Land of the Baobob

After a dusty, action packed past few weeks in Kongwa, I've scribbled a few more thoughts and added some photos.

So the research is moving right along. Each morning I start with a run. My favorite destination is this church on the hill. It is simply built, with a dirt floor, but the views over the plains are amazing. The sunrise is divine as well.

Next, there are many tasks, training the assistants (I now have three) to conduct the household survey, identify and trap flies, conduct participatory meetings with the villagers, and the methods for taking GPS measurements. The photo is of the fly trap built by the local fundi (a person that is good at building most anything). We are working with different baits (fly glue, rotten bananas, decaying fish, acetone) trying to see which is the best attractant. I'm not sure the assistants knew this would be such messy business when we first began. There also is the driver, who reliably takes us across the pot-hole ridden paths to the villages that are sometimes up to 50 miles away. There is certainly no shortage of land in Kongwa District and the Wagogo and Wakuguru (the two main tribes in the area) are quite spread out. We even have a medical assistant with us now helping with all the introductory meetings with the village governments and giving a bit more training on trachoma, in particular. He is quite knowledgable and wonderful to have on board at the start.

The Baobob tree is ubiquitous here in Kongwa. They are so stately and strong..

The next photo is the Pork Shop (duka la nguruwe) right across the dusty road from where I stay. Pork is also called Hot Chair (kiti moto) which means you better be prepared for some action in your gut once you consume! The man next to me is incredibly sweet. I call him my personal GPS as he seems to know the instant I leave the Kongwa Trachoma Project Center. I usually see him three or four times a day.

Next is the heaping pile of dagaa sold in the market. They are a cheap source of protein, but personally I prefer just plain old beans. If you add fresh coconut they taste better.

Finally, kids. They love to shout "mzungu, mzungu" when they see me and laugh when I trip while running on the dusty paths. I tend to laugh with them which makes them laugh more. Notice the flies on their faces...those darn musca sorbens cause trachoma not to mention a nasty diarrhea if you are not careful.

Most nights are spent at the computer working on the database, survey, and GIS. Yikes! But there have been other nights "out". Rehema just turned 40 and it was quite a celebration with soda, beer, bites (samosas), cake, and even dancing. She hoped that everyone there could be as fortunate and blessed to reach 40 as she had been.

Every Saturday the Italian volunteers in town (there are four) go to Joseph's Chips, the one restaurant (i.e. shack) in town that makes a great dish of rice and chicken. They have included me in their weekly outing as well which has been great fun.

And because I just can't help myself when it comes to writing poetry...

Just When

Just when I think I have learned all I possibly can

I stumble on a thorny bush or a rock

even a jagged piece of sidewalk;

this business of tripping can happen anywhere in the world,

and I realize I know nothing.

What a relief!
I never have to carry a load that is too heavy.

Spirit, god, the holy one, whatever name you prefer,

like any creative teacher,
keeps thinking of new ways to help us grow.

The assignments are never easy, yet always rewarding.

With so many different pupils
I am amazed how each new task is

tailored especially for our own needs, our own time.

At first you may refuse,
but why waste time denying the truth?

Once you begin, there is no turning back.

After some struggle, eventually you will be skipping, simply floating.

Soon you will see the end

like the orange ball of fire that rises each morning, in beauty.

Remember, though, there are rocks, thorns,

even cracked sidewalks ahead just waiting
when the time is right, to cause you to stumble.

When the inevitable happens
well, all we can really do is laugh

and give thanks
that there is still so much to learn.

So, so much to learn.

Sterile Tsetse Flies and Al Busairys Fitness Club

I just returned from Tanga, a sleepy coastal city of 400,000, where I was meeting with Tanzanian fly experts at the Tsetse Fly Research Insitute. The place has definitely seen better days but considering that even the most qualified individuals there (4 PhDs ) only make $200/month it is no wonder. I learned all about trapping flies in the bush, identifying flies, and perserving flies for later display and/or DNA analysis of the pathogens that the flies may be carrying. They gave me a burlap sack full of supplies, including cow urine to attract flies, to begin my own experiments with Musca sorbens in Kongwa.

One of the Institute's biggest accomplishments was breeding and sterilizing, through iraditation, over 1,000,000 male tsetse flies which were realeased over a 4 year period in Zanzibar. Eventually all the sterile males flies breed with the females and the fly was completely eliminated, along with trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness). They are now working on replicating the results on the mainland.

I was hosted by the lead researcher, Furaha (happiness), who not only showed me the ins and outs of fly research but also hosted me at her home in ndguvu mali. Roughly translated, it means if you work hard, you will get money. At least this is true in an ideal world. One evening she took me with her husband to Al Busairys Fitness Club. The word "club" may be a misnomer as the place was on the second floor of an old, moldy building, that consisted of a few windows without screens. Not being a member I had to pay $.50. The entire place consisted of 3 rusty exercise bikes from at least the 1960s, one weight machine that wobbled and poised a serious hazard, and an aerobics corner where a cracked mirror and a ripped up plastic floor served as the "studio". We were of course the only ones in the joint, besides the three dudes working there, only one of which looked as if he ever worked out. After struggling to even get the bike to work, it was time for aerobics class. There was only one song on the boombox so every 5 minutes, the instructor had to go and rewind the tape and start it over again. After 20 minutes I was sufficiently sweating in the tropical heat and thankfully the "class" was over. Then it was to the one weight machine for the personal training session. Finally we were done and Furaha, her husband and I rambled on home for a dinner of red snapper fresh from the sea and coconut rice. Yum.

arrival in Kongwa

So the first blog is up! I'm having trouble with the format and loading photos takes what seems like half a day, but at least it is a start.

Dar es Salaam

Landing on the blackest

of nights; hot, sweaty

Greeted by old friends and new

After a few days in chaotic Dar that included a refreshing swim in the Indian Ocean, I was off to Kongwa. Kongwa is in the middle of Tanzania on a high, dusty plateau where you see as many cattle as people and the villages are quite scattered and consist mostly of mud huts. Luckily the Rift Valley Fever epidemic in the area (a disease that largely affects cattle, but is also transmited to humans) is slowly waning. The first set of photos are all from Ngh'umbi Village where the trachoma team is assessing prevalence of trachoma in kids. I'll return with my own team to assess water, sanitation, hygiene and then compare to the disease data.

Kongwa

Dry and dusty here

eating field corn and peanuts

moved by sweet singing

My first question in the village is always, "Can I use the bathroom?" Oh, the things you can find out by using someone's latrine. I thought it was pretty telling that at the local health dispensary the women's latrine was spotless, but the men's was plugged, had poop everywhere and was full of flies. One latrine was so bad that I decided to just go in the bush and hope that the group of kids that follows me everywhere would not see the white girl with squating. Luckily the did not!

The photo to the left is home sweet home in Kongwa. It is the Kongwa Trachoma Project Center and is quite clean and posh by Kongwa standards, except for the giant Mr. Cockroach that has befriended me. I figure though I could have many worse friends than a big beetle so I cannot complain. Just next door is the Catholic Church and across the street the "duka la ngururwe"-shop that sells pork. What more could one want?

Finally the last photo is myself and Afshan, a medical student who has now left, taking a break with Fanta in downtown Kongwa. Even though all the stores claim to sell soda, most were out..luckily we found one that still had some left!