Day 216 – Tuesday 31st August 2010

We can’t believe that September starts tomorrow.

Armorel had a busy clinic day with her cardiac patients, and luckily not many of them were complicated. The ward is also quiet, which isn’t great but does mean people are well and she is less busy.

I taught my one lesson of the day and spent the rest of it compiling my quarterly report. I will submit it tomorrow. I am a little worried as it isn’t the most positive of documents, questioning the management and looking at complete restructuring. We will see how it is received. I hope it is not just ignored like the last one.

We arrived home to find no dinner, so instead of cooking we decided to be lazy and head out for a bite to eat. We have just arrived home, watched an ER and are now certainly ready for bed.

Armorel is off to Mwakashindye tomorrow.

Day 215 – Monday 30th August 2010

Firstly let me apologise for the lack of photos recently. I promise we will improve on this. We did nearly put one up of a recent patient of Armorel’s but even the thought of the photo is making me feel ill so you will just have to wait to see that one.

We woke this morning to the start of a new week, and what looked like a nice calm Monday.

However, Armorel arrived at the clinic to find two doctors missing and the lead nurse not in. Luckily, all but one of them arrived during the morning. The clinic was busy but Armorel found time to equip all doctors with a new BMI calculation chart and wall chart for height measurements. I really don’t know where she finds the time.

I spent the first few hours teaching and the next few killing ants.

Somehow and for some reason a hoard of miniature ants had taken home in my laptop bag and laptop over the weekend. To give you an idea of the size of this invasion, when I opened the disk drive, I counted 27 ants merrily wondering about.

Ants were still appearing some 3 hours later! I think though I have got them all now.

We arrived home and have spent the evening chatting and reading, with of course an episode of ER. Our rationing is going well and there is a chance it will last out our time, that is if we manage to control ourselves to one episode a night.

Just heard that Saints have sacked their manager!?!??!

Day 214 – Sunday 29th August 2010

I am speaking at church this morning, and so got up early to make sure I was ready, and more importantly that I wouldn’t be speaking for too long. When I get going it’s hard to stop.

I only spoke for 35 minutes and didn’t witness anyone falling asleep, so all seemed to go well.

We came home after re-stocking with honey. How many of you have ever bought 5 litres of honey before?

Tiredness and laziness was kicking in so we decided to go out for lunch, and took our books and the paper. We spent pretty much all afternoon relaxing and I managed to even watch some football.

This evening we have played some games, caught up on emails, and watched our nature programme. There really are some strange fish out there.

And now it is time for bed! A new week, 2 weeks of term left and our first visitors of the month arrive Friday!

Day 213 – Saturday 28th August 2010

How did I manage to wake up hours before the alarm on the one day we have a chance for a small lie in?

We headed to work for 9am.

I headed off to the Shamba to see the progress. The trenches are finished and we are ready to start with the foundations. Exciting stuff.

Armorel headed off to the regional hospital this morning. On the last Saturday of every month some staff go and volunteer with a morning kids group for those with HIV, so Armorel enjoyed doing some colouring and playing some ball games.

This afternoon the clinic staff went to see Rahabu, who is the member of staff whose son died about 10 days ago. Armorel found it tough. What do you say? But what community love and spirit.

I spent the afternoon preparing to speak at church tomorrow, and have only just finished as I type this late at night.

We have been out for dinner at Elias’ house, who is the diocese general secretary. We had a lovely evening and were well fed.

Armorel is already in bed so I better go too.

Day 212 – Friday 27th August 2010

It was a hot night and we woke to an unfamiliar morning heat. The hot weather is coming.

Although my teaching day was light I spent the day at school marking English tests, preparing mid-term exams and writing my termly report. All this meant I didn’t arrive at the clinic until nearly 3pm, but there waiting for me was a pile of health insurance forms. The office ladies were getting worried I wasn’t coming!

Armorel had a busy clinic day which was made harder with a doctor not turning up to work. However the clinic was relatively quiet and so we managed to escape around 4pm, and got an ice cream on the way home.

No Friday football today as the leaders are away and we have run out of footballs. New supplies arrive next week.

We had a lovely night in with DVD and chapati’s and an early night.

