The Village People

It has been two days since we have added to our blog.  Despite a few minor gastric rumbles, we are all well.  Our days have been very full and the hospital crew has waited for the village people to join us back at LJS so we can all eat dinner together.  That is usually followed by a team meeting that might include reorganizing and packaging vitamins for the village people.  So by the time we could begin working on the blog, we are all ready for bed.

It is Friday morning and the regular breakfast fare is supplemented with “sausages” that look a lot like hot dogs.  The village people are heading out for their second day at Lugoba primary school, where children are as young as 6 and up to 14.  We are seeing only the lower grades and expect to see about 600 of the 1300 students at the school.  Of interest is the fact that the current president of Tanzania is from Lugoba and attended this primary school.

For the health screening at the school, the team has arranged desks in a classroom that has been cleared for our use.  The interpreters with the village people are Kristen, a missionary from Iowa who is loaning her services to the diocese; Eliyuko and Nova, two Tanzanians who have worked with the team in past years; Gamma, a Tanzanian who is new to the team and Kilatu, an officer in the diocese.

Emily H begins registration with Gamma’s help, recording each child’s name and age.  Some children do not know their age so Gamma gives Emily his best guess.  After registration, Jamie and Glennis measure their height and weight and take their temperature.  Eliyuko floats between stations and helps where needed.  The next stop is “look and listen” where Emily S and Michelle listen to their heart and lungs and check eyes, ears and throat.  Then the team can see the fear grow in each child’s eyes as they go to the “pricking station” for a finger prick by Cassie or Brooke to check for anemia. 

Finally, each child presents their completed form with the results from each station to Cindy, working with Nova.  Advice and recommendations are written on their form so that parents have follow-up instructions.  They are given a packet of vitamins as they leave and have forgotten their worry about the finger prick.  Despite the language barrier, most of the children are flashing happy smiles and are clearly entranced with this American team.