The highs and lows of Africa!

Am I really half way through my trip already and do I really only have 6 weeks left out here in Tanzania? It’s bonkers… time just seems to be whizzing by.

To celebrate the momentous half way mark Grace and I booked ourselves into the Tilapia hotel in Mwanza for a bit of much needed R+R for the weekend. Woop woop!! It is lush…. with a capital L.

I have had my first shower in weeks – yippee! Sadly lost some of my ‘tan’ down the drain in the process and lost the remainder in the swimming pool when I went for a dip this morning but never mind! I feel so clean! Today I ate breakfast in the sunshine looking out over Lake Victoria – buffet affair which was very dangerous as my tastebuds are demanding new flavours and self control it seems is an issue for them… naughty tastebuds!  Pizza, curry, pina coladas, chocolate cookies, tilapia fish, cappuccino all on the menu at various times this weekend – my stomach not sure quite what is happening as no rice, ugali or cabbage in sight!

Last week was interesting as usual. We went to see an elderly chap - the story goes he was relatively well up until 4 months ago when he lost his sight and stopped eating or caring for himself. He could not afford to go to hospital. For the past 1 month he has been ‘bed bound’ and deteriorating and was now very frail. So we enter the barren outhouse where he is lying. ‘Bed bound’ = lying on an empty sack on the earth. He is lucid and in fact more chatty than I expected. He thinks he is 80 ish or so (no-one here keeps track of their birthday). The history gives no clue as to a diagnosis for his deterioration. When the thin sheet that is covering him is peeled back to examine - he is covered in pressure sores. The one on his right hip is teeming with maggots and extends down to muscle. His genitals are grossly swollen and he has dependent oedema (swelling) from where he has not been turned for days, weeks even… Trying to move him it is like he already has rigor mortis, he is so stiff and clearly in pain. When rolled, underneath him is a huge infestation of red ants covering his body. On closer inspection they are up his nostrils, in his beard and in his mouth…..

So the team did the only compassionate thing they could do with the resources they had - they washed him; top to toe with warm water and soap. The ants and maggots were removed and the wounds cleaned with antiseptic and sprinkled generously with crushed metronidazole (crushed in a plastic bowl with a spoon that kept bending!) He was placed on dry bedding and covered with a sheet. An orange was squeezed and the juice given to freshen his mouth. He was left with some paracetamol (morphine would have been nice but as yet we are struggling to obtain) and the community were mobilised to support his on-going care. That somebody cared enough about him to wash him, that somebody reminded him that he mattered – these are probably the biggest gifts that could have been given in the circumstances ….

So from this to the highs of Mwanza and a recharging of the batteries so that we can continue such work on our return to Shinyanga tomorrow…. Bring it on!

Hope you are enjoying the heat wave at home and everyone is well.

Thanks so much for all your messages and emails – it means a lot to hear from you all and it is definitely keeping me going J

Lots of love and some hugs whilst I smell fresh!

C x