It would appear we have to be in work for 9am. We have to set an alarm.

Day 211 – Thursday 26th August 2010

Another struggle to escape the clutches of the covers was had this morning. We are looking forward to a morning with no alarm. Maybe on Saturday?

Today I was hit by something at school. These children lack the power to imagine. They are missing out on the fun of their minds. They have never been taught or allowed to use them. We are looking at talking about the future at the moment, and today’s task was to imagine what life would be like in 100 years. They couldn’t do it. No thoughts of flying cars, or houses in the clouds, or even trips to Mars. All we got was everyone would have a car, and a new hospital would be built. Their hard lives seem to have stripped them of their imagination. It was so sad.

Armorel was also busy as she was rushed off to meeting for the day about HIV / AIDS prevention and protection. It was with a UK based charity called ‘Mildmay’. She seemed to have an interesting time. One thing about meetings in Tanzanian is that you always get food without fail, and she did get a good spread. The funny thing was that they decided that there wasn’t enough food for everyone and so they should be given a meal allowance as compensation. They all got given the equivalent of £10, a lot of money out here.

We scratch our heads a lot!

This afternoon we had sports and games at school, though Armorel’s meeting meant she missed most of it. All went well until a student collapsed at the end of the game, and we ended up having to drive him home.

All this meant we didn’t get home till dusk, so have eaten dinner and watched an ER, and now it is time for bed.

Day 210 – Wednesday 25th August 2010

After a one week break it was back to the village clinics for Armorel and a trip to the village of Kilungu. Luckily it wasn’t as busy as some previous clinics, and so she has returned not too tired.

I taught my couple of lessons and then headed to the clinic to help them catch up with some paperwork. We spent the first 30 mins trying to catch a small mouse in the office, which proved very amusing. We did finally succeed.

This evening we have had our good friend Lukas and Noelina for dinner, treating them to the new experiences of coleslaw and an upside down pudding. We have had a wonderful night. They are such a blessing to us.

Day 209 – Tuesday 24th August 2010

Today has been long and hot.

School was uneventful for me, as I taught only one lesson. I then spent the rest of the morning writing exams for the coming mid-terms. I then headed over to the clinic to help out.

Armorel was busy as usual with her cardiac clinic and the 5000 other jobs, so is exhausted as well. Today is also very hot which is tiring.

We got home, had a cup of tea with Siobhan from down the road and settled in for a lazy night.

That was until the phone rang and Armorel had to head back to the ward. She is home now and we are heading to bed!

I will be glad to greet my pillow.

Day 208 – Monday 23rd August 2010

A new week, but we start it will bleary eyes. We don’t want to get out of bed.

Jo joins me at school for her last day. We arrive, and suddenly I am told I am doing an assembly, and now. There is nothing like a bit of preparation time.

Luckily I can talk loads and so managed to scrape by. Jo then helped me out in teaching the students about the future, before we headed over to see Armorel.

The kids’ corner is now finished!

We waited around in the clinic whilst Armorel sorted out her patient from the last couple of days. She is having to be transferred to Dar as she needs more specialist care, so Armorel was busy arranging that.

We then headed into town to confirm the flight details. You never can be too sure. Then had a quick couple of samosa’s and a drink before heading to the airport.

It has been great fun, and too short a time. Thank you for everything Jo.

This evening we have relaxed doing a few bits and pieces and are heading to bed early!

Day 207 – Sunday 22nd August 2010

Armorel headed into work this morning as they had to admit the poorly grandmother, so she didn’t make it to church.

I took Jo along to experience the fun.

Only the preacher on the rota had turned up, so we muddled through with leading and reading. There was also great shock amongst the congregation that even though Armorel was not here we were still having tea and cake. They couldn’t believe I had managed to arrange this!

We went home via the market to give Jo a tour and to get some fruit and veg essentials, and have spent the rest of the day doing very little.

Another week begins tomorrow and we say goodbye to Jo.

Day 206 – Saturday 21st August 2010

This turned out to be a long day.

Armorel and Jo headed to the clinic to do some bits and bobs and to set up a ‘Kids Corner’ in the ward. They seemed to have great fun in creating colourful, fun lettering for the wall.

