Our Mvumi Experience

It has been very interesting working here in Mvumi. We are learning
much about how to run a clinical program. Hopefully we will learn
from some of the mistakes others have made. Danny and I have said all
along about this year, that we will hopefully be smarter about how to
start or run or rehab a clinic. We hope that it will be true. It has
already been an exciting two months. As great as life is for us to be
in Mvumi, it is hard for the local people to live here. People are
working hard in the fields, carrying and drinking not so clean water,
and hungry people are relying on the weather for food. People work
hard to live here and they live in basic shelters without running
water or electricity. Local people live in mud houses with either sod
or tin roofs.

Kathy has been working in the office with the payroll. People at the
hospital are living on between $2-$15 a day, paying taxes, a form of
social security, and even saving money through a program that the
hospital provides. Housing is provided by the hospital for their
employees. The patients, the people in the village are making much
less, depending on selling in the market and odd jobs for employment.
There is good news. There has been a reduction in malaria because
more people have mosquito nets.

Kathy is excited to be preparing for preaching this Sunday, March 2nd
at an Anglican church in Mvumi. She is also going to be preaching at
a youth service on the evening of Palm Sunday, March 16th at the Mvumi
Anglican Boarding School here in the village.

Danny meeting with a patient at Mvumi Hospital.
Danny teaching the clinical officers/medical students.
Our house in Mvumi, Tanzania.

Mvumi, Tanzania

We are now a part of a Task Force to help evaluate the many departments at the Mvumi Anglican Hospital. It has already be rehabilitated physically by the German Anglicans. This is a great place for Danny and I to learn how to develop employees and systems of effective operations. Much of our task will be to observe people working as we build relationships and help to encourage and set expectations following Mwimbe, the head of the Task Force and her assistant Marie's lead.

Danny has gone right to work at the hospital; assisting in surgeries, doing rounds with the clinical officers/doctors, teaching at the Medical School, and consulting with doctors about individual patients. Kathy will be working with the Pediatric nurses on a food program for the children who are patients. I am going to work withe nurses to implement a program in conjunction with the World Food Program. I will be making certain that children who are malnurished are being weighed every day and then seeing where they fall in the criteria to see what food they should receive. Their mothers are then taught how to cook the food so that their nutrition can continue to improve. Kathy is also helping in the administration office with payroll, employee files, and other responsibilities.

Mvumi is beautiful country side, mountains, big trees called Baobob Trees, green, sun and clouds. The weather here is pleasant temperatures, breezes, and sunshine! So much nicer than Dar. The recent rains have turned this desert into a green flowering jungle!
We were a part of lively Swahili worship on Sunday! It was colorful, alive, wonderful, inviting, joyful, and perfect! We did not understand everything, but another British missionary translated some for me. There was a very dynamic 12 year old who led music, read scripture, and prayed. She was enzuri sana! very good! Kathy is going to be preaching at the church on March 2nd with the hospital chaplain Meshack translating into Swahili.

We really love living here! We are blessed! We have become very good friends with Mwime, the head of the Task Force and her family and her assistant Marie. We plan on staying until at least Easter. Pictures will be coming in a few weeks when we get back into Dodoma to update.

Dodoma

We have arrived in Dodoma. Such a different place than Dar! Cooler
days and nights, quieter community, and smaller than the big city! We
were greeted by Mwimbe and her husband Constantine. They have just
moved back to Tanzania from Germany themselves. Mwimbe, who is
Tanzanian and German, is a consultant who has been hired to assess the Mvumi Hospital that is in need of some attention. We are going to be
working with her to meet with doctors, nurses, hospital staff, and
administrators on how to be effective health care providers. It is a
perfect place for Danny and I to learn and experience what it means to
transition and be a part of creating a facility and people into a new
vision. This helps to meet our goals and objectives for this year.
We are very excited.

We are going to spend the day, Tuesday, February 12th loading up
supplies for life in Mvumi which is more rural and without many
resources. We are being hosted today by Naftal, someone who is known
by our friends the Gingriches. Naftal's family and he are friends
with Karl Gingrich who did much work in Tanzania. Through that
relationship Naftal was sponsored to come to the US to go to college
at Bowling Green State University. In the small world of things, some
of his best friends in college were from Nordonia High School, where
Murphy graduated, and we know some of the same people! He is also
good friends with Mwibme and her family and lives right around the
corner from where we are staying at the Humble House in Dodoma. He is
getting us a phone and taking very good care of us! God is preparing
a way for us! It really is a small world.

It's not all work!

Danny and Kathy headed to Zanzibar for a long weekend. We rented a
small inexpensive Bungalow right on the beach in Bwejuu. It was
amazing. We ran on the beach, enjoyed the surf, swam, relaxed, went
to see monkeys at a National Park, toured around Stone City to see the
ancient doors of Zanzibar, and relaxed on the beach again! It is
great to be healthy and out of the city! Here are a few photos! Now
we are off to Dodoma, Mvumi Anglican Hospital to work for a few weeks.

Hard at Work!

This is Martha and Joyce who Kathy worked with in registration at the MEA clinic.

Photo!

The Burguruni Anglican Health Centre

We are HEALTHY!

(The HEALTHY Kathy! Just wanted you to know that I am feeling much better!)

We are feeling much better! Danny's pink eye is almost gone and Kathy is smiling and full of energy again. Queen in playing on my computer right now, "Another One Bites The Dust." That is what I am doing to the mosquitos now, killing them! 

Another one bites the dust.

We just got home from dinner at an Indian place and we were both able to eat and enjoy! Life is good again! It is so great to be healthy again! Thank you for your prayers, love, and constant support!

Danny was part of a "good save" the other day. A four year old unresponsive girl was brought in after seizing more than 24 hours and near death because of cerebral malaria. A quick intervention of anti-epileptics and anti-malarials made for a good outcome. Danny got a sweet hug and a kiss when she was discharged two days later.

We are heading to Zanzibar for a long weekend, February 7-10th and then off to a new location on Monday, February 11th, Mvumi, Tanzania to work in another Anglican Hospital. Mvumi is a smaller town outside of Tanzania's capital, Dodoma. We will keep you updated.

Just a note to tell you that Kathy has malaria and Danny has pink eye. There are no HIPA laws in Africa!  We are treating both things with medicine from the clinic.  We are sleeping under mosquito nets and taking our anti-malaria medicine daily.  We will be using more mosquito repellant now.  This just happens in Africa.  I am feeling better after 2 days of medicine.  We are so thankful that we have a bed, access to medicine, clean water, and people who are praying for us.  There are also many ice cream "trucks" that go past our house.  It is a bicycle with a cooler on the back that plays the song "Oh My Darlin' Clementine" to advertise.  So I was able to have a popsicle or "lolli" as they call it here.  That tasted great!  "Just part of the adventure!" says Danny.  

Big thanks to Alison Lee our IT girl who is posting these photos for me after I email them to her. For some reason our internet connection is not strong enough to upload photos.  Thanks Alison!