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