Approaching the finishing line - or is there another lap?

Like any race – it always seems to get a lot more energetic at the end.!!!!

On Saturday we went to our first Tanzanian wedding. We went by bus to a neighbouring village with the throng of bridesmaids and page boys. Here, most of the year, the bride doesn’t have to worry about what the weather will be like – only how to prevent the guests suffering in the sun during the outdoors ceremony. We havn’t had a drop of rain in Mvumi in the last 6 months – though we have been told it will hopefully come with a vengeance in November to February.

Although parts of the ceremony were similar to England, there were differences:
- the bride and groom walked up the aisle together, extremely slowly. In fact, throughout the service they walked to and from their seats (about 20 yards – 4 times??) at a snail’s pace, accompanied by their page boys and bridesmaids
- Although the guests laughed and enjoyed themselves, the bride and groom were extremely solemn and down cast throughout the service and the party afterwards. We assume it was to show how important the ceremony is, rather than not wanting to get married!!
- They each got their own marriage certificates
- There didn’t seem to be any speeches, except the bride said grace before the meal.

There was an MC who orchestrated the party (no dancing, all sat down as in a theatre to watch choirs and guests line up to give presents). Because of problems with the electricity, it didn’t start till about 9 pm and we ate at 12.30 am – our first food since breakfast

On Sunday we helped lead the English service at Dodoma Cathedral. Malcolm took part in a sketch based on how we tend to think we are still young but get less and less fit and die (still thinking we are young). Quite ironic – ever since he has been suffering from a bad hip and knee – he still insists he is only 25 however. Afterwards we had a farewell meal with friends at Dodoma’s best Chinese Restaurant.

Irene completed her filing project at the start of the week and has been able to pack up. Malcolm typically, however, has been spending hours trying to complete lots of things (should he have done so earlier?). The good news is:

- he managed to find the money to pay the September payroll, and the final payment of Tsh 7 million to clear the Magistrates Court case
- the auditor has completed the audit of the hospital’s main accounts and project account of the UK donors for the period ending June 2008. Although there are some issues the auditor is delighted he has had some proper accounts to audit for the first time in several years
- at about 6am on Thursday morning he prepared a draft Hospital budget that the Government required – at that time it may not make too much sense, but hopefully will be good enough.

On Friday we had two meetings with the Bishop. The first was a private discussion about the option of returning next year. We have already been invited by email by the Bishop, but won’t make our mind up until after we return to income. If we do return to Mvumi we hope it will be to support a permanent accountant, and once the problems have been resolved about some Departments withholding financial information about their activities.

And finally we had our last evening meal at the local restaurant, ‘Double J’s’. A feast of chipsi myayi (Chips omelette), caki, soda and milky coffee. Scrummy!!!!.

So work complete, suitcases almost packed – time to journey back:
- on Saturday we have a day out and visit a local vineyard with friends
- on Sunday a farewell to our church, and overnight in Dodoma
- on Monday we visit a neighbouring Diocese to see a Health Project which have invited us to work next year
- on Tuesday bus to Dar es Salaam
- Wednesday – fly back to England. We wonder if its warm there too?

Sprint for the Finish?

We have just a week to go in Mvumi, with lots of questions about what happens next.

We came back from Holiday expecting there would be a lot to do, and there is. One wonderful change was whilst she was away the filing staff had worked very hard to sort out the medical files. Any hope of carpenters arriving to insert additional shelving has gone and Irene wanted to rearrange the files into a proper order – and great progress had been made in her absence. Miracles do happen. And it should mean the clerks have more ownership of the system to continue it after we leave.

Malcolm is tackling the mountain of outstanding work. Time was spent with the auditor who seems delighted that this year he actually has some documents to audit!!! It seems likely that he will recommend that the Hospital reviews some systems.

And we have started to pack up. Our plan is to leave some things in Mvumi in case we come back – like Malcolm’s shoes which weren’t fit to bring here in the first place (now called his ‘Tanzanian shoes’). The problem will be making sure our luggage isn’t too heavy.

We have been invited by the Bishop to return so are considering this. We also, out of the blue, received an invitation from another Diocese to work at their health facility. It seems that a free accountant is a very attractive item (not that Malcolm has been called attractive for a long time). To find out more we hope to visit for a day on our way to Dar es Salaam to catch our flight home. We have decided not to decide whether to return to Tanzania, or where to work until we get back to England, clear our heads and talk with family and friends (who after a couple of months might be very pleased for us to return).

We have to sort out where we live in England in the short term. No house means finding somewhere to live temporarily. After a few weeks with family, they might even pay our fare back to Tanzania!!!

So, in addition to packing and tidying up work we also look forward to:
- being guests at a wedding on Saturday
- helping to lead a service at the Dodoma Cathedral on Sunday, followed by
- taking friends for a ‘farewell’ meal at the Dodoma Chinese Restaurant
- maybe Malcolm getting a Tanzanian hair cut before returning to meet his mother

Take a breather – and get overtaken!!!

We came back from holiday yesterday after a wonderful two weeks with David and his friend, Lucie. The last week was on the magical island of Zanzibar where we did all the touristy things:

- most of us (with one exception) spent time relaxing on the beach or by the pool
- we went on an enjoyable spice tour to see the varieties of spices grown on the island and to sample some local food
- we wandered around the main town (Stone Town) exploring the narrow allays and testing the restaurants and coffee houses
- Malcolm visited the remaining rain-forest and mangrove forest and walked among the unique red Colubus Monkeys, and dipped his hand into a nest of giant ants (the fool)

There was one complaint from Lucie – that we hadn’t explained in last weeks blog what a wonderful companion she was and how she livened up the conversation and holiday. So – Lucie was a wonderful companion and she really livened up the conversation and made the holiday more enjoyable for all of us.

We came back to Mvumi on Friday to discover that a lot had happened whilst we were away:
- after several delays the District Council finally visited the Ministry of Health in Dar es Salaam to discuss the transfer of the hospital to Designated District Hospital status. The Hospital’s chief nurse was involved and he also had separate meetings with the Civil servants. The good news is it seems that they have accepted all staff onto the Government payroll which should mean that in future there should be no more problems with the payment of their salaries, PAYE or National Insurance (if it actually happens).

- before Malcolm leaves in 2 weeks the Government want an updated budget so that they know what to fund. This needs to reflect that the Government will now pay for all drugs and many other costs but that some patients, such as children, expectant mothers and the elderly will not pay any charges, no-one will pay any more than 50% of the cost of medicines and the cost of major operations will increase.

- the Task Force Manager and Administrator met with the bishop to discuss hand-over arrangements and the future management of the Hospital. Malcolm understands the Bishop will want to see him next week.