I headed out to the farm and set to work on mapping the foundations. It was long, hard and hot work. But we managed to get both houses mapped out and the positions of the trenches. They will start to dig them tomorrow.

This afternoon we had a 3^rd birthday party to attend, though I was very late. I got there are 5pm when it started around 2pm, hot, tired and very hungry. It was a great party with cake, balloons and a treasure hunt.

We headed out for dinner tonight to Mama Joshi’s for a home cooked Indian, which was lovely, though Armorel spent a good deal of the evening tending to the very poorly grandmother.

No rest for her!

Day 205 – Friday 20th August 2010

Jo had a deserved lie-in this morning as we headed off to work.

Armorel was going to be busy running her cardiac clinic, whilst I was hoping to escape school after the first lesson and head to the farm with a builder to talk houses.

We picked Jo up and headed out to the shamba, via a very interesting route with the road still closed in places. It was good to hear the builder’s ideas, even though they were in Swahili and my translation was patchy to say the least. The general consensus is that we will return tomorrow to map out the foundations.

We arrived back to the clinic around lunchtime. Armorel was still plugging away with a big clinic list and the ward filling up. Jo and I then escaped for Friday football, where Jo was going to play with the girls.

The ball burst within an hour.

Not much of a sweat was had, though I did score a cracker!

This evening we headed out for dinner. We arrived to find some of the tobacco guys playing pool, and I was invited to join them, which certainly was a distraction from the waiting for the food. My pool skills were off tonight though.

Day 204 – Thursday 19th August 2010

An early start and we are flinging Jo straight into action with the school. After a quick tour I had her running some small group sessions to try and help improve the students reading and speaking. A perfect job for a primary school teacher.

I continued to teach the rest of the students who were much more interested in the new white women, and most kept asking why they couldn’t work with her. I might have to persuade her to return on Monday.

Armorel had a very busy day and was then called into a clinic board meeting to report on the ward, which meant she was going to be late for netball club. Luckily, Jo was on hand to use her extensive skill and knowledge to whip the girls into shape. Jo also very kindly bought out a load of netballs and bibs for the school. Thank you so much! The kids loved them!

This evening we have crashed and enjoyed a lazy night around the dinner table catching up and chatting about all-sorts.

Day 203 – Wednesday 18th August 2010

It was another cold night, and the prospect of leaving the covers this morning was not appealing. We had to check we were still in Africa.

Both our mornings were fine, without much drama or excitement, and we then headed to pick up Jo around lunchtime.

She had a good flight and we have since spent the afternoon and evening chatting and catching up. It is so lovely to have her here, and for me to have a fellow teacher. We are indeed a strange breed, and its so nice to speak shop.

A nice early night is needed, with a quick birthday phone call to Armorel’s mum.

Happy birthday!

Oh and some sad news...Harry the rabbit has died after being viciously attacked by some other rabbit’s.

Day 202 – Tuesday 17th August 2010

Strangely it was very cold this morning. The temperature is all over the place at the moment, and by mid-morning it was roasting again.

I had a nice quiet morning at school and then headed to the shamba for the afternoon. We have now cleared the land for the houses of trees and constructed a temporary road to the site. Over the next few days we will level the ground and remove all the tree stumps before starting on the foundations on Friday.

Armorel had another busy clinic day, seeing a number of patients. She also had a man arrive at the clinic having a heart attack and was trying to treat him with limited drugs and resources. He seems to be doing well. Later in the day Armorel ran another nursing training session, with take home test questions for the nurses. They all seem to be enjoying them, and hopefully they are beneficial too.

This evening we popped over to say goodbye to some English doctors heading home tomorrow and then settled in for the evening with the paper and an ER.

Tomorrow our friend Jo arrives for a few days on a detour from Kenya. Lovely stuff!

Day 201 – Monday 16th August 2010

We did not sleep well last night. The dogs were back in force and erupted into barking every hour or so. We are tired!

It has also been a sad and tough start to the day. We learn that one of the clinic receptionist’s 13 year old son died on the weekend, and a lady in admin’s brother died. We also hear that early Sunday morning a 5 month old baby died in the clinic.

