Day 3

Delivering the blankets

As I sit here in bed, headlamp on, wind blowing the door within its frame and crickets rubbing their limbs wildly outside I am trying to figure out a way to capture the moments, meaning and impact that today had upon my little La Jollan life. Today was our visit to the Huruma Hospital, a trip I was not looking forward to based upon my past experiences in a hospital (fainting once and vomiting another time, both trips of which I was not even the patient!). Pasi is the doctor in our little Dutton-duo and I am clearly not. Today, however, made me appreciate those who practice medicine and especially those who practice medicine without the means to do so. My mission of the day was to deliver the 12 blankets my darling students (Elle, Amelia, Quinn Jack, brothers Johnny & Ryan and sisters Stella and Molly, Jacquie and Marianna) made over three one hour sessions. I had envisioned having to kindly ask one of the workers at the Huruma Hospital to pose with the stack of blankets so that I could snap a photo for my students, what I got instead was something so much more. 

Brand new baby & blanket

 Sister Katherine brought me into the room where all of the newborn babies and their mothers were staying and one by one we wrapped each infant in one of the blankets while the mothers smiled warmly, bowed their heads and said “Asante Sana.” and shook my hand. Or gave me a hug. These little mini moments absolutely melted me and it felt absolutely amazing to be able to connect my little loves in La Jolla to these brand new babies and mothers in Tanzania. So much more occurred today, but nothing has ever brought me more joy than this.

Here is my Tanzania Top Ten of the day:

I don't have a photo of the truck, but this can fall into the "transportation" category

10. Fitting 8 adults in a truck for a 1 hour drive from Mbahe Village to Huruma

Patricia and the orphans

 9. Watching Patricia meet 80 of the 1600 orphans she has provided 2 meals/day for through her donations of 2 silos and the funding to fill them with corn and beans (enough to last 6 months).

Hooray for catheters!

8. Seeing Sister Dr. (forgot her name) expression when she was presented with a large bag of medical supplies (she was most excited about the sutures and catheters).

Father Aloyce and the orphans

 7. Talking with Father Aloyce for the 2 hour drive about the Tanzanian culture, government, health, education and orphans.

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6. Listening to the orphans sing the Tanzanian national anthem

A little boy recovering from his burn wounds

5. Not getting sick or fainting at the hospital!!

Brand new baby!

 4. Seeing a baby that was born within the hour and wrapping it up in a blanket made by one of my students.

3. Passing out toothbrushes to all of the mothers, expectant mothers and their children.

Rose and her cat

 2. Getting out of the truck to walk up the hill (due to steepness) only to find that we were in front of Rose Id’s house, the pen-pal of Rowan (my bosses daughter) and using the opportunity to photograph her in front of her house with her sister, mother and kitten.

My love

 1. Knowing I will see my handsome husband in less than a week. Missing him is the only hard thing about being here.