My Time Here In Africa

So far my trip here has really been great, a real eye opener for me.

The people have been very friendly and laugh quite often when we try to talk to them in English. When we are out and the "Muzungus" (white people) that I’m with try to ask questions they always look to me to translate, they can't believe that I am a black person and can't speak Swahili.

Over the weekend we visited the Pare Mountains and was told by 1 person that I am the 1st black outsider to visit their area. I think I was laughed at most in this region for not being able to speak Swahili.

The women here pride themselves on being strong. They work the fields, fetch the water in rural areas, cook the meals and care for the family so they really need to be. When we visited the Pare Mountain's and took a 6 hour hike up the mountain, we didn’t reach the top and our guide commented that we would have been divorced for being lazy weak women. We saw so many women walking for miles with banana’s and other goods on their heads going to the market to sell.

The color of the women’s kangas (the pieces of cloth worn wrapped around the body) are as colorful as their attitudes. They wear beautiful pinks, blues, yellows, greens and reds. The Kanga’s are worn mostly by married women and depending on how its tied by unmarried girls as well. It’s not only colorful and fashionable but is used as a sling to carry the babies on Mommies back. The Massi wear purple and black or red and black in a checkered pattern, they are the warriors in this area and most of the gaurds around are Massi warriors. Our guard, Joseph, is a Massi warrior and we feel secure just knowing he is around.

One of the things I find most interesting about the clothes worn here is the foot wear. Old used tires are refashioned and made into sandals. Some are just black while others are painted and designed, they are made in many different styles and some have the threading quite visible on them but lots of ppl wear them and it doesn’t seem to be a bother. I wonder if Good Year knows what is happening with their old tires.

The land here competes with the colors of the women’s Kanga and is a bright rich red, the color of bricks. As it is the dry season its very dusty and a thin layer of dust constantly hangs in the air. When we get home everyday we are covered in a fine layer of dust, it gets in your, nose, in your ears, parts covered and uncovered. You shower and dry yourself and the towel is stained red with the left over dust from your body, I don’t know if I’ve been really “clean” since I got here. Although the land is such a bright red I suspect it is not very fertile. PPL are always complaining that they are hungry. There has not been a day that has gone by in clinic that we haven’t heard ppl complaining that they are hungry. This seems to be the biggest complaint of ppl here. Mostly I see Jeremy or Camilla reach into their pockets and give money for food, money for hospital bills, money to pay someone’s milk bill. Now we are getting into the habit as well as it’s hard to just sit there, listening to ppl who are happy to get even 1 meal a day, knowing you have eaten a big breakfast and will be going home to a nice dinner prepared by a house keeper, while walking away from someone who has said that all they have eaten is cornmeal mush (ogali) for the past several months. Although ppl here are hungry, it’s Ramadan and they still uphold the tradition of fasting all day long. I don’t know if I were hungry if I could be on a self imposed fast for 30 days because of religious reasons.

We have been very fortunate to have 1 of our clinics associated with the hospital. On our way there the 1st morning, all us volunteers excited that we were going to see cases and work in the hospital with the feeling that the work of homeopathy is being taken a bit more seriously here, our car broke down. As Westerner’s we got very anxious that here we were on the side of the road, people waiting to see us at the hospital and we were going to be late, when Jeremy set us straight with Hakkuna Mattata, this is Africa, we are on African time. Jeremy phoned a friend, arranged for us to get a ride to clinic and paid someone to watch the car for the day till it could be bought to the shop. As we moved farther away from town the roads became dirt roads and we were jostled and bounced about the van, as we were to learn in the coming weeks, unless we were on a main road most were unpaved and driving on the left becomes a suggestion more than a rule.

For some of the outlying clinics there is a clinic coordinator that sets things up in advance for us. They get the ppl, help to spread the word about what we are doing and when we will be there. When we show up we never know who or how many will be there but there are always ppl lined up outside the door waiting to be seen. So far the most that we have seen in 1 day has been 13 ppl and by the end of the day we are all fried. They most uplifting thing has been seeing ppl who come back for a follow-up visit. They comeback to the clinic and their symptoms have been alleviated, their CD4 count has gone up and since they are also being seen and tested allopathically as well, homeopathy bridges nicely with allopathic medicine in this setting. Coming from the west where homeopathy is viewed as just medicine for acute illness its good to see how nicely homeopathy is able to take care of disease we would not otherwise have a chance to use it with in the west. We have 1 severe case that is in the hospital that we have been fortunate to see, his name is Geoffrey and he cant be anymore than 25yrs old. He is in a hospital that has been without power for 3 weeks, the backup generator is broken, no medicine and all refrigerated samples are now of no use. Both him and his wife are positive and when we 1st went to see him laying in his hospital bed the 1st day of clinic he was in a severe cryptococcal meningitis coma. His rt eye was rolled back in his head, he couldn’t speak and was non responsive. We were sure he wouldn’t make it thru the night and there was nothing the hospital could do for him. After talking to his father who was keeping vigil at his bed side, and observing Geoffrey we got enough information and Jeremy felt confident in prescribing Apis. Almost immediately Geoffrey started moaning and his breathing changed. We waited and re-dosed him in 5 mins when he seemed to relapse and told his father to watch him and continue dosing every 10mins and check back with us in 1 hr. That was a very sleepless night for me, seeing him in that position made me really question weather or not AIDS was just too big to treat, what were the life’s of ppl with this disease worth, wasn’t it just better to let them die out and start afresh? But when you look into their eyes, you see that they are human beings that possess such a strong will to live and a spirit to match that all you can do is break down crying and try to help as best you can.

So far my trip here has really been great, a real eye opener for me.

