Habari za siku? (What's new today?) Uneanedeleaje? (How have you been?) Hujambo? (Are you okay?) Kwema? (Really everything fine?) Upo? (Are you here too?) Za nyumbani? (How are you at home?) Watoto hawajambo? (Are the kids okay?) Shughuli nyingine? (What else is there to tell?)
Dear Family, Friends and Donors,
a greeting in Swahili could look something like this... And not just for someone you haven't seen for a long time. – No, even if we saw each other yesterday, the greeting today can turn out like this. And the answers are always the same: Nzuri- it's fine, everything's fine. Although I had to get used to all this at first, even my greetings now sometimes last several minutes. How quickly one gets used to new cultural characteristics.
However, I still haven't gotten used to other things. For example that I attract attention with the color of my skin and thus act like a magnet for all children and people with behavioral problems. Wherever I go, the children on the side of the road call after Mzungu or want to touch me. In a school with around 1,000 children, that can be almost frightening... The fact that you're always the center of attention isn't what suits me as a person. After almost ten years in Africa, it can be tiring that you're still a 'sight'. But I know that these things cannot be changed and are just part of my everyday life now. I often retire to my house on top of the hill to enjoy the view and the peace and tranquility.
Attention, get set, go - everyone on the Mzungu Sunset from the veranda
Things are going well in our Dispensary. A significant number of patients visit us every day and the team seems motivated. Even if there is a new challenge to be mastered almost every day, my colleagues remain calm and focused at work. I arrived in Tanzania a good 4 weeks ago. Since then the cars have been in the garage three times and still don't work. Every day there is a sink that leaks or the computer system goes on strike. For all the repair work, I'm happy to have a large team, because often it's not just about helping the patients, but somehow keeping the whole operation going. Unfortunately, we have not been able to record any success with our water project to date. In short, the drilling was unsuccessful and the drilling manager is gone with the money. Feelings of guilt and anger often arise, but also powerlessness. Fulfillment and disappointment often alternate in my work. But it's still the case that when I look into the grateful eyes of a healed patient, or visit the new grocery store of a former Amani house resident, all doubts are blown away and I know again - I'm in the right place.
A flat tire - that's nothing extraordinary. Our team at an outreach, where we checked the blood sugar
Extraordinary. But when even the spare tire level and the blood pressure of around 300 elderly people.
was flat and had to wait for hours under the
observing eyes of good 100 children, my
patience was strained.
In the past six months, some of our employees have been able to attend further training, which is very important to me. The team shall develop constantly and gain more knowledge. In June, the entire team visited the neighboring psychiatric ward and learned valuable tips for dealing with mental illnesses, which are often still stigmatized here. In August, Gastuce, our former chief physician, started his training as an optician and eye specialist in Nairobi. Finding one's way in the big city and in a foreign country was not so easy for the young man and he has become a lot slimmer. But in the meantime he is getting along well and is full of motivation during his studies. Two of my co-workers traveled to Arusha in September where they attended a two-week seminar on physical and mental disabilities. The two of them also enjoyed traveling so far for the first time in a big bus, but also gaining new knowledge, which they now implement every Saturday with our disabled children. Also in September, our management team came to Nairobi where we enjoyed a team building workshop. The management team faces many challenges every day. Be it with clients, materials or team members. In order to continue to be able to successfully manage all the projects, I saw it as an urgent need to carry out specific further training in the management team. We also enjoyed these 4 days in Nairobi together, were able to learn a lot from each other and get to know each other on a deeper level.
Our Amani house is usually full. In the last 6 months, the Damian family has been able to move into their own home, and also 2 other residents have also been successfully reintegrated into the village community. Emelius has opened a small shop with his savings, but also with a microcredit from Maisha Mema and runs it with enough profit to be able to feed himself. Mama Karen, who sought refuge with us with her disabled child, was able to return home after many discussions with the family and is now living with her parents again.
Since October I am no longer the only mzungu (white) in Kibanga. Annemarie, my former boss from Switzerland and board member of Maisha Mema, will actively support us on site for the next few months. In the next few lines, she tells a little about the Amani house and who lives there:
As we have often reported, the Amani house is a house with four double rooms and a large living room. The Amanihaus is intended as a women's shelter. A place where women who are in a family crisis find refuge for a certain period of time. But in the meantime it has become a refuge also for male clients.
