this week...
i was able to go 3 hours south with Dr. Joel and Melisa (my leader) for a night. We did teachings and Antenatal Care with the women in the village that was in the middle of nowhere. we were on a dirt road for about an hour to get there. we brought tons of medical supplies and set up our traveling clinic in two empty rooms.
There was around 60 africans waiting to get checkups and medications, while Melisa and i had 7 pregnant women to check. it was a bit difficult with the translator who didnt speak English well so many things got lost in translation but nonetheless the women were able to get checked, hear the babies heartbeat, get prayer and hopefully felt cared for.
we were next to a beautiful river with a long dock and many of the people there lived on the island next to where we were at and many had never seen white people before. The children always get scared of us because we are white.
the second place we went to was an hours drive on a dirt road away, across 2 rickety bridges. when we got there we were able to be with some missionaries who are fluent in swahili but are from the states. Jason, who was one of the missionaries, made us cake and coffee and it was soooooooo good! havent had cake since i got here. his house was African but he was incredibly creative with how it was set up. usually we take bucket showers here, but he connected a shower head to the bottom of a bucket and propped it up high so it was like a shower! one of many things he had done...it was encouraging to me to see Western mindset integrated into his African house.
the next day we were able to palpate (feeling the mothers womb to see the status of the baby) 7 women. one women we found out had twins! , one we didnt know if the baby was alive, and the rest were able to hear the heartbeats for the first time. hope to explain more in my next update as i have run out of time.
bless you all!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
weeks 2 & 3
we were able to go to the clinic these past 2 weeks and do healthcare teachings as well as do vitals and palpations for the pregnant women who came in for checkups. there was 3 of us that went in on thursday and there was a lady who didn’t look well. she was laying on one of the beds with sweat dripping from her back. she just had her baby and it was lying next to her but she wasn’t well at all. We realized she still had tissue from the placenta still in her uterus though her doctor’s notes said everything was cleared out. so we moved her to another bed to help expel the extra tissue but she fell on her way to the bed so we picked her up and set her on the bed. We then went to help expel huge clots of blood. A half hour later she was smiling and happy to see her baby, we then showed her how to breastfeed for the first time as it was her firstborn.
It was exciting to see that simple things like seeing there is something wrong helps a woman and her child. It was a bit odd that no one was doing anything about it at that time perhaps for various reasons, there are too many patients and not enough staff or they aren’t aware that something was wrong. Whatever the reason, we were able to help the woman.
They encounter this everyday at the small YWAM clinic here next to the base, a five minute walk. there is a doctor here from the States, Dr. Joel. He is an inspiring man and has been a doctor here for many years. Hearing the stories he encounters everyday is pretty inspiring as he is working with people on the verge of death daily, but gets the opportunity to treat them, minister and love them. He inspires me because he lives with his wife and twins in a small, quaint home. He works in the hospital almost everyday, he is fluent in the native tongue Swahili and he is the only Westerner working there, apart from Beate who is from Germany. He also goes to remote villages who need healthcare by plane with Missions Aviation Fellowship.
i have enjoyed being here and having a time of reading and reflecting on God’s love and peace. It’s rewarding to be here and be with other women from around the world who’s lives inspire me. I have decided that my favorite tree is the Palm Tree and i have a goal to climb to the top of one and get a coconut down! i know, i dream big.
Bless you all!
It was exciting to see that simple things like seeing there is something wrong helps a woman and her child. It was a bit odd that no one was doing anything about it at that time perhaps for various reasons, there are too many patients and not enough staff or they aren’t aware that something was wrong. Whatever the reason, we were able to help the woman.
They encounter this everyday at the small YWAM clinic here next to the base, a five minute walk. there is a doctor here from the States, Dr. Joel. He is an inspiring man and has been a doctor here for many years. Hearing the stories he encounters everyday is pretty inspiring as he is working with people on the verge of death daily, but gets the opportunity to treat them, minister and love them. He inspires me because he lives with his wife and twins in a small, quaint home. He works in the hospital almost everyday, he is fluent in the native tongue Swahili and he is the only Westerner working there, apart from Beate who is from Germany. He also goes to remote villages who need healthcare by plane with Missions Aviation Fellowship.
i have enjoyed being here and having a time of reading and reflecting on God’s love and peace. It’s rewarding to be here and be with other women from around the world who’s lives inspire me. I have decided that my favorite tree is the Palm Tree and i have a goal to climb to the top of one and get a coconut down! i know, i dream big.
Bless you all!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Tanzania .. wk 1
This week…
It was my first week in Tanzania and I have to say that “I like it.” If you have been to Africa before, you can be assured that most of it is quite similar.
