Diary - Monday, January 27, 2003
It's just after 5:00 pm, and it has been yet another beautiful
day here on Zanzibar. Pat has just whipped up a batch of carrot,
potato, ginger and leek soup and I'm just realizing it's been
almost two weeks since I last sat down to type some words to you.
I guess the biggest news for us is the opening of the clinic,
which went smoothly exactly one week ago today. It was a really
touching ceremony, quite intimate, with only about 30 invited
guests and friends. Our friend Hilali sang a few verses from the
Koran and I made a small welcoming speech after which we had a
few refreshments and smoozed with some of the more respected members
of this community. Of course we are now up and running and are
really having a lot of fun in our new center. Having our own place
to stay now is also quite a luxury and it just makes us appreciate
this place even more.
Our friend, Hassanati, will be starting to work with us on the
first of February. She will be mainly responsible for cooking
meals for the volunteers and general housekeeping. We have known
her for quite some time so it will be lots of fun working with
her. Hassanati will be our fifth full time employee and probably
the last for now. We know that she is quite capable of cooking
local and traditional Swahili style food, but we aren't sure what
her abilities are with other types of cooking such as Thai or
Chinese, so we will be doing some schooling I suspect. Should
be lots of fun!!
Believe it or not, the guys are still working on the landscaping.
This project has taken on a life of its own and our main fundi,
Pijo, seems to get more creative as each day passes. We could
say, that he finds another thing to do that will ensure at least
one extra days work. J We are not too troubled by this, as he
is doing a very nice job and it really is looking good. Today,
he made a garden bed in the shape of a big heart. He didn't ask
us if we wanted this, but somehow knew that we wouldn't mind.
We quite often say that we speak "moyo kwa moyo" or
heart to heart so this is perhaps his way of acknowledging that.
There is still a bit of work to do in the house here, but with
any luck, the carpenters should finish tomorrow and then we can
start to pack our dishes etc into the cupboards and quit living
out of boxes. This will be a real treat!!
Things are very quiet here at the moment as it is the tail end
of the tourist season so we are seeing very few visitors now.
Actually the so-called busy season only lasted for a couple of
weeks so not the greatest of news for the hotel and guesthouse
owners who rely on the holidays for their livelihood. I guess
less people are traveling these days with so much fear being generated
by the media etc. All we can say is welcome to Zanzibar.
:-)
Anyhow, I'll just sign off for a bit now. I'm hoping to go to
Zanzibar Town on Saturday, so will send this off to our most amazing
Web Master, Kent, at eMotion Media Group, so he can post it ASAP.
I have included pictures of the clinic with this update so I hope
you like them. Be well and much love to you as all-ways. :-)
Friday, January 31, 2003
Several days later now and I just finished my shift up at the
Center. Needless to say, it has been busy and I have examined
and treated over 130 new patients since we opened last Monday!
Lots of very challenging cases and many situations where people
are coming in desperation for help with problems that unfortunately
can only be resolved surgically. There is a great need for orthopedic
surgeons here and many of our patients would benefit immensely
from quality intervention of this nature. Is there anybody out
there? This need is in no way diluting the benefits they are receiving
from their Chiropractic adjustments and many of our patients requiring
surgery feel significantly better after their treatments.
 We
had a very nice visit a couple of days ago from the Minister of
Health along with the Regional and District Commissioners. We
had not met any of these rather important people before so it
was a great opportunity to update them on our project. We feel
they were quite impressed and we are looking forward to continued
good relations with the Ministry and the regional and local governments.
They had brought a cameraman with them, so our meeting even made
the evening news that night.
We are, of course getting quite excited about the upcoming arrival
of Dr. Quinn and his wife Mona. These are two very old friends
of ours and the first volunteers to arrive on Zanzibar so we are
hoping that their visit will evolve into a wonderful experience
for all involved. Of course we feel the long-term sustainability
of the project will rely on volunteers having a great time here
and then going home to encourage their colleagues to participate
as well. Our fingers are crossed. :-)
We are set to go into town tomorrow morning so this update with
pictures should be on your computers within the next two to three
days.
We continue to press on here, admittedly a bit tired with the
workload we have been keeping, but still very positive and enthusiastic
about the possibilities that are unfolding in this place away
from home.
We hope you are all well and with any luck, the wonderful Canadian
springtime is just around the corner now. Much love and until
the next time,
Kweherini from,
Ali Baba and Mama Pat
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