Jess-isms

I cannot offer much more insight into the overall framework of what we have been doing here as Olga and Dave have so eloquently done in their last two posts; what I can offer here are some reflections from Jess on our time here. Three weeks from today our project time here in

Tanzania

Scholarships, screening, streetkids + selfishness?

Scholarships: 

One initiative that MedOutreach has been continuing with over the past couple years has been secondary school teaching and an ever-expanding scholarship program. Through money raised in Canada MO is able to send a student to secondary school for 50 dollars a year… for 4 years it costs about 200,000 shillingi to cover the expenses of tuition, books, and the lunch program. With a conversion close to about 1000 shillingi to 1 dollar it is pretty humbling to realize that there are many children that don’t continue on with their schooling because they cannot afford to after primary school. Beyond that, many attend secondary school but do not eat at home given the expenses incurred. The students we were able to meet were so thankful for their opportunity to study but obviously the meeting was more for us than for the students who seemed mortally embarrassedJ I am waiting with anticipation for our teaching sessions to start tomorrow at local secondary schools, as we pull together our teaching resources the night before the excitement is building! This is one area of our work here that I am looking forward to and have been able to learn a lot from the teachers I have been talking with so far.

One school really made me stop dead in my tracks, nestled amidst honestly a garbage dump. I first arrived at this school at recess time with honestly over 600 students playing outside, kicking around litter, sublimely unaware but aware all at the same time. How easily I see our weekly food expenditure here or how much we pay for photocopies of our medical charts or other administrivia and can’t help but feel remarkably guilty. With every street corner there is a new request for money or your business to buy a certain souvenir or handicraft; if only I could respond to each demand, or any one without opening floodgates. Sometimes it makes me wonder if I’m too selfish to just give of myself, not caring what repercussions I will get from others in need… I want those of you back home reading this to know that your donations and support have been invaluable, because I truly this week have had the work of MedOutreach affirmed in the scholarship students I have met and the thankful medical patients that receive treatment due to your generous assistance!

Upendo screenings:

As the weeks have rolled by I can say on behalf of the medical students we have mastered the art of the physical exam in Kiswahili and have really seen the face of HIV and the reality of how it is to live with it. Living seems to be the imperative word; many of whom with the disease seem so at peace with it and have such a great faith despite their poor follow-up care for opportunistic infections. In some cases it makes you wonder what has kept some patients from not pounding down a doctor’s door for some of the ailments they presented to us with. Then you see the government hospitals. With some hospital beds with more than 2 people sharing you realize why. I have also come to hear the stigma and fear many hold for presenting themselves to a clinic and being shepherded into the HIV ward where your status is shouted from the rooftop from the entry doors of the hospital. Inspirational and heartbreaking accounts have inspired our team to address their treatment for opportunistic infections. The Tanzanian government provides free anti-retrovirals but we are hoping to provide centered care that would give HIV patients a more tangible access to opportunistic infection medications. Honestly, there are several programs in place but their shelves are often bare or consist of one general anti-fungal to cover everything. We are working on putting together teaching sessions for some local HIV support groups that will also have care packages put together for their monthly food to help with their increased appetite on ARVs and nutrition needs to keep their bodies strong. There is a lot of enthusiasm our group brings to this project and I hope it to be something that future teams can help build up as a sustainable support that enables local HIV patients to sell their handicraft, raise their own food etc.

Streetkids = sweet kids: 

As my time passes here I fall more and more in love with Children for Children’s Future here in Arusha and the residential home in Maji yachai. If there is one thing that has been a hardship it has been seeing an organization with such an amazing goal to pull kids off the street and help them thrive to be riddled by dirty politics. Due to past management indiscretion the financial situation there really has hit the children the hardest. With no shoes to go to school, and often no food for several days you see need with these kids. But more than that you see a resilience of spirit that is unlike anything I have ever seen before. On the streets of Arusha we see streetkids whose eyes look so sullen and dead to the world, they don’t seem like children and it can make you shudder… at CCF after being recruited off the streets and shown another option these children have been given back the gift of childhood.

After doing screenings on these children, doing wound dressings for typical tree climbing childhood accidents, and ample afterhours of dancing, football, coloring I can say that these children have engrained themselves in my heart to a level I could never have imagined here. With every spare moment I find myself wanting to spend more time and getting more to the root of how we can help CCF even when we are back in

Canada

As I sat in church this morning with a group of the kids from the Arusha center, one child was singing and clapping to himself as the beautiful African choir sang their 4 part harmony and others strolled by the tented area in anticipation of the next service I could not help but feel such hope for the children I was with. Their eyes were lit up with excitement that I have no doubt can be attributed to their strength of character and potential. It can often make one stop and wonder, if only this child was in

Canada

In the next weeks as we wrap up our time here I hope we can wrap up some loose ends for these kids like where we can find glasses to help them from having killer headaches and follow up for their dental work if they are dealing with pain… Also, we are hoping to work in a First Aid workshop for Maji yachai. Being out of town and having no money to employ a nurse matron to care for simple wounds, infections abound there. The older kids have been so keen to help us with our work there that our plan is to enable to care for each other. It is extremely beautiful the sense of community there and their natural tendency to lift each other up that I find myself going back there every spare moment I get. Although at times they have little there, they have the warmest hearts and most welcoming arms I could have ever dreamed of encountering.

Thank you for the blessing of being a part of this, and I hope I can do you proud!

Posted by jessicawylie on July 24, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Comments

Hey Jessica, great to hear about all your experiences this summer! Hope all is well with you!
so great to see some pictures too from your trip, it looks like you really connected with the kids there! miss you LOTS
Love Teeny

Posted by: Teeny | 2006-07-26 9:30:56 AM