The bad news was that whilst we were away not only did someone decide to demolish the door of an outside store to our house, but someone also broke into a neighbour’s house and stole a substantial sum of money and a lap-top. The most upsetting thing is that irreplaceable photos were saved on the lap-top.

Such is life in Tanzania (or probably most countries in the world, unfortunately).

So next week we return to work to close down our six months here:
- we hope to see the Bishop to discuss future options
- we start packing up – deciding what to take home and what to leave behind
- return to basic (economical) living again after a touch of luxury (expensive) e.g. Somewhere basic and simple (where we pay Tsh 500 for a bottle of coca cola at a restaurant) rather than the wonderful pampering, food and customer service at a luxurious place (where they charge Tsh 2,500 for a bottle of coca cola)

Taking a breather before the final straight

Time for a change of pace - and a change in cost!!!!!!

We are now half way through our holiday with son David and friend Lucie. I am afraid photos are going to have to wait as we havn't brought the technology with us. I am writing this in the Internet cafe of a Zanzibar hotel, on a rather hot and humid evening.

Its been a week of variation so far. On Saturday we met David and Lucie at Dodoma and brieefly showed them the city before driving to Mvumi. This was their chance to see real Africa. They excelled themselves on Sunday by introducing themselves to the church in fluent (as far as we could tell) Swahili and Chigogo.

On Monday we got up early to fly from MAF to Kilimanjaro for a start of a 3 day safari. It was like a starving man moving into a land of plenty. We stayed and ate in the best hotels in the area - what we paid for a coca cola would have bought a coke, chips omellette, a cake and a coffee in our restaurant in Mvumi (just over one pound).

We had two safaris - one in the forests around Lake Manyara and one in the Ngorongoro crater. These were excellent and it was surprising that the animals took no notice at all of the land-rovers - we expect because we were no threat to them. However, they rushed away from anybody on foot. The most exciting thing for Irene was that she was the first to spot a lion - even before the guide. It was about a mile away with only its head sticking above the grass. Must have been all the practice looking out for children in the past.

We then had a relaxing three nights at the Mama Clementina Foundation Hotel in Moshi. This is part of a charity which runs a secondary school for girls, focusing on vocational training. It is run by the parents of the Task force manager at Mvumi Hospital. They had asked if Malcolm would return to help them with developing the Financial Management so this was a good opportunity to see what the school is like.

And then the hardest leg of the holiday - a nine hour bus journey to Dar es Salaam and a night in a back-packers hotel before catching the ferry to Zanzibar - we are glad to have arrived.

And what of next week. We suspect not a lot!!!!! Lazying around Zanzibar - perhaps a few tours - who knows? On friday David and Lucie return to the UK and we return to dar es Salaam for our bus trip back to Mvumi on Saturday.

At times, life is hard!!!!!!!

Oops!!! Almost a cropper

We have often heard (mainly from women) “Woman – cold; man – flu”. We have discovered the Tanzanian equivalent.

2 weeks ago Dr Corrie began coughing, had a head ache and felt rough. Sensibly she had a malaria test – negative. Must have been a cold.

As we said last week, Irene then began coughing, had a head ache and felt rough, so under protest had a malaria test – negative. Another cold.

This week Malcolm started coughing, felt tired and had a temperature so, thinking it would be a waste a time but to in order to please the women, he had a malaria test – positive!!! You must be joking!!!

So “Woman – cold; man – malaria!!!!”

(Reason - Women probably don't ever actually catch flu or malaria - only ever a cold. They just think its worse???)

We used to think malaria is the worst possible illness to get because of tales of explorers in the 19th century. It is still a major killer in Africa. However, in the months before we came we met two couples who had been here for a few years and in both cases the husband had caught malaria – and although you might take all necessary steps to prevent it, (pills, sprays etc) you can’t prevent catching it but can only reduce the risk. (We did ask Dr Corrie whether men were more prone to malaria than women – in her professional opinion only because mosquitoes find it harder to hit a moving target, whereas men do a lot less work and a lot more sitting around!!!!)

Although Malcolm spent a day or so taking it easy and sleeping (and proving Dr Corries point!), now that he’s taking treatment he’s back at work and keen to go on holiday next week. He’s also looking forward to having a good excuse when he doesn’t quite feel like doing something (like the washing up, shopping, clearing up, talking etc etc etc)

Irene has also had her fair share of excitement. She was, once again, happily sitting, bare-foot, in the hot records office sorting out a pile of files when a Tanzanian worker came in. Suddenly, the Tanzanian gave out a yelp, picked up Irene's shoe, brushed Irenes waist with it, and stamped his foot. What is this? Some new form of ceremonial greeting ritual that we hadn't been told about? Irene looked down and saw a fairly large, but now dead scorpion by her side. And it was too late for Malcolm to take a photo of it!!!

We had a good weekend in Dodoma which included dinner at the best restaurant in town (the Dodoma Hotel Chinese restaurant), an evening with the American Financial Director at the new Christian Medical Centre and family, and lunch with a family from New Zealand. The only disappointment for Irene was that the swimming pool at MAF was closed for maintenance (which was one of the main reasons for going there). However, she compensated for this by using the pool at the Dodoma Hotel.

Looking at last weeks questions:

- Will Malcolm have enough money to persuade NSSF and the Magistrates Court to lift the threat of a large fine on the Hospital and custodial sentence for someone? The Hospital scraped together half now (Tsh 7 m - £3400) with the promise we will find the other half next month

- When Irene has sorted out the files, will the carpenter arrive to put in more shelves (meaning she’ll have to start sorting them out once again)? Irene has given up waiting for the carpenter. We have worked out the real meaning of the Swahili word ‘kesho’. All the language books will say it means ‘tomorrow’. It means in practice ‘not today’. So - when will the carpenter come? Kesho.

- What will the Task Force say to the Bishop at the close-down meeting, and what will the Bishop reply? There hasn’t been a close down meeting. Unfortunately the Bishop’s schedule has had to be totally reorganised due to new commitments

- Will son David and friend arrive safely in Tanzania for the holiday, and negotiate the journey to Mvumi? They arrived safely but then hit problems. On the way to the hotel David arranged for the taxi to stop at the bus station to pick up tickets for Mvumi. When he returned the taxi, friend, luggage and everything had gone. Knowing of tales of white-slave trade etc, and unable to contact his friend he tried to get in contact with the hotel to find out what had happened. Later the taxi returned for the driver to say he had to get a puncture repaired. As the journey continued the taxi was delayed by another fault. The driver then demanded:
i) payment for the puncture repair (about 80p)
ii) additional fare ($40 instead of $25) because the journey took longer than planned

- How will Irene manage being a year older? Like an expert!!!!!


