Day 304 – Saturday 27th November 2010

It was an early start as Armorel and I headed into town for some early morning shopping. We are buying gifts for everyone and so ended up with 25 kangas for the clinic ladies, 45 buckets for all the clinic staff and 20 football shirts for my football boys.

Armorel was then clinic bound and I was off to football. It was very hot and luckily the boys decided we would play using one goal, which would greatly limit the running distances. I then treated them all to a lift home in the car. I wish I had the camera. 15 boys and 1 white man in a car!

This afternoon I have failed to watch rugby because of power cuts and Armorel has been busy doing countless jobs, which included cleaning all 45 buckets!

She has also done some great organising. Look at her with her proud bags!

Day 303 – Friday 26th November 2010

We had an early morning game of football between Form 1a and 1b, and controversy followed. Somehow 1b managed to play the first half with 12 players, and held a 2-1 lead. Teams were sorted out for a goalless second half, with countless yellow cards and a red for a horrendous two footed lunge which was criminal! I asked for an exclusion! After a committee meeting, me and the science teacher, it was decided that 1b be disqualified. A small riot ensued!

I then escaped to the clinic. Armorel was busy continuing to tie up loose ends and trying to stay out of the ward so the nurses get used to her not being around. It is easier said than done.

I was then soon recruited for a shopping journey, and headed into town to buy doors, maize, nails, wood, paint brushes, varnish, nails, door locks, bolts and a blue and white kanga!

Exhausted we headed to Ruth’s for dinner. I had a bet with her a couple of weeks ago about rain, and the loser was baking a black forest gateau. Ruth lost!

It was wonderful!

Day 302 – Thursday 25th November 2010

An uneventful day!

Armorel was working on putting together a procedures folder for the nurses. Basically she is writing an algorithm for any procedures the nurses may have to do in the hope that one they do it, and two they do it correctly.

I played geek this morning, and redesigned some of my tracking sheets and did some analysis to see progress over the year and the comparison between boys and girls. Boys continue to outperform the girls, but the gap is closing, and the top score from the end of term test was from the girls!

First games of the sports tournament, and we had a shock as Pre-Form 1 beat Form 1B 2-0 in football! Armorel had fun with the netball girls and saw a thrashing by 1B.

This evening we are at the Orion for dinner and there seem to be hundreds of white people. I really don’t like it! It doesn’t help that none of them try to speak to the waiters in Swahili and are just rude.

Do we want to come back to more of these people?

Day 301 – Wednesday 24th November 2010

The last day of exams, and I have the pleasure of invigilating the 2 hour chemistry exam. I was so bored.

The funniest thing was watching the students who blatantly had no idea how to answer most of the questions pass the time. One girl decided to see if she could tear a piece of paper into 1000 pieces.

The wind hindered her efforts as the pieces flew across the room.

So now what? The exams are done, the teachers aren’t going to teach, and the students have nothing to do.

I gave my exams back, and we have organised a sports tournament. We need to do something, school doesn’t close until Tuesday!

Armorel was at Kilungu today for her penultimate village clinic. It was a very quiet one, as everyone is busy in the fields preparing for the next big rains and the planting to begin.

Tonight we had Lucas, Noelina, Dixon and Faraja over for dinner, and a special treat, quarter of a pig. Mama Ndugu had given us a wonderful chunk of her pig, and so I embarked on a roast.

I must say I was impressed, and the crackling was so good!

Day 300 – Tuesday 23rd November 2010

Armorel started the day with her next nurses training session. Today they started the Respiratory System. Funnily, the nurses asked her if they were going to get a graduation for attending these lessons.

Hilarious!

I have completed marking the English exams, and luckily a couple of students have done very well and impressed me greatly. However, the overall performance is a little below par. A view also held by the headmaster it would appear. He was less than happy that as the ‘expert’ English teacher that I hadn’t taught all the students well enough to get them all 110%.

I smiled politely.

After work Armorel visited Noelina to help her with some translation. We are writing cards to everyone we work with, and though we have written them in English we want to translate them all. Mainly because most of them wouldn’t have a clue what we were saying!

We had rice and beans for dinner tonight, but I struggled. I really have had enough of this meal!

Day 299 – Monday 22nd November 2010

We leave 2 weeks today. Now that is scary!

This morning started with the students’ end of term English exam. One and a half hours to show me all that they have studied for and learnt.

I have marked half. They aren’t very good.

Am I a very bad teacher or are they just lazy and not very good? The jury is out.

