Stamina!!!!!

The Tanzanians have stamina!!

Last week we talked about the 10 hour Board meeting.

On Saturday we attended the graduation ceremony for the Laboratory School, There was a service at the church at 10.am followed by the ceremony in the Dining Rom – it should have started at 12 noon, actually began at 2 pm and finished about 6.30.

Part of the ceremony is like those in the UK. Certificates are presented. As we were two of the Guests of Honour all the graduates shook our hands. Unlike the UK once certificates are received, friends and family shower each graduate with gifts and garlands – very colourful.

For the previous 2 or so hours a range of entertainment is put on by choirs and dancers – including the ‘Twist’ and jiving – as well as food.

To follow this, Monday was a Bank Holiday. As it was one of the last days Simon and Laura would be in Mvumi the Hospital arranged a ceremony to say farewell to the Waltons. It was an occasion they were not looking forward to. The celebration was chaired by the Bishop and lasted a mere 2 ½ hours plus food. Malcolm had queried the original timetable as it said the Bishop would open with prayers and a speech at 10, and the next item would start 1 ½ hours later. He forgot that in Tanzania starting promptly at 10 means, maybe, 11 am, and the Bishop did in fact finish his prayer and opening speech at about 11.30.

Three choirs sang and representatives of the Hospital, Patients and District Council expressed their best wishes. We’d like to tell you what, but it was all in Swahili.

Irene’s excitement for the week was to be present during a Caesarean section – something she is unlikely to do in UK. This was for a private patient friend of the VSO Doctor Corrie. It had its complications and lots of blood!!! – Malcolm was glad not to be invited.

Apart from that Irene is drawing to the end of what she can do with the filing until more shelving is provided. She is looking forward to moving on to something more exciting. Unfortunately Malcolm has asked her to look at the stock-taking of the Medical Supplies which hasn’t been done for several years.

The pressure is building up on the finances. Things are tighter this month than last which means we havn’t paid May’s PAYE and are struggling to find the cash for last months pay. One of the problems is that the Training Schools and Eye Department acquired their own bank accounts a few years ago and since then have not been paying the Hospital the agreed contributions for staff, electricity and water etc – and now don’t see why they should. The fact that the Hospital does not have enough money to pay all their staff doesn’t seem to matter – nor that the money is in fact the Mission’s rather than their departments. It is making work very difficult as Malcolm does not have a complete picture of the financial state of the Hospital.

The pressure from the tax man has been delayed as they postponed their visit for about a week. Again there is a bit of a struggle persuading the departments that when the tax man says he wants to see all the payment records of the Hospital it includes them.

Looking forward to next week:

· a long week-end in Dar es Salaam including meetings at the Ministry of Health about how the Hospital’s grant is calculated.

· the Tax Inspectors come, possibly on Wednesday

· a meeting with Management and staff to tell them of last week’s Health Board decision

· Malcolm tries on his new, tailored shirt

· Irene starts a stock-take