Unfortunately, there are very few weeks when you are not confronted with death out here. And death from illnesses and diseases that are so easily curable. It is hard.

But the day goes on and work has to continue. Armorel had a day of admin and sorting out next month’s rotas, and I taught all morning on ‘The Question Words’. I then spent the afternoon in the office doing some more health insurance invoices.

As I sit here typing the dogs are already going crazy! This does not bode well.

Day 200 – Sunday 15th August 2010

We woke hoping that reaching this milestone would bring a less stressful day than the 100 mark.

We headed off to church and the change in weather is becoming noticeable. Even the mornings are hot, and certainly no tops are needed.

The service was nice, though had its lovely moments of bizarreness. We did both comment on leaving that we do miss our church back home, and a bit of passion.

Armorel then cycled to work to check on the patients and the ward. Only to find they had all been discharged that morning. She was not too happy with cycling all that way for nothing. Luckily though we were invited to lunch by the pool at Mark’s house which was a lovely way to relax, and for Armorel to cool down after her gruelling cycle.

This afternoon we had tea with three of the American students who head back home tomorrow. They are a lovely bunch and we hope to meet up with them at some point. Maybe in New York for Armorel’s 30^th, so she suggests!?!

Nature night was enjoyed with cheese on toast. The perfect way to spend a Sunday evening, and we have just squeezed in an ER before heading to bed.

What will our next, and final, 100 days (or so) bring us?

Day 199 – Saturday 14th August 2010

At last we have a morning with no alarm blaring at some early hour, but we can’t be too late as we have work today.

Armorel started the day by visiting one of the ‘familia moja’ clients at the sisters of charity and their care home. They care for and house all that are in need from 1 month year old babies to 80 year old ladies. Mainly those abandoned or with additional special needs and disabilities. It is a phenomenal place and one which we think will have a huge impact on us in the coming months. More to follow I am sure.

We then headed off to the shamba to continue clearing the land for the houses. It was a hot day and working in the heat of the day took its toll. I nearly took this little boys head off with my panga but just pulled away in time. Mama Ndugu has decided to adopt him as her pet, and named Harry.

This evening we headed to the Orion for dinner and some leaving drinks for various people. A large number of short termers are leaving in the coming weeks so it was nice to get together. Though waiting just shy of two hours for your food was not appreciated.

Day 198 – Friday 13th August 2010

Thank goodness it is Friday, and we hope that it all goes smoothly.

I went to school and taught my one lesson, which was even shorter than usual, as the heads assembly went on. The topic; Immoral Women (and men, though they aren’t as bad, supposedly). I then headed to the ‘Shamba’ for a day of cutting down trees and clearing the ground for the building of houses to begin. We will need to continue tomorrow but some good work was started.

Armorel’s day at the clinic was quieter than normal. Ramadan has started and so we were told that many Muslims would not come to the clinic during daylight hours. This did however mean that Armorel could spend more time on the ward helping out the nurses. She has been running some training sessions on ‘Early Warning Scores’ and on taking regular obs, but finds working with them one-to-one afterwards is very beneficial. They are making progress, though it is slow.

This afternoon I played football in the baking sun. It was so hot, but great fun. I really needed the run out and definitely ran my socks off today. I scored a great solo goal after a 60 yard run and hit the post three times from long distance shots. We won 7-4. (excuse my excitement, but my dreams of a professional career continue)

This evening we went to Cindy and Kees house for dinner. They are the Australian couple who are based in Tabora but have been working out in the villages for the past two and a half months. It was nice to catch up and eat some lovely food, including homemade ice cream.

The bed is now calling. The alarm is not being set and I think the phones will be turned off too!

Good Night!

Day 197 – Thursday 12th August 2010

Today has been a long day.

It was a long but relatively straight forward day at school for me. I pretty much teach all day, and in the spare moments I managed to mark all the students’ books. After work I headed over to the clinic for an hour of admin before sports began.

Armorel’s day was long but not too straightforward. After a frustrating start with less than productive nursing staff, a one year old was rushed into the clinic in a serious condition. They worked on the baby for a while but further help was needed and they rushed him to the regional hospital. Pretty much immediately a 16 year old arrived hyperventilating, and in a right panic, along with a similar crowd. You can imagine the scene.

