This morning started bright and early with me waking up just
after 5 AM. I reviewed the material I
wanted to cover and had a little breakfast.
The Radio Furaha studio is inside the gates at DIRA. The manager is Protas Kanamela. I don’t know if he is on air anymore, but he
definitely has a great voice for it.
The studio room is very quiet. Two radio jockeys broadcast the morning show,
also with great voices. There is a desk
with lots of equipment and a computer and very official looking radio gear. For the call-ins, they cover a cell phone
with a foam damper, like the kind we see on the microphones. Well, the other stuff looks official. But no more effective that this innovation! To get to the sound booth, you enter through
an anteroom. Shoes are removed
outside. My friend Maria Biswalo was
there to assist me. She is Tanzanian
whose early schooling was at a boarding school where all the kids spoke
German. (Her husband is the son of our
German friend Beate Mundt.) She spent another four years in the US at
University of New Orleans. She speaks
English with no accent. It was great to
have her help! We talked about nutrition
and breastfeeding and then answered call-in questions. As far as I am concerned it went well. But then, how would I know? Although, I think Maria would have been kind
enough to tell me if they were talking about the weather in, say,
Minnesota. Apparently it was
live-streamed over the internet. I may
never know that for sure either, unless some English speaker who knows me
actually tuned in. The gang from Como
Park tried to catch it on the internet but were unsuccessful.
 | |
| From the road overlooking a valley near Idete |
When I finished with the radio show, Dr. Saga and the
students were waiting for me. We bustled
off to Idete in two vehicles. The old
Land Cruisers are quite serviceable, but may be of a vintage prior to shocks
and springs. It is a much shorter trip
than to Idunda and only 15,000 bumps were recorded by my FitBit. Idunda is a 25,000 bump trip. Of course that is both ways. One of the students tells me there is an app
(of course there is) that turns off counting when you are in a vehicle. No way, Jose!
I earned those bumps too.
 |
| The old ward |
We brought a bunch of medicines to Idete purchased by Randy
Hurley (and possibly SOTV). We had a
little tea. But not just tea; actually,
tea, chicken, potatoes, vegetables and assorted sodas. Never just tea! This is Tanzania where hospitality,
relationships and generosity reign supreme, immediately under religion.
 |
| Labor bed in the old ward |
The dispensary at Idete is extremely nice. I was there in August with the Lake Park folks
when they delivered a lot of new equipment, supplies and medicines. Many doors are narrow in Tanzania. We had trouble getting all of the beds into
the wards, especially the two-ton Tilly of a maternity bed. The only thing we could do was to tip it on
its side and scrape it through.
Thankfully, nothing broke off.
For most doors, the width doesn’t matter much. Tanzanians themselves mostly aren’t very
wide. But I hope the builders follow
our suggestion of putting a narrow stationary side door along side the entry so
we can get beds and stretchers in and out when necessary.
Dr. Saga and I spent a lot of time going over
the new plans and even then we forgot something that others noticed
immediately. (This would be “the forest
for the trees” syndrome, I think.)
 |
| Idete Clinic |
They should be extremely proud of the Idete Dispensary, the
doors not withstanding. They started
with a couple of huts for labor rooms or ward beds. You see the photo! Then they constructed the old one, still
serviceable. The new digs are
terrific. The maternity ward has two
delivery beds and an exam table and an indoor choo. Outside they have a choo building with 5 or
six in a line. There is a recovery room
attached to the labor room. I might add
that the door has a stationary side door that opens to widen the space to
accommodate the delivery bed. Two more
wards for males and females allow plenty of growth.
 | |
| The new dispensary |
While our pharmacy students restocked the shelves with the
medicines, Chandra, Deepthi and Cole saw a few patients, including a spry 90
year-old with knee problems, a 75 year-old with cough, probably TB and a baby
with a stooling problem. (Well, yes, I was
there too).
 |
| Our Crew: Astrid, Cole,Chandra, Deepthi, Shana, Tuli, Kelsey and Dr. Saga |
After a few photos, we headed out. Now we will head back to Ilula after a couple
hours in Iringa. The students thought
the drive to Idete was beautiful. Of
course I agree, but I do have a bias. It
was nice to be home after a successful outing.
And the rain held off.
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