Diary - Tuesday, October 26, 2004 

Jambiani, Zanzibar

Well, it has really been a long time since I last was able to sit down and start a new update to you and so much has happened since the last one, it is hard to know where to begin. Needless to say, Pat and I are now back in Jambiani having arrived on Zanzibar safe and sound on October the 14th.

It has been an extremely busy time for us, these past few months, and I'm happy to report that we have accomplished much and are looking forward towards a very productive year here as we continue to provide health and education services to those people in need. After having many conversations with friends and our man Kent at eMotion Media Group we have decided to change the format of our updates in the future. We have concluded that there would be more interest in providing bi-weekly profiles of patients or people and events in our community so that we might paint a clearer picture for you of our work and the village of Jambiani itself. In the past, we have had some difficulty with this however we are now in the process of establishing a wireless internet connection here at our clinic so that our ability to communicate will not have to rely on weekly trips to Stonetown. Because of the enhanced speed and reliability of this new system, we will also be able to upload more pictures as well so this hopefully will make the information we are able to provide to you much more interesting. Of course we are always open to suggestions, so if there is something that interests you in particular and you would like to know more, please contact us and we will do our best to get that information to you.

Well, I guess the latest news to report on is the two fund raisers that we carried out while we were in Canada. The first was at the 6 Mile Pub in Colwood and I have to say, this was a fabulous event even though our ticket sales were well short of our expectations. We learned a lot from this and I'm sure if we do another one like it we will be somewhat more organized. Regardless, I think everyone who attended had an enjoyable evening with some great prizes given out and some excellent music provided by Jambanja and our man Kent's band, Bryden Street House Party. Of course, this event would never have occurred without the help and hard work of many individuals and of course the amazing hospitality of David Wong and his staff. You all know who you are so thank you so much for your selfless contribution to this project.

Before we left in October, we also participated in an event in Vancouver at Ginger 62. This fundraiser was the brainchild of Fawn Seeton who is an events and marketing co-coordinator in Vancouver. She is also like a daughter to us and we cannot thank her, Sarah and her team enough for creating an incredibly successful evening on behalf of HABS. We were able to raise in excess of $4000.00 which will go such a long way here in Jambiani to keep this project alive. Thank you so much Fawn. We love you!!!!!!

Also before we left in October, we confirmed with Mr. Said Nassor of Bopar Enterprises, Zanzibar that he would indeed cover the costs of shipping a container of donated materials. Since we only had a little over a week to put this together, I think we witnessed nothing short of a miracle as we were able to, along with the help of many individuals and organizations, completely pack a 40 foot container with school supplies, desks, chairs, clothing, medical supplies, filing cabinets, computer keyboards and other essential items.

It is not possible to personally thank everyone who participated in this process but in particular we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the following individuals who, without their help and assistance, this would not have happened. Mrs. Dell Wergeland, Merv, Merv's father, and all the folks at Compassionate Resource Warehouse who not only supplied a huge amount of goods but who also co-coordinated the packing of the container which is an art unto itself. In particular, Dave was our main man in the container making certain that all available space was used as effectively as possible.

Mr. Greg Dowell, of the Greater Victoria School District, was also instrumental in providing a huge number of used school desks and chairs for us. Considering many of the students on Zanzibar do not have proper chairs or desks, I feel it will be like Christmas when this material arrives on Zanzibar, we are hoping sometime near the middle of December.

Also making guest appearances were three retired, but certainly not tired, teachers from Oak Bay High. Zoe Dhur, Bill MacConachie and Gus Whitmore all pitched in and spent the entire morning with us helping with packing and recording inventory. Thank you folks!!!

As usual, Kristi Falconer was there with her team of volunteers and they all worked tirelessly to ensure that we were finished packing on time. In addition, Owen and Doris Seeton, parents of Fawn Seeton, and their son Ash were on hand to coordinate loading and the building of a ramp from ground level up and into the container. I just can't say enough about this family. They are such fine examples of humanity and they are always there to help with whatever we are doing. If only the entire planet was inhabited by beings such as these. Also our dear friend Brian Prong was there to help. We have known Brian and his wife Corrine for many years now and they too are always there to chip in. Brian often has acted as our local problem solving man be it ordering parts for our computer or communicating with family or friends. When my mother was alive, Brian would always ring her and read our updates to her which I know gave her a great deal of satisfaction. Thanks so much Brizee!! Also many thanks to Graham Smith for coming out to help out. Sure hope the car is working OK Graham. :) Also many thanks to Wanda and Ed Walker for all their help and support. We initially met Wanda through the Oak Bay Kiwanis Club a few years ago and we have maintained our connection and we are grateful for the continuing support that we are receiving from their club. So thanks so much Wanda and Ed and the Oak Bay Kiwanis Club. We really appreciate your help.

The container was completely full by the time we were finished, a big job but somehow very satisfying to know that this will be of such help to so many people here. We plan to do a special report when this container finally arrives and we will take lots of pictures in order to document as well as we can the distribution of its contents. Stay tuned for that one.

So let's bring you up to date now with what's transpired over the last 18 days since we left Canada. We spent a few days in the UK once again visiting Pat's relatives and also we did a return visit to St Aulbyn's School to give them a short presentation and to update them on happenings in Jambiani. This school in particular has fund raised some money to help the Jambiani School so Pat takes this upon herself to see best how to use these funds.

