‘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?
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