). Yes, the ER physician who lances boils and drains pus was disgusted and sickened by the living creature in my toe!! After I calmed down a little, I managed to pull it out and it broke in half...so now half a flea/worm was stuck in my toe. After a bit of work I eventually pulled the second bit out. I went home and soaked my toe to ensure all the body parts of this tunga penetrans (its latin name) were fully extracted. My toes is now fully recovered and I bought a pair of better shoes as a birthday gift to myself in Frankfurt...ones that should prevent further foot flea infestations. I hope none of you are feeling too squeamish but it was possibly one of the most disgusting things I have ever done and it was on my body!! THAT, my friends, is why I now consider myself a true Tanznaian.

Picutres and more to follow tomorrow on the new women's centre....I got the keys today...this is a big step for PREVENTION THROUGH EMPOWERMENT.

Visit with Malinga

2007-03-23T00:41:00.000-07:00

Again apologies for delays in blog posts. I have spent the last week in Kilema where the new Rotary funded satellite internet connedction is almost up and running ...but not quite. No timeline available either as a 'part' is needed for the wireless router. Anyway, I think my last entry ended with a reference to our harrowing bus ride to Dar es salaam to see Malinga. We had a wonderful three days and spoiled ourselves by staying at the Kilimanjaro Kempinski for three whole nights. Shafiq,our travel agent in Moshi booked us the resident rate, which is much more affordable than the rate for business travellers but still a splurge. We of course wanted only the best for Malinga for his first sleep-over with his new big brother (Big Kaka in Kiswahili...you can of course imagine the mileage that Jack my bodily function obsessed son has gotten out of that one!). Yes, brother is 'Kaka' in Kiswahili. Sister is Dada, and Hannah of course is referring to herself as the little Dada, but, it doesn't have the same effect. The bus ride on the Dar Express involved a hot (I am sure it was plus 35) sweaty and smelly, full bus load of people for 8 hours!!! We got on at 6:30 am and at 7:30 they gave out the bottle of Fanta or Coke and at noon we stopped for 'lunch'. Lunch was at a roadside restaurant in the middle of nowhere. There was 5- 10 minutes to eat some rice and beans quickly and use the pit latrines and run back on the bus. The buses staying on-time seems to be the only things that runs on schedule in this land of paradoxes. When it is time to leave (and no -one knows when the driver will decide that is) the driver and his assistant start to board the bus and beep the horn and roll, out fo the parking lot no matter who is missing. I am not exaggerating either. Once we arrived in Dar we cooled off our slightly stressed and over-heated kids in the beautiful infinity pool that overlooked the harbour (Indian ocean). The rooms felt like a palace after Kilema, we all slept in a fluffy King Size bed after a huge dinner. Hannah fell asleep at the table though and missed her spaghetti. The next day we had a breakfast meeting with our lawyer and Tanzanian adoption wiz...Brooke Montgomery. We asked if Malinga could stay with us that evening and she agreed it would be a good idea. We went to the orphanage when the kids returned home from school and were met by all the children and their wonderful smiles and hugs...we are getting to know them all quite well. They all have distinct little personalities as well. Malinga had been asked by the volunteer if he wanted to go with us for a 'sleepover' and according to her he smiled and didn't waste any time by marching to his room and packed his bag.
We had a truly awesome night and i was really touched by how kind and gentle my children were with him. They almost fought over who could be nicer to him. Hannah had her arm around him in the taxi and Jack took his hand as we walked into the hotel. We went for a swim first. Malinga can float, which is a start but Jack basically pulled him around on a buoy the whole time. After it got dark we went for a nice dinner. My heart was breaking as I watched him clear his plate and then Jack's leftovers. He would have had Hannah's too I think if he wasn't so tired. We went up to bed at that point. The three kids climbed under the fluffy white duvet and watched African soccer. When the room attendant arrived with Malinga's fold up cot he climbed under the covers and was sound asleep in 3 minutes. We all slept well that night...it was nice to have him so close.
The next morning, Jack and I rose early with Malinga so we could enjoy a leisurely breakfast and get him to school on time. Again, he ate three times what I thought his stomach would hold...and topped it off with a gooey chocolate donut (which he politely tried to cut with a knife and fork before I convinced him to pick it up with his fingers!). After breakfast we grabbed a taxi and took him to school. He goes to a lovely English Waldorf-based curriculum school and is in the first grade. The orphans from his orphanage are all sent there at some expense to try to get them a better education than the government system provides here...namely schooling in English and, where children are not routinely disciplined through corporal punishment. Jack was invited to participate in the rhythmic play session that they started their day with. He and Malinga were both grinning from ear to ear. After the class went into school, Jack and I headed off again for the hotel. We visited Malinga again that night but couldn't bring him for a sleepover as we were leaving the next morning.
Our bus ride home to Kilema was long and hot AND we were almost left at the rest stop. It was actually quite comical as I thought I had heard them announce that the bus was leaving and Roman said 'no, it wouldn't be leaving yet'..next thing we look over and the bus is driving away! He made a dash to get them to stop and they slowed down but kept rolling. I was yelling in English and Swahili for them to stop and when I got to the door i put my leg up on the step so he would have to stop. By that time Roman and the kids had made it to the bus and were able to climb on...it was crazy. I yelled at the driver mainly because he saw that we were running to catch him and didn't stop. I am sure we must have left someone else behind. The 'new' experiences never stop. I also haven't told you that the driver plays loud music, usually a B-band version of a Backstreet Boys or some other mainstream artist. They also have a dilapidated Tv on board and show Nigerian soap operas or violent Asian movies. I am sure i still haven't done the whole crazy experience justice...you really had to be there.

