Kising'a Dispensary

Lutheran Church of Peace collected an offering for medical supplies before we left for Tanzania.  We contacted Yoram when we arrived in Dar and he and Pastor Wihale checked with the dispensary to find out what they needed.  Pastor Wihale met us in Iringa with a list of medications for a 2 month supply and a need for 12 blankets and sheets.  We went to Green Zone Pharmacy and they had the medications.  We did not need prescriptions as long as they are for a dispensary.  The generous donations from Church allowed us to triple their request to provide a 6 month supply.  The dispensary is a government dispensary and they provide medications but not enough so this addition should last more than a year.

Green Zone Pharmacy with a very helpful sales person

6 Months of Medications

We were happy to find out that the dispensary has expanded their staff since last time we were there.  They now have a clinical officer, a registered nurse, a midwife nurse, a medical assistant and four other support staff.  The dispensary serves about 4000 people in Kising'a and Kidamuka.  Kidamuka is a preaching point of the parish which is now a separate village but still part of the parish.  The dispensary sees about 35-40 people per day with about 14 deliveries per month.  The presence of a Clinical Officer means they can treat AIDs patients with antiretrovirals in the village.

Richmond, the new Kidumuka Executive Officer, carrying 60 lbs of medications to the dispensary.

Dispensary staff with medications, Joyce, the Clinical Officer, is the woman with the brown striped sweater.

The gift is from our Church but of course we receive gifts in appreciation as the couriers.

Patients waiting to be seen in the morning, the young girl in front looked very sick.  I would guess malaria with fever.

The dispensary does a good job of record keeping and maintains a top ten list every year.  Diarrhea is markedly down in the areas of Kising'a served by the new St Paul Partners water project. HIV/AIDS is up to 85 but that is because patients remain under treatment for the rest of their lives. URTI is Upper Respiratory Tract Infection and probably the most common issue in the US too.

Sue had a nice 2 hour meeting with women of the parish and Joyce, the clinical officer.  Joyce is the third woman from the left and unfortunately Pastor Wihale's wife Yesina is outside of the photo to Sue's left.  The women had many questions about health; it was an enjoyable evening.