Next week promises a whole new change of pace:
- Introducing David to the real Africa of Mvumi (where you are treated more as an oddity than a tourist to be fleeced) before flying to the Tourist areas of Arusha for a Safari and Zanzibar for relaxation

- No work, no filing, perhaps no Internet but lots more mosquitoes, tse-tse flies and wild animals
- From economic to expensive living (says Malcolm)

- From basics to luxury and pampering! (says Irene)

PS. If you search for Mvumi on Google maps for some reason it will pinpoint somewhere in the African wilderness.

If you find Dar es Salaam, scan 600 km westwards along the railway line to Dodoma, andthen south 40km along a rugged country oad you will find an aerial view of the Hospital.

Alternatively, use the following link. The photo is a few years house but our house is the one with a white van in the forecourt, North east of the 'H' complex of the hospital ward and right of the '(' shape of the nursing school hostel.

A spot of bother as the race nears its climax.

‘At least this time your phone has been behaving itself’ said Malcolm’s mother towards the end of their conversation. Just then they were immediately, and uncannily, cut off.

Murphy’s Law, ‘If it can go wrong, it will go wrong’ was designed for Tanzania. Quite often when we phone England, or use the Internet, we cut off for no apparent reason (To be honest the incident above was because the money on our mobile phone ran out). Usually we put it down to the environment / wind or technology. It can’t be poor reception as the 200 foot phone mast is only 100 yards away from our front door!

Just before Simon and Laura moved out of the house in July they replaced the handle on the toilet. That broke this week so we are pulling the plunger by hand until a replacement is fitted.

The pump that gets rain-water out of the underground reservoir to the hot water tank failed just after we moved in (perhaps all the water has been used – we don’t know as we can’t find the key to the reservoir padlock). Because the mains stop-cock had jammed it had to be replaced before Hospital water could be used instead. In the meantime Malcolm has been going up into the loft to fill the tank with a bucket so Iren can have hot showers – and managed to put his feet through the ceiling in the process.

Last Saturday there was a power failure that affected a large region of Tanzania for over 24 hours which meant we had to cook by kerosene stove, and eat and read by candle-light. The fridge, and 2 kg of prime pork, defrosted over night leaving a large puddle on the kitchen floor. It meant that not only were we in the dark, but we could no longer rely on Hospital water as this depends on an electric pump. We were asked when it was last like this in England – 150 years ago? We remember the 3 day week in the 70’s. Most of the villagers wouldn’t have known about the power cut since very few people have electricity or running water in their homes.

However, we did think the power cut would be a good opportunity to look at the night sky without any lights to spoil the view (the night sky is usually very dramatic because there are no street lights etc) – only there was a full moon which meant it was brighter outside than inside and we could see very few stars.

On Sunday Malcolm took Squashy for a walk through the village to an area they hadn’t visited before. Squashy is normally very good and was off the lead. Malcolm was talking (in pigeon Swahili / Chigogo) to an elderly gentleman when suddenly about a dozen piglets ran across the street. This was too much for Squashy. He immediately ran after one of them and picked it up by its neck. Despite Malcolm’s shouts, running after Squashy, falling over and trying to hit him with his lead he only managed to get Squashy to drop the piglet, chase after it and pick it up again about 5 or 6 times. With all the noise a crowd of villagers came out to see what the commotion was. Malcolm eventually caught Squashy and was trying to make a dignified exit when someone tried to tell him that the piglet was ‘dead-ee and said he needed to pay. The last Malcolm had seen the piglet was alive and anyway he had no money. So he insisted he needed to see. The piglet was cut, bruised but definitely ‘alive-ee’. We think we’ll try to avoid that area in future.

Later that day, on the way to the shops, two lads approached Malcolm. ‘Asking for money’ he thought. But no. He had dropped his mobile phone and the two boys just wanted to return it. As they left Malcolm called afrer them to give a reward. It’s the first time we’ve given money to strangers here, despite being asked dozens of times.

Irene was unwell earlier this week – stomach upset and head-ache – potentially some of the symptoms of malaria. Following the advice of Dr Corrie (who said that she didn’t want to have to say the next day ‘I told you so’) Irene, under protest, went to the Hospital for a malaria test – it was negative. She has now recovered and taking delight in saying ‘I told you so’.

It has been a bad week for our house-help, Mama Asante. A few weeks ago her brother was in a car accident in Dar es Salaam and suffered a broken arm and stomach injuries. This week he died, maybe because the Hospital failed to spot internal bleeding until too late and he died whilst on the operating table. It’s a reminder that in Tanzania we can’t take for granted the kind of medical care we have in Britain.

We are currently having a long weekend in Dodoma as a respite. The bus journey from Mvumi is often eventful. This time we were held up by a lorry that had rolled over. Unfortunately we understand a child may have been caught underneath and died.

Work is becoming more intensive as the weeks run out – with a two week holiday coming we now have just 15 working days to go. In the past week:

- although the visit to Dar es Salaam to discuss Designated District Hospital status was cancelled, the Hospital’s chief nurse did manage, whilst at a conference, to meet with the Ministry of Health to discuss the impact on staff. We have now sent a list of all staff and their pay-scales to the Ministry of Finance and it is just possible they will agree to pay most (or at least more than they do already). This would significantly relieve the Hospital’s financial problems – but it may not happen.

- Unfortunately, the Ministry of Finance is also changing the way it calculates the grant it pays the Hospital for medical salaries – which means we are still waiting for the grant for August – which means the Hospital hasn’t been able to pay staff – which means staff are not happy.

- Irene has given up waiting for more shelves, and is now putting the files into order using the limited shelving available.

Our highlight this week was Irene’s birthday. Thanks to everyone who sent cards and greetings. Malcolm was brave enough to buy her a shawl (brave because 2 weeks ago Irene had spent a couple of days going around all the shops in Dodoma looking for a shawl and finding none she liked). Dr. Corrie invited us round for a meal and a banana and nut birthday cake. Irene is now enjoying a weekend in Dodoma with the promise of a meal at the Dodoma Hotel’s, very smart, Chinese Restaurant. She had been looking forward to swimming in the MAF Guest house pool – Unfortunately its closed for maintenance!!

Despite everything, it has been quite a good week!!!!!

Next week is the last before our two week holiday, and promises:
- Will Malcolm have enough money to persuade NSSF and the Magistrates Court to lift the threat of a large fine on the Hospital and custodial sentence for someone?

- When Irene has sorted out the files, will the carpenter arrive to put in more shelves (meaning she’ll have to start sorting them out once again)?

- What will the Task Force say to the Bishop at the close-down meeting, and what will the Bishop reply?

- Will son David and friend arrive safely in Tanzania for the holiday, and negotiate the journey to Mvumi?

- How will Irene manage being a year older?

