What We Do
Bukumbi Diary - May 2009
8th May 2009
Back in February I was shocked to find that one of the girls, Mariam, in Standard 7 was 6 months pregnant - it now seems that she was actually 8 months pregnant and yesterday I met her daughter Margaret for the first time. Born on 27th March by C- section she is doing very well and young Mariam is recovering well. She says that she wants to return to school next year and hopefully she will be able to. Her family are very supportive and help look after Margaret.
Yesterday, Kibibi helped me with the maintenance check - the buildings are looking good and Ngete is doing a great job at cleaning! Especially as there has been no water for a month. He gets water carried up from the lake and has been helping some of the older ladies keep their sheets and mosquito nets clean.
Up at the school we have organised a staff meeting before school closes in June. The aim of this is to encourage the teachers in their roles and give the Headteacher support in management. As part of the school plan, 2 classrooms need the floors re-concreting, and we are aiming to achieve this during the school break.
Vumi came back into town today to see Dr Ian for some dental treatment. She is still continuing her cancer treatment and has to return to Dar next month.
13th May 2009
On Friday another DVP team will visit Bukumbi after a busy 2 weeks of dental training. With this in mind the community who are involved in the Income Generation projects were today busy weaving and sewing and putting the finishing touches to their crafts. Having already held one craft sale they now have an idea of what to expect and how to show off their goods to the volunteers. It is not so long back that the community sat passively watching the world go by waiting for the next handout, to see them busy and industrious with their small businesses is such a contrast. As Kibibi and I spent time with the community, people were constantly coming over to show us proudly what they had made. They have overcome their physical limitations and produced colourful embroidery, hand bags, sweeping brushes and table bowls. (AW)
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Friday May 29th
Many different things have been taking place in the last few weeks. Last week we went to visit Frank, Bahati and Suzana in their schools just outside of town. The boys are working very well, are happy and are progressing well. Suzana was very pleased to show of the clothing she had made and her teacher was very pleased with her work (pictured, left)!
This week I held a staff meeting with the teachers at Kigongo School. It was hard work! I tried to get the teachers to answer questions but they seemed reluctant. Teachers here do not often get any form of professional development or observation; my aim is to improve the teaching at the school and consequently the achievement levels of the pupils. Easier said than done but I am persevering!
Yesterday was a very frustrating day. Selina aged 10 has often been absent from school because she gets a sore throat and his week her mother came to us saying she was sick again. I am no doctor but by just looking in her mouth you could tell that it had gone far beyond tonsillitis. Her toncils were so swollen she only had an opening left that was smaller than a 5pence piece. She was in pain, could only eat a little and had trouble breathing. So, firstly she needed a letter of referral from the Clinical Officer at Bukumbi and then we took her to Bukumbi hospital. She was then referred to Bugando- the main hospital in Mwanza.
So yesterday, we picked her and her mother up and bought her into town. It was the first time she had ever left the village and her face was one of amazement when we got to the city! Bugando hospital is not the most inviting place and can be very daunting, we eventually found the social workers' room as she was to be paid for by the government for treatment.
However they said that she needed to be referred from the regional hospital 10 minutes away- although we could pay 10,000 shillings (£5) and she could be seen as a private patient- but there was no doctor that would see her today. At this I did get angry- all I wanted was someone to advise what painkillers we could give her. Eventually after visiting many offices and being told “it is procedure” and “it is not possible” we took her to the regional hospital. Another hour or so later the doctor had written a referral back to Bugando, but did at least prescribe some strong painkillers! Today Selina and her Mother will be going back to Bugando with a nurse from Bukumbi and hopefully a doctor will see her. The frustrations of not being able to see a doctor and beiong told to go from one place to another - I was thankful that Selina’s illness was not life threatening! I for one will never complain about the NHS again! (FM)