Life in Kilema

2007-03-12T04:32:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post some pictures of life around our house. I have posted one of the kids in the stinky pig pen with the piglets...the one behind our house. One of Patrick playing with Jack and Hannah and Yeska and Jackson our neighbors (children on Dr. Massawi,one of the docs who works at the Kilema Hospital). I have also posted a picture of Jack on the hill behind our house. There is a huge hill with a catholic shrine that has the most spectacular view of the Pare Mountains and into Kenya (which is only 20 minutes from here).
We are in Dar es salaam right now after an 8 hour hot bus ride (we are on budget travel!). We will visit Malinga again this afternoon and see if he will come to the hotel for a 'sleep-over'. It will still be another few weeks before he can live with us. It has been hard in that respect but that is how the system works. Please include us in your positive thoughts and prayers that the system works in our favour in terms of timing.
I have also posted a picutre of the 'meat shop' in Marangu. We passed it on the way home from a caravan stop last week. This, my friends, is the reason I have sworn off meat...that and the threat of Rift Valley Fever that has infected animals in Kenya. Jack has also learned how to kill and pluck the chickens that the 'chef' was preparing for the caravaners. Eric was our cook and he gave jack a real-life lesson about where the food we eat comes from. The fun never stops....you have to keep your sense of humour intact!

