It was another quiet day at the clinic (by CACHA medical caravan standards). I had an opportunity to connect with Marissa who has lived and worked in an orphanage in Dar es Salaam. It is the same orphanage that Karen and Roman have adopted their son Malinga from. I heard there are over 300 orphanages in Moshi and since Dar is a bigger city I can only begin to imagine how many orphanages are there. I gave Marissa some artwork and photos from my daughter's 4th grade class, to give to the children at the orphanage in Dar. She plans to send me photos and artwork from the children at the orphanage who attend a Waldorf school, which typically has an art, music and language based curriculum with an emphasis on creativity. The school also has a firm policy of no physical punishment of it students. A philosophy that is rare in Tanzania where children are still brutally punished by teachers for discretions committed in the classroom.
Local optometrists are working at the clinic this week and word has gotten out. Many people are coming to the clinic requesting eye exams. One woman came requesting an eye exam who had an inconsolable baby with her. I watched her and wondered why she was not breastfeeding her little one which would have consoled him instantly. I asked her if she needed some assistance and she asked for water for her baby. She also asked for money for cows milk since she had been feeding water and cows milk. This is a sad situation that results when women do not breastfeed their babies in Africa. I brought her into the clinic and since her baby was 5 months old we began to feed him bananas which he was capable of chewing and swallowing and he ate them voraciously. She was set up with 3 cans of powdered artificial milk which ought to last her 3 months if her baby lives that long (where will she get clean water?) and she can come back to the clinic for more. She was happy and grateful. She too had a sad story to tell. Her lover gave her a baby and HIV. He also gave another woman HIV and a baby and the other woman is dying. The mom is on ARVs and so she has a chance at living. When she was diagnosed with HIV she was told to stop breastfeeding. Unfortunately the data from the International Lactation Consultants Association (ILCA) demonstrates (from well published studies in well respected medical journals i.e. The Lancet for one) that HIV transmission through breastmilk is extremely low and infant mortality is lower if babies are breastfed here in Africa. But, the WHO (World Health Organization) has recently changed its position on HIV positive moms and they are now told not to breastfeed. Over the course of the next week we saw two more HIV+ moms who were told not to breastfeed, with sick, malnourished babies . . . a sad controversial issue in Africa.
Three little girls visiting from Victoria, British Columbia are working at the clinic with their mothers. They have been happily helping count pills for the pharmacy, which fills upwards of 1500 prescriptions/day. Hannah had asked to come on this trip with me - next time! They and their travelling mothers have been thoroughly enjoying their experience in Moshi. I particularly enjoyed connecting with these laid back moms from the West Coast. Fiona is a family doctor, Rita is a writer and Stephanie previously ran the CACHA orphan program at the district hospital in Kilemma. Stephanie and her husband and three children have spent a year or more working and living in Tanzania. Stephanie has returned this January to arrange payment of school fees for many of the vulnerable children in the orphan program. She is here for a month. She brought along two of her good friends who we were lucky to acquire as volunteers while Steph was off visiting headmasters at the local school on the slopes of Kilimanjaro.
Local optometrists are working at the clinic this week and word has gotten out. Many people are coming to the clinic requesting eye exams. One woman came requesting an eye exam who had an inconsolable baby with her. I watched her and wondered why she was not breastfeeding her little one which would have consoled him instantly. I asked her if she needed some assistance and she asked for water for her baby. She also asked for money for cows milk since she had been feeding water and cows milk. This is a sad situation that results when women do not breastfeed their babies in Africa. I brought her into the clinic and since her baby was 5 months old we began to feed him bananas which he was capable of chewing and swallowing and he ate them voraciously. She was set up with 3 cans of powdered artificial milk which ought to last her 3 months if her baby lives that long (where will she get clean water?) and she can come back to the clinic for more. She was happy and grateful. She too had a sad story to tell. Her lover gave her a baby and HIV. He also gave another woman HIV and a baby and the other woman is dying. The mom is on ARVs and so she has a chance at living. When she was diagnosed with HIV she was told to stop breastfeeding. Unfortunately the data from the International Lactation Consultants Association (ILCA) demonstrates (from well published studies in well respected medical journals i.e. The Lancet for one) that HIV transmission through breastmilk is extremely low and infant mortality is lower if babies are breastfed here in Africa. But, the WHO (World Health Organization) has recently changed its position on HIV positive moms and they are now told not to breastfeed. Over the course of the next week we saw two more HIV+ moms who were told not to breastfeed, with sick, malnourished babies . . . a sad controversial issue in Africa.
Three little girls visiting from Victoria, British Columbia are working at the clinic with their mothers. They have been happily helping count pills for the pharmacy, which fills upwards of 1500 prescriptions/day. Hannah had asked to come on this trip with me - next time! They and their travelling mothers have been thoroughly enjoying their experience in Moshi. I particularly enjoyed connecting with these laid back moms from the West Coast. Fiona is a family doctor, Rita is a writer and Stephanie previously ran the CACHA orphan program at the district hospital in Kilemma. Stephanie and her husband and three children have spent a year or more working and living in Tanzania. Stephanie has returned this January to arrange payment of school fees for many of the vulnerable children in the orphan program. She is here for a month. She brought along two of her good friends who we were lucky to acquire as volunteers while Steph was off visiting headmasters at the local school on the slopes of Kilimanjaro.
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