Going round the final bend

When we were expecting visitors, it used to be we’d worry about clean sheets , towels and the house would be just right. Now the priority is to make sure we save the brand of toilet paper that at least tears off cleanly rather than the brand that falls apart when you try to tear it!!!!!

As I’m writing this we have no more than 19 working days left, plus a two week holiday, so we are beginning to think about getting ready to pack up. In many ways it seems we’ve only just arrived – in others we’ll be glad to return to the UK.

Malcolm has found the last week quite hard. Thursday was probably the low point. There had been a management meeting about the money we need to pay to end the court case. The school Principals seemed to understand the problem but there is no certainty that they can or will provide any funds as they only have limited balances and willingness. At the end of the day we are guests here so there is only so much you can do. Next week there should be a meeting with the Finance Officer of the Diocese who is actually the person we think will represent the Hospital at the court hearing, so he will be very concerned that the Hospital finds the money to ‘get out of jail’.

What crowned Thursday was that Malcolm managed to kill the back-up computer in the Pharmacy. It wouldn’t power up and while trying to work out if it was something simple, there was suddenly a pop and a cloud of black smoke came out of the power unit. In England it would be simple – pop down to PC World and buy a replacement. But this is Tanzania. Fortunately it was not the Pharmacy’s main computer system.

With about six weeks to go we are preparing for a flurry of social events. Next week is Irene’s birthday so we plan a long weekend in Dodoma. A week later our son and friend come for a two week holiday so we have been sorting out a safari and stay on Zanzibar. We had booked a safari park in a non-tourist part of Tanzania about 300 km away – nice and quiet. However, it was then suggested that it would be good to travel further to the Ngorongoro crater reserve in North Tanzania – a much more spectacular place. The only problem is (and for Malcolm a key issue) it will cost over 4 times as much (4 times as much!!!!!!) and is in the most busy, touristy part of Tanzania. But, who knows, we may not have another chance to go there.

After that we will have 2 weeks to pack up – and probably attend a wedding of one of the Doctors, which should be interesting.

So for next week:
- Malcolm should have been going to Dar es Salaam on Monday to discuss the future of the hospital as a Designated District Hospital with the Ministry of Health - cancelled for the fourth time!!!!!!
- Irene’s birthday and a long weekend in Dodoma
- still waiting (yet again) for more shelving – Irene is thinking it won’t happen before we go
- Task Force Management Team discuss with the Bishop what happens after we leave in October
There are videos on Youtube – search for ‘thecrawfordclan’

Taking a breather.

It isn’t all hard work.

As with any visitors or immigrants to a foreign country us ‘mzungu’s’ (as white people are known) enjoy each other’s company for relaxation. We discovered that the row of houses we live in is colloquially known as ‘mzungu road’ because most of the houses used to be occupied by white people – now there are only two and when we leave there will probably be just one.

Corrie (Cornelia Verduyn, or as she is known here, Dr Corrie) has been in Tanzania for a year and will return to England next September. She came on a two year assignment with the VSO mainly to run the HIV / Aids clinic. Her specialty is as a gynaecologist so she also works hard in the maternity ward, and, as Irene has witnessed, is a wiz with the scalpel in caesarean operations. One of her early ‘innovation’s was to introduce the horizontal ‘bikini line’ cut rather than the vertical slash favoured by Tanzanians as it apparently saves the surgeon a few seconds work – and only a life time of scarring, and weakened muscles (though Tanzanian women here would never be seen in a bikini). Corrie is from Holland though is currently seconded from Manchester Hospital.

Nearby is Mvumi Secondary school which has strong links with Eton. John Clarke is a housemaster at Eton but was seconded for 3 years to be Headmaster here. One of his specialties is teaching Economics. He seems to spend most of his time at the schools one way or another. He goes to get the boarders out at 7 a.m., works all day and often entertains visitors to the school in the evening. (He has a regular stream of gap year students or teachers visiting for a few weeks to a few months, who supplement the ‘wazungus)’. He makes us look positively lazy. He is a keen walker and bird watcher and seems to have eyes like a hawk When he says ‘look at that bird in that tree’ Malcolm’s response is usually ‘What tree?’ let alone being able to distinguish a bird from a twig. At the moment John expects to return to England next May though is wrestling with whether to stay longer but risk losing his job.

The remaining ‘mzungu’s’ are Gordon and Rae from New South Wales, Australia who live about 5 miles away at the Amani agricultural project. It sounds like their Australian home has prepared them for life here as it is in the outback, and some distance from the nearest village. Like us they are a retired couple. Rae teaches at the local village school and Gordon’s speciality is trees. He is teaching the workers to grow saplings to plant in the local village to replace the trees that have been cut down for firewood. The area is now sparse shrubland though Gordon has been told that 40 or 50 years ago it was more wooded and there used to be lions. His other specialty is hairdressing, which will make him popular with the lady ‘wazungu’s’. They return to Australia next March after a year here.

We usually get together for a meal once or twice a week. On Friday night we went to Gordon and Raes for a pleasant evening at the Amani Project and enjoyed pasta, carrots, beans and meat stew followed by fruit pudding and custard – and raspberry jelly (a novelty to the Dutch and Australians!!!). We shared our experiences (we were all feeling rather jaded with the frustrations of working here) and shared ideas for visiting Mikumi National Park and Zanzibar.
Tonight we hope to go to John’s for a meal with one of his visitors and to watch a video.

Other social events include going for walks around the village and meeting with Corrie at the Hospital most days for a mid morning cup of tea and doughnut.

There have not been many developments at work. Malcolm has been busy sorting out some of the procedures and preparing information for the District Council for discussions about the staff affected by transfer to Designated District Hospital (DDH) status. He has calculated that excluding holidays etc there are 24 working days left – not long to write up notes and explain to the remaining member of finance staff on what to do in addition to progressing DDH.

Irene has been attempting to write “fool proof” instructions for the filing system, in hopes that the system may continue to be followed when we leave.

Next week looks very similar to what we were expecting this week:

- the planned visit to Mheza Hospital has had to be cancelled. It is intended instead to visit the Ministry of Health in Dar Es Salaam in the next fortnight

- still waiting (yet again) for more shelving so Irene can complete filing the medical Records (for the third time the architect says it will be next week)

- Malcolm to report to the Hospital Managers on the result of the Magistrates hearing and the need to reach some agreement with NSSF

- Prepare to meet the Bishop to discuss whether to return next year, (or whether we will be invited to return)

There is a new video on Youtube showing the building of St Andrew’s church, http://www.youtube.com/v/nzHXEzgJrRs&hl=en&fs=1

and an article about Malcolm on his Accountancy Institute members’ magazine
http://www.cipfa.org.uk/members/download/JulySpreadsheet.pdf

Getting roughed up in the bunch

Well, Malcolm thinks he could have been in prison!!!