Armorel worked from home this morning, planning her next teaching session on the respiratory system and catching up on paperwork. She arrived at the clinic at lunchtime. Sadly one of the patients, who was on the mend and about to be discharged suddenly died this morning. I think it was quite tough on everyone.

We were soon off again to say goodbye to Philip and Elaine at the airport. I then left the workers and popped into town for a haircut. I knew it was risky to try a third African haircut, especially as the first two had been successful. I am not too impressed.

This evening the time has come.

We settled down for the last episode of ER.

I still want to be a doctor!

Day 298 – Sunday 21st November 2010

Another cold, grey day and the jumpers came out the cupboard.

Church was its usually mix of comedy and interesting singing. The novelty has really worn off.

We arrived home to another power cut. They have been really bad this past month with spells of 5 hours each day without power. Armorel cycled into town to do some bits, and help some of the new visitors get a grip of the market.

This afternoon we headed out for a drink. Armorel kept herself occupied with some work whilst I tried to watch football on a very grainy TV picture.

This evening we enjoyed cheese on toast with David Attenborough and the penultimate ER. This evening we have also been joined by millions of bugs. The rain has filled the sky with loud, flying bugs of all shapes and sizes.

Day 297 – Saturday 20th November 2010

It is raining!

Armorel was off to work early and I had a lazy morning before football. I stupidly thought that because it was raining when I left it would be nice and cool. How wrong was I? It was steaming, and humid! I must have lost a few pounds.

Armorel arrived home at lunchtime and had a quick sleep before we headed off to the wedding. It started at 3, so we arrived in good Africa fashion 45 minutes late, and were still on time.

Weddings are interesting. They are so formal in one way, but more fun in others. Having three dancing and singing choirs certainly help. The service only lasted about 3 hours and then it was time for the reception.

It was due to start at 7:30pm.

We had another party, for Philip and Elaine as they are leaving on Monday, so headed there first for some food. We arrived at the wedding at 9pm. The bride and groom were not yet there!

They finally made a spectacular entrance with dancing and music about 30 minutes later and then the festivities began. The most interesting was the giving of gifts. All gifts given must be danced up and paraded to the couple, and you can only do this at set times. In total there were 17 different ‘gift’ groups, and it took well over an hour. They ended up with over 3 complete tea sets.

At this stage we were getting restless and everyone else very hungry. At midnight we were told it was food time, and then suddenly I hear my name.

I have been called to the front to bless and pray for the food in front of a crowd of 200. My English and Swahili mix seemed to go down well and food was ready. Though of course you have to dance up to get your food.

We escaped at about 12:30pm leaving the party in full swing.

Day 296 – Friday 19th November 2010

We wake to grey clouds and rain looming in the air. This is exciting.

I had an uneventful morning helping to organise the next sets of exams. Armorel continued to be busy as usual. I joined her around lunchtime and we did some cleaning and rearranging of storage. We managed to find three mice in the process.

It was then time to officially open the houses at the Shamba. You will have noticed we have been quiet about this for a while. It’s a long and complicated story, which basically left me with limited involvement in the construction. It has been tough but this isn’t about me and the result is wonderful.

The rain then came, and with it the power went.

We spent most of the evening in the dark, heating some soup on the Kerosene stove and trying to keep busy.

We have a wedding tomorrow.

Day 295 – Thursday 18th November 2010

Today is the start of the end of year exams. First up is Maths, but we had a small problem.

One girl claimed she couldn’t sit the exams today because she had been possessed by a demon, but she would be able to do it tomorrow. I didn’t know how I should answer or respond. Would this be an acceptable medical excuse in the UK?

Armorel continues to be busy at the clinic with countless jobs, tasks and training to get done. This morning she ran a session on cardiac problems, which seemed to be well received.

This evening we headed out for dinner to say goodbye to Emma. It was a strange night, and made us realise we are going to miss her. It is so nice to have someone who has been out here as long as us, and we don’t have to have the same conversations over and over again.

A quick ER, only 3 more episodes to go, and then bed.

Day 294 – Wednesday 17th November 2010

A bank holiday, and so a treat of cereal for breakfast.

Armorel went into the clinic first thing for a ward round with Dr Jim, and finished off everything from last night.

She returned home just after 10am and we then went to the market to get some fruit and veg. This afternoon we have started to pack!

Scary I know, and very early, but we don’t want to be rushed. Emma also popped round for an afternoon cup of tea, which turned into juice as we had no power.

We are gutted she is leaving on Friday.

We have just watched an ER and are now heading to bed.

The twins and best friend from our weekend adventure.

