Puzzle, Latest Version

After arriving in Dar Saturday night, the first four team members checked in to the Catholic Guest House, the hostel where arrangements had been made for our first night in Dar. Cindy assumed the responsibility of staying awake and left a little before 11 pm to drive with Kilatu and the team van to the airport to meet the John and David’s KLM flight. The van arrived at the airport before the KLM flight, so seats were lowered to make cat napping a possibility. By 1 am, when the flight was still AWOL, Cindy got the news that the computer on the jet had malfunctioned and the planned quick stop in Arusha was the end of the line for that flight. It was 4 am in Arusha before KLM had John and David settled into a hotel room but they were given no word on KLMs plan for getting them to their destination.

Drive to Morogoro

Mt. Uluguru in Morogoro

Gamma and Emily and the girls arrived Sunday afternoon as scheduled, looking like they had been travelling for 55 hours with 2 tired toddlers after being harangued about luggage by airline staff multiple times.

The team met Gamma and Emily at the airport in Dar to take most of their 7 (SEVEN!) big bags off their hands, loading them into the team van, while the family received the return of their personal car, which had been in storage with friends. After shopping for necessities and stopping for dinner, they arrived safe at LJS Late in the evening. The team bus preceded their arrival by several hours.

Meanwhile, back in Arusha, the Houck brothers got tired of waiting on an ineffective KLM and took matters into their own hands. On their prior trip two years ago, the Houck family had made arrangements with a company to take them on safari in the Ngorongoro crater, near the Serengeti. That driver’s info was still in John’s phone and John’s info was still in the driver’s phone, so when John called, the driver answered. Sure, he can drive them to Morogoro!! The proper documents and permits were arranged and off they went for Mogorogo-town. As you can imagine, there is quite a bit of open country on the 11 hour drive from Arusha, with vast areas with no internet access. That meant they were unable to update the team waiting for them at LJS to let them know the progress of the journey. They finally arrived at 11pm and fell into bed.

Our daladala, our Tanzania transport

Dr. John, Dr. Kasui (Mazimbu Chief of Staff) and Cindy

Monday morning we planned our formal visits to the diocese and to Mazimbu hospital. Bishop Mameo Is out of town for a day or two so his assistant, Pastor Pendua, greeted the team. In conversation, the topic turned to hospitals and the difference here between government and private hospitals. When Pendua mentioned that one of their church members owned a private hospital that was right across the street, the team expressed interest in touring the facility.

At St. Harry’s hospital, we met the owner, Dr. Esily John, who proudly showed us around his domain. The hospital provides services in all areas and includes a resident ENT doctor. John will be trying to meet with his fellow ENT soon to see what this practice area is like in Morogoro.

Our day ended at Mazimbu, greeting our Mazimbu friends and coworkers. We unpacked meds and gear and are ready for our first day of work tomorrow, Tuesday.