The YWAM Tanzania base (where I will be staying for the next 6 months) is located 35 minutes outside of the city on a 82 acre beautiful piece of land, filled mostly with green plants, bushes and palm trees. They have produced some of the land into crops and gardens growing pineapple, bananas, mango, jackfruit, cashew nuts, aloe plant, tomatoes and many more crops that they then consume and then sell in the village. We will benefit soon to these different foods that will soon be in season. For now, my food intake is 2 pieces of bread with jam for breakfast, rice and spinach for lunch and rice and beans for dinner. Never thought I would consume so many carbs in one week let alone for the next 6 months.
We have to take the bus into the city to get internet and taking the bus is an experience to remember and not necessarily the best one. If you get on last, you have to stand crammed in with others that are also standing with one hand on your bag so no one takes anything and one hand to hold on as the bus moves. Its not likely you will move much though, because they pack those buses tighter than a can of sardines. I counted 34 people in a 12 passenger van!
It has been a week of settling into this new way of life.. humidity, taking a bucket shower outside under the stars, walking 50 ft. to the outside toilet (squatty potty), eating rice and bread as my main substance of food, everyone staring and yelling at us everywhere we go and wanting our attention, no access to internet unless I go into the city once a week, doing handwashed laundry outside, wearing a skirt everyday, hearing the sounds of june bugs, and being cooled by the breeze carried from the ocean.
For the most part, I love it and I always enjoy a challenge. I am glad we will be here for 6 months.
We don’t have our permits to work in the hospitals yet, so until then, we will be doing healthcare gospels in the surrounding villages. Educating the women in this area is what we are passionate about. Not just caring for them while they are pregnant, but also empowering them through education to let them know that they can change their village in the prevention of disease and.... praying for them! i love talking to the women about God and to see what they know about him. it is difficult with the language barrier without having a translator but my prayers and spiritual warfare is stronger than any language barrier. God wants to change this city and that is my heart as well.
We went to the beach on our day off and it was beautiful. It was paradise. The water was aqua blue with islands a bit off the coast with palm trees filling them to the brim. It was a perfect day of relaxing, enjoying the sun. the only thing frustrating about that day was a lady came up pretending to strike up a conversation with us but really wanting to steal our stuff. Luckily, she didn't steal anything.
thankyou for your prayers and bless you!
♥ Liz
It was my first week in Tanzania and I have to say that “I like it.” If you have been to Africa before, you can be assured that most of it is quite similar.
The YWAM Tanzania base (where I will be staying for the next 6 months) is located 35 minutes outside of the city on a 82 acre beautiful piece of land, filled mostly with green plants, bushes and palm trees. They have produced some of the land into crops and gardens growing pineapple, bananas, mango, jackfruit, cashew nuts, aloe plant, tomatoes and many more crops that they then consume and then sell in the village. We will benefit soon to these different foods that will soon be in season. For now, my food intake is 2 pieces of bread with jam for breakfast, rice and spinach for lunch and rice and beans for dinner. Never thought I would consume so many carbs in one week let alone for the next 6 months.
We have to take the bus into the city to get internet and taking the bus is an experience to remember and not necessarily the best one. If you get on last, you have to stand crammed in with others that are also standing with one hand on your bag so no one takes anything and one hand to hold on as the bus moves. Its not likely you will move much though, because they pack those buses tighter than a can of sardines. I counted 34 people in a 12 passenger van!
It has been a week of settling into this new way of life.. humidity, taking a bucket shower outside under the stars, walking 50 ft. to the outside toilet (squatty potty), eating rice and bread as my main substance of food, everyone staring and yelling at us everywhere we go and wanting our attention, no access to internet unless I go into the city once a week, doing handwashed laundry outside, wearing a skirt everyday, hearing the sounds of june bugs, and being cooled by the breeze carried from the ocean.
For the most part, I love it and I always enjoy a challenge. I am glad we will be here for 6 months.
We don’t have our permits to work in the hospitals yet, so until then, we will be doing healthcare gospels in the surrounding villages. Educating the women in this area is what we are passionate about. Not just caring for them while they are pregnant, but also empowering them through education to let them know that they can change their village in the prevention of disease and.... praying for them! i love talking to the women about God and to see what they know about him. it is difficult with the language barrier without having a translator but my prayers and spiritual warfare is stronger than any language barrier. God wants to change this city and that is my heart as well.
We went to the beach on our day off and it was beautiful. It was paradise. The water was aqua blue with islands a bit off the coast with palm trees filling them to the brim. It was a perfect day of relaxing, enjoying the sun. the only thing frustrating about that day was a lady came up pretending to strike up a conversation with us but really wanting to steal our stuff. Luckily, she didn't steal anything.
thankyou for your prayers and bless you!
♥ Liz
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