Education Outreach and Student Training

Priyanka and I spent a lot of time preparing the presentation (on STDs) that was requested by the Nyanza Secondary School. Conducted the talk to a small group (they will then talk to their peers) in the new IHP Birthing Center. We covered all the big ones plus HIV. Kids very interested in HIV history and new research, so we discussed role of male circumcision and PrEP. Seemed to mostly go over their heads but if even one person picked up the main ideas, it was worth it Pictures forthcoming...

After we conducted training, we received some. Jackie, a visiting nurse at the clinic did a session on scrubbing-in and surgical prep. Dr. Charles Powell (neonatologist) gave us a talk on neonatal resuscitation. "Airway-airway-airway... breathing-breathing-breathing." Very good talk, I learned a lot in spite of being a lawyer.

Milkman

Every day, there is a little bell around 3pm and the milkman rides by Paula's house on his bicycle in case we want any milk. One day when Paula was buying I gently bullied him (and gave up some coin) into taking a picture with me. He must ride gazillions of miles a day with those jugs... We boil the milk first, don't worry. Which means we only drink skim milk! :)

Trip to Market

We went to the Buzuruga (suburb of Mwanza) produce market last week. Here is a picture of a typical stand. They also have enormous avocadoes and lots of home made honey. The mangoes here are ridiculously delicious.Also, before I left, we talked to an old vendor ("bibi" or grandmother) who taught me to shell peanuts properly. (below) I heart her!!

Those kids in the top of the shot followed us around the market, curious and excited, like we were some new zoo animal. Unlike the one girl who was terrified of my crazy white face. Poor thing..she cried!

Day 19 – Tuesday Hedgehog

Finally found the mile run around the compound! Many fun encounters. School kids en route to class tried to run along for about 0.3mi/ One family tending their plot counted my laps each time I passed, laughing their butts off. What appeared to be a mom, grandma, and two daughters stopped my mid run to exchange foral greetings, shake hands, and welcome me to Nyakato. Out of breath from replying to greetings mid-run.

Tried to get $ from ATM today but no luck. Some SparrowNET crap. Ugh. If I could find that sparrow with its net I would smack it silly. Went to a Maasai jewelry shop with Paula. So many beads!

In clinic today, some boys dropped off a request for an STD lecture for secondary school students. Priyanka and I will be working on that for Thursday. Yay!

Also, I ran into a hedgehog after dinner. It sniffed in my direction.

Something bit me...

I sat down for a game of Scrabble after a long day and what do I find on my knee but a huge bug bite. Please don’t tell me this is a spider. I took my Mefloquine MINUTES after I saw this. Blegh. Still alive though.. Doctor said this was an "idiosyncratic reaction." For as medicky and scientificky as that sounds it just means "you have a weird bug bite mark, congrats." Will monitor for further developments.

Day 18 – Monday chores and horrible creatures in our bungalow. ACK!

Ran around town with Paula and Mboto again. So tiring... I don’t know how she does it. During our trip, Paula explained the problem with clinics accepting HIV/AIDS funding to supplement a rural clinic with an ARV dispensary. Apparently the stigma is so great that a clinic with an HIV/AIDS “wing” cannot survive as it will likely lose its “general care” population. The only organizations immune to this problem are hospitals, which are enormously understaffed, filled miles beyond capacity (2-3 patients to a bed in the Bugando maternity ward. A bed!!!) and not in close contact with the community.

Priyanka found a giant tarantula in one of our bathrooms, right on the shower drain. He totally stared down the camera. Yes, I squealed!!

Then, just as we were calming down from that experience, Sarah walks in and says, “what’s this on the floor?” The “this” was a giant millipede, about 6 inches long. At least! I know it looks small but compare it to the power strip!! I tried to pick it up with a cup and it wriiiithed. So I REALLY squealed. The night guard came up to our door/fence with the machete unsheathed and ready to rumble. I handed him the cup with the curled up millipede. His eyes showed no sympathy with my emotional condition and he nonchalantly flung the milllipede into the bush in front of my house. Frank, I want to move to Iceland...and also someone needs to call me a WHAAAAAmbulance! :(

Day 17 – Sunday! Pool! Tunza!

Priyanka and I cleaned the bungalow. The soot from Mwatex was everywhere! After that we took a trip to Paula’s pool to soak our feet and then the whole group went to Tunza, a lodge/restaurant on the beach of Lake Victoria where it’s actually okay to walk barefoot (if not swim). Here are some shots of the sunset.

JJ (a good friend who is also the son of one of the staff members at IHP) and I also had some fun hamming it up for the camera. JJ speaks fluent English and Swahili. He is 6. I feel dumb.

The Dala Dalas

A “Dala dala” is a bus that goes around Mwanza and its vicinity. It’s actually more like a glorified van. For just a few shillings you can go to most places in town, with only a few caveats such as terribe drivers, buses packed so full people have to disembark via window, and pickpockets. A major plus is the bus “personality.” My personal favorites are the “Dogg(y) Style” bus and the John Cena bus. John Cena is HUUUGE in Mwanza. I don’t know either...

Day 16: Temple Visit

Another trip to Mwanza today! Visited a Hindu Temple with Priyanka. The woman (Neesha) who sells Paula her plastic chairs gave us a tour of the temple. Fascinating and kind of tiring with all the deities. Neesha was a wonderful and gracious guide. The temple was cool (temperature wise) and super clean. Touched a cow sculpture/fountain for the blessing. There is a very large Indian community in Tanzania, but mostly in urban areas. Many businesses are Indian-owned. These are not expats though!

A large group of new volunteers arrived from Iowa today. We were running around like crazy trying to help IHP get ready for them.

Day 15: A jog and a scared patient

Ran for the first time today. New volunteer likes to run too so we could go together. There is supposedly a 1mi lap around the compound but we couldn’t find it so we just did laps inside the compound, about 0.3mi each... Tired from saying hello to the guards in Swahili every frikkin lap and the Merrills are..ahem... not running shoes. I’m going to have glutes of steel from this.

Was supposed to observe an incarcerated hernia surgery today but no dice. The woman did not show up, was too scared. The clinic does not collect patients’ phone numbers or addresses so we couldn’t call and see what was going on. One of the things I think will change by the end of this summer...