All this within the first hour.

Thankfully the rest of the day was less dramatic but no less busy!

This afternoon we had fun playing netball and football. They are a really good bunch and great fun. Armorel has also arranged for some new posts to be made for the girls, which is very exciting and all for just £2. Good work!

After a nice dinner, Skype with my mum and a couple of ER’s we are ready for bed, and ready for the weekend.

Day 196 – Wednesday 11th August 2010

Today was the first day at the village of Umanda for an outreach clinic. The clinic now runs 3 of these a month, on the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd Wednesday of each month, in 3 different villages.

They are based in local primary school buildings, alongside the children and the teaching, and saw 110 patients. Not bad for day one.

It hopefully will be a very fruitful clinic in the months to come. The only down, was the actual school they were based in. They have 150 students, 3 stretched and unmotivated staff, and as Armorel put it, ‘the kids did nothing all day.’ It is so sad.

I did however teach for the morning before heading over to the clinic to continue to help out. Scarily I can now fill out 80% of these health insurance forms without the guidance notes and have memorised 90% of the drugs list.

What useful skills I am developing!

Tonight we headed down the road to Siobhan’s for ‘Spag Bol’ and a board games evening, though we didn’t really manage many games, just lots of eating. This was followed by an evening stroll home, passed rabid dogs, which was not the finest way to end an evening!

Day 195 – Tuesday 10th August 2010

Today has come and gone without too much excitement I think.

Armorel ran her cardiac clinic and again had many complicated patients. I really don’t know how she does it, especially with the language barrier. She is impressive.

I taught this morning. We are trying to get to grips with the past tense, and then I headed over to the clinic. They are one member of staff down in the office so am helping out there. I am becoming quite an expert on Tanzanian health insurance claims.

This evening Armorel popped back into work as they have a particularly sick patient on the ward and I stayed at home and tried not to fall asleep. I am so exhausted!

We worked out that we can only watch 3 ER’s a week if we are going to make it to the end.

We have already watched 2 this week. Never mind!

Day 194 – Monday 9th August 2010

We did not sleep well last night. A mixture of loud dogs, shouting men and the cold meant it was a restless night.

Yes the cold, it was just 20 degrees when we woke.

Monday is always a busy day. I taught for the morning and then headed to the clinic, where there were many patients and Armorel was certainly busy. I than had a fun ‘bank’ experience.

The clinic had been given a gift in pound sterling and it needed to be changed. I arrived at the bank and joined the long queue. I had given myself 30 minutes to move one pillar along, about 5m, otherwise I was giving up and going to come back tomorrow.

I had moved 1m.

Just as I was about to leave when a member of staff, seeing the white man in the queue, ran over and ushered me to another desk. Here I skipped all the people and was soon seen and on my way.

Although it is nice being treated in this way, you do feel sorry for everyone else. I don’t deserve any special treatment at all.

Armorel continued to be busy with patients and the ward which is getting much busier. They have an average of 6 patients a night at the moment. Tomorrow, Armorel is running a training session on ‘Early Warning Scores.’

This afternoon we had Sarah, a US student who leaves next week, over for a cup of tea on the veranda. It was lovely to just see the world go by, and enjoy a fresh cup of tea.

We have just watched an ER and are heading to bed. Our rationing of ER is improving but we will still have finished before we leave.

Good Night!

Day 193 – Sunday 8th August 2010

It was very windy this morning as we headed off to church, but cooling in the ever increasing heat.

Armorel was speaking today on ‘Spiritual Gifts’, which she did very well, and even got all the members of the congregation to personally reflect on pieces of paper. They aren’t used to doing much other than listening, so we are trying to encourage a more active response. We hope they all find it beneficial?

After church we headed home for a cheese lunch with a couple other expats. One of the tobacco workers had been travelling and brought us back some cheese. It is so wonderful! We have missed cheese.

This afternoon we popped over to our friend Hanneke’s and played with her two kids. We decided to cycle over to get some exercise, which we certainly got. The roads are just so sandy now, that falling off is a regular past-time. At least our thighs are enjoying the additional strain.