The ppl have been very friendly and laugh quite often when we try to talk to them in English. When we are out and the muzungus (white ppl) that I’m with try to ask questions they always look to me to translate, they cant believe that I am a black person and cant speak Swahili.

Over the weekend we visited the Pare Mts and was told by 1 person that I am the 1st black outsider to visit their area. I think I was laugh at most in this region for not being able to speak Swahili.

The women here pride themselves on being strong. They work th fields, fetch the water in rural areas, cook the meals and care for the family so they really need to be. When we visited the Pare Mt’s and took a 6hr hike up the mountain, we didn’t reach the top and our guide commented that we would have been divorced for being lazy weak women. We saw so many women walking for miles with banana’s and other goods on their heads going to the market to sell.

The color of the women’s kangas (the pieces of cloth worn wrapped around the body) are as colorful as their attitudes. They wear beautiful pinks, blues, yellows, greens and reds. The Kanga’s are worn mostly by married women and depending on how its tied by unmarried girls as well. It’s not only colorful and fashionable but is used as a sling to carry the babies on Mommies back. The Massi wear purple and black or red and black in a checkered pattern, they are the warriors in this area and most of the gaurds around are Massi warriors. Our guard, Joseph, is a Massi warrior and we feel secure just knowing he is around.

One of the things I find most interesting about the clothes worn here is the foot wear. Old used tires are refashioned and made into sandals. Some are just black while others are painted and designed, they are made in many different styles and some have the threading quite visible on them but lots of people wear them and it doesn't seem to be a bother.

The land here competes with the colors of the women’s Kanga and is a bright rich red, the color of bricks. As it is the dry season its very dusty and a thin layer of dust constantly hangs in the air. When we get home everyday we are covered in a fine layer of dust, it gets in your, nose, in your ears, parts covered and uncovered. You shower and dry yourself and the towel is stained red with the left over dust from your body, I don’t know if I’ve been really “clean” since I got here. Although the land is such a bright red I suspect it is not very fertile. People are always complaining that they are hungry. There has not been a day that has gone by in clinic that we haven’t heard people complaining that they are hungry. This seems to be the biggest complaint of people here. Mostly I see Jeremy or Camilla reach into their pockets and give money for food, money for hospital bills, money to pay someone’s milk bill. Now we are getting into the habit as well as it’s hard to just sit there, listening to people who are happy to get even one meal a day, knowing you have eaten a big breakfast and will be going home to a nice dinner prepared by a house keeper, while walking away from someone who has said that all they have eaten is cornmeal mush (ogali) for the past several months. Although people here are hungry, it’s Ramadan and they still uphold the tradition of fasting all day long. I don’t know if I were hungry if I could be on a self imposed fast for 30 days because of religious reasons.

We have been very fortunate to have one of our clinics associated with the hospital. On our way there the first morning, all us volunteers excited that we were going to see cases and work in the hospital with the feeling that the work of homeopathy is being taken a bit more seriously here, our car broke down. As Westerner’s we got very anxious that here we were on the side of the road, people waiting to see us at the hospital and we were going to be late, when Jeremy set us straight with Hakkuna Mattata, this is Africa, we are on African time. Jeremy phoned a friend, arranged for us to get a ride to clinic and paid someone to watch the car for the day until it could be brought to the shop. As we moved farther away from town the roads became dirt roads and we were jostled and bounced about the van, as we were to learn in the coming weeks, unless we were on a main road most were unpaved and driving on the left becomes a suggestion more than a rule.

For some of the outlying clinics there is a clinic coordinator that sets things up in advance for us. They get the people, help to spread the word about what we are doing and when we will be there. When we show up we never know who or how many will be there but there are always people lined up outside the door waiting to be seen. So far the most that we have seen in one day has been 13 people and by the end of the day we are all fried. They most uplifting thing has been seeing people who come back for a follow-up visit. They comeback to the clinic and their symptoms have been alleviated, their CD4 count has gone up and since they are also being seen and tested allopathically as well, homeopathy bridges nicely with allopathic medicine in this setting. Coming from the West where homeopathy is viewed as just medicine for acute illness its good to see how nicely homeopathy is able to take care of disease we would not otherwise have a chance to use it with in the west. We have one severe case that is in the hospital that we have been fortunate to see, his name is Geoffrey and he can't be anymore than 25 years old. He is in a hospital that has been without power for three weeks, the backup generator is broken, no medicine, and all refrigerated samples are now of no use. Both him and his wife are positive and when we first went to see him laying in his hospital bed the first day of clinic he was in a severe cryptococcal meningitis coma. His right eye was rolled back in his head, he couldn’t speak and was non responsive. We were sure he wouldn’t make it thru the night and there was nothing the hospital could do for him. After talking to his father who was keeping vigil at his bed side, and observing Geoffrey we got enough information and Jeremy felt confident in prescribing Apis. Almost immediately Geoffrey started moaning and his breathing changed. We waited and re-dosed him in 5 minuets when he seemed to relapse, we told his father to watch him and continue dosing every 10 minuets and check back with us in 1 hour. That was a very sleepless night for me, seeing him in that position made me really question weather or not AIDS was just too big to treat, what were the life’s of people with this disease worth, wasn’t it just better to let them die out and start fresh? But when you look into their eyes, you see that they are human beings that possess such a strong will to live and a spirit to match that all you can do is break down crying and try to help as best you can.

We have 2 more weeks here and every morning I wake up wondering what the day holds; how many people will we help today, how much money will we give to hungry widows and their children, how many aunts are will we see with children who have been orphaned by this disease, how many grandmothers who are old but still proud of how strong they are will come to us for back and waist pains because they have been working the fields for 50-60 years with no breaks. We wait, we watch, we wonder, we help and in the end it’s Hakkuna Matata….no worries.