On Wednesday he discovered that the claim against the Hospital for non-payment of NSSF (a bit like National Insurance) was going to be reviewed by the Magistrate on Thursday. NSSF are the hospital’s largest creditor of over Tsh 100 million (about £45,000) going back to 2006. The Hospital was represented by the Diocese Finance Officer, Mr Chizelema and Malcolm went as well to show the Hospital’s concern.

The good news is that the claim currently put to court by NSSF was for about Tsh 15 million for 3 months to February 2007 – far less than Malcolm was anticipating but still more than he has available in the Hospital accounts. The bad news is that the Magistrate was clearly becoming annoyed by the Hospital and was ready to issue his sentence which could be a hefty fine and/or prison sentence. However, he will formally hear the evidence on 30th September and then issue his verdict so we have a few weeks to see what we can negotiate with NSSF. If we can sort out the Tsh 15 million we then have to sort out the rest.

Irene is quite excited – she’s heard that the prisoners make some attractive mats for sale to the public and can’t wait to buy one of Malcolm’s!!!!

Malcolm then had an informal discussion with a Tax Inspector to find out what an appropriate response would be to last weeks assessment of Tsh 55 million of unpaid PAYE. Fortunately he confirmed that the best approach would be to write to the Commissioner setting out the Hospital’s position and ask that some, if not all, the debt could be written off – it may not be successful but its worth a try – anyone any good at writing begging letters?

Following that Malcolm visited the dentist to have a bridge replaced again – what a day!!!

Irene’s week has been comparably quiet and relaxing. On Saturday she visited Dodoma to get some desperately needed cash out of an ATM machine. She also went to a cathedral service to say goodbye to a German pharmacist who had worked in Dodoma for several years, Irene ended up singing in the choir. Whilst there she had a quick word with the Bishop who said he knew what we would be doing next………

At work she has been making curtains and table cloths for the offices. This has worked out nicely for Malcolm who has reorganised his office to achieve the ‘no mess on the desk’ look at the end of the day – something he surprisingly achieved in England in the past couple of years – however it does carry the risk that people think you have no work to do.

On Friday Irene was so bored that she even came to help fill in some tax returns for employees.

Two of the chickens have moved on; one deliberately and one unfortunately.

For the past 2 weeks there has been a bit of a battle between a hen (known as hen A) who has wanted to save and sit on eggs, and the others who we believe want to eat the eggs. It now seems that our temporary glut of eggs was because hen A was successful in saving them. However, more recently the others, led by hen B, have been attacking hen A (heavy pecking to the face) to try to get the eggs.

To save bloodshed – and because of a soft spot for a hens mothering instincts, Irene managed to arrange a separate cage for hen A. (Which has meant no eggs as the others are now free to eat their own). She also decided to save the cockerel this week and cull hen B – a sort of retribution.
Unfortunately, soon after culling hen B, hen A passed away.

A tragic tale of love and war.

(Postscript - update from hen B to her fans. Rumours of her death are premature, though she is not feeling well and was hiding)

What new experiences will next week bring:
- the planned visit to Mheza Hospital is now scheduled for Thursday or Friday,

- still waiting (yet again) for more shelving so Irene can complete filing the medical Records
- Malcolm to report to the Hospital Managers on the result of the Magistrates hearing and the need to reach some agreement with NSSF
- Prepare to meet the Bishop to discuss whether to return next year, (or whether we will be invited to return)

Jostling for position

Fresh meat – there’s nothing like it!!! Although most of the time we seem to eat meat of dubious source and quality – including home grown but scrawny chickens, when we do find some fresh meat it is excellent.

Last weekend we heard that a hospital neighbour was killing one of pigs and selling the meat for about £1 a kilo. So we ordered 4 kilos and picked it up on Saturday – still warm from the carcase. And it was good news for the chickens – it means we didn’t pick one of those this week.

Since we killed a chicken 10 days ago the rest seem to have got the message. We suddenly seem to be inundated with eggs and Irene even made a 10 egg omelette this week to reduce the stock – and we gave some away to neighbours. One of the hens has also became very broody, sitting on the eggs and fighting anyway who tries to remove them. Irene has marked a couple and we will try to leave them with her to see what happens.

Last Saturday we visited Gordon and Rae, a couple of retired Aussies, working at the Amani Development Organisation project in a neighbouring village. The agricultural project started after one of the recent famines, to help train villagers in good practices for growing food. Gordon is an expert on growing trees, and Rae is teaching English at the school. The setting of the small holding (growing vegetables, grapes etc) is very pretty and it was the first time Irene has seen monkeys in Tanzania. However, it is remote so they do not have a permanent electricity supply, relying on a small petrol generator for power and a charcoal stove for cooking.

Our first service in the new St Andrews building was very good and felt very spacious. It still looks like a building site as more funds are required to complete the remaining 20% of the roof and put in doors and windows – fortunately there is no rain in Mvumi for most of the year – but when it rains in December / February it will be very heavy. We understand it will take several years for the congregation to raise the money to complete the building.

We are beginning to count down for our return to England as there are only 9 weeks to go, 2 of which will be a holiday. The financial management of the Hospital continues to be difficult with not enough money to pay costs. Budgetary control is meaningless when you are waiting for income to pay a backlog of essential invoices. It is now clear how much PAYE is owed to the Revenues Authority and Malcolm is ensuring that, for the first time, all allowances are properly taxed. He is also chasing staff for the payment of agreed charges for the use of Hospital water supplied to their homes.

He is finding it frustrating that there is no clarity to the correct solutions to the financial problems. It is possible that the Government will pay most or all staff when the Hospital becomes a Designated District Hospital which means it would be unnecessary to lay off staff now. However, DDH should have happened in July but has been postponed and progress is slow. Alternatively, if the financial position does not change then the Hospital is overspending by a significant amount, not paying PAYE, National Insurance and other suppliers and has a rapidly worsening position.

He has worked for some Councils with financial problems – but nothing like this. His approach is to try and involve the senior management in the decisions about who to pay – but it also means putting pressure on some of the departments to pay their way and release funds from their bank accounts which should be used to pay salaries, electricity and other hospital costs. Again, neither of these approaches is popular.

And to cap it all he was eating a coconut – and his bridge came out again – back to the dentist!!!!
Irene has had an easy week as the medical filing has come to a halt until more shelving is provided. She has enjoyed the rest but will look for something else to do soon if the shelving continues to prove elusive.

So, for next week:
- We wait to hear if the planned visit to Mheza Hospital to find out about becoming a DDH will proceed, or be postponed for a fourth time
- still waiting (yet again) for more shelving so Irene can complete filing the medical Records
- possibly meet the Bishop to discuss whether to return next year, (or whether we will be invited to return)

....but do the tough keep going?

