Persevering

July 4, 2008

What an amazing (and exhausting) day. We had so many stops and saw so many things that we decided to split up the blog-writing for the day. You will see an entry from Scott about the orphanage we visited, Sue about the Peace House, and Steve about the University. I am writing you tonight about two other stops of the day.

We boarded the bus and drove first to a 4-star hotel that is being built by the Arusha Diocese, due to open in August. You probably are asking what a Lutheran Diocese is doing getting into the hotel business? Well, much like the New Safari Hotel that we are currently staying (and is owned by the ELTC) it has proven to be a good revenue-builder to help fund other missions. What struck me most about that stop was the contrast. As we were stepping out of this 4-star hotel, we encountered a group of approx 10-12 Tanzanian locals manually moving a large pile of broken tiles and other building remnants into the back of a pick up truck 20 feet away. I spoke to one of the workers and told her taht the reason we were intrigued by this act was that in our country, we would be using a large motorized piece of equipment and had this job done in minutes--- that we admired that even in the face of not having the same equipment to get the job done, they persevered and forged ahead to attain the same goal. She giggled. (by the way, OSHA does not seem to be alive and well here as there was a very large, very deep open elevator shaft without any gate or protection to guard its vast opening!)

The second stop was at the Selenian Lutheran Hospital. But first, I must set the stage; We re-boarded the bus and drove approx 10 miles on a paved road. We then turned down a dirt road and drove another 5 miles, bouncing along through and over crevaces left by the pounding waters of the rainy season. Along this road, our eyes were opened wide!! We had seen some of the the day before, but there, along the sides of this dirt road were the many homes and businesses of many Tanzanian locals. The homes were primarily shack lean-to's with an occasional "upscale" brick, open building--- no windows, most had no doors. It truly was something out of a movie--- the conditions were extremely poor, but still they smiled and waved and persevered!

We turned onto the final 1 mile approach to the hospital, still dirt road. Somehow one thing that surprised me was how far off the beaten path this hospital is located.
Upon arriving at the hospital, a closed gate is your first glimpse with many locals standing outside the gate, waiting to get in for their turn at health care. There were a dozen or so buildings with painted blue trim. Much of the cement is cracked and chipping.

The front of the grounds has the opening to an open-air, outpatient clinic. We were led to the chapel on the back of the grounds where Dr. Mark Jacobsen, a doctor who has been at the hosptial for 20 years spoke to our group. He talked about how the church in Tanzania has taken a "3-legged stool approach": those three legs being Evangelism, School Education, and Medical needs of the people. He further discussed the major areas that this hospital focuses on: birth defects, obstetric fistulas, children, AIDS treatment and a large hospice program. The church provides approx 50% of the nation's healthcare. Again, they persevere.

We did take a quick tour of part of the facility, but i have asked to go back to get a more detailed tour and assess the conditions and needs more fully, and will do so sometime next week. I will write the specifics of that visit after that visit.

For now, I will say good night and I hope you all are going to enjoy the fireworks tonight. We will miss seeing the display that celebrates our nation's independence--- it is becoming more apparant each day here how very blessed we are in the USA!!

P.S. We move to another hotel on Sunday afternoon and we are not sure of the internet access there, so don't be alarmed if we don't write for a few days after that.... we hope to have the access, but don't want you all to worry if we don't.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers as we continue to form relationships with our brothers and sisters here in Tanzania.

Cindy