Day 293 – Tuesday 16th November 2010

We knew it was going to be hard to hear a 6:30am alarm call after a long weekend, but it seemed even harder to get up this morning.

Today is my last day of teaching!

In celebration we decided to do a fun quiz, with a selection of English questions and a few random ones thrown in. All the students won a prize of a dictionary which have been kindly been provided by a very generous supporter. Their reaction was wonderful!

Armorel had a long day with a number of patients being admitted onto the ward. One patient is particularly sick and has a heartbreaking story too.

She is 26 years old suffering from AIDS. Her husband was transferred to the regional hospital this morning for palliative care and is not expected to survive the morning. He is also suffering from AIDS. They have a 5 year old son.

At 6:45pm the lady died, the same day as her husband, orphaning a 5 year old boy.

Armorel and I spent the evening at the clinic so she could sort out the paperwork and support the nurses on duty.

The highs and lows of life.

Day 292 – Monday 15th November 2010

We arrived for breakfast at 8am to be told that they had run out of beans. Not a good start to the day.

We had a leisurely morning before heading off just before 10am, via the supermarket. We had been given several shopping lists from the Tabora community. It is so novel to be able to buy things like cheese and would you believe bacon.

The journey then began home. Well sort of, as traffic was so bad that it took over an hour to get out of Mwanza. We finally escaped and hit the open road.

And then our tyre blew!

Words cannot express the comedy that then ensued. Firstly, our jack  was too short for the high chassis. Then we got the locals coming to offer support and advice, and suggesting that we lift the car. That didn’t work and so after finding some suitable rocks the tyre was changed.

The they all wanted paying for their hard work! We tried to keep the peace by buying a soda for everyone, which appeased all but three, who claimed they had done the most work. One had held the nuts, one had placed them on, and one had tighten them.

They got little sympathy and we were soon on the way.

A quick stop in Shinyanga to try and get the tyre repaired, and after a small panic and visit to every shop in town we were successful and could continue our journey.

Then would you believe we got stopped for speeding!

My initial tone of disbelieve that you could be stopped for speeding in Tanzania was put in its place by the policeman producing a speed gun!

I was not expecting that.

Nor was I expecting what happened next. The fine was set and agreed and I was just about to pay when Armorel decided to chat up the policeman and ask for a receipt. One of the methods worked because we were soon sent on our way with a strict warning to adhere to the limits, but with no fine needed!

Luckily the rest of journey was trouble free apart from the plague of termites which caused our vision to be hampered and our windscreen washer to run out. We arrived home at just after 6pm.

Exhausted!

Day 291 – Sunday 14th November 2010

We hoped we would wake to glorious sunshine but instead couldn’t see the sun for the clouds. It was cold as well.

To make our morning even better was the power cut which left us without hot showers and coffee.

We trudged into town for a potter and to get some lunch. We stopped for a lovely pizza in a little street cafe.

The best pizza in Africa so far!

The only downside was that by now the rain had arrived and I was sat in the wrong seat. I got a bit wet!

Our walk home was even wetter and we arrived back to find still no power and so no hot showers or even a cup of tea. Disappointed we headed to the bar for a drink, but didn’t stay long.

Someone had turned on a red light. We couldn’t believe it! The hotel bar had turned into a glorified brothel, and I was in serious danger of being accosted. The management have been told.

We spent the rest of the day trying not to get too bored or scared about our experiences and headed out for a bit of Indian food for dinner. Luckily the power had returned and our food was hot.

The adventure is nearly over, home tomorrow!

Day 290 – Saturday 13th November 2010

It was so quiet last night and we slept so well.

We spent the morning at the school and somehow managed to end up taking 20 kids for 4 hours of games activities. We are not sure what had happened to all the actual staff.

We did have great fun, though exhausting. The highlight was when a hawk decided that the football was some food and came swooping in to attack. More worrying was when he then came in for the students too!

After a quick lunch we headed on towards Mwanza for a bit of a break on Lake Victoria.

We were welcomed by a downpour of biblical proportions!

We made it to our hotel just after 4pm and settled into our lovely room, which was on an old boat and had lovely views across the harbour. It was wonderful!

As luck would have it we then met Adrian and Emma who had also come up to Mwanza. Unfortunately it is because Adrian has been made redundant and has to leave Tabora. So we had a celebration of new beginnings over a Chinese.

Day 289 – Friday 12th November 2010

Shinyanga here we come!

We are going off to visit our friend Salome and her twins who have moved to Shinyanga. Salome is working in a large and impressive international school there. It is about 3 hours north of us.