Tonight we treated ourselves to pizza from the local hotel, and decided to do take-out. As you can see, it is a very different form of take-out, but wonderful all the same.

A new week starts tomorrow, so we are heading to bed nice and early!

Day 192 – Saturday 7th August 2010

Today we had our first lie-in for weeks. It was wonderful!

After doing a few jobs we both headed to the clinic, Armorel to check on the patients and me to collect some bits and then head to the farm. We needed to pay some of the workers and wanted to check on the brick firing.

Last night at 6pm they started the fire, stayed with it all night and early this morning sealed up the kiln. We now leave it smoking away until Monday morning, when hopefully we will have finished, fired and ready to use bricks.

We then headed home with a slightly full car!

This afternoon we have relaxed and enjoyed some peace and quiet. Armorel is also speaking at church tomorrow so she has been planning and preparing.

We had a lovely chat with my 2 year old niece, Eva, though it was slightly one way. She gets all shy when on the phone, but still wonderful. And we finished off the evening with ‘Bruce Almighty’.

It is quite sticky tonight, so I hope we sleep well.

Day 191 – Friday 6th August 2010

We need the weekend. The snooze button was used and some may say abused this morning, but we still made it to work on time, just.

My morning at school was short and quiet, and so I soon found myself at the clinic, which was far from quiet. Armorel was busy running her cardiac clinic and seeing a range of other patients as one of the doctors wasn’t in today.

I spent the rest of the day with the clinic handy-men, most of it sorting out a large metal container. It was hot work. It even got to the stage when the Tanzanians were telling me that it was too hot to work in there anymore. I must say I was very grateful, as I had lost pretty much all my fluid.

I then escaped to Friday football where we had a group of UK university students join us. It was a good fun game and nice to get a run around. I played on the ‘Africa’ team, as I am of course now a local. We had an average age of maybe 10, and sadly lost, but only by 2 goals, 5-3.

Tonight we had the same group of students over for a film and popcorn which was nice, though the film choice was poor, ‘Wedding Crashers’.

We also had another, unwanted, guest. We think a ‘Black Mamba’,  quiet deadly, but luckily John (not me) had a spade and managed to take most of its head off.

Day 190 – Thursday 5th August 2010

A new day begins!

Armorel started the day heading to see one of her patients, a 15 year old boy with severe learning difficulties, who has just been placed in the Catholic orphanage. He seems to be doing well. On the way back to the clinic they popped into the hospital to see the bleeding lady from yesterday. Amazingly they found her sat up in bed eating. A true miracle!

The rest of the day came and went, and soon it was time for sports at school. Armorel again ran the netball and I tried to get some decent football going. We are getting there, but the trees on the pitch and the big rocks don’t help. The hot weather is also certainly on its way because today was very warm. I mean very warm!

This evening we have been out for dinner. Pretty much all the short term expats leave in the coming weeks so they had arranged a big get together for everyone. We had some lovely food, but I certainly have eaten too much.

Day 189 – Wednesday 4th August 2010

This Wednesday was the outreach clinic to Mwakashindye, so Armorel was off and out early this morning.

They were so busy!

418 patients in one day!

But today also had added stresses for Armorel and the other staff. Early in the morning a lady arrived with pregnancy difficulties and severe bleeding. She was about 24 weeks. The nurses told her she had to go to hospital and fast. BUT when they were packing up to head home, around 3pm, they found the lady sat outside the clinic building. She hadn’t gone to hospital. She had waited for a lift. Why, we don’t know, but she had lost a lot of blood, and was not well. The staff rushed her to the hospital, but we fear for the worse. The frustrations, and why?

WARNING – The following account is distressing but we feel we need to share to show you what life is like here. It is real and hard.

However, the shock continued when they arrived at the hospital. They got the lady into a bed, but opposite was a sight, hard to comprehend. A local lady had arrived first thing, 7am, from a village with a breach delivery and her baby’s head stuck. It was now 4pm, and the lady was still sat in the same position, her baby still not delivered. Words fail us at this point. We don’t know why, we can’t understand, we are lost!

Day 188 – Tuesday 3rd August 2010

After 7 months, we finally have our Tanzanian driving licenses, but the story of today highlights why it has taken us so long.

