Where in the world are you Diane?

The Overachievers

Like me, everyone here has a strong desire to learn or as I like to say “learning is in the FAME DNA”. It’s what keeps me coming back.

A bit of background…..in 2003 Foundation for African Medicine and Education started as a mobile clinic serving the rural Karatu region. 2006 the first 12 acres were purchased to build a hospital. Much has happened since then with continuing progress in every aspect of the hospital. There is a special focus on reproductive and child health with a new building started in 2017. This is THE best place for prenatal care and delivery. I love stopping in at the maternity center but need to give the new moms their privacy. So I get my fill of cuteness on WELL BABY TUESDAY when parents bring kids for free checkups, vaccinations etc. The hospital is overrun with adorable little ones.

One of the practices here that feeds the learning hunger is the volunteer program. A volunteer is here to coach, improving the skills and confidence of the Tanzanian staff. And I can say personally it is a profitable transaction for a volunteer. We learn things that are unique to this experience. It is rich in understanding culture, language and the hearts of people who live differently than us, but share the same inner workings. One cavate for me is language. Swahili gets stuck on my tongue and comes out unrecognizable and, too often, laughable. Kind of like my first two weeks here in January 2018 when I said fart to everyone thinking I was saying hello.

The past two weeks I have referred to the heavy load of work that is now taking shape in the updated 5 year strategic priorities. That process and more about the FAME overachievers in photos below.

A robust SWOT exercise where the management team weighed in on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to inform the strategic focus of FAME.

This is Dr. Adam leading a group of nurses through interpretation of lab results. It was a clear message that doctors and nurses are a team!

Next blog I will describe the amazing weekend we had visiting the Hadzabe and Datoga tribes near Lake Eyasi!

Cows are everything…..worlds apart

Sandwiched between a robust first week of meetings and the upcoming “booked solid” week, we headed out for a bit of the two Tanzanias. We took an overnight at Isoitok a tented camp that allows a glimpse into the daily life of a Mahsi boma. In almost every way the boma is the simplist of living, where any developed world opionions about how to live and be happy must be set aside. We ended the weekend at Gibbs farm where the natural beauty of Africa marries western comforts for privilaged safarians. Fabulous food at both places.

My time in the boma was part wonder for the creativity and resilence and part heartbreak for the women. We started with the smiley care takers at Isoitok and medicine man, Ruben. After settling in our comfy bush tent Ruben took us on a medicine walk that ended at the top of “little Kilimanjaro”.

Ruben used his machete to make a tooth brush with tooth pick end. Hmmm good idea! We heard about trees that offered every remedy.

We hiked to the top of little Kilimanjaro with a stunning view of Lake Manyara. He then served cold wine and a tasty snack that appeared from his backpack. Finaly back to the camp for a delicious dinner and great wine!

The next morning Ruben made the journey with us to the boma in his shoes make from mortor bike tread. Comfortable and sturdy ……..

Ruben told us that the cow is everything in the Mashi community. It is used for meat, blood, beds, even a wedding dress and more. These cows were left in the boma pen because they are too weak to go for food. The lack of rain required a long walk to get the little grass available to eat so only the healthy made the journey.

But I learned it was the women who were everything. They build their house where they live with their children, cook, care for children and the young daughters – sadly – bring a dowery of cows to increase the herd for the boma.

The wives are also entrepreneurs who sell their wares.

They were very willing models that allowed me the opportunity to capture the beautiful colors on my different settings!

And then on to a late lunch, a few miles away, at Gibbs – the other Africa. An interesting weekend to be sure.

Next post I will bring you up to speed on our work at the hospital. Really good stuff…………….

Karatu Friday Market etc.

It’s Friday evening – yes a full week later. It’s seems less because my technolgoy skills are wanting and ,as always, first days here are like drinking from a fire hose. Welcomes come from everyone. Between hugs they laughingly correct my Swahili becuase they know it is likely to suck for as long as I return to FAME.

I am simply blown away by how much everyone has grown in their positions since my last time here. I’m uber proud of everyone! Yesterday we had a session with senior leadership to layout our goals for my 3 month stay. I am tempted to go into the weeds on this but we have 3 months of blogs to cover it and as we all know “best laid plans…..”.

And as I promised, we will return to last weeks Friday Market in Karatu, complete with ruling goats and our vaccine clinic. What can I say? Friday market is a perfect reintroduction into life in Karatu.

Preparing for shots which come with blood pressre checks.

It was windy so Prosper solved an engineering problem without an engineer.

A stroll through the maket and stop for a refreshing beverage wiith super nurse Kizito and best ever social worker Kitashu!

We were in charge of lunch for the group!

YMMMMMM…….

Selected a goat but found out KLM does not allow them under your seat😳

I played with the settings on my iPhone 13 and got this amazing photo of the wonderful Kitashu and the fabulous Prosper!

So I’ll head to bed with memories of the Friday Market and a fabulous week of kick off meetings at the most healing place I know. Tommorrow we head to an overnight in a Mashi boma. See you soon!

Karatu Tanzania

I’m back at Foundation for African Medicine and Education (FAME) and it is wonderful being here with old friends where every inch of the enviroment heals! In case you missed it, below is a pre-covid entry on the FAME website. It should get you somewhat up to speed on my work here.

https://fameafrica.org/journal/2019/10/15/coaching-management-skills

So where to begin…..one week ago, after my negative PCR test and on my 71st birthday, I boarded my first flight of a 26 hour journey to Kilimanjaro airport in Tanzania. The KLM flight crews celebrated with me, forcing me to drink champagne and eat sweets at every turn, and sent me on my way with a KLM friendship bracelet. Friends forever💕

In Amsterdam airport I hooked up with my friend Anne, a nursing professor from Iowa…go Hawkeyes! We deplaned at Kili. Before customs, we took a rapid test and prayed that we would test negative or be forced to stay in a government designated hotel for 10 days. Now that would be a total bummer!!!

We were collected at the airport and did our first attempt to combat jet lag with our old friends at the Kia Lodge. YES SLEEP… but not before we ushered in January 6 with a final birthday glass of wine.

After a good night sleep Hassan collected us for the 3.5 hour drive to Karatu. We dropped our luggage and took our first lap around FAME to greet old and new friends.

Ladies leaving maternity.

Friday, our first full day, we accompanied a team of FAME superstars to the Friday Karatu Market for a vaccine clinic. The word market is redfined by this robust experience where goats rule🤪

Come one and all, get your vaccine here!

More to come on the super duper Karatu Friday Market and vaccine clinic in my next post!