Sorry we missed a day! We had a very long day, late night! But here we are on day 5. Our second started out visiting with children that Hope Ministries previously treated and sponsoring for transportation to school. They were so grateful that they wanted to give Gayle two ducks!
Next we tended to a clinic located in Shambarai where we seen over 100 villagers. It was a very emotional day for us. There were many children and adults that came to us for various medical reasons. We were able to assess everyone that came that day and refer if needed, to Selian Hospital for further diagnostic tests and treatment.
The challenge of the day was having to deal with disgruntled, impatient villagers waiting to be seen. Even though the team was hot, tired, and hungry…we all felt gracious and thankful that we accomplished this task of serving the poorest of the poor. Thanks to the donors to the ministry, we were able to provide free clinics and medical care. We were referred so many patients to Selian Hospital that the doctors are going to be kept very busy! We went back to the hotel, enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by the hotel staff, picked Dr. Alex Pruitt from the airport, and headed to Arusha. Side note, Gayle finally retrieved her luggage on day 5 and was able to shower and change her clothes!
We attended ALMC community church on Sunday morning where many of the congregation were fellow missionaries from all over the world. We visited ShungaShunga which is a community development program. This program trains the handicapped people and employs them so they are able to become more independent. The team had the opportunity to tour the facility and see how they weave blankets, blow glass and make jewelry that is sold in the on-site store. The shopping of food for the hospice families was done later that day and was sorted into individual bags. We shopped until we dropped today!