Caravan #2

2007-03-12T04:24:00.000-07:00

Our caravan stops this week have been great. We had some visiting students (Brits, Germans and a lovely young medical student from St. John’s Newfoundland named Melissa Angel) join us from the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) a fairly large hospital in Moshi. They seemed to enjoy the day that they spent with our group. I have to say that after you spend a few days with complete strangers who all have a very like-minded purpose, you can become quite efficient. By day two we were easily seeing 500 people with 3 docs and 3 nurses working together.
Moshi is a modest size town with a sprawling population of about 600,000. It is the nearest city centre from where we live and the KCMC is the hospital where Kilema hospital refers to for more complicated medical problems. I went there after the first caravan with a friend who asked me to give a ‘second’ opinion regarding a friend of hers who was ill. It is a large yet primitive looking set of buildings. The medicine ward was crowded and there were beds throughout the hallways and even in the landing at the top of the stairs. The hospital can provide most general surgeries but has a limited ICU. There is a large HIV research component that is carried out in collaboration with Duke University. It has pediatrics and maternal fetal medicine. Anything beyond that must go to Dar es Salaam. All non-invasive modern procedures (cardiac caths, laparoscopy etc) must be done through referral to India or South Africa. Occasionally patients seek care in Nairobi, 8 hours drive away. All of this next level of care is expensive and not paid for by the government…hence most of the citizens of Tanzania cannot afford it or go bankrupt trying.
Our stops this week were all so different from the first caravan as they were all located close to more populated areas. We had two busy days at dispensaries near the village of Marangu (where the most popular entrance to Kilimanjaro National Park is located). We had two full days in Himo Town, the hub I mentioned previously for trucks and travelers (and a lot more HIV/AIDS patients) and, we had two days at Kilema Hospital itself. At Kilema we ran our clinic outside under an open air area where the doctors often hold their morning ‘report’ and teaching sessions…quite a nice airy place to be compared to the two days in the ‘sweat lodge’ in Himo. The Himo clinics were held in a stone shed with a metal corrugated roof. The shed was used by the Catholic diocese to hold community meetings and other church related activities.
The cases this week were varied and interesting. There was always a sense of cross-referral and sharing of info as we worked side by side. I was most comfortable with sick old people and basic tropical medicine stuff but I would often ask Dr. Don Kilby about some of the baby related cases or difficult/unusual looking rashes. There is a ton of other sexually transmitted disease beyond HIV. Most women of child bearing age have some type of PID (pelvic inflammatory disease). We also try to treat their partners whether they are present at the clinic or not. It is hard to know if that strategy works at all or if they get re-infected within the next few weeks. I saw only a small amount of real bread and butter ‘medicine’ related cases that I was accustomed to, such as heart failure or angina. I certainly was not thinking a lot about nephrology. There is some obesity closer to the larger cities but most of these patients were grossly underweight and extremely fit from long days of hard work on their shambas. I don’t like to admit it, but, I did enjoy the variety. There were of course lots of ‘pain in the body’ consults that were mostly middle to older age women whose bodies had just had enough. Dr. Kilby was quite innovative on this caravan as he recruited a lovely and hysterically funny man named Patrick who was our resident chiropractor. Although patients got only about 5 minutes with him, I could see him working miracles on some painful shoulders and lumbar spines. He taught patients some exercises and provided a lot of comic relief. The patients really loved it and I think they thought he was doing some type of witch craft…this was like nothing they had ever seen or had done to them (see picture). Patrick always had an audience of women and men sitting on the bench watching him crack and manipulate the bones of some withered looking bodies. Many of the patients laughed out of nervousness, I think, but a lot of smiling went on in his ‘corner’. Most people here (mostly Chagga tribe) have a limited knowledge of the human body and there are some really interesting beliefs about how the body works etc. I had some little old ladies tell my translator that they started with pain in their right foot and then it travels to their right hip and shoulder and ultimately their right ear or eye…and then maybe over to the left!
I spent a fair bit of time reassuring healthy older people that they were not really sick, just old and tired from working too hard.
I have attached a picture of a child who we sent for testing who was supposed to be 12. The other pictures are of Patrick at work and one of me holding possibly the cutest baby I have seen yet (other than my own of course!). I also put one of Roman at work with Tom Kaul. I wish I could be more descriptive but the number of patients we see each day makes it a little overwhelming to try to describe the really interesting stuff.