We had a relaxing weekend in Dodoma. On the Sunday we attended our first English church service for over 3 months at the cathedral. We wouldn’t normally get excited about a cathedral service in England and the service, though undertandable, did lack some of the excitement of the Swahili services at Mita. Still, we recognised most of the choruses and enjoyed the singing.

We also met Peter and Alison Roots for lunch. We last saw them in Chesham when they had returned to the UK for 6 months. They have just returned to Dodoma to work.

We had a surprise in store at the guest house. There was a party of 9 from Britain who were leading a children’s Holiday Club nearby. One of them, Nicky Biddal, appeared familiar, but it was only at the cathedral service when we introduced ourselves to the congregation that she realised where we had met before. We think we last met almost 20 years ago when we moved to Clacton and we went a few times to the Baptist church where her husband was the minister. I was amazed that as a pastor’s wife, who must have met thousand’s of people, she could recognise us after such a long period!! I have trouble recognising myself in the mirror when I get up each morning.

Back to Mvumi on Monday for a fairly routine week.

For Malcolm the ‘highlights’ at work were:
- getting enough money to pay the July payroll
- receiving the detailed working papers from the Revenues Authority showing how the Tsh 55 million assessment has been calculated. He’s now working on this to prepare a briefing paper for Management Committee and the Bishop. The formal assessment should be served next week and the Hospital will then have 30 days to pay or agree instalments
- issuing invoices to about 30 people who should have paid tsh 6000 per month (£2.50) for water but havn’t done so for many years. Although it doesn’t sound a lot for many it will be any enormous sum so there will probably need to be some sensitive negotiations. For the Hospital it is important to receive as much as possible to help with the financial problems

A key issue for the future financial well-being of the Hospital is being made a Dedicated District Hospital. It is still unclear about how much of the costs will then be paid by Government. It was planned to visit a similar Hospital near Dar es Salaam next Monday to find out their experiences when they became DDH. Unfortunately the visit has been postponed for a second time. The Hospital should have become DDH at the start of July - every months delay increases the Hospital’s debt by more than Tsh 10,000,000 progress is critical.

For Irene the ‘highlight’ at work was finishing the medical stock take and getting it inputted onto a spread sheet.

Grace and Esther – don’t read this bit!!!!
It’s been a landmark week for the chickens. With only 10 weeks before we leave we need to plan a reduction of stock. We felt justified as the 6 hens had only laid 3 eggs in the last fortnight and therefore the cost of feeding them is uneconomic. So on Wednesday Mama Asante and Irene selected one to feed us for a change. The strange thing is by the end of the day we found the remaining 5 hens had laid 5 eggs – have they realised what is going on and trying to prove that they are earning their keep???? Now it’s the cockerel who could be in trouble!!!

Although our hens are kept in an enclosed hen house there are other chickens that roam free. A couple of them also almost found themselves in the cooking pot when Irene noticed them in our garden eating some lettuce seedlings that she had planted. By the time she had scared them off, most of the seedlings had gone.

So, what are we looking forward to next week:
- a visit to a neighbouring village tomorrow to see some mission work there
- our first service in St Andrews new church building
- Irene still waiting (again) for more shelving so she can complete filing the medical Records

... and tougher!!

I’m writing this in the luxury of the MAF Guesthouse in Dodoma. Today is a bank holiday in Tanzania (nane nane (8th of the 8th) or ‘farmers’ day’ so we are taking along weekend break. Irene has her swimming pool – we have free access to the Internet and a TV!!!! Hot shower and double bed don’t seem such a luxury now as we gained these in Mvumi a couple of weeks ago. Our one problem is we can’t download photos to the lap top as Malcolm (typical) forgot the cable, so these are limited at present – sorry!!!

Last time we came here Irene had a bad back which restricted us a bit. Not a problem at present, though we don’t expect to do a lot. This time we hope to get to the cathedral on Sunday for our first English service for over 3 months. One that we can understand!!! As is the usual Tanzanian custom part way through we will be expected to stand up and introduce ourselves – it will be strange not to be doing so in pigeon Swahili!!!!

In the past week we have had a guest in our house – John Clark, headmaster at the Secondary school. And he does work long hours. He gets up early to be at the school by 7am to make sure the boarders get up. He gets lots of visitors from England (he stayed with us as the headmaster and family of Harrow school was visiting for the week so they had the use of John’s house) and seems to be involved in some sort of entertainment most nights – so we hardly saw him except whn he got home about 10 pm to go straight to bed.

One of the parties visiting until last weekend were pupils from Dr Challoner’s Girls school, Little Chalfont – near to where we lived in Chesham – it’s a small world.

Malcolm has probably become one of the less popular people at the Hospital, for 2 reasons:
1. He doesn’t have enough money to pay July salaries – let alone PAYE and the equivalent of National Insurance. The approach he’s adopted, right or wrong, is to present the problem to the Management Committee asking for either:
- their monthly contribution, or
- instructions on which staff to pay as it is impossible (without taking funds held in trust for donors, drugs or the Government) to pay them all
Not surprisingly the departments concerned don’t like it. However, Malcolm hasn’t come here to be popular but to try and sort out some of the Financial problems.

2. The second issue is the audit report from the Tax Inspectors. They discovered about Tsh 50 million of unpaid tax. About half of this was known (the Hospital had deducted PAYE from salaries, but for about 18 months hadn’t passed it to the Revenues Authorities as they needed it to pay salaries (in part because the departments hadn’t been paying their contributions – see 1 above)). About half is because the hospital had been paying their staff significant allowances without deducting tax. Malcolm is implementing the main recommendations of the Revenues Authorities (that tax should be properly deducted from all allowances, and these should be recorded on the central payroll system) which has upset many people who seem to blame the management Task Force for calling in the auditors – which we didn’t.

Next week Malcolm will probably pick up the formal Tax assessment from the Inspectors. The Hospital then has 30 days to pay the assessment or agree instalments – neither of which there is any hope of doing unless the departments get real about their responsibilities and the hospital sorts out its funding problems, probably when it should get more grant as a Designated District Hospital. However progress on this is slow.

Irene has had a busy, but less controversial week. She completed the first stock-take of the medical stores for several years and is now compiling a list of items held. Managing the stores has not been helped by the lack of shelving which has meant that boxes have been piled together making it difficult for the staff to know what’s there, let alone locate it. One ‘pile’ was from a shipment received a couple of years ago – when checked there were many items that the hospital needed and fortunately most were still in date (although we noticed one bottle of iodine for scrubs which was dated ‘use by 1999’ so would have been several years out of date even when sent). Irene also received a new shipment of items from abroad. Many of the items were needed by the hospital – unfortunately some had been put in, with the best of intentions, to fill the container but which are no use to the Hospital. Fortunately the local coordinator is aware of the problem and looking at ways of preventing the waste in future.

