H enk traveled on behalf of the Morogoro Support Foundation (MSF) from the Alrijne hospital in Leiderdorp.
Thursday 13 June: departure from Schiphol with KLM. Smooth handling of baggage and customs, We were through all the formalities in three quarters of an hour and were already waiting at the plane. 10.30 in the air. The journey via Zanzibar also went well and at 23.00 we were at the hotel where we could even eat something. It is an hour later in Tanzania than in the Netherlands. Clever when you see how the organisation of such a flight by KLM and Schiphol goes. That takes a lot! And then to think that a plane departs or arrives every 3 minutes!
Friday 14th June: At 8 o'clock Andrew the driver was already at the hotel with Antusa the head of the St. Kizito hospital and via some detours because of traffic jams we arrived around 15.00 in Lugono where despite my request not to organize any fuss we were of course welcomed with branches, singing, food and cakie. We also looked around to see how things were going. Enough to do! Around 18.00 in Mikumi where Flavia and Dickson were waiting for us and of course cakie again!
Saturday June 15: First Tried to catch the rat that was rummaging through our house. No luck, hope it will run away. Then exchanged money. The bank is also open on Saturdays here! Just a friendly lady, in an office who helped us perfectly. We don't experience that in the Netherlands anymore! Then also bought an internet sim card and that also works within an hour. It seems like everything is going well today. Spoke with the people from the company that are laying and testing the network cables. To my surprise there were already 15 new computers with 15 UPS power supplies for when the power goes out, which happens quite often. The hospital purchased these with a loan from the bank. The 12 older desktop computers that came from the nursing school were also ready. I got the server to make the connections for it. It is 11x8x3 cm in size! A few years ago you needed a bedroom for this. In the afternoon discussed with Antusa, Jackson and Herry what we can do next Monday. We want to start with the laundry room. Now all the dirty laundry and the clean laundry come from the same room.
That has to be separated because of the risk of contamination. That is a whole renovation that we will not be able to finish in the coming week, but we will just start.
Sunday June 16: first went to church. Fortunately it only took over an hour. Clever how the pastor preached for 20 minutes without a cheat sheet. 10 altar boys! Lots of incense and beautiful singing. Also went to the Mikumi Health Centre. This new government hospital in the old village is now 3 years old but is not yet running well. Patients prefer to go to St. Kizito. Then looked at the sewage treatment plant. It was beautiful and it works for years now without any problems while there are also fish swimming in it.
They knew we were coming so everything was neatly mowed and cleaned. The railway bridge over the river was washed away by the heavy rains in April this year. Two large iron girders of 10 m long and 1 m high are gone. And the concrete uprights were also washed away. That must have been an enormous force. The railway tracks are just hanging in the air and the children are still walking on them, extremely dangerous! The river has also moved 10 meters! We now have enough sand to build again! In the evening we followed the Netherlands-Poland at Twan Swiss. 1-2. In recent years, quite a few hotels have been added in Mikumi. But much of the income from tourists disappears into the wrong pockets. This new president, Mrs. Suluhu Hassan, is not as strong as the previous president Magufuli. That can also be seen from all the plastic that is thrown away everywhere.
Monday 17 June: It was a national holiday because of a Muslim holiday. Nevertheless, the entire technical department was ready. Started with the renovation of the laundry. The roof is also very bad and leaks. That is not good for a clean laundry room so we are also going to replace the roof. Paint the old plates white on one side and use them as a ceiling. Also got sand, cement, concrete mats and roof plates. Tomorrow we can get started in full swing. The workshop also looks neat. All tools are still neatly hanging on the board. The tractor is completely disassembled. A mechanic is busy repairing it. We hope that it works because a lot of work was done with this tractor. I also started with the computer network. Connected the server. The company of the network is still busy. Cameras are also being mounted here and there because people are afraid that some things will be stolen. It now appears that the old desktop computers do not have keyboards and mice so we have to buy them in Morogoro. It also appears that the two pumps in the water tower are defective. Tomorrow we will see if these can be repaired or if new ones need to be installed. The water is now pumped directly from the source to the tower, but this water is too salty, so they want to mix it with the water from the old source that has to be pumped up via the tower.
Tuesday 18 June: First we went to roll call this morning. I introduced ourselves and what we were going to do. I did that in Swahili and they loved it, at least I got a round of applause. Then Antusa said a few words in which she highlighted the activities of MSF and let it be known that the hospital was very happy with this support. Training, computer support, furnishing the ER and now also the renovation of the laundry. Then we started replacing the roof of the laundry. We had called in 4 Tanzanians to help us, so by the end of the day the entire roof had been replaced and we had painted the old corrugated iron to use as a new ceiling. Last year I had given Alex a set of Mikita carbon brushes for Herry to repair the cordless drill. Kibendera had neatly stored the carbon brushes in the warehouse and had not informed Herry, so the drill was still in the cupboard. So I repaired this first because that works a lot easier.
Wednesday 19 June: continued with the laundry, poured concrete floor. Continued until nine o'clock in the evening to smooth the floor, but that looked neat. Hans has also already started repairing the doors because they had already sagged a bit crooked. I have been busy with the water pumps with Ernesti. The pump in the tower is broken, the pipes and taps are rusted, there is no more reserve pump for the water source, the 10 m3 tank on the tower is leaking. So there is a big chance that they will be without water again soon. Before a new pump is installed, the hospital will be without water for almost a week. Imagine Alrijne a week without water! I want to try to see if we can arrange something. But money is needed for everything and the hospital has already borrowed from the bank. I do try to indicate that you can do a lot of maintenance with little money. But everywhere you see people sitting on a bench waiting. I would like to put them all to work. People should start at 7:30 but not much happens before 8:30. First consult, then think about what is needed, go to the store to get it and yes then they can start and half the day is over! Fortunately not all because some people work terribly hard. Our man Jackson from the technical service is such an example.
Thursday 20 June: last night and also today during the day lots of rain. That is exceptional at the end of June here in Tanzania. But fortunately we were able to continue with the laundry. Frames were installed, dividing walls were built and also started with the electrical system. I discussed the location of the trees with Antusa. On the 25th anniversary of MSF in September 2023, they could bid on planting a tree on the grounds of the St. Kizito hospital in Mikumi. That would have to be 10 trees because Mikumi means 10 (kumi) trees (mti). That is now also the name of our website ( www.10trees.org ). For the time being we now have 4 trees that we can plant. Antusa picked out a tree and I ordered it after which the gardener started planting. She also indicated the location. We will plant 10 trees at once so that they grow at the same time. I also gave the old glasses that I always get from Tuin Optiek and others to Monica, who can help a number of people with poor eyesight with them. Baraka also came by. I had sponsored him for a number of years to be able to follow the training to become a doctor in Dar es Salaam. He has been working here for a year now in St. Kizito and is doing very well. He now works in the maternity ward and regularly performs caesarean sections.
(translated by ai)