Arusha National Park

2007-03-11T12:29:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we visited Arusha National Park. It is the closest National Park to where we are currently living. It is uncrowded and unspoiled with tremendous natural beauty. It surrounds the base of Mount Meru and is known for its families of Giraffe that roam freely. There are no large game such as lions and rhino but there are elephants who inhabit the lower slopes of Meru. We had hoped to catch a glimpse of the elephants on our morning hike but they are quite far into the jungle at present due to the abundant rains. There is no need for them to venture out to find water holes out in the open. There are plenty of Africa Cape water buffalo and Zebra as well as hyena, large families of wart hogs (with babies) and plenty of wonderful birds. We also came across some families of blue monkey and babooons as we passed through the forested areas. They put on quite a show. We shared a magical night with our travel companions, our fellow caravaners: Tom Kaul (Kingston ER resident), Carene Davey (HIV drug rep from Toronto), Patrick Faloon (Chiropractor from Ottawa), Carolyn Showler (HIV nurse from Victoria BC). We sayed at Momella Lodge known historically for the filming of John Wayne's 'Hatari'. The lodge was built in the 1940's and consists of quaint cottages that sit at the base of Mount Meru. We sat out on our porch after dinner and watched the water buffalo graze on the lawn right in front. The sound of their chomping was quite incredible. It was a full moon that night and the moon lit up Mount Kilimanjaro like a parking lot. We could even see the flashing light of hikers summiting and camping near its peak. It was lit up until the wee hours of the morning. Quite a magical night and a great way to relax after a crazy week. I have to say that this group of people were quite an amazing bunch of human beings. I think the bonding process was helped by the fact that all 9 of us were living in our little house for the 2 weeks during the 2nd caravan but I really must say that they were each incredible people who had a lot to offer. They were especially good to my kids...who I think are now missing them terribly. The next morning the giraffes were grazing just outside the lodge fence line. Mount Meru looked beautiful in the morning mist (see picture of the kids and I).
While hiking on Mount Meru we got really close to the giraffes but, I think Jack found the game warden's rifle more interesting. Kili was clear that morning and the view was spectacular. It really looks huge when you are not living at the base of it as we are in Kilema. I can't believe Roman has convinced me to try to climb it with him at the end of our stay....he says that if I can get him to move to Africa for 4 months then the least I can do is climb the mountain with him...fair trade? I'm not so sure!

Orphans

2007-03-09T23:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I apologize for taking so long to update. It has been a busy 10 days and I have so much to tell. I have decided to make the subject of this post, the orphans in the Kilema Kilimanjaro Region...I feel like I owe it to them to tell their story. The region surrounding 'our hospital' is a high prevalence area for HIV. I think I have mentioned it before but this is primarily due to the main road that travels through the town below the hospital named Himo Town. This is the trucking route from Nairobi in Kenya to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city. The truckers often stop for food or lodging and of course this raises the likelihood of HIV spread as they take part in other activities during their 'breaks'. The sex trade is alive and well in this region. Those men can either pass on the virus or catch it themselves. The availability of prostitutes in the area alsomakes it easier for men from the region to enjoy a night out. These men then go home and infect their partners. The effects of all of this activity over time have been devestating. We are now (and have been for a few years) seeing the emergence of children with no surviving parents. They live with grand parents or neighbors or older siblings. Most live in tiny huts in the villages surrounding Kilema. The Sisters (of our lady of Kilimanjaro, who run the hospital) started an orphan program 2 years ago that has, out of necessity, grown in leaps and bounds. Most of these children have been affected by HIV insome way and all are devastatingly poor. The program initially started with one day a month when the poor children in the region are invited to come to the Kilema Hospital Grounds. They usually receive a small snack and, if there is money available, they will be given some cooking oil or maize to take home. Some still live with parents and others not. Over the last size months, CACHA has worked to identify the highest risk orphans in that particular program. They have visited the homes of about 80 childen and documented where they live, the shelter, the care giver and health status of each child. These children now come on a separate identified day of the month. They receive a larger food package and this week were each given a pair of shoes (some new and others used). The shoes were purchased through a donation provided through Rotary in Canada. We also weighed and measured each child and had plans to complete HIV testing on somehad not yet been tested (many have and are HIV positive) but there wasn't enough test kits available in the Kilema HIV clinic to deal with the orphans who needed to be tested. We had overwhelmed the HIV clnic withpeople arriving for testing over the last two to three weeks. Each time we saw a patient at one of the dispensaries who was displaying any of the signs or symptms of AIDS , we referred them to Kilema for testing. With 3 docs and 4 nurses each seeing about 500 people per day, this resulted in a lot of referrals for counselling and testing. A number f the orphans have already been identified as positive and a few are on ARV's(anti-retrovirals). Many are not as they need to be fully assessed and reqire improvement in their nutritional status before we can safely treat them.
After 3 days of caravan the first week, there was the big monthly orphan day (yes, with the 500 kids. I missed it as I was out with the caravan in Himo Town (subject of my next post). Roman and Jack stayed behind with the CIDA and CACHA Interns to get the day off and running. In Roman's words, "it was one of the most incredible things I have ever experienced". Apparently the crowd gathered quite early and the children were exceedingly orderly. He said there was minimal pushing or shoving..for the number of kids that were present. Roman and Jack and Hannah made an attempt at playing soccer. Roman said he felt like the pied piper as he marched with 300 plus children behindhim up to the field. The others stayed behind to participate in another activity. Hannah sat with some of the little girls at the side of the field and entertained as usual..mostly saying things that she thought were funny and laughing at herself...her giggles are usually what make the kids laugh not the joke. Her Swahili is not well enough developed to really have a conversation with any of the kids. She seems to manage anyway. After the game the children all went back to the hospital area and had tea. Roman helped pour the tea and Hannah handed out something else. And Jack....played his violin (see picture to believe it!). It must have been pretty incredible to have an 8 year old Canadian boy serenading a bunch of African children. Roman said they seemed fascinated. He of course forgot to run back home and get the video camera. The Sisters thought it was a hit too.