Outside the Hospital we did have one scare. When we got back from church last Sunday Squashy, the Walton’s dog we are looking after, had escaped. Having searched the area we assumed he would return for food. When he still hadn’t come back the following morning we decided we ought to let Simon know. Having texted him, within 10 minutes our gardener / chicken carer, Steven, found Squashy in the Hospital. Phew!!! We were beginning to think someone may have taken him though he is well known in Mvumi being the largest, most ferocious looking (but friendly) dog around.

He might have simply guessed what was going to happen on Tuesday. Simon's last instruction was that Irene should give him an anti-flea injection in the neck - no trouble for a doctor!! The VSO doctor Corrie was away on safari. Malcolm was nowhere to be found (what a surprise)!!! Irene's not squeamish but even she found actually giving an injection difficult - she was more distressed than Squashy (who in the end seemed not bothered at all. Hopefully that will kill the fleas. Irene has had problems as they seem to like her, and bite to bury themselves in her skin. Tasty!

The other event was that ‘fundis’ completed as much as they could of the roof of the new St Andrew’s church on Friday – the church could only afford the materials to have about 80% done. About £400 is needed to complete the roof before moving on to doors and windows.

So, what happens next week:
- after our R&R at the Dodoma MAF Guest House we return to Mvumi
- Malcolm may be going to Tanga with the District Council to visit another Hospital that has recently become a Designated District Hospital
- Still need to pay July salaries, when the money is found
- Pick up the formal tax Inspection report and prepare a summary for the Bishop and Management Committee
- Irene still waiting for more shelving so she can complete filing the medical Records

The going gets tougher

Oh the bliss of having a hot shower in the morning!

Moving into Simon's and Laura's house has been well worth the effort, we even have a double bed again (although when Irene wakes up in the middle of the night with no sheet she wonders if this is an advantage or not!) It is quite fun too having chickens and ducks in the back garden and, until the end of the week, a cow mooing gently in the front. We are acting as Foster parents for the ducks until their owner, the chaplain, returns from holiday – we often thought we were a bit quackers!

However, the cockerel who thinks that dawn is 3.30 in the morning and crows accordingly, is first in line for the cooking pot as far as Irene is concerned. His stay of execution has been because she doesn’t know if chickens continue to lay if a cockerel is not present and fresh eggs are very useful.

We are also temporarily looking after Squashy, the large Alsatian who is meant to be a guard dog but is as soft as a brush. Malcolm ‘enjoys’ taking him for walks in the evening, the local children are getting less afraid of the dog and he often has a bunch of them following him around.

Malcolm does feel a bit guilty about last weekend though. At one point some girls came round and were a bit annoying with Irene. A bit later some boys came into the garden shouting as if to make mischief and Malcolm told them to go away (‘Clear orf’). A bit later when he realised someone had taken 3 plastic bottles of water from the garden, which were being sterilised by the sun, did he realise the boy were shouting ‘ Maji, Maji’ or ‘ Water, water’ and they may have been warning that someone was taking them.

A couple of hens disappeared before we moved into the Walton’s (now Crawford’s) house. When Malcolm mentioned this to someone, ‘magically’, that night, one returned.
On Sunday St Andrews said goodbye to another key member, the Revd Meshack Sudayi. who has been temporary pastor for the last year. Although he leaves the church he remains chaplain to the Hospital.

Work continues much the same as usual. Irene spent an enjoyable day with the chaplain on Tuesday handing out clothes to the patients in the wards. She particularly enjoyed visiting the labour wards and seeing all the new born babies. There are lots of clothes for babies but very little for adults who probably are in more need. In the men’s ward they were incredibly grateful for just a pyjama top or hat and every one tried on their new clothes immediately. She is still waiting for the ‘fundis’ to put more shelves in the filing office so she can finally finish off the medical records.

On Friday she had extra exercise chasing an escaped chicken around the garden. Fortunately it wanted to return to its coop as much as she wanted it too, and eventually she managed to capture it with a little help from Squashy. It was also the day that the cow and Friday, the donkey were moved to their new home about 120km away. (There goes our source of cheap, fresh milk). This meant getting them onto the back of the hospital lorry along with their cow shed. This was quite a feat as the donkey in particular didn’t want to go and even Malcolm had to put the video camera down to give a hand.

Malcolm has had another tiring week trying to meet all the financial demands of the hospital. The main events were:

- a Management Committee meeting chaired by the Diocese General Secretary. This lasted for over 4 hours, and was the first time several members were told of the creation of a Director of Schools post and the redundancy of about 20 support staff. Malcolm also circulated a paper reporting that it would not be possible to pay July salaries unless and until the schools and eye department paid their monthly contributions, and some of the arrears in contributions that they hadn’t paid over the past 2 years. Most of the discussion was in Swahili, but it was clear that the department heads did not like being reminded that with the independence of managing their own bank accounts comes the responsibility of paying the agreed contributions to the hospital to pay for their staff

- a meeting with the District Medical Officer to discuss the financial effect of becoming a Designated District Hospital. It is clear the District Council doesn’t have all the information and it is likely that in a few weeks Malcolm and District Council staff will be going on a fact finding visit to a Hospital north of Dar es Salaam which has gone through a similar process

- on Thursday the Tax Inspectors reported their assessment – it was largely as Malcolm expected though still a big problem. The Task force knew the Hospital had not paid to the Revenues Authority about Tsh 25 million of PAYE deducted from staff – the Inspectors found another Tsh 20 million or so that should have been deducted from allowances but hadn’t been. This meant a total debt including penalties of Tsh 56 million. The problem is that they will now issue their report and the Hospital will be required to take action to clear the debt – when it already has other debts of about Tsh 200 million – that means total debts of about £100,000 or 40% of the Hospitals annual expenditure. It would be nice to have some money rather than empty bank accounts and debts!!!!

So, what happens next week:
- we prepare to go for R&R at the Dodoma MAF Guest House at the weekend
- Irene returns to the stores to do a stock-take
- Malcolm looks for money to pay July Salaries, and maybe will have to ask Management Committee what they want to do – i.e. which staff not to pay!!!!
- The Tax Inspectors issue their formal report

Some finish their laps.

For us we have almost completed ‘half a lap’ as we are 3 months into our 6 month visit here – having spent time getting into the work we now have to start winding down. For others it’s a week of farewells as they finish their laps.

