First Week

I picked up my weekly vegetable box from Masifio Estates on Wednesday. Their selection has grown since Sue and I used them in 2010-2011 and they now provide produce for restaurants and resorts all over Tanzania. Their farm is located just outside of Iringa and I pick up my weekly order at Neema Crafts.

Sue made it to Morroco and is having a good time. I get an occasional proof of life with credit card activity. We are on the same continent but Google maps says it is a 6,500 mile drive. Here is a photo she sent me of the first course of her lunch.

On Thursday, I got a crash course on Bega Kwa Bega financials and record keeping. BKB has a rigorous approval process with authorization from both the Diocese and Minnesota. This is all documented with paper records as well as electronic. Frank Mkocha is the scholarship clerk and will work with me and Kirsten is just a text away. She will even be close to my time zone because she is going to Spain. My apartment here has a woman work MWF to clean and do laundry for people staying here. Usually this appartment is only used as an office because Kirsten stays in a separate apartment. I will pay Mariam for doing extra for me. Laundry is by hand and she even irons my underwear to make sure there are no bugs.

The x-Ray machine at Ilula hospital has been broken since January and I visited Iringa hospital on Friday to see their x-Ray facilities. Their Radiology department is as clean as any hospital in the US and they have a massive voltage stabilizer to protect their equipment. They also have a staff of three biomedical engineers who maintain and calibrate the x-ray and CT scan who are willing to consult with Ilula. They were proud of their private ward where people self pay for premium accomodation. The photo is their private single that costs 300,000 tsh/day ($120/day) they also have a suite private room with a living area and a walk in shower equiped with a radio to play while you were showering. This room costs 800,000 tsh/day ($320/day) and is likely only used for important government officials. Needless to say, it was unoccupied.

On Saturday, I drove down to Ilula hospital to meet with engineers that were trying to repair the xRay. They made some progress and recommended replacing some components they did not have with them. We need to figure out if it is repairable and what Ilula needs to successfully operate it. I also got a nice tour of the projects Shoulder to Shoulder has been supporting with the King Foundation, including the Reproductive Child Health center, Maternity ward expansion, a morgue, and a waste system that generates biogas for cooking or even collecting in tanks. The RCH is already being used and one clinic room was for doing circumcisions for both babies and adults for HIV prevention, ouch. When I turned on to the main road to go back to Iringa, there were no trucks. Apparently, a big accident must have happened in the Kitonga gorge that totally blocked traffic from continuing. The gorge is one of the most dangerous stretches of road in Tanzania and maybe it was a good thing that our group in June passed through the gorge in the dark. I attended the English language service on Sunday that starts at 9 am or after the 7 am service finishes. The 7 am service finished just before 10 and the English service lasted til noon. I was the only msungu in attendance and sat next to a young man, maybe secondary school age, who had a hard time finding page numbers and I helped him find the passages for reading. I suspect he is trying to learn English. Sunday evening I had a nice dinner with a group from Gloria Dei who had just returned from their partner village of Kilengipasi. The pastor there is from Kising'a and was one of our sponsored students in secondary school. We had a wonderful meal at Ruksana's Indian Restaurant.