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!