I’m titling this post “Uncharted Territories”. For obvious reasons I am calling it this, because today today was full of “the unexpected and unknown” for me. Having never been to Tanzania and never participating on a medical mission, I was not sure what we’d be walking into when we arrived at Saint Elizabeth’s hospital. […]
The first international flight of my life was less than 24 hours ago for the Phil Simon Clinic Tanzania Project. Fatigue from a very long flight was masked by the excitement of seeing patients in Arusha on day one at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. Life-altering surgeries will soon be performed by a talented group of doctors […]
Today was my first day doing home visits. The purpose of home visits is to check in with people who are HIV positive and find out how they are doing in terms of their medicines, general health and discussing what barriers might exist for them to receive the full benefit of their medication. We visited […]
Whirlwind day starting with our traditional walk at daybreak and then the team dispersed in multiple directions. Our group started at St. Elizabeth’s to hear Dr. Mia D’s lecture on anemia which generated good questions and discussion. Education is another major goal of our visits. We then headed out for three home visits, over hill […]
First day in Tanzania and I’ve gone from our beautiful coffee plantation grounds thru breathtaking countryside, past poor neighborhoods to St Elisabeth’s hospital. We were to screen patients for pre op for our surgeons. We were greeted by masses of parents with their children hoping for a miracle. The parents were hopeful and their children […]
As the team photographer, I was one of the few who was able to witness and document all aspects of today’s events at St. Elizabeth Hospital. That being said, as one of the few non-medical people on the team, I saw these events as a layman. Above all, I was struck by the dedication of […]
This was my first time to Africa with the Phil Simon clinic as a nurse. Today we went to Saint Elizabeth hospital and I got to do intake of the children. They were so sweet and calm. What surprised me the most was how many burn scars we saw. Most of the children were burned […]
When I woke up this morning to the sounds of birds and bush babies, it felt like a homecoming. That is how profound my years of coming to Tanzania have been. The friends we’ve made and the feel and energy are the same but time marches on with the inevitable growth of Arusha as more […]
After about 30 hours of travel, Team Tanzania is now successfully ensconced at Moivaro Coffee Lodge in Arusha. Juggling over 100 bags of supplies and equipment went remarkably smoothly thanks to the help of the TSA staff at LAX and the adaptability of the team members. Trans Atlantic flight to Amsterdam was very smooth and […]
I was amazed by how seamless the airport and TSA experiences were for 60 some people with even more bags! It really couldn’t have been any smoother. Traveling with so many new friends is a great experience. I know that though I am still not able to remember everyone’s names that I will feel […]