Merry Christmas!

Before getting into the good things, I have some sad news from the past week. I could no longer stand the heat produced from the mop on my head. I succumbed to the pressure and shaved my head. Please do not morn my loss, however, for I will suffer less in the heat now that I have lost a significant layer of insulation. It's been 5 years since I last had short hair so I, at least, had a moment of reflection. You'll notice pictures below (some pre-cut, some post-cut).

I hope everyone back in the states is having a great holiday and Christmas time. I've been enjoying some cooler weather, some American food, and some kids play time with the Andersons in Uganda.

I was worried I had been looking forward to a break from the heat in Tanzania so much that it would be a let down but I haven't been disappointed. I've had more restful sleep and have felt more clean this past week than I have since arriving in Africa. The Andersons have a wonderful home with many of the ammenities you'd find back in The States (basically all the food products you could get back home, a projector movie set up with speakers, Christmas tree and Christmas tree lights, virtually no mosquitoes, hot showers, etc). It's been a restful haven and I'm very thankful for time off to relax and regenerate.

Our Christmas has been mostly what I'm used to from home (insert new family with 4 children though :) ). We did have a traditional Ugandan meal today with all the kids from the Rafiki village that Tyler and Kim work for (the Rafiki village is an orphanage and school that houses 100 family-less Ugandan children). But, otherwise it's been a lot of family hang out time, food, and relaxation.

I'm sad to leave tomorrow morning but excited to meet up with a number of other Global Health Corps fellows who've traveled to Zanzibar to celebrate New Years together. Zanzibar hasn't had power for over two weeks now so I'm sure I'll have more stories to tell from next week. But for now, happy holidays!

Here's me with the Andrson family after opening Christmas gifts (Tyler, Josiah, Keidi, me, Maggie, Clara, Kim).

Here I am with the kids after a great game of whiffle ball.

On Christmas day we went to visit a number of orphans in their cottages.

Rafting the Nile

I rafted the Nile on Monday and had a total blast. It was by far the largest rapids I've ever been on (and they claim one of the rapids is the largest commercially rafted in the world). Our guide flipped our raft a few times in the smaller rapids just for fun. Check out the video for some clips of what I rafted through.

Christmas in Uganda

It's hard to believe it's almost Christmas time mainly because of how not in your face the holiday season is in Tanzania. That, and it's super hot so it just doesn't feel like the season. Either way, happy holidays to all!

I'm heading to Uganda for the Christmas week this Saturday to spend time with some long time family friends, the Andersons. I've already requested some sausage from their dutch butcher, booked a rafting trip down the Nile, and plan to get a lesson on running from Mr. Anderson (a former collegiate runner).

Though it's going to be tough not being home with my own family, I'm sure being with the Anderson family (of 6) will be a fantastic group to celebrate with.

As a little blast from the past. Here's a picture from the Anderson wedding. Can you spot me?

Health HR Challenges

U.S. Cooling Off, Africa Heating Up

My dad emailed me the other day to let me know it was 16 degrees in Seattle right now. I day dreamed yesterday the next time I'll be cold.

I thought it was hot when I arrived here but that was the tail end of the Tanzanian winter. We're just now getting into the heart of the summer and it's actually getting hotter. Imagine July in Washington DC and that's what kind of weather we get here (80 degrees with 80% humidity). Now imagine there's no electricity (so no AC, not even fans), the wind dies down, there's no insulation in your house, and the bathing water is as warm as it is outside.

You know when you take a shower and start sweating right after? Try literally non stop sweating all day. As long as our power is off (as it has been the last 4 days), there's no way to cool yourself other than the ocean. I sweat every minute of the day including when I sleep.

Here's to more dreams about cold weather because I'm not getting it any time soon.

Map of my house.

Here's a map of where my house is in Kilwa Masoko.

Pictures finally!

I finally have a day in our Dar es Salaam office to upload some pictures from the year. Some are random but I thought I might as well add as many as I could while I had the chance.

These are my incredible roommate (minus the little girl on the right). From left to right, Goodluck, Grace, Hilda, Me, neighbor girl.

Here's Salma our house girl/woman. Her whole family (her, husband, two daughters) all have names starting with "S". I thought only westerns did that :) She is always smiling and dancing around the house.

The A-team (Andrew, Ameet, Angie) bonding with our pumpkin (nicknamed Sir Thomas Cunningham) on Thanksgiving week.

The A-team goes diving in Kilwa the day after Thanksgiving

Out on the water with our dive instructor Valario (one of three other white people I hang out with in Kilwa).

Just finished my dive.

Riding home from work.

Do I really look like k fed with the corn rows? :(

Taking a break in the kitchen from cooking Thanksgiving dinner with Angie.

Pumpkin Pie!

Our version of Thanksgiving turkey, delicious red snapper.

Yes they make wine in Tanzania. No it's not good. We had South African wine for Thanksgiving but I got a kick out of seeing this wine.

Car Birth Part 2

Car Birth Part 1

Babies and Mud

Here’s a story I’ll remember the rest of my life.

Goodluck and I were supervising and training health staff on data collection and analysis this past Tuesday. At our second stop (we planned to visit four facilities) we picked up a 15-year-old pregnant girl who needed to be transferred to the district hospital because, being so young, she was at risk for complications during birth. Two nurses from the local facility joined us as well as the 15 year old father-to-be.

The plan was to finish our supervisions and deliver the woman to the district hospital to give birth to her coming child. I didn’t even ask how far along she was in the labor process before we got into the car because she was walking around normally, no one helping her, no urgency…

A quick aside: The short rainy season started in Tanzania around two weeks ago (the long one is typically April to June). Along with transforming the rural area from desert to lush countryside, it has transformed dusty roads to mud roads.

Soon after we left, our Land Cruiser got stuck in the mud, twice. You know if a Land Cruiser gets stuck, it’s legit mud. It took an hour to dig the car out the first time. The second time we got stuck, things got a little bit interesting.

The right half of the car slipped into an existing ditch leaving the car at a 30 degree tilt off center. After a few attempts at driving the car out of the ditch one of the nurses mentioned something to Goodluck and he motioned for me to get out of the car with him. I assumed that it was to start digging the car out again but after exiting, Goodluck told me the girl was going to deliver the baby now, in the back of the car.

Fortunately, she was in good hands with the two nurses but it was still important that we get the car out so that we could be close to a health facility when the baby arrived in case of complications. So while the nurses, father, and mother were in the back delivering a baby, Goodluck, our driver, and I were trying to dig us out of the mud.

30 minutes and multiple attempts to free the car later the car was still stuck but the baby had arrived! Can you imagine (a) giving birth in the back of a car (b) while the car was on a 30 degree tilt and (c) while it was continuously being jostled back and forth by people trying to free the car from mud?

It took us another hour to get the car out but we were finally able to deliver the new mother and baby to a facility and get them some additional medical attention. Thankfully, both baby boy and mother made it through safe and healthy.

The most striking aspect of the whole day?

I never heard the mother make a sound during the entire process. No screams, no moans, no whimpers, not even strained breathing. It was one of the most amazing displays of toughness I’ve ever seen.

I’ll get up some video footage I took on Monday.