Nkoaranga village

This last week was our first taste of rural Africa. The team split into two groups with one group (Olga, Emily, Jessica, Ramez, Yasmin) working at CCF Maji Ya Chai and Upendo Leprosy Home and the other group (Leyla, Melissa, myself) heading to Nkoaranga. The first group was able to do physical and dental screenings of the kids at CCF and also provided wound and dental care to the residents of Upendo.

As for the rest of us, we took the forty minute drive to Nkoaranga on last Monday morning. It is a small village that rests on the volcanic slopes of Mt. Meru, the second highest mountain in Tanzania. As we drove up the rough road to Nkoaranga, we could already sense the change in climate and scenery. The village is more lush and tropical than Arusha and gives off a rainforest vibe (as the picture shows, taken near the village). Thankfully, the air is much cleaner than the city where the street smog made it difficult to walk around. Coffee and maize seem to be the major crops of the area which grow well considering the rich soil.

It is in this setting where we found Nkoaranga Lutheran Hospital. A quaint hospital with in-patient, out-patient, and maternity wards; they are also equipped with dental and X-ray facilities. We were greeted by Jeremiah, the hospital administrator. He showed us our house for the week and then gave a tour of the hospital.

In addition to the medical facilities, there is also an orphanage on the hospital grounds. This is a place for kids up to age 5. These kids may have had their mothers die during delivery or simply abandon them so the hospital gives them a place to stay until they can go to school. These children are very needy and starved for attention as we found out on our tour. Within the first few minutes, children were clamouring around us to be picked up and held. It was a little bit of a surprise but something we got used to quickly. We all spent time there through out the week but I think Melissa was there every day playing and laughing with the kids. She definitely enjoyed their smiling faces although it meant getting a little dirty as well. Here you can see one of the little guys.

The rest of our time was spent working with and following the medical/nursing staff of the hospital which was different from our previous two weeks of health assessments. We followed Dr. Mbise, Dr. Sam, and Dr. Julius through their daily rounds and got a feel for African medicine (Leyla got a feel for African nursing). The differences can be huge like using only local anaesthetic for a tubal ligation and swatting fruit flies away during minor surgery. Although this may seem improper, the staff does the best they can with the resources available and provide the best possible care to patients. We saw many interesting cases including a severe case of malaria resulting in a semi-conscious patient, a protein-deficient child, and a patient with abdominal metastasis. The three of us also saw the live birth of a healthy baby boy.

During our time in the village, a team of German surgeons arrived for a three week work term. The team comes every year from the Nuremburg area and provides free, specialized surgery to Tanzanians. As we did earlier in the week, the team introduced themselves at the Wednesday morning chapel. They began their assessments that day and began surgery on Friday. Melissa and I were fortunate to spend all of Friday with them and see three surgeries, two orthopaedic and one skin graft. The skin graft was especially interesting as the patient had been living with a terrible burn across the abdomen and right arm for several months. The plastic surgeon, Dr. Peter, was able to successfully graft skin from the thigh and cover the affected areas. While healing will take a while, I am confident that this surgery saved the patient from much more agony and possible infection. The whole team was very friendly and allowed us to learn a lot from their experience and expertise.

So such was our time at Nkoaranga. It was more of a learning week but these are experiences we will take back to Canada and allow us to be better health care professionals. This week our teams switched with five group members going to Nkoaranga and the three of us going to Maji Ya Chai to continue the work they started. Here are a few more pictures of Leyla and one of the nurses,   Melissa, Dr. Mbise and me, and the hospital from our house. Bye for now.   

Posted by DavidDudok on July 14, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (12)

Comments

I found this blog randomly and loved it! I love reading about your experience. That picture of the little girl is Wema! She looks so little there! I have tons of pictures of the hospital and would be more than willing to pass them along. I would love to do something like this. I spent sometime volunteering at the hospital. But, I am dying to go back for more. Is this program ONLY for your university??

Thanks,
Eliza

Posted by: Eliza | 2007-10-06 12:25:19 AM

Hi, I am a friend of Eliza, who commented before me. I am going back to Nkoaranga Orphanage in 3 weeks. I am hoping to adopt one of the babies next summer. He was born in July 2006 and I was wondering if anyone that you knew had pictures of newborns at the orphanage from around then? He arrived on July 19th. Thanks so much!
Amy
amyliz_7@yahoo.com

Posted by: Amy | 2007-11-05 10:31:38 PM

I am a professor at Concordia University, Irvine, California. I am also in charge of our Pre-Med organization and have taken students to Tegus, Honduras on a couple of medical trips. Concordia is a Lutheran University. I am interested taking a group of students and profs and doctors to Nkoaranga Lutheran Hospital or similar facilities and coordinate, for those who want, to hike Kilimanjaro. Any advice or information would be appreciated.

Posted by: Ken | 2007-12-18 9:14:44 AM

I wanted to leave my email address.
ken.ebel@cui.edu

Posted by: Ken | 2007-12-18 9:17:03 AM

Dear all i was real happy to hear that many people would like to go to Nkoaranga. Actual i was born there and that is the place where i am living though now i am in Netherlands for my masters.
If more people want to go there i am ready to provide any kind of support required.
All the best all.

Posted by: ELIMELECK PARMENA | 2008-02-17 10:42:21 AM

Dear all i was real happy to hear that many people would like to go to Nkoaranga. Actual i was born there and that is the place where i am living though now i am in Netherlands for my masters.
If more people want to go there i am ready to provide any kind of support required.
All the best all.

Posted by: ELIMELECK PARMENA | 2008-02-17 10:42:25 AM

Hi, i am trying to contact Dr Sam Kiwesa and also Jeremiah, i used to work at the hospital but have only one email address for Sam which i think must be an old one. Do you have an up-to-date email address for either the hospital or Dr Kiwesa?

Thanks, Jo Moses

Posted by: Joanne Moses | 2008-05-20 6:55:28 PM

I am trying to contact anyone at the orphanage. I have several people who would like to offer assistance to the orphanage but I can't get a response from them. Does anyone have a contact email?

Posted by: Heather | 2008-09-06 5:40:22 PM

I am trying to contact anyone at the orphanage. I have several people who would like to offer assistance to the orphanage but I can't get a response from them. Does anyone have a contact email?

Posted by: Heather | 2008-09-06 5:40:48 PM

I will post the hospital contact info soon. I have a good connection with the hospital/orphanage. I have taken groups of students and professors to that area. This January we spent some time at the hospital and brought supplies and spent time with the kids at the orphanage center.

Thanks
Samson
admin@africa4safari.com

Posted by: Samson Kiware | 2009-04-13 2:30:12 PM

Nice blog, you guys are doing great job. I read about tubal reversal. I would like to share with others here;
According to a survey, each year over 600,000 women in USA undergo a tubal ligation. Tubal Ligation means permanent birth control and this ends a woman’s ability to have children. But what if a woman decides to become pregnant again? It is estimated that 6 percent of women who originally decided that tubal ligation was the way to permanently birth control, just within five years, they decide that they want to experience pregnancy and the birth of a new baby. Tubal reversal allows a woman the ability to conceive naturally without any harm. And in approximately 90% of cases the procedure can be reversed successfully.

Posted by: tubal reversal | 2009-04-29 8:05:14 AM

Am Emanuely Akyoo i was born in Nkoaranga village and am still leaving here,inshort is a village of good people i can say, so your most welcome and am read to give any information which it will be needed.

Posted by: emanuely akyoo | 2009-06-03 9:54:40 AM