We had a second week of busy caravan which Roman was able to fully participate in as our 'nanny' had arrived on Sunday after finishing her secondary school exams. Her name is Sylvia or as Tanzanians would pronouce 'Silivia'. She is a nice young woman who is fitting in well. It has taken a while to introduce the concept that it is ok to just play with the kids (colour or read). She wants to spend the day (or thinks she should) washing our clothes and the floors etc. Kids here are not really 'played with'or entertained in that way. They work.

After a great week of caravan (and pretty much feeling good about what we had accomplished, however small it was), we were introduced to the 'high risk' orphan group. My eyes are clouding over as I write this because yesterday was possibly the hardest day of my life. The children arrived mid-morning and we sat the eighty or so kids in the shade near the HIV clinic. As I mentioned, the initial plan was to test those who had not yet been tested but, were were soon informed that the clinic was running out of tests and it would have to be done next month. These children were visibly different than most of the sick children I had encountered even during the medical caravan. Their faces really reflected what I guess I could describe as nothing other than hopelessness. I was surprised at how difficult I found the day. There is nothing like a sick and hopeless child to make you feel completely inept. The hardest part was that we all knew that there was not much more that we could do for them that day or in the coming weeks or months. I was secretly dreaming about building a huge orphanage where everyone would be looked after, but what about the kids on the other side of mountain, can we build one there too? Sorry if I sound so weepy and pathetic but that is really how I felt....and it wasn't me who was suffering. Most of these kids need so much more than a pair of shoes. But CACHA is doing as much as they can right now with the available resources.
I will post a few pictures of Jack and Hannah putting maize flour into bags and playing hopscotch but it won't help you feel how had sad the air felt that day.

Despite my pity for myself, there were a few kids who really did smile, or shall I say beamed when we handed them their new shoes. For that moment, we had brought a little bit of hope even if it was with a second hand shoe from WalMart.