Last Saturday St Andrew’s church held a special service to say thank you to Simon, Laura and family who have now left Mvumi after 8 years work in the Hospital, church and community. The service was held in the new church building, and it had been hoped that it would also celebrate the opening of the new church – unfortunately the ‘fundis’ havn’t yet completed the roof so it was a very hot, open air service. I like to think one of the highlights was the singing of the ‘mzungu’ (white man’s) choir which the Tanzanians seemed to enjoy (or take pity on!!!). However the heart of the service was communion and the opportunity for the many people and organisations that Simon and Laura have helped over the years to express their gratitude.

For the Waltons it was a very hard fortnight. The children have spent most of their lives in Mvumi so were saying goodbye to childhood friends. For Simon and Laura as well as saying goodbye they also had the difficulty of moving their belongings into store, and travelling to Dar es Salaam twice in a week (400 miles each way) for the court case to approve the adoption of their son. And there is no Pickford’s here to help you move!! All done manually in the back of a car to a container in Dodoma.

We hope they can now relax for a week in Dar s Salaam before flying back to the UK for a year. However, Simon will be staying a bit longer as he now has to deal with UK bureaucracy (designed to make it difficult to enter the UK) to get an entry visa for their son’s Tanzanian passport. It sounds like this will take about 4 or 5 visits to the British embassy and will take a fortnight, which means he will return a week after Laura and the girls. More time to relax queuing in the embassy!!! Be positive – time for father-son bonding (the modern term for changing nappies, I think!!!)

It makes our challenge of moving into their house this weekend look easy – a few suitcases and a fridge – mustn’t complain!! We do ‘inherit’ some food and other items ,including joy O joy, tartare and horseradish sauce, a pumice stone, rhubarb (crumble here we come). But more exciting – hot water!!!!!! Also hens & ducks (eggs etc) and (temporarily) a German shepherd dog, Squashy. We hope to move in on Sunday.

What else has been happening. The tax inspectors completed their assessment of the Hospital on Tuesday, but worryingly said they will not be ready to brief us until later – this probably means there are lots of issues they need to sort out.

One surprise this week was when I visited the bank and discovered that the Hospital has 16 bank accounts – we knew about 11, which itself was too many. One of the reasons seems to be l lack of trust in the management so that departments decided the answer was they have their own accounts, and more – loss of control by the Diocese over the Hospital Funds, and a gift to the bank in charges. Some of the accounts seem to have been used for dubious purposes and several were overdrawn due to monthly bank charges. We’ve immediately closed 4 accounts and will review the rest. I’ve also arranged with the bank to receive monthly bank statements on them all (another first I think as the bank hasn’t been sending us any statements – we have to travel 40km to request them individually!!!!)

On Thursday we interviewed the applicant for Director of the Hospital schools. He has been offered a one year contract. One of the reasons for the appointment is to try and bring together the 3 schools each of which acts as if they are totally independent of the others, even to the extent they each employ their own cooks but use a common kitchen and dining hall.

On the way back from the interview we visited the depot of the Hospital Manager’s husband’s building company to see three snakes that had been captured. These included an 8 ft python and a puff adder. The python was skinned to make a belt for the manager.

The is a new video of the Hospital published on Youtube. See: http://www.youtube.com/v/EdT_LfTkxE0

We are looking forward to next week:
• feedback from the Tax Inspectors?
• we move into our new house – and have hot showers!
• Management committee will be briefed on the new structure and redundancies. I will report that there are not enough funds in the main account to pay July salaries unless management agree to use some of the money in their accounts to reduce their debts to the General Account

Still a long way to go

Last Friday we had a long weekend in Dar es Salaam. Although it was a break we wouldn't exactly call it restful. The journey should take about 1 ½ hours by bus to Dodoma and then about 7 hours by coach to Dar es Salaam - that's when the Mvumi bus doesn’t break down, which ours did on the way delaying us by 1 ½ hours and causing us to miss the 1st coach where we had tickets booked near the front. Fortunately there was space on the next coach 2 hours latter with the only seats left being right at the back - not the best of position on Tanzanian roads!

Its strange how perceptions change. The last time we travelled from Dar to Dodoma was our first day when the coach seemed grubby and the country strange. This time the coach looked fairly smart (compared with the Mvumi bus) the roads smooth (compared to dirt tracks) and the surroundings familiar.

Whilst there we did a bit of sightseeing, though there is not a lot for tourists in the centre of Dar. We had quite a nice day out on a local island uninhabited Bongoyo Island) where there was nothing to do but sunbathe and swim – great for Irene. Needless to say Malcolm quickly got bored and opted for a walk along the island instead. It was long and narrow with thick ‘jungle’ along its length which very few people seemed to walk along its narrow path. This meant that there was a lot of wildlife with a close up view of Kingfisher-like birds and mice-like mammals.
Dar itself isn't a tourist place. We did visit a couple of tourist shopping plazas and markets. In one a coffee and milk-shake cost an unbelievable £2.50 (compared with the normal price of less than £1) – scandalous.

We walked around Dar on Monday as Malcolm needed to visit the Ministry of Health and the Treasury for work. We spent some time in the National Museum which had displays on the history of Tanzania and some of the tribes. The city reminded us a lot of Stoke on Trent, but without the new bits! A bit scruffy, noisy and dirty. We travelled in local daladalas – small mini buses where the competition seemed to be how many people could be squeezed on-board. Flat fare of about 14p. However there was no route map so it was difficult to work out which one to catch. It was nice to have hot showers and share a double bed even though the mosquitoes were more prevalent and vicious than in Mvumi and we both got quite a few bites.
Dar is quite a bit wetter than Mvumi and we even had a few drops of rain – the first we had seen since first arriving in Dar. It’s surprising how soon you get used to things. We were quite taken aback by the fact the rivers had water in them; it actually looked odd as we are so used to dry sandy river beds here.

Back to work on Wednesday. Irene is plodding on with the filing and sorting the clothes store. On Friday she started a stock-take in the medical store mainly to relieve Malcolm of the job as it was on his “to do” list in order to know the value of the stores, and what stock is held. There is no list of items which means the doctors don’t know what’s available to treat patients. A few weeks ago a baby died from lack of food because the doctor did not know the stores had feeding tubes.

On Thursday the tax inspectors came for a routine assessment. Tax has become a controversial issue. The staff have become used to only paying tax on their basic salary and not on other allowances or pay awards – and not in accordance with the Tanzanian Tax regime which, like the UK system, regards most payments to staff as taxable. The problem is that no-one anywhere likes to start paying tax – and no tax inspector likes to find places where staff aren’t paying enough tax. And Malcolm is in the middle!!!!! He had a long discussion with some nurses who were not happy that they were paying the correct tax.

Coming up next week:
· the Tax Inspectors finish their inspection
· Simon and Laura Walton have their farewell service and leave Mvumi
· We may move into their old house (Hot water!!!! Double bed!!!!! Hooray!!!)