GHC in WSJ

So I've been in Dar es Salaam at a number of meetings with our national team here and haven't had time to blog but more will be going up soon when I'm back in lively Kilwa :)

In the meantime, our fellowship program made the Wall Street Journal (article) and I got a shout out!

Wedding Band

After that last heavy post, I thought I'd add a fun video from the last time we were in Dar. We saw this a couple times before we learned why a band would be riding around in a pickup truck playing music. It's common for processions of cars traveling from one part of the wedding to another (like ceremony to reception) to be lead by the band to let the celebration begin.

The coolest part is that as the band passed anyone on the street, people would just start dancing and joining in on the fun.

Doctor Shortage in Tanzania Leads to Improvisation

Chumo Dispensary Visit

A Control Freak in Africa

Over the last two days my Global Health Corps partner Goodluck Minja and I conducted interviews with 13 health workers in 5 different facilities throughout the Kilwa region. The facilities ranged from the regional hospital (largest facility) responsible for about 1 million people with a staff of around 40, to a health dispensary (smallest facility) responsible for a few thousand with a staff of 2.

We collected a wealth of data along the way and have continued having many epiphanies about the health information system here in Tanzania. I was also reminded of something that has been a particularly tough transition from life in the States: how incredibly dependent I am on the help of others.

For starters I don’t speak Swahili.

Of the 13 interviews, only 2 of them were in English where both Goodluck and I could contribute. The other 11 Goodluck led and drove 100% of the questioning. For the sake of a smoother conversation style, we’ve chosen to video tape each interview to review as a team later so that he doesn’t have to translate each response mid- interview. This has worked well but has left me behind the camera most of the time. We have a set list of questions that Goodluck works through though I find myself double checking with him before the end of each interview to make sure that he covered everything we had discussed. It's difficult for me to imagine how frustrating it must be for Goodluck to have me second guessing him, but he's been very patient with me.

I’m here to help but I feel like I can’t contribute to my core job, which thus far has been gathering data and interviewing people. It has been irritating at best and crippling at worst.

Perhaps the most unexpected way I lack control is in my access to information. There’s no internet and even with my personal modem, there is a lack information about virtually everything and everywhere in Africa, especially here in Kilwa. There are no phone books. There are no newspapers. There are no radio stations. There is no library. Most restaurants don’t have menus. The only signs that exist are from the one growing industry here: cell phone companies. So the only way to get information is by talking to neighbors and locals, again, something I am incapable of doing without knowing the language.

Self-reliance and independence are highly valued in American culture and particularly for me. Letting go of control, being humbled by my own inadequacy to perform basic tasks, and ultimately having to ask for help has been an incredible exercise of trust.

Luckily, that trust has been rewarded because of Goodluck. His patience for my cultural faux pas, my underdeveloped ability to learn languages, having to pay more for things when I’m around, the lack of attention he gets form others when we’re together, and just my tendency to challenge everything, is beyond inspiring. In many ways, the results of our work rest in our ability to form a trusting relationship that allows each of us to perform our best. At this point, not only can I rely on Goodluck, but I'm also confident that he will lead us to accomplish our goals.

I had no control over the partner I was paired with for this fellowship year. Thank God for Good Luck :)

A Day in the Life

Here was the schedule of my day yesterday. I wanted to share how inefficient life is here.

• 6:30am - Left house
• 6:30am - 6:45am - walked to taxi stand
• 6:45am - 7:05am - waited for a full car from the taxi to take us to Kivinje (where our hospital is)
• 7:05am - 7:30am - taxi 28km to the hospital
• 7:30am - proposed time we'd leave with hospital staff going for a visit to a health center
  
• 7:30am - 9:05am - wait at hospital for others to be ready to leave
• 9:05am - 9:30am - drive to the health center
• 9:30am - 10:15am - conduct interviews with health staff (only task for the day)
• 10:15am - 4:15pm - wait for driver to return and take us back to the hospital
• 4:15pm - 4:45pm - travel back to the hospital
• 4:45pm - 5:05pm - wait for taxi back to Kilwa
• 5:05pm - 5:35pm - travel back to Kilwa
• 5:35pm - 6:00pm - walk back to our house
• 6:00pm - eat

Additionally, the Muslim world, which is a high percentage of the coastal population in Tanzania, is celebrating Ramadan now and don't eat food while the sun is up. And more importantly for Goodluck and me, they don't make food in any restaurants. We thought we'd be home by lunch time (according to the hospital staff) so planned on eating our first meal then. Reality was, we joined in the fast :)

Thanks to Curt for the suggestion of bringing a book with me where ever I go in Africa. I'm going to get a lot of reading done here. Anyone have suggestions for books?