Relationships matter

Like all meals, breakfast at Lutheran Junior Seminary is served family style.  Most mornings we have a choice of millet, home-made yoghurt, granola, fresh fruit, toast and hard-boiled eggs.  After our meal our ride arrived promptly at 8am—a Tanzanian dala dala.  This is the primary public transportation in Morogoro and dala dalas resemble a VW van.  The seating capacity in American terms is 9 people.  However, some things are lost in translation.  So the capacity in Tanzanian terms is about 50 and there is always room for one more.  When locals see our van go by full of Caucasian faces, they assume we are rich since we are all seated.

Dressed in our Sunday best, we arrived at the diocese office to be officially welcomed by the assistant to the bishop and offered refreshments.  This formal welcome and greeting expresses the Tanzanian priority of putting the relationship first.  Only after taking the time to relax and exchange pleasantries over tea or soft drinks can the team switch our focus to the work awaiting us.

Our next stop was the office of immigration where we had to present the completed forms required of all non-Tanzanians.  Again, we saw the value of relationship—it was possible that we would have to pay an “immigration fee” for the privilege of working in Tanzania.  There are different regulations that are subject to interpretation and we were fortunate that the officer interpreting the regulations for us knew Barbara through a connection in the local Rotary Club.  She also welcomed us and was particularly happy to meet Doug, who invited her to come by Mazimbu and see him if she had any health issues.

Once we were finished with immigration we went to Mazimbu to introduce the team to the staff and give them a tour of the facilities.  Again, we were welcomed with wide smiles and happy hugs.   Matron Seguru was proud to show the team the preparations that had been made for our arrival and we are looking forward to working with the staff again.

The afternoon was spent playing tourist in Morogoro and doing a little shopping.  Doug and Bill were very patient while the rest of the team visited a fabric shop and then met with a street tailor to order clothing made out of their new purchases.  Emily and Michelle have to leave early so the tailor has promised to have their clothing completed by Thursday, which leaves a couple days to correct any problems.  The rest of the order will be delivered the following Monday.  Tanzanian entrepreneurial spirit is really amazing—without having any patterns, just descriptions, the tailor has agreed to complete more than a dozen garments in a week!       

Tomorrow morning we split the team into two groups:  Doug, Sophia, Pati and Elise will begin the work at Mazimbu to identify surgical candidates and the rest of the team will go to Lugoba to work with the village on public health screening.