June 14th
Hamjambo rafikis! Our weekend started with a journey to the Cairo village in Mereani for the second day of our outreach clinic. On our drive out there we ran into a traffic jam where traffic was rump to rump. 
Once we arrived at the village we were greeted by over 145 members waiting to receive healthcare.
After prayer and introduction, we were presented with some complex cases that tested our medical knowledge, such as a little girl with severe scoliosis and kyphosis, a young boy with hypospadias, and a man we sent to the hospital after we presumed him to have suffered a stroke recently.
We diagnosed a lot of goiter and hypertension, along with nasal polyps, and masses throughout the body. One special moment during the day is when a man Gayle treated for goiter in January returned to express how thankful he was, saying to everyone “Gayle saved my life!”
Before we knew it was time to return back to our cottage where we were met with a wedding reception and got to experience a taste of Tanzanian celebrations. It was bittersweet goodbye to Mama Thabita as we packed up and headed to Arusha, where we will be for the next six days.
Foster was most impacted by being able to provide compassionate care for many children and reflected on how she was able to build patient trust as the day went on as she gained more experience. She was also impressed with the entire team and how we used our experience from the day before to operate the clinic very smoothly. She was most thankful to be able to provide life changing care to so many children.
Katelyn was most impacted by practicing holistic care by piecing together more than just the medical aspect to diagnose and care for the patients. Often times she got to the bottom of the case after only taking into account their home and spiritual health. She reflected on how we take for granted our healthcare system and access in the United States.
Maggie was most impacted on how appreciative the people were to receive our care and how the little things we cared for made such a positive impact on their lives. She shared how thankful she is to be able to receive healthcare at her fingertips, as many of the cases were ongoing for 10+ years, with one man presenting with an open sore for 50 years.
Karly shared how eye opening it was to see such a wide variety of severe chronic illnesses. She was extremely thankful that we could set so many people up with life saving procedures at no cost to them. She was very impacted by how thankful each individual was after we cared for them, and said she takes for granted how great our access to healthcare is back in the States.
Michael’s most impactful moment was when the old man returned to the clinic to share how Gayle saved his life after a goiter removal. It was a very special and memorable moment that reminded him why we are here in the first place— to care for the poorest of the poor and truly change and save their lives. He shared how he is a making a conscious effort to be present the entire time and take it all in because he doesn’t know how long it’ll be until he returns back.
I was very grateful and appreciative to use my medical education and apply it to real world situations to help those who need it most. I was most impacted by a woman who presented with a wide array of symptoms that we presumed to be HIV. While she was critically ill, she was very extremely joyful and thankful we could be with her. Another impactful moment was when a 60 year old man presented with an open sore on his shin since he was 10 years old. He showed us decades of hospital records trying to receive care but said “there is nothing they can do.” We were able to dress the wound and set him up with a surgical debridement and potential skin graft.
PS: Big day for Drew……It was his birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DREW!