Diary - Monday, January 31, 2005 

Greetings once again everyone from your fans here in Jambiani and we hope that you are all well and enjoying yourselves to the max!! I see, it has been over four weeks since our last update, however, I think we now should be able to maintain a more regular newsletter as we have finally managed to get our wireless internet connection in place. I can't begin to tell you what a tremendous addition this has been to our project. What this means, is that we no longer have to travel three hours return to Stonetown to communicate with the outside world and in addition we are now able to reply to inquiries from potential volunteers much more readily. Perhaps even more importantly, is that we can now access information and treatment protocols for some of our more challenging patients quickly, thereby giving us the opportunity to provide needed assistance earlier rather than later. We are so grateful for this gift. Asante sana!!!

In addition, we have been able to put screens on all the clinic windows so we no longer have flocks of birds flying around inside leaving numerous presents all over the floors. This has to be a good thing. :) We have also started to construct an outside cooking and eating area as we at times get power outages and are unable to cook. This will all change soon as we will have a gas BBQ built into the structure so that we can still prepare meals even if the power fails. I'm sure the volunteers will appreciate that.

At this time, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Lynne (Amina) Ketcheson and Connie (Asha) Nimmon for their heartfelt contributions and loving care provided to literally hundreds of patients over the last two months. Both Lynne and Connie have now departed for home and their presence will be missed by many who have had the good fortune of receiving treatments from them. Connie was also able to make a huge donation of acupuncture needles to the Doctors at Mnazi Moja Hospital in town who run regular clinics but who have very antiquated equipment. I'm certain this gift will go a long way to helping others return to better levels of function. Thank you so much Lynne and Connie, tunashukuru sana!!

We are really looking forward to welcoming our next volunteer, Kathleen Leachman, who is a massage therapist from Vancouver. We had the pleasure of meeting Kathleen just before we left to return to Jambiani so it will be great to spend a month with her. Kathleen, like Dr Stan Marcus, will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro before her arrival here on the 4th of February so she appears to be an extremely fit individual as well.

So what else is new? Well, we just received word that our container of supplies will arrive on Zanzibar on February 5th or 6th. Pat has done an amazing job of finding out where the greatest needs are for much of the material that has been shipped so we are prepared to distribute the goods to those who will benefit the most. For instance, we have identified the poorest of families here in Jambiani and it is to these people that most of the clothing will be given to. Pat has canvassed all of the schools and so we know approximately how many desks and chairs are needed at each. It will be a big job to co-ordinate all of this but I'm sure it will also be very gratifying to be able to help so many people. As I mentioned, we will prepare a special report with pictures when the container has been cleared through customs and the unloading and distribution process has begun.

A few days ago, we had a most wonderful experience with a group of Canadians who arrived on Zanzibar for some post safari R and R. They were 16 in total and mostly from Jasper, Alberta although Pete "The Heat" and his partner Irene were from metropolitan McBride. :) We had had some initial contact with their tour leader Patricia Marrek saying that they were planning to come to Jambiani and that they would like to see the Center.

I remember the day they arrived. It was like an invasionary force making its way down the beach and by the time they had all arrived, our front porch area was packed out. It soon became apparent that this was going to be like Christmas for us as they proceeded to deliver to us a variety of supplies for the clinic that they had been gathering prior to their trip. I can only say that Pat and I were somewhat overwhelmed by the generosity of these folks as they also made some much appreciated financial contributions as well. We were invited to dine with them that evening and what a treat it was to spend some time with these special beings. We do hope to see some of them again and both Pat and I on behalf of the Hands Across Borders Society and all of the people who will directly benefit from their assistance, would like to thank you all for making the effort to come to Jambiani and for considering us as worthy candidates for you help. Asante sana!!!!

We are expecting to meet with the new Minister for Heath sometime after the 14th of February so we will update you when that happens. We had originally hoped to meet with him sooner but he has been an extremely busy man in his new position. They say that patience is a virtue. We have lots of it now. :)

I had better sign off for now as our man Kent at eMotion Media will have a fit with the length of this ditty. We continue to power along here and we remain focused and as enthusiastic as ever with the way things are unfolding here. I will try to bring you some local stories with our next update which will be in two weeks from to-day.

Be well everyone and as always, thanks so much for your love and support and encouragement as we enter into our third year since the Center was officially opened in January 2003.

Much love,
Alastair and Pat