Not in Australia, despite what my VPN says!

 

Every day something happens where I think “You wouldn’t see that in Australia!” though I have to say they are usually at the more extreme end now.

In this past week I have had to transport one of our girls to and from the hospital, about 20 minutes away by car.  Her mobility and balance are affected by cerebral palsy and she had a fall a few weeks ago.  The swelling and pain in her leg had not abated so Monday it was decided it could be broken.  She was duly admitted to hospital to have a plate put on a fractured tibia. (Or anyway, that’s what I’m guessing from a conversation conducted in Swahili!). On Friday I went to the hospital to fetch her back.  She had had the surgery - invisible mending it was not!  It brought to mind the mending on red rattler leather train seats.  Neat and even 1/2 inch stitches in a herringbone pattern.  The student’s mum had been staying with her at the hospital to bring her food and to look after her personal needs, so I brought Mama W back to Olkokola too.  I had the tailoring assistant with me to help with translation, and the student stretched out on the back seat, so her mother travelled crouched in the ‘very back’ of the RAV along with all the needful equipment - bucket, basin, thermos, mugs and plates!  I’m so glad the road to the hospital has been recently graded.  This time last year it was rough and potholed, the drains were rocky ravines and in the wet the slippery mud was treacherous.  It would have been a nightmare rather than an amusing anecdote.

 

This is nothing to do with the theme of the post - just an excuse for a picture!  A local ELCT pastor came to teach the students how to make rag rugs from bags and scrap fabric.  It was a very social event and much enjoyed. Maybe some of the students can turn the skill into a money making enterprise.

On Wednesday when I was about to come home I noticed clinic patients had left shukas (Maasai blankets) and picnic debris near where I’d be wanting to drive.  I wandered over to ‘consolidate’ it into one pile that would be easier to see and miss as I backed out.  It was then I realised one of the shukas held a tiny baby, fast asleep in the shade.  I had nearly stepped on the little mite!  I put all the other stuff close to the baby and backed very wide of it all.  It wasn’t until I was driving to the gate that the mother came strolling around from the front of the clinic and I think had a bit of a start!  I hope so anyway - the clinic medical officer will need to speak to the families again about where they leave their infants, and indeed where they sleep themselves, as cars are coming and going all the time in our grassy parking area. 

Also Wednesday one of the nurses came in to my office to use our printer to make copies of a handwritten document.  It was double sided and had 8 sets of numbers written in a rectangular array, each starting at 28 and increasing by one up to variously 185, 315 and other assorted numbers in the 200s.  I could see it said it was for children from 6 months and that one column was for boys and one for girls.  I couldn’t get any sense from the nurse what it was used for.  I made her the three copies she needed.  I told her I could generate the document on my computer - dead easy using excel - and now have to her delight.  When we get back from Namibia I will make it my mission to find out how it is used!

January plus ...

We’ve been back in Tz for over 3 months now - fulfilling our commitment to Border force when we applied for an exemption to travel overseas - but it has been difficult to get settled with all the uncertainties around travel and visas.  Though that doesn’t mean we’re not working hard and making the most of our opportunities!

The trainees started arriving back in Arusha on January 8th after three weeks at home in their villages.  For some the trip back to Arusha is more complicated so it was over a week before they were all back on deck.

The new term started with elections for student leaders.  We have a chairperson and leaders for welfare, discipline, sport/games and environment.  I appointed a kiongozi wa maktaba (library monitor) who has taken over the borrowing system for the resource room.  She’ll also keep the resources in order and make sure the room is left tidy.  A solar powered light has been put in with a small storage battery.  The library can be used at night now even when the electricity supply is disrupted.

The sewing skills of the tailoring group are advanced enough now that they can start making the pedi ya kike (washable, reusable menstrual pads).  I have bought materials so each of the female trainees can have a pack of 5 in a storage bag.  Any others that make will be sold to buy materials to make more.  It is a really worthwhile enterprise!

We hope that Mojawear, an NGO charity based in The Netherlands, will again buy some to supply to school girls in Usa River where they are active in child welfare and education projects.

The masonry, carpentry and agrivet trainees are also hard at work.  They’ll have even more to do soon as we now have copies of the official vocational training syllabi in Swahili.  The teachers and I together will be looking at what is currently included in our syllabi, what else could/should be done and devising checklists of competencies to report against.  That should keep me out of trouble for a while!

If you see my Facebook page here is another photo you’ll recognise.  In January the Agrivet trainees went to a seminar organised by ECHO, Steve’s  former Host Organisation.  It was enjoyed by all and I hope this will be an ongoing partnership between Olkokola CPH and Echo.

Just before we left Australia to return to Tz last year I invested in a VPN.  I didn’t see why I shouldn’t be able to watch the ABC even though I’m out of the country!  It’s working a treat and it’s great also to have the bottomless well of BBC to enjoy.  I missed quite a lot of Last Tango in Halifax when it was on but I’m all caught up now, and have discovered other shows that Sarah Lancashire and Nicola Walker are in. Recommendations for other shows gratefully received.

We often have mamas and watoto (children) staying while they have specialist medical treatment in Arusha.  Last year it was a heartbreaking case of an 18 month old having both eyeballs removed because of cancer that had probably started to spread anyway.  Last week it was another mama with a child born with cerebral palsy wanting something that would enable her child to be like other children.  Saying there is nothing that can be done drives them into the evil clutches of faith healers and witch doctors.  The mamas currently staying find me endlessly amusing!  They wanted a photo to show off back home.

The three month tourist visa Steve is on after our trip to Kenya last November expires later this month so we’re off to Namibia for four weeks and he'll (hopefully!) get another 3 month visa when we return in late March. That gives us until late June when we either return to Australia if Qatar holds up its end of the ticket bargain, or another trip to Kenya so I can renew my passport and we’ll have visas to get us to the end of September.

I haven't mentioned our trip to Mkomazi NP a month ago.  Steve has a report complete with pics on his blog.  I continued my love affair with Bee-eaters - this is my photo of the Northern Carmine Bee-eater.  We've also had several trips into Arusha NP with the local birder group.

Next post should have pics of the wonderful scenery and wildlife of Namibia,

love from Jenny xx