Our new home

2007-02-28T03:05:00.000-08:00

I apologize for taking so long to get this next post completed. It has been a busy week as we finally moved into our new home on the Kilema Hospital Compound. It is a nice little house that is overlooking a valley with Kilimanjaro behind us. We have banana trees in front and a pig pen behind (well, about 20 feet behind but it sure sounds like they are on our back step. Their lovely odour wafts through the house at different times of the day as the wind shifts. The sow and her piglets make a huge racket that sounds like a scene from Jurassic Park. It usually happens about every three hours or so as the piglets go in for their next meal. She is not a happy camper when this happens...and who can blame her!
The floor is concrete but polished and smooth. We have only cold water at present but purchased the tank on Monday and hope to have the hot water installed soon. Hannah cries very time we have to take a shower. Roman and Jack do a lot of yelling as well to try to get through it. We have a two burner electric hot plate and a small fridge. We have three bedrooms and each bed has a mosquito net. The windows have screens but somehow the bugs just seem to make it in. We are quite settled and happy in its simplicity. The bird sounds in the morning are incredible and I love to sit on our little porch in the morning and look out over the valley. The pigs and the church bells have been waking us up rather early. Jack is in a routine now with the school work we brought and is back practicing violin. The house up the hill next to us belongs to the local doctor and he has two children, Jackson (10) and Yeska (6). The speak no Engligh and my kids speak no Swahili but everyone seems to manage quite well. There is always a lot of giggling going on. Hannah tends to boss them around (although I don't think they know it), 'come Yeska, sit here, no , sit over here, here is the yellow pencil crayon, you can use this one". Yeska smiles and tries to carry out the orders as best she can. Pictures to follow soon. The new Canadian caravaners arrived on Sunday evening and we have three docs, a nurse and a logistics person in our house (so Roman and the kids and I are all in one room in two beds) as well until March 11th. They are great company and we have had a lot of laughs, Patrick Falloon is a chiropractor who worked next to me yesterday at the dispensary and the patients just loved him. I don't think they had ever been 'touched' that way before. The Smile-O -Meter was really high all day yesterday at our first clinic day with this group. I saw quite a bit of suspected HIV and referred a bunch of people for counselling. There was quite a bit of tropical medicine and the rest of the stuff was similar to the first caravan, with sick babies, abdo pain, rashes etc. Yes, for all you who think you might have read incorrectly, I am seeing babies!! And, doing a lot of cuddling.
We will be quite busy until the 9th of March when this group packs up and then things should hopefully get back to 'normal'. Jack and Hannah will participate in two upcoming orphan days where the groups (about 250 in one and 100 in the other) come to the hospital grounds for food, games, clothing, medical care etc. I am not really sure what they will think of the whole thing but I am sure they will remember it for a long time. The plan is for Roman and Jack to participate in some home visits in late March and April when they will deliver clothes and bedding to the villages (way in the bush) to the huts where some of these children live. They will go with the local home-based care workers who are supported, in part through CACHA's orphan program. Jack seems to be processing everything in his own mostly positive way.
More to come in a few days on how this caravan has run and any interesting cases for all you docs who are reading).
Thanks to all of you who have posted comments. It is nice to hear from you! (Yes, Allison it worked!).
Take care.

Zanzibar Island

2007-02-18T22:30:00.000-08:00

After meeting Malinga we travelled the next day by ferry (NEVER DO THIS IF YOU CAN HELP IT) to Zanzibar Island for a few days of post-medical caravan rest with Jenn and Chris. It is a unique place that was once an Omani colony. Zanzibar and Tanganyika joined together about 60 years ago to become Tanzania. It is 85% Muslim and the port city of Stone Town really reflects this. Stone Town is famous for its carved wooden doors that really look like something out of the Middle East. They are exquisitely beautiful. The most famous (or infamous) stories of Stone town are around the slave trade. Tanzania was the 'exit point' for almost all the slaves who left Africa at the height of the slave trade. Slaves would be captured in other parts of Africa (Malawi, Zambia, Congo, Burundi, Uganda...essentially all the countries that border Tanzania) and forced to walk (yes, walk) to the ports in Bagamoyo and Dar es Salaam. They would then be taken by boat to Zanzibar Island and traded by our white, evil, colonialist ancestors. The slaves were 'kept' in underground caverns where a dark dingy stone room that could comfortably fit 15-20 would hold not less than 75 slaves. Many suffocated or died of dehydration. The heat in Zanzibar was like nothing I have ever felt. It is very close to the equator and very tropical. Even at the slave trade memorial site, that was in the shade, I could feel the sweat dripping off the back of my legs. The site is reasonably well preserved and pays homage to the slaves that were killed as well as those men (missionaries) who worked to abolish slavery. Dr. Livingston's memorial (of the famous " Dr. Livingston I presume") is there as well. You may remember him as the great African explorer who died at the mouth of the river Nile. He spent quite a lot of time in Tanzania and had many African friends. Just before he died he wrote letters to Britain requesting that the slave trade be ended. He unfortunately died before he got to see this happen but he is one of the men who is accredited with helping to bring the horrible practice to an end. We heard some unbelieveable stories from our guide, Mohammed. He was very well educated in the history of Zanzibar and the slave trade. He told us how women slaves were worth more than men because they could work in hard labour and prostitution AND then give birth to these babies who would also grow up to be slaves...a perfect little business if you were an evil slave owner. I will say no more about what they did to the babies when they were trying to auction slaves off and the babies cried...use your imagination.