Two women who are currently living in Haus Amani, both with a small child. Agnes is responsible for the kitchen and the household, with the support of Radhisiana.
Agnes's child, the Baracka, was born with multiple disabilities. Soon after the birth of the boy, she was abandoned by her husband. Raising a handicapped child is an enormous challenge, which is often feared by very young parents. Mama Baracka's parents were unable to take their daughter in, due to their infrastructure at home and a lack of financial resources. As well Radhisiana with her daughter Anita are coming from a very poor background. Radhisiana was suffering from untreated Epliepsy since years and was at first not able to take care of her child. But in the meantime her disease is well controlled and she keeps on learning several life skills.
There is also a young man named Gideon living in the Amani house. He is now responsible for the animals (goats, rabbits, chickens). Maisha Mema has milk and eggs and, if necessary, even their own meat. Gideon also suffered from untreated epilepsy since childhood. During a fit, he once fell into a fire and burned his toes so badly that they had to be amputated. A tragic event happened in his childhood. His uncle killed his father during a dispute over a piece of land. The mother moved away shortly after this incident and married another man who did not accept Gideon. So he stayed in his home village, where only one person was willing to take him in: the uncle who had killed his father. Of course, this constellation was psychologically extremely stressful for the young man, and he repeatedly had episodes in which he became mentally conspicuous. A family friend observed the whole situation and then decided to seek help from Maisha Mema.
In the last three weeks, three more patients have also been admitted. A man and a woman who suffer from diabetes, which is very difficult to control. Both patients have already been visited at home. A patient needs insulin. A drug that needs to be injected. This is difficult to manage at home. The aim is to stabilize both patients with daily blood sugar checks, continuous adjustment of medication and instructions on the diabetic diet and to send them home in an improved general condition.
A 49-year-old woman in need of care has been living with her daughter in the Amani house since last week. Chronic back pain over a long period of time led to immobility and malnutrition with great weakness. Everything together brings fear and mental suffering. With the recording of the medical history: what led to the pain, what kind of pain, where exactly and when... with a sensitive history taking, we try to record the extent of the problem and determine possible causes. Zuleja has been treated with pain medication, which has already brought great relief over the past few days. We hope to find out more about the cause of her pain through X-rays and ultrasound. Diagnostics that can only be made by specialists in the distant hospital. Here, too, we hope that with transitional care, an adapted treatment, Zuleja and her daughter can go home with an improved living situation.
The Amani house is not only used as a place of refuge, it is developing into a small nursing station for patients who can now benefit from the infrastructure of the dispensary (specialists, laboratory and pharmacy).
Maisha Mema, the team is doing transitional care until the situation stabilizes. The relatives also get to know the symptoms and react at an early stage. In this way, measures can be taken in good time, which help to avoid major crises. Which in turn can mean an enormous improvement in the quality of life for those affected as well as for their relatives.
Gration, our development worker with Emelius in his Annemarie in action with the medical team and
new shop. our new Emergency bag
Recently, a staff member had to be transferred to the hospital because she was suffering from an unexplained blood loss. Once again I was made aware of how few medical options we have here. In the hospital, our rehearsal was hardly listened to. In the whole of Muleba, that is, for every 700,000 inhabitants, there is exactly one gynecologist who could do an ultrasound on the woman to see where her blood is going. After a good 7 hours on the waiting bench, we had an answer and made our way home with the weakened woman. Heavy rains set in on the way, making the road to Maisha Mema almost impassable. I promptly parked the car in a ditch and had no chance of getting out. My co-worker was groaning in pain in the back of the car and was somewhere between unconscious and sleepy. Not in good condition to wait in a ditch for better weather. We were forced to tie the poor woman to the back of a staff member and wade through the muddiest passage in the heaviest rain, where on the other side the second Maisha Mema car picked us up and took us safely to Maisha Mema. When such a situation happens to someone close to you, you realize again how necessary good medical help is even in the most remote places. Once again I am relieved that we were able to save the life of a loved one and I am very grateful that I can do all this. But if there weren't dear donors, none of this would be possible. I still feel privileged to receive so much support and am amazed at the number of people who keep making donations to us. I say once again on behalf of the people of Kibanga and my staff: Thank you very much for all your support.
Best regards
Bettina with family and Maisha Mema Team