Dear friends and family,
My colleague and friend here Mama Nema has, since the last time I wrote, come down with and was subsequently cured of malaria. She was able to identify the symptoms early and take the proper medicine, which is readily attainable at the local pharmacies. This is the experience of malaria here for those who are knowledgeable about the early symptoms and have the means to procure medication. Cut and dry at that! Thanks god. I have been told that due to the high amount of displaced peoples here and refugees malaria resistance is high. But there are medicines that work for every ailment that can be acquired here.
I forgot to mention that I was able to attain my official Work Visa! I have also opened a local bank account. All of these things are not 1 2 3 easy to get and so I am very satisfied with my progress thus far.
Right now I am preparing my official introductory letter to local leaders in order to familiarize them with the work that we are doing. These type of formal introductions, I have been told, are very helpful in ensuring that there are no unnecessary hindrances to ones work.
So far daily life for me is okay. I have really befriended the missionaries here. But I look forward to moving into a new compound, which houses both missionaries and native residents. I went with my friends for a swim in the lake. There is a private beach a few kilometers away. The lake water is clear and tasteless as it has no salt, of course. My closest friends can appreciate just how much I enjoyed swimming in the lake because the fish swimming with me look just like the fish I had in my aquarium – the freshwater fish. I felt as if I was really swimming in my fish tank!
So last week I cut my finger a bit deep because I was talking too much while I was preparing passion fruit juice. Anyways, I was informed that wounds heal a bit slower here due to humidity. I guess the moral of this story is that it brings awareness of how, had my wound become infected, just how poor health access is here. There is one regional hospital – and do you know just how big Kigoma is? I mean it encompasses the jungles to the north (safari parks). The residents of the north and south have to travel by boat to get to the hospital and many die along the way. There are perhaps 1 or 2 boats departing per week, with no definite schedule. Also the case for those hoping to traverse Congo or Burundi. Anyway, I am fine, but many are not and poor medical access is one of the major problems of this region.
Well, in case anyone wants to mail anything to me, I was advised by my friends living here that mail should be sent to me in a box which is no larger than a shoe box or envelope so that the contents are not “inspected” and/ or removed along the route. I have seen personally the way that mail is courried – tisk tisk. I will try to think of things that could be donated to the children and pregnant women and widows here.
Lastly, it is really to observe the local culture via the DalaDala (the local word for the cheap buses that commute through town). I have observed the way in which local men and women interact. Men are really at the top of the food chain. I mean on the daladala you can be pushed, stepped on, with little regard and definitely no apology. I noticed, from Dar to Kigoma, that it is the men who are the perpetrators of this rude behavior. A bunch of ladies and I were eating the other day at the hotel (fancy) restaurant and the waiter took our butter away just before we were going to dive in, in order to give to a man at another table so that he could enjoy his bread first – of course! It is just amazing for me to see the way in which women are generally treated. I have heard that women can be treated as essential slaves here and some are prohibited from leaving the home – ever.
I am on the lookout to learn. I too must modify my behavior and appearance, but I am working on getting it all together.
Love you
Christie
My colleague and friend here Mama Nema has, since the last time I wrote, come down with and was subsequently cured of malaria. She was able to identify the symptoms early and take the proper medicine, which is readily attainable at the local pharmacies. This is the experience of malaria here for those who are knowledgeable about the early symptoms and have the means to procure medication. Cut and dry at that! Thanks god. I have been told that due to the high amount of displaced peoples here and refugees malaria resistance is high. But there are medicines that work for every ailment that can be acquired here.
I forgot to mention that I was able to attain my official Work Visa! I have also opened a local bank account. All of these things are not 1 2 3 easy to get and so I am very satisfied with my progress thus far.
Right now I am preparing my official introductory letter to local leaders in order to familiarize them with the work that we are doing. These type of formal introductions, I have been told, are very helpful in ensuring that there are no unnecessary hindrances to ones work.
So far daily life for me is okay. I have really befriended the missionaries here. But I look forward to moving into a new compound, which houses both missionaries and native residents. I went with my friends for a swim in the lake. There is a private beach a few kilometers away. The lake water is clear and tasteless as it has no salt, of course. My closest friends can appreciate just how much I enjoyed swimming in the lake because the fish swimming with me look just like the fish I had in my aquarium – the freshwater fish. I felt as if I was really swimming in my fish tank!
So last week I cut my finger a bit deep because I was talking too much while I was preparing passion fruit juice. Anyways, I was informed that wounds heal a bit slower here due to humidity. I guess the moral of this story is that it brings awareness of how, had my wound become infected, just how poor health access is here. There is one regional hospital – and do you know just how big Kigoma is? I mean it encompasses the jungles to the north (safari parks). The residents of the north and south have to travel by boat to get to the hospital and many die along the way. There are perhaps 1 or 2 boats departing per week, with no definite schedule. Also the case for those hoping to traverse Congo or Burundi. Anyway, I am fine, but many are not and poor medical access is one of the major problems of this region.
Well, in case anyone wants to mail anything to me, I was advised by my friends living here that mail should be sent to me in a box which is no larger than a shoe box or envelope so that the contents are not “inspected” and/ or removed along the route. I have seen personally the way that mail is courried – tisk tisk. I will try to think of things that could be donated to the children and pregnant women and widows here.
Lastly, it is really to observe the local culture via the DalaDala (the local word for the cheap buses that commute through town). I have observed the way in which local men and women interact. Men are really at the top of the food chain. I mean on the daladala you can be pushed, stepped on, with little regard and definitely no apology. I noticed, from Dar to Kigoma, that it is the men who are the perpetrators of this rude behavior. A bunch of ladies and I were eating the other day at the hotel (fancy) restaurant and the waiter took our butter away just before we were going to dive in, in order to give to a man at another table so that he could enjoy his bread first – of course! It is just amazing for me to see the way in which women are generally treated. I have heard that women can be treated as essential slaves here and some are prohibited from leaving the home – ever.
I am on the lookout to learn. I too must modify my behavior and appearance, but I am working on getting it all together.
Love you
Christie
Originally posted: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 4:43pm
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