We had a lovely journey up, using a hand drawn map with 7 town names written on it and a few other instructions.

“Turn right after 55km” was the first one.

Amazingly we arrived in time for lunch and then had a tour of the impressive school with much better resources than most UK schools. We also met with the head who offered us jobs.

It was so great to see them all and we had a fun evening catching up and watching “Home Alone”.

Day 288 – Thursday 11th November 2010

Armorel ran her cardiovascular teaching session with the nurses this morning. Initial feedback was good, but they found the topic quite hard so have asked for the session to be repeated on Tuesday. We are excited by the willingness to learn.

The rest of the day was spent doing wound dressings and giving advice on baby care and feeding. She also started part of her handover, training one of the nurses how to discharge patients.

The students and I struggled with the heat today, with energy levels severely lacking. We pushed on through and managed to get some good work done.

It was then time for sports and games, which was also a struggle. The students didn’t really get involved but that could have been from the morning pep talk they received, “if you play football, get injured and fail your exams it is your fault!”

This evening we had Christopher and his wife, Grace, over for dinner, which was lovely. It was great to catch up as it has been a long time since we saw each other. Christopher was my first line manager in Tabora.

We are now packing! We are going on a small adventure for a long weekend.

Will fill you in on Monday!

Day 287 – Wednesday 10th November 2010

It didn’t rain and we wake to a bright, hot morning.

Armorel is off to Umanda for her last clinic there, and I am going to attempt a novel idea. The students are going to write and then mark some of their own practice exam questions.

It didn’t work too badly at all, and we are going to continue this tomorrow. We have created quite a good bank of revision questions.

Armorel had a busy but fun day today. They usually run the clinic in some primary school buildings but today there are some national exams, so they had been kicked out. Picture the scene; Armorel dealing with the babies under a tree, one doctor consulting on the back seat of the truck and the other on a tree stump, the pharmacy in the back of the truck with reception and the lab was set up under little tree. This is Africa!

This evening we have sat and tried to make Armorel’s hand-outs for her cardiovascular teaching readable. The photocopier seems to have missed most of the words.

Only 5 more to go!

Day 286 – Tuesday 9th November 2010

It is raining!

It started about 9pm last night and was pretty steady. We even were woken by a sudden downpour this morning, though by the time we left for work it had stopped.

It was a cold, dark morning, which wasn’t helped by a lack of power. I taught my single Tuesday lesson, finished writing my end of term exam and popped over to the clinic.

No power there either so I wasn’t much use.

Armorel had one of those days where you never manage to get anything done because of various interruptions. She got so fed up that we escaped a little early and managed to get some bits done at home.

This evening we had dinner at Ruth’s with various others. The food was excellent as usual, and not huge amounts of medical talk which was nice.

I think it might rain again tonight.

Day 285 – Monday 8th November 2010

We are both a little tired this morning!

I had another frustrating day at school.

Halfway through my second lesson of the day I was told I had to stop because we had an important guest arriving. My attempts to explain that the students education was more important fell on deaf ears.

1 hour and 30 minutes later the guest arrived. Do you think I might of had time to finish my lesson?

Our guest arrived, gave a quick speech and left 10 minutes later.

“This is ridiculous.”

Was met again by deaf ears.

I arrived at the clinic to find a crazy scene. Armorel was having to admit 4 patients all at once and her stroke man was fading fast.

I hid in the office and did some paperwork before Armorel re-appeared at about 3:30pm. She had been busy!

This afternoon we planned another of her teaching sessions on the cardiovascular system and enjoyed a game of bananas. We have just heard that her stroke patient has died.

It brings it home to you, when you know that if he was in the UK he simply wouldn’t have died.

But what can you do?

Day 284 – Sunday 7th November 2010

Having missed two weeks of church we set off in the hope of some excitement, though if I am honest I struggled to stay motivated. It is joyful in so many ways, but lacks a certain energy.

We came home via the breadman with a couple of fresh out the oven loaves and promptly ate one. Just wonderful!

After an afternoon of job hunting and some work, we headed over to the doctors house for a birthday cup of tea. Armorel had made a fantastic chocolate cake. They are meant to be balloons.

Nature night was postponed today. We have been invited by a local business man, Amrit, to a Diwali meal at the Orion.

It was a wonderful feast, and we certainly ate well. The only downside was that the food didn’t arrive till 10:30pm.

So it was a late night!

Day 283 – Saturday 6th November 2010

Armorel was off to the clinic early and I headed off to football.

