Jambo!
My name is Katie Allen and I am a senior nursing major at NWC. Today is day 11 here in Tanzania. Time has definitely flown by, and it is crazy to think that our time in Tanzania is a little more than half way over. It has been amazing seeing God work so far during the first half of our trip, and I am excited to see how He continues to use us!
Today we were able to sleep in and get some much needed rest. After breakfast we got back in the safari vehicle and prepared to go visit a clinic and some children's homes in Meriani. We were told by the pastor that Meriani is a very poor, poverty-stricken town consisting of many miners and prostitutes. We were also warned that there were many street children there due to the miners leaving their wives and children behind once they made a good amount of money.
We were very blessed by our experience at the clinic. When we got to the clinic we were greeted by the same doctor that we worked with at the outreach clinic we did on day 9. He very graciously showed us his clinic and each of the different rooms. The doctor showed us the room where they do their lab test and also showed us different microscope slides with specimens taken from people who had different diseases such as malaria. He explained to us what to look for on the slides and showed us different pictures from a textbook. Another room that the doctor showed us was where they do patient exams. We were able to witness a nurse give a pregnant woman a head to toe assessment, which we all were thankful to be able to see. We learned that the head to toe assessment that they perform are very similar to the ones that we do in the United States. We also learned that their antenatal (pregnancy) care is similar as well with how often the pregnant women see the doctor during their pregnancy.
After the clinic we visited a boy's children home run by Mama Lynn's Light in Africa organization. There were only 5 children there at the time because many of the children were in school. We still had a good time loving on the kids that were there, and we spent a lot of time holding the kids and giving them attention.
After visiting the boy's home we walked to Light in Africa's food kitchen that was just down the street. The food kitchen serves 1 meal Monday-Friday to the kids that the town designates as the neediest kids. Not every kid in the town was able to get food, just the kids that were on this list. When we got closer to the food kitchen, we could see kids gathering outside the gate. They were crowding the entrance waiting for the food kitchen to open, which is completely understandable because this was probably going to be the only meal that the kids would eat the entire day. It was heartbreaking seeing kids as young as 4 carrying their baby siblings on their backs. It made me wonder who was taking care of these kids or if they were on their own. We all got our different jobs at the food kitchen including helping the kids wash their hands, helping kids with their dishes, helping dish up the food, and handing the food and drinks to the kids. I personally handed the food to the kids. The kids got a plate full of rice and beans as well as a cup of water. After a while we ran out of food so 14 kids did not get very much food. I felt so bad for them knowing that they probably wouldn't get any other food.
After we finished up at the food kitchen, we went to Light in Africa's girl home. When we got there we were greeted with a song telling us that we are welcome and that they are excited to see us. They ended up giving us a mini singing and dancing show. They sang so well and their sweet songs put smiles on all of our faces. After this we sang a song for them called 'Hosanna'. Compared to them we could use some work on our dance moves for sure. We were able to spend some time with them. Some of us got to hold some little kids and others got to play games with the kids. Another girl and I played games with the kids. I was surprised when the kids started to play an African version of Raw Macaroni! It just goes to show that we are more similar than we think we are. I spent some time talking to a girl named Katherine. She is 12 years old and is in year 4 of school. She had fun holding my hand and playing with my fingers. We talked about our families and she thought our names (Scott, Linda, Hannah, Sarah) were really funny. Later on when we handed out candy to all of the kids, she saw that I did not get any. She tried to give me her candy even though she rarely gets because she wanted me to be happy too. I was moved to tears by her compassion and her giving heart. I will never forget her and what she has taught me. Overall today has been a very good, emotional, and blessed day.
Tomorrow we are having a carnival for the kids of Tudor Village. We are excited to be able to put on something fun for them and to give them some prizes and candy. We are also going to be finishing up painting one of the houses. Jasmine and I will be visiting the special needs house doing some follow up on our passive range of motion (PROM) teaching that we taught the mamas of the house.
Thank you for your continued prayers! We cannot tell you enough how much it means to us to have your prayers and your support. A special prayer request that we have is for a new boy who came to the children's home yesterday. He is not doing well and had to be taken to the hospital tonight. Please pray for healing and that he will be able to experience peace during such a scary experience.
Mungu akubariki sana na kwaheri (God bless you and goodbye),
Katie Allen