At the site of the Anglican church that was built over the slave yards is a beautiful monument erected in 1998 (see picture of us).It shows slaves with chains on their necks in the trading pits. For such a horrible practice, and for the role that Tanzania played in it, I expected a little more int he way of manuments or memorials, but I guess they just don't really want to rememebr the whole nasty business.
Zanzibar Island is also know for its spice crop (a.k.a Spice Island). We didn't manage to take a spice tour that weekend...too hot to do with the kids who just wanted to swim...but maybe next time.
Our guide took us to our hotel where we would spend two great days. The resort was perched on the Indian Ocean. The beach was old coral reef and sand but the hotel had built a very long concrete path out to the next sandbar. During the changing tides you were able to see the aquatic life in the tidal pools. Hannah and Jack had a collection of hermit crabs going. Our room was a cottage on a cliff that was very Zanzibarian with netting around the beds and beautiful dark, carved woodwork. The kids particularly enjoyed the Masai 'security' guards who quietly circled the cottage every hour or so to be sure we were all safe. Jack befriended several of them (all in traditional Masai clothing) and one even showed jack a lion tooth he was wearing around his neck. He had killed the lion in the 1990's in the Ngorogoro Crater. Jack, has a million questions about everything...some of them should not be said in public either! Lets just say, we are working on that.
We move to Kilema Hospital tomorrow, now that the first caravan group has left. It will be nice to get settled in so that we can have things ready when the next group arrives and for when Mama Urasa comes next Wednesday for our home visit. This is required before Malinga can come to live with us as our foster child.

sunoverkili

Leaving for home

Tender Mama's Spa Service

Shakira has arrived!

soccer days in Moshi

Malinga's Adoption is almost final

Making chappatti and eating bugs in Moshi

The other story of Rwanda

More and You Tube links to festivities.....

More of the grand opening celebration

More of the grand opening celebration

Pamoja Tunaweza Grand Opening Celebration at the new building March 8, 2011

African Womens' Voices Project-Goma, Congo

Our Trip to Pangani By Hannah Zablocki

Our Artist in Residence..Ms Heather Haynes

Tanzania Loves Barack Obama

Kilimanjaro Marathon 2011

Macmillans Pub and Uhuru Museum

Godmark Graveyard furniture..morbid but interesting!

My Trip to the Hot Springs By Hannah Zablocki

My Safari to the Serengeti and Ngorogoro Crater By Hannah Zablocki

More caravan 'action' shots from Chekereni, Kahe and Mabogini villages

Trekking with the Gorillas in the Volcanoes National Park

Feels Like Home-Return to Tanzania 2011

The Women and the Mountain

Images of Malinga's first 6 weeks

Malinga is almost Canadian

More

Malinga has arrived!!

We have custody!!!

Monday-back to Miss Moyo

Return to Tanzania (again!) and the Malinga saga

Safari Njema

Caravan Stats and final goodbyes

More...

And more...

More memories...

Women's Health Caravan Memories

I can't believe its over!

Caravan escapes continue...

Canadian Passports are bulletproof...sort of

Wednesday 378!

Caravan Day 1-smiles galore

Inaugural Women's Health Caravan 2008

Return to Tanzania (again!)

Cowing Around For Africa

Return to Tanzania

Sub-Saharan Africa’s Orphan Legacy: Mosa’s Story

Thoughts on returning home and the opening of Pamoja Tunaweza Women's center

Climbing to the 'Roof of Africa'

Gender Inequality and the HIV Epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa

Welcome to God TV

Zamani Kempinski Zanzibar

Bagamoyo

Tortilis Camp and Kilimanjaro

On to Kenya and Amboselli National Park

Day #2 continues: Gibb's Farm

Day 2: Elephants are on the loose

Day 1: Safari Njema 'Have a Good Journey'

Countdown is on...

The Universal Language of Soccer

Jack has Malaria

Crazy Tanzanian things and Kiswahili Proverbs

Women's Center Pictures

Pamoja Tunaweza (Together We Can) Women's Center

Visiting Malinga...again

Orphans, orphans, orphans..

Our days in the hospital

Easter Blessings and small things

Karen is officially Tanzanian!

Visit with Malinga

Life in Kilema

Caravan #2

Arusha National Park

Orphans

Our new home

Zanzibar Island