Unfortunately the heat had taken its toll and only 5 brave souls ventured onto the pitch, whilst the rest sought shelter under the trees. We ran around for a good 45 minutes before the exhaustion took hold.

Armorel got home in the early afternoon, and we both promptly fell asleep. We then headed over to Danny’s for a BBQ and a chance to watch some rugby. Though, being the only northern hemisphere fan I received a great deal of abuse.

We had a fun night and ate well.

Day 282 – Friday 5th November 2010

No fireworks or bonfire for us.

Instead a pretty ordinary day at work.

Armorel saw a range of patients and there are 4 on the ward. One gentleman has had a stroke and lost the ability to swallow. A problem in the UK that could be easily helped, but out here there is nothing that can be done.

I taught and then headed over to the clinic and did some bits and pieces before we headed home.

It was a hot day, as you can see by the thermometer as we arrived home.

An evening at the Orion was enjoyed with a couple of games of pool.

Day 281 – Thursday 4th November 2010

Neither of us slept well in this humid heat so woke tried, and I was certainly grumpy.

I spent the morning with my tracking spreadsheets at school, and then continued my learning journey with prefixes and suffixes. The good thing about teaching English is that I am learning new things every day!

Armorel had a typically busy day. The highlight was meeting with an American lady who works in nutrition and health in Dar es Salaam. This could be a very promising contact, as you can’t buy any nutritional products in Tabora at all.

Sport was very hot today. Armorel unfortunately spent a large part of the time with one sick girl who wasn’t responding well to her malaria medication. Though when she did get to the netball court she seemed to have a good run around.

I managed to score 5, hit the woodwork twice and miss an absolute sitter today, so was hot but very pleased. We won’t mention half of them were against a 4ft twelve year old.

We spent the evening doing a bit of job hunting with limited success, before an ER and bed.

It is still 32 degrees!

Day 280 – Wednesday 3rd November 2010

Armorel left for Mwakashindye early this morning for another clinic. It was busy as usual with Armorel seeing 193 children. They even ran out of vaccines. There was a bit of drama on the way home as they came across a bus crash. It had probably happened minutes before and was quite serious. They loaded up as many as they could and rushed them back to Tabora.

These buses are so dangerous!

BUT can you believe, they couldn’t take the casualties straight to the hospital. No, first to the police station to collect an proof of accident form! Luckily no one was too serious!

I had a morning of teaching on suffixes, and then popped into town to do my weekly Wednesday list of jobs. I then spent the early evening with my book. Wonderful!

This evening we have sweated a large amount whilst watching two episodes of ER. We just couldn’t cope with one.

Day 279 – Tuesday 2nd November 2010

The cardiovascular training went well this morning, with all the nurses keen and engaged. Armorel has given them some homework questions so we can see how much they were listening.

I spent the morning finishing off the next edition of the school newspaper and trying to finish my end of term English exam.

I then joined Armorel at the clinic, though she was crazily busy as usual, so after helping in the office for a while I escaped home. I managed to have a productive afternoon finishing off our newsletter.

This evening we ventured to Ruth’s for a Mexican night, after she had received a fajita mix packet. It was so nice to have something with a bit of flavour and something different.

Day 278 – Monday 1st November 2010

It is strange to think that you can wake up on a November day to clear blue skies, and by lunchtime be sweltering in 35 degree heat. It feels slightly surreal.

Today was the first day for the nurse of the month, and with an eye catching display the event begun. We can but see how it goes.

After a morning of teaching on the word ‘the’, I headed into town to pay for our flights home. The man selling them thought we had made a mistake when the ticket was one way, and nearly refused to let me buy such a ticket.

This afternoon Armorel and I planned a teaching session on the cardiovascular system which she has with the nurses’ tomorrow morning. It is useful having a large bank of GCSE PE resources at hand to help.

This evening we have tied up lots of loss ends for our holiday and had a wonderful chat with my Mum. We’ve just watched an ER and are now off to bed.

Good Night!

Day 277 – Sunday 31st October 2010

The day of the general election.

We woke expecting something a bit different. Maybe some sort of fuss, some sort of party atmosphere, but nothing. Just a normal day in the life of lazy Tabora.

We should find out the result by Wednesday.

To celebrate the Election Day, we went out for lunch. For something different we went to the animal park, which some 50 years ago would have been a thriving wildlife park with all sorts of animals. Now though, it is a bit different.

We found the one wild animal. A wildebeest.

This evening has been very quiet, with cheese on toast and our nature film.

Another week starts tomorrow.