What a whirlwind of a day!
But let’s recap last night. My
flight arrived into Dar Es Salaam and our fabulous tour guide, Joyce, met me at
the airport and escorted me to the Serena Dar Es Salaam hotel. Being that it was 9:30 when we arrived I
didn’t get an idea for the town. Dinner
with Adina and Sara (See Sadie Smile Foundation) then a shower and it was
bedtime for me.
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| Sue, from the UK - me - Sara, from Virginia! |
7am came and my natural caffeine had me hopping out of bed,
dressed, and downstairs for breakfast where I got to meet Sue from the UK – an
amazing person who has climbed Kilimanjaro and is training to climb Everest –
all for charity as she has a son who was born with a cleft. Kristen and MaryAnn, the sisters from upstate
NY as well as Lori & Bill had all gotten a chance to meet each other at
the welcome dinner the night before.
Our Smile Train Africa program managers, Dr. Gitahi, Dr.
Ester, and Jane were ready to hit the road. Around 8:30 we made it out into town and my
first impression was that it was more lush than I expected. Palm trees and other shorter shade trees
provided the backdrop for a very busy town.
Cabs and buses beeping, people crossing the street whenever they needed,
kids going to school, wagons being pulled selling everything you can imagine. At one stoplight we were greeted by a parade
of vendors selling brooms, soccer balls, coffee mugs, cashews, apples, you get
the idea.
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| With Brenda from CCBRT |
As we made our way to the hospital, CCBRT, we passed the
water – this is a beautiful waterside community but I was reminded that since
it was a Monday and a school day the beach would be empty. Upon arriving to CCBRT we were greeted by
Susan, from the Netherlands, Brenda, and Abdul to guide us. There was an amazing presentation educating
us about what CCBRT (Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania)
does on a daily basis, the medical and social issues they solve, and the
creative programs they’ve implemented to draw more people into the hospital to
treat clefts. Now they don’t just do
cleft surgery – they also do eyes, orthopedics, prosthetics, and fistula (a
very serious and often times ostracizing casualty of long child birth). It was eye opening to see the parents and
children sitting around waiting to be checked in, seen by Dr., or waiting for
their child to come out of surgery.
One of the wards we went through had 6 children (maybe more)
born with clefts. The one that stands
out the most to me were twin baby girls 4-months old. Only one twin had the cleft and what a
blessing that her parents heard of Smile Train.
There was baby Janice, 1 year old, who was more than happy to hug on the
stuffed giraffe I took, and so many other children that were shy at first but
excited for a toy. I would say a ‘new’
toy but to most of these kids they don’t have toys like our kids do, much less
shoes.
There were a few amazing fathers there with their children
as the mother left them after the birth of their baby born with a cleft. These dads lit up when Sue showed pictures of
her son as an infant before surgery and now as a 5th grader. Knowing that this wasn’t just something that
was happening to them here but around the world must have helped them
somehow. One precious girl actually had
a cleft but also a hole in her head – I don’t know how else to put it. Where her nose was there was an open cavity
and you could see right into her skull. She
was there for nose reconstruction and, in time, many more surgeries. We saw babies with hydrocephaly, clubfoot, as
well as one baby born with no fingers on her left hand. When you discover one issue, another follows
behind it.
Walking through the wards felt a bit uncomfortable with our
crowd (6 tourists, 3 Smile Train people, 3 photographers, tour guide, and CCBRT
staffer) as it felt like we were invading their space. There was such a sense of community among
these people that I wish I could have been able to converse with them more than
just saying “ashante” – thank you.
Moving on we were able to sit in on a surgery, Sue and
I. Sue was able to see Zahara (age 9) as
she was being taken in and speak to her mom via translator to let her know that
she understood. Zahara’s surgery was
fascinating to watch. The surgery itself
took no more than 20-30minutes and her life was forever changed. The Dr. that did the surgery worked with the
skill of…. well… a surgeon who has done this countless times. His efficiency and dexterity was inspiring, I
would love to be able to do that!
The surgery itself was amazing – the most eye opening was
their surgical center. After being in
there I wonder, do we over do a little bit in the US? Yes we do have amazing healthcare but we are
such a litigious society – is the reason for so many precautions out of fear of
a lawsuit? I think so, yes, but there is
a happy medium. These Drs. and nurses
make the most of what they have available and change lives doing what they
love. They have a gift and they are
certainly using it to its fullest.
After the hospital we made our way to meet Hassan, a bright
eyed 6-year old boy who had his surgery last year. He lives with his mom (she fries dough) and
his dad (a taxi driver) in a house that is 1 room and about the size of Polly’s
bedroom. Mama Hassan was all smiles and
more than happy to let us see her home, she would have made us tea but they
assured her we didn’t have time and there were too many of us. She led us to Hassan’s school where we got to
meet his classmates – and you know what – Kindergarteners are the same in every
country. Smiley, wiggly, energetic balls
of kindness. Sue had brought a bag of
toys, coloring books, big-block Legos, Frisbees, jump ropes, beach balls, etc.
so we took those out and played with the kids.
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| With a friend of Hassan's at their school |
I was fortunate to have been able to give Hassan a race medal,
which he seemed to wear with pride – calling out how special he was. There was also another little boy looking at
the toy football I was holding so I pulled him to the front of the room and we
practiced tossing the ball and catching it.
Then we got the beach ball and I showed him how light and bouncy that
was so we played a bit of catch. If I could have had my choice we would have
just stayed there and gotten a game of kick ball or soccer going with the kids
but we had to move on.
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| Sabina (middle between Sara and me) with her neice and nephew |
Lunch at a quick pizza joint was followed by a truly
eye-opening experience as we drove to the slums of Dar just behind the airport
fence. There we met Sabina, a 14-16 (she
doesn’t really know how old she is) girl living with her Auntie as her mom left
her and her father passed away. She is
not in school and stays home and cares for her niece and nephew (both 4-5 years
of age. She will never go to school and
right now has no trade, it would cost $2000 to send her to trade school which
is unimaginable. Their house is a room
barely big enough for the queen size bed that they all 4 sleep on together, a nightstand,
and a cabinet for their belongings.
There is no door, just a cloth across the front. Water is brought in with buckets from a
common spigot in the center of their area.
About 4 rooms are in their building and outside the front area is a
small cooking patio – about 20’ x 6’ where many of the ladies cook
together. Just across from their cooking
area is the community washroom. There is
no running water, no electricity, just happy children eager to see us and
color, hard working families doing anything they can to get by.
After our visit with Sabina we went right to the airport and
by 10pm we were in Arusha approaching our hotel. What a contrast our hotel is. Sara said it best in that the hotel where we
are is Africa as seen in the movies and children’s books. It is very manufactured. We feel like what we saw today was truly
Africa – the poverty, the hard work doing anything (frying dough) to get by, and
the contentedness with so little without expecting anyone to help them get
more. That is the reality in Africa for
so many.
Right now I want to simplify, I want to give
more to help, I want to make sure that every day of my life is spent doing
something for someone else – as much as I can.
Giving to someone deserving is the best feeling in the world. Tomorrow is another day full of adventure. Night night.
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