Iringa

Jan 26, 2011

Amy, Kelsey and I left Ilula for a few days for Iringa before Amy is off to her Arusha adventure.  She will be meeting two friends for safari in Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti.  We will go to Neema Crafts to see how Beatrice does therapy and perhaps go to the regional hospital for a tour also.  I have some emails to catch up on and the blog you are reading.

The rest of the big group leaves Ilula for Dar tomorrow and then home.  They will attend the devotions in the morning, catch up on a couple patients and head out when Becky and Lamont Koerner arrive in the bus.

We said our good-byes tonight, with appreciations for all.  It was a pleasure and a treasure to have both David Page and Scott Lien with us representing Global Health Ministries (GHM), even for a short time.  Scott is Director of Operations.  David, who was CEO of Fairview Systems retired in 2007 and is now devoting time and energy to GHM board work.  Scott is doing a whirlwind tour of many of the hospitals GHM supplies.  They bring with them passion and an infinite depth of kindness and caring.  We heard from them after they arrived in Dar – going out to dinner at some swanky hotel.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Yesterday, the three of us went to Neema Crafts and were given a great tour.  When you visit Iringa, you must eat at Neema Café, buy stuff at the craft store and possible use the Internet services.  But more than that, seeing 100 Neema employees at work is the most important.  Each employee has a disability.  Some are significantly crippled, some are deaf.  All work.  I have seen others like the man who walks on hands and buttocks, dragging his lame legs from a seated position.  He is not without his flip-flops when moving.  He wears them on his hands.  In the craft area, actually a small factory, they make elephant dung paper (don’t worry, they boil the fibrous dung before it becomes paper), paper beads (long wedge-shaped papers wrapped and glued around a wire, then dyed and strung), beautiful woven fabrics on variously sized looms and, among other crafty projects, beautiful lamps.  I will have to try to get a lamp home somehow.

In the afternoon we hiked up to Gangalonga Rock.  There is a reason it is named.  It is a huge landmark.  We climbed it and stood over-looking all of Iringa.  Although I have been there before, two things stand out.  First, I am older and still made it just fine, although I think it qualifies as a maximal cardiac stress test.  Second, it is just as impressive the third time as the first and second.

We had a delightful dinner at Lulu’s with other wazungu: Roger and Trish Bloomquist, Don and Eunice Fultz and Carol and Gary Langness.  I am pretty sure I didn’t let anyone else get a word in edgewise, since it was such a relief to be understood. The food was satisfactory, but the orders seemed mixed up and unfamiliar compared with the US versions of same, like Mandarin Chicken.  Hmmm.  To top it off, they ran out of rice.  You read correctly, ran out of rice!  Don’t worry, we did not leave hungry.

This morning, I went with Gary and Carol Langness and Amy (she’s from Huruma) to pick up new sweaters for the kids at the orphanage.  Then we went to Huruma where I got to meet Mama Chilewa.

That was fun!  I took some video.

In the afternoon, we had a tour of Tumaini U.  Gary Langness gives a great history of the school.  I took a lot of video and basically got the story on video.  There may be a happy medium in how fast one pans from one scene to another.  I remember my dad’s efforts with the Super 8.   Zip – zip – zip!  I did some zipping myself and on the other hand some verrrrry slow panning.  Peter Harrits has nothing to fear from me!

Saturday, January 29, 2011

I tried to call home a million times this morning, about 5:30 AM here and 8:30 PM there last night.  Birdie said the call registered, but nothing happened, highly consistent with my own experience.  But I got charged for each and every failed connection.  I have no idea.

To give me a little positive reinforcement, I went to see Don and Eunice to see if I could get their Magic Jack (MJ) to work right.  We managed to get it straight eventually.  Couldn’t fix a couple computer things.  Oh, well.  It did hurt my ego, but my foot is sorer than my ego (from booting the thing).

Some things in Tanzania are EXACTLY the way they are at home.

Ken