The journey begins at 8am as we head to the traffic police headquarters. We have our friend Nuhu with us to help us out.

We register with the police but need to head to the Tanzanian Revenue Authority (TRA) to purchase a provisional license. The TRA office is about 5 miles away.

We arrive, get our provisional license, and then have to return to the traffic police to get the license signed. This takes over an hour.

The comedy begins. Now our provisional license is signed we can return to the TRA to get our full license. I know!

We then had to head to the main police station, on the other side of town, to get our final license signed. Hold onto your hats! We arrive at the police station, go around the back, and meet a police officer sat under a mango tree!

He signs our license.

We aren’t quite done. We then have to return to the traffic police, again, to get our licenses registered. It is now 12pm!

What a relief to be finished!

 

Exhausted we arrived back at work but were soon out again, as we headed off to the farm. I had to pay some of the workers so Armorel  came along to, and we got stuck into helping with the brick kiln construction. We had great fun, racing the locals with bricks and just generally messing around, though it really is hard work.

This evening, we have done nothing.

Just wonderful!

Day 187 – Monday 2nd August 2010

Waking up in the dark is tough, and something we had hoped to escape after leaving the UK behind. It is so hard to get out of bed.

My punctuation master class seemed to go well, though I think some students got a bit confused when I showed them semi-colons and colons. But don’t we all!

After my busy morning I headed to the farm to check on the brick progress. We have made 16,000 so are now ready to start firing them. You build a type of kiln out of the bricks and then light a fire inside. 24 hours later you have finished, hardened bricks. We hope to fire them this weekend.

Armorel continues to be busy at the clinic, running the ward, being a nurse and a doctor. I think the lack of training of the nurses got to her today. Their knowledge is so very basic.

This afternoon we had fun and games with Baraka and Zawadi, which ended up with them hiding / sleeping in the dog baskets. Hilarious!

We are very tired at the moment, mentally, physically and spiritually. We hope we sleep well tonight.

Day 186 – Sunday 1st August 2010

When Armorel declared ‘A pinch and a punch for the first of the month’ I must say I was shocked. Is it really August?

We decided to treat ourselves to breakfast out, as we heard the local hotel did a very good meal.

We heard wrong, or at least, not today. There was no sausage as promised, and no jams, but at least toast and egg is healthy.

After church we popped to the market to do our shop. The highlight was this huge and abnormal aubergine.

We had to buy it! 40p well spent!

Armorel popped into work this afternoon, while I planned lessons at home. I am attempting a punctuation master class tomorrow.

Tonight we were back on to our nature night, and a quick ER before bed.

Day 185 – Saturday 31st July 2010

Tanzanian wedding number two.

We don’t know the couple but pastor John, who lives on our compound, is taking his first ever wedding so we have gone to support and see.

The wedding starts at 12pm.

It’s 12:45pm and we have no sign. The bride gets a phone call.

The groom and best man, patiently wait!

She thought it was at 3pm. They send a motorbike to hurry her up.

Amazingly she arrives within the hour, and walks down the aisle at  1:45pm.

The service was lovely, though with no translation we got quite lost. Following the service was a nice lunch which we were invited too, and then it was home just before 5:30pm.

A lovely day!

Day 184 – Friday 30th July 2010

We both woke craving ‘Fish and Chips’ this morning, and so are heading out tonight to do just that.

The clinic was very busy today, nine patients on the ward, and a long and complicated cardiac clinic for Armorel. I also spent most of the day in the office, after my short teaching day. I arrived to find the staff in a slight panic as they had got some unaccounted for money from pay day. So we set about to find it.

When you have 30 staff all being paid in cash, it takes a while to count everything and cross-check it all.

2 hours later and we discover the error!

I then headed off for Friday football, but we had one large problem. No ball!

The kids seem to go through one every two weeks. They have a habit of bursting of getting too many holes in them.

Instead my exercise was an impromptu cycle up the only big hill in town, and I decided to see how fast I could do it.

Slowly!

Well the second half was. I flew up the first half, but certainly paid the price.

As promised we treated ourselves to fish and chips, which was lovely, but we wish they had tartar sauce.