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July 29, 2009

On The Way Home

Ara skip July 29

During the last four days Ara and I had the wonderful experience of exploring northern Tanzania, specifically Arusha, Ngorogoro crater, Lake Manyara National Park and the Serengeti. Not a trip for wimps it involved many spine compressing hours in a Landcruiser over bumpy roads. Fighting off the tsetse flies that bite through several layers of clothing was not a lot of fun either. But it was worth it. The wildlife is so abundant that at times it seems like a movie. We saLion1w and photographed what is known as “the big five” – elephant, lion, water buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros – and also countless giraffe, antelope of various kinds and so many more. We stayed in a really cool tent camp where we heard hippos and elephants close by during the night. A baboon even tried to join us for breakfast this morning but was quickly shooed away by the management.

It was a great time to relax and think about the previous three weeks. We contacted Jasper and our patients are doing well. Diana, now called spinach girl instead of spinach lady (she is only 16) has definitely turned the corner and is on the mend. Little Johnny is home and waiting for a referral to Dar. We will follow up on that and try to make that happen. Everyone else has gone home or is close to doing so.

We are constantly mulling over what we can do to help improve the medical care at Sumbawanga. The new buildings are just a start and without the equipment and personnel to run them not much will happen. The equipment is available from several sources and we can help with that. The staffing problem will only be solved when people want to live there. I did get to meet with Daniel Njoolay, th Regional Commissioner of Rukwa while in Arusha and he assured me that the airport in Mbeya will be finished soon and the road to Sumbawanga will be paved. This will cut down the time from Dar es Salaam from 2 days to about 6 hours. Not only will it give an enhanced lifestyle and flexibility to the people of Sumbawanga but will also allow for service people to maintain more sophisticated equipment.

This is our final night in Africa. We leave Dar tomorrow on a flight to Dubai. From there I’ll go on to New York and then Phoenix by way of Minneapolis. Ara heads off to Paris for a visit with friends. It’s a long flight but, hey, after that 17 hour bus ride to Arusha it’ll be a piece of cake.

Next time we would like to bring an orthopedic and maybe a plastic surgeon as well as some medical students. It is feasible and it appears that Ara has got the “Africa bug” along with me. This continent is magical. I am so thankful for the experiences that I have had here and for the time freedom and health to be able to do it. I look forward to next year.

Thanks for reading these postings. They have not been as extensive as previously but, truth be told, we were working more and Ihad less time for writing.

Until next time………………………..

Skip and Ara

Posted at 04:19 PM |

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