Diary - Sunday, April 6, 2003
It's a very windy but sunny afternoon here in Jambiani and my
trusty laptop has just informed me that those of you in North
America have just "Sprung" ahead as daylight savings
time once again kicks in for another season. Of course here on
Zanzibar, the day and night periods are about 12 hours each so
we don't get those long summer days like we do up in Canada. Most
people in Jambiani don't have electricity so the day's activities
here are very much in sync with the rising and setting of the
sun. This is actually not too bad and in fact seems much more
natural than our somewhat contrived North American schedules.
So hopefully this latest update finds everyone healthy and happy
and, as my pal Joe would say, with the good energy. :>)
With a little less than four weeks left in our stay now, we are
starting to co-ordinate all the last minute details that need
to be done to ensure a smooth transition for the arrival of our
next volunteers. This is turning out to be no small task but we
have such a good "crew" now working with us, we are
confidant that everything will unfold according to plan. As usual,
everyone in the community is very excited about the new "Daktari's"
arrival, and are looking forward to welcoming them to Jambiani.
The Wellness Center is becoming increasingly popular, and we have
now treated patients from as far away as Burundi and Nairobi.
Since we opened the Center in January, we have touched close to
1000 patients so by the time we leave at the end of this month,
our grand total will be almost 3000 patients since we first started
to adjust the folks here in 1999. These numbers are very rewarding
and there is no doubt that we are making a significant impact
in the lives of many people not only here on Zanzibar but on the
mainland as well. I'd like to say again, that there is a huge
need for orthopedic surgeons, pediatricians and obstetrician/gynecologists
here so if there is anyone out there who knows of someone or who
may be interested themselves, please get in touch with us, we
would love to hear from you.
Reflecting on our last four and one half months here I can say
that this trip has certainly been much more intense and busier
than any of our previous visits and both Pat and I agree that
we are feeling like we are ready for a holiday this time around.
However, we have accomplished a lot and this more than compensates
for our accumulating fatigue. We will have quite a bit of time
to rest between now and our next shift, which will probably be
some time near the end of September or early October. The main
thing is that we have completed the accommodation, the clinic
is up and running and we have successfully hosted our first volunteers
and we have others scheduled to arrive this year and next. This
has been our goal from the start so we are kicking up our heels
a bit, altruistic about our accomplishments to date. Of course
we have to once again thank so many people who have helped us
to get to this point, not only with monetary donations but also
with donations of the heart, contributions that have helped us
to keep our spirits elevated at times when the going was tough.
We are grateful, as are the people here who have had an opportunity
to regain some of their vitality and dignity. We all thank you
from our hearts.
We will be posting one more update before we leave on the 4th
of May and then after that we will be relaying the latest news
from Jambiani via our newest volunteers. Until then, we continue
to send our best wishes your way wherever you may be. Thanks for
all your support and encouragement.
Fond regards and much love to you,
Ali Baba and Mama Pat
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