Our First Week

Hujambo (how are you?) from Karatu, Tanzania. Our trip was long but uneventful, and Jolene, the energetic and upbeat country director picked us up. So what have we seen and done so far besides getting over jet lag?

From Mount Kilimanjaro airport we had a beautiful drive through the Great Rift Valley to get here, mountains on both sides. The trip included an overlook to see Lake Manyara, where we will probably do our first safari to see the wildlife in the park. We happened upon a wedding party that was taking pictures there which was great fun.

On our drive through the valley we saw many Maasai with their cattle and their family huts around the bomba which holds the cattle at night, a classic African picture. The fabrics worn here are beautiful and varied and men wear them too. There are several versions of a “Hongera (Congratulations) Obama!” Kanga (color cloths) which the ex-pats have been snapping up. We have gotten to know many of them already, starting with a brunch Jolene hosted the second day we were here.

For the inauguration (here it was 8pm) we gathered with a group at the home of a couple from South Africa to watch the ceremony. Just as Obama was walking to the podium, the power went out. The day before had been a bad one for power, but maybe that night everyone was watching and overloaded the system. It came back a few minutes after the speech was finished! But it was thrilling to see the crowds and the ceremony.

Of course the election of Obama has been a very big deal in this part of the world. But, we should mention that George Bush is very popular in Tanzania. Bush pushed for two major programs that directly affect the country, funding for HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention. In addition, he was the only sitting US president to visit this country.

The Karatu area, our new home in northern Tanzania, is beautiful. The hills are green (despite a drought) with deep red soil. The contrast is striking.

MIHV is developing self-sustaining programs here for pregnant women, along with mothers of child-bearing age and children under five for the 45 villages in the district. The issues are complex and the effort is comprehensive, building on the work already done in the community.

We have seen only one paved road, which carries tourists to and sometimes through Karatu to Ngornogoro Crater, one of the most famous wildlife sites in Africa. Roads are dusty when they are dry and sometimes impassable during the rainy season. Even without the rain the distance from the village to a health facility can be a significant barrier. The government has mandated health care centers in every village to try to deal with this.

One aspect of MIHV’s effort is developing Survive and Thrive groups, for young single mothers. Our main focus will be on helping to develop ways for these groups to sell products.

Jolene and her staff have done a remarkable job in only two years here.
They have been warm and welcoming, helping us to settle in and find our way as we have begun our work. And, the receptionist has kindly offered to be our Swahili tutor.

We visited a private elementary school and we received a royal tour. They teach only in English and have both day and boarding students. It had great energy and we met the headmaster, manager, several teachers and many students who greeted us in one case with a couple of songs. This was the idea of the receptionist, who plans to take us more places in the future.

Friday we went with some staff to a village and met with the traditional birth attendants and the village health officer to follow up on their record keeping of pregnant women, their birthing plans, etc. We also visited two homes with newborns.

It feels very comfortable here and MIHV has a nice home for volunteers. The birds are beautiful and varied, coming to visit each day. The foods here are wonderful, with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. The pineapple and mangoes are the best we have eaten and plentiful. And, we’ve never seen such huge avocados!

The week has flown by and yet it feels like we have been here a long time. Monday we leave for six days visiting villages and learning more about the program. We’re excited.

Leaving for Tanzania

Sharon and Rick are spending two months in Tanzania, from January 16th until March 15th. We will try to post updates to this blog weekly.

We are volunteering with Minnesota International Health Volunteers (MIHV). The organization develops self-sustaining public health programs in developing countries, and in Minnesota. You can learn more about their work by visiting their website - www.mihv.org. We don't know what we will be doing yet, but check back on future postings.

In Tanzania they are developing a child survival project. One of the poorest countries in the world, more than half of Tanzania's population is children, and about 11.2% of them die before the age of five. And, more mothers die of pregnancy-related causes than the vast majority of other countries.

As the map shows, Tanzania is in east Africa, south of Kenya. The MIHV office is in the northern city of Karatu, about three degrees south of the equator, at an elevation of over 5,000 feet. It is near Ngorongoro Crater to the west and Arusha (a major city) to the east, and in the area of the Great Rift Valley. Tanzania is four times larger than Minnesota, with its own great lakes of Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganika. Famous sites include Mount Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, and the previously mentioned Ngorongoro Crater, which is said to have the greatest concentration of mammals in all of Africa. Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam are also in Tanzania.