The trip from the UK went relatively smoothly however when we arrived in Dar es Salaam, our reservations on Air Tanzania to Zanzibar had been sold so we had to scramble a bit to get on a small charter with Coastal Air. If you've never been to Africa, you can only imagine how chaotic this process is, especially coming in on an International flight. It is definitely not for the faint of heart and it is, I imagine, somewhat like being caught in an avalanche, you just try to stay on top of everything as you and your baggage get shuffled from point A to point Z with lot's of mini shuffles thrown in for good measure. Needless to say, we did manage to connect that same day over to Zanzibar and it was really nice to meet up with several old friends who were on hand to greet us at the airport.

It was great to get out to the coast again and over the last couple of weeks, we have been catching up with odd jobs, planning new ones and preparing for the arrival of our next volunteer, Dr Lezlee Detzler, a Chiropractor from the Toronto area and an old school mate of one of our former volunteers, Dr Stan Marcus. Lezlee arrives tomorrow, so we are all looking forward to welcoming her to Zanzibar and to Jambiani. We are presently into the last two weeks of Ramadan here so everyone is taking it easy although the clinic has been quite busy at times. We actually officially reopened the Centre today, so activity levels will be gradually picking up again and we are expecting to be quite busy by the end of Ramadan.

On a sad note, our dear friend Mustafa, the young man with the heart problems who desperately needed surgery, passed away before we returned to Jambiani. This was such a sad event for Pat and me, as we had known Mustafa since our early days here. He was only 26 years old. He leaves a wife and small child and will be sadly missed by all who knew him.

If you get an opportunity, please visit the donors page as there are a number of new additions to that page since we started it. In particular, Dr Grant Parker and his wife Barbara managed to acquire some fantastic donations of massage tables and massage supplies for the clinic before they arrived here in May/June so please check out the list and if possible give your support to the companies and organizations that have been of such help to us. We all appreciate it very much.

PS: Dr Detzler did arrive safe and sound and we have really been enjoying her company. Below is a small piece she wrote for us to include in this latest update:

It was approximately four years ago that I first heard about "Hands across Borders" while reading a Chiropractic magazine. I had made some inquiries at that time to possibly volunteer, however the project was at an infinite stage; not quite up and running. Well, thank goodness for serendipitous acts; two of my classmates whom I had tried to contact had just been to Jambiani, Tanzania - "Hands Across Borders". Hearing this I knew it was no mistake that I was to contact Alastair Pirie once again. Here I am, now part way into my month of Volunteer Chiropractic at Jambiani, Zanzibar - what a life enhancing, life enriching experience. If ever I needed to revisit the power of 'Chiropractic' my experiences here have certainly provided that and much, much more. My Faith, Confidence and Belief in the power of innate has been amplified and augmented by the miracles I have witnessed over the past two weeks; a 70 year old stoke victim of 4 months with one chiropractic adjustment has a violent leg tremor stop; an 8 year old girl with day and night incontinence continuous for 8 months, is completely dry for one week after her first chiropractic adjustment.

I cannot thank Dr. Alastair and his wife Pat enough for inviting me into their life, and their home. Living in the community of Jambiani, side by side with the townspeople getting a friendly "Jambo" as I do my daily walk on the beach, or sitting on the front porch reading while a patient or visitor drops in just to chat for a few minutes. The hospitality here has been 'over the top'.

I commend Dr. Alastair and Pat for their perseverance and commitment in following their dreams and vision to make this project, "Hands Across Borders" what it has become today. Without their hard work and determination, the opportunity for me to share chiropractic here in Jambiani would not have existed. My visit here has been such a life changing, life enhancing experience; not just for myself, but for the people of Jambiani. I feel that it is a "God given" talent my being a chiropractor and I thank the Universe for enabling me to experience what I have over these past two weeks.

The intent behind the sharing of my experiences here at Jambiani is to encourage all chiropractors to share their 'gift of chiropractic' on a global realm, so that those less privileged may experience the 'wonders and miracles' of Chiropractic; just as I have here at Jambiani.

Thank you Alastair, Thank you Pat, Thank you Chiropractic, for creating this wonderful opportunity! And to the people of Jambiani and all of Tanzania, Ahsante, Ahsante!!

 Thursday, November 25, 2004

Well, the time is slipping by now and in fact Dr Detzler leaves us tomorrow.

I would like to take this moment to extend our gratitude to Lezlee or Rukia as the locals have come to call her. Lezlee has been a great inspiration to us all with her unbending dedication, focus and commitment with everything that she does - be it exercising or treating patients. We can only hope that she will return again one day. Take care Rukia and much love to you from all of us here in Jambiani.

As of to-day we still do not have our wireless connection in place. This has been due to a delay in Dar es Salaam with the clearance of equipment through customs. So we will continue to be patient with this process and cultivate appreciation for the end result when it finally materializes.

Well, Pat will be sending this from town tomorrow so please take care everyone. Thanks so much for your interest, help and support and both Pat and I hope that you are all well and enjoying your lives to the max.

Anakusalimu na asante sana kwa msaada wenu!!

Ali Baba and Mama Patti