News – April 2011

This is my last day here in Jambiani, on this bizarre and joyful island of Zanzibar. I write from a beautiful balcony where I sit listening to birds chirping, roosters crowing, goats hollering their broken squawks, cows mooing tiredly, the mosque calls to prayer, children singing, women laughing, the repetitive honks of the dala dala, palm leaves in the wind like a subtle chorus of snare drums, and the slow, steady waves of the ocean so nearby. This is a fantastic place, and I’ve been so lucky to spend the last month here. Volunteering at the wellness center has been a true pleasure. People travel from far and wide for the free, holistic treatment they receive. Alastair, or Dr. Ali Baba as he’s best known, is an incredibly knowledgeable chiropractor. The scope of the careful, compassionate health-care he practices reaches far beyond his professional title. I’ve enjoyed working in tandem with him immensely. Last week, I got to treat an elderly woman no taller than my waist, but she had no trouble hopping up on the massage table, swiftly unwrapping herself from her layers of colourful kangas. She told me, “Don’t be afraid; do whatever you need to do to me.” Her attitude epitomizes the gracious willingness of all our patients. We’ve treated many young men with soccer injuries or who’ve hurt themselves climbing trees. Then the women who work all day on the ocean collecting seaweed come in with terrible back pain. Almost daily, I’ve gotten to work on a delightful young woman who was partially paralyzed after being hit by a car two years ago. Rotator cuff tears, digestive complaints, skin disease, cuts and scrapes galore… I’ve seen a bit of everything here and it’s not even the busy season. I hope each person on whom I’ve laid my hands has felt my gratitude for the opportunity to treat them. It’s been wonderful to feel useful here in this very welcoming community. That’s all I ever wanted of this experience: to be of some use. But I’ll tell you, I got more than I gave. Pat and Alastair are nothing short of helpful, hospitable, wise, and inspiring. The friends I’ve made in other volunteers and village locals have colored my experience here so brightly.

The JTTI school adds vibrant energy to the HABS compound. The food is delicious; there’s music everywhere, and the water really is turquoise. And to think, I only had to show up and lend a hand. I am so excited for future HABS volunteers. What a rich experience is in store for them. All my best, Loryn “Daktari Lala” Kezer

Well, this past month has been one of good byes as we sent Dr. Pierre on his way on April 11th and now most recently “Lala” Loryn Kezer on the 30th. Loryn has moved onto Moshi where she will continue to be use-full as she plies her gentle way of being with orphaned children. It was really a pleasure to spend time with both Pierre and Loryn. A couple of incredibly dedicated and selfless practitioners of the heart who gave up and continue to give a lot just to help others in need. The HABS team and all of the patients they were able to assist extend our gratitude to you and appreciate the time you spent with us. Karibuni tena (Welcome again) Students practising service methods Dr. Pierre hard at work 😉 Students practising service methods Dr. Pierre in action 🙂 Students practising service methods Ali, our interpreter 🙂 On the clinic side we are expecting Nilsa dos Reis, a practitioner of TCM, to arrive in early June. Nilsa visited us a couple of years ago and vowed to return to ply her skills in the Centre so we are really looking forward to meeting her once again. Also happy to report that we have had some excellent rainfall over the past couple of weeks although they are still rationing power for one and one half hours each day so maybe the mainland has not been as fortunate as us. Let’s face it, after enduring three months without the grid we are coping just fine. 🙂 Pat and Sine are fully entrenched now in the TOT program and from all reports everything is going well. Here are a few words from Sine regarding the JTTI and its ongoing programs. It’s me again. After more than 8 months I am still here, and am happy to report that everything is going well in the JTTI. It is quite exciting to see the end of the next term coming – particularly because of the graduation of our Year 2s that is only a couple of weeks away. And that means that the current Year 1s are going to move into their 2nd year. It also means that soon we are going to welcome the next group of students. For the last couple of months, Pat and I have been busy teaching the Train-the-Trainer course. It was a relief to see it finally happening, and although we only have a small group of students, there is a good potential for new trainers to come out of that course. While I start the day with them every morning, Pat spends the afternoon with them, and they are learning a lot about tourism in general, tourism training methods, educational psychology and curriculum and instruction. Soon we are going to challenge them by inviting small groups of students to be trained by them. Eventually, we are hoping that they will make a difference to the students and trainees that they are going to teach. Having almost completed one full academic year has made me think about what has been happening, what I have experienced and whom I have met so far. The most impact of course has come from the students that I have met and spent so much time with. As much as they can behave like silly little kids, they have impressed me with their enthusiasm and hard work, and although I sometimes want to shout at them, I have also realised that I care so much about every individual student. Every one of them has their unique story to tell and brings a different set of skills and character to the school, which makes it so enjoyable to spend time with them. As we have recently completed the interviews and selected the students for the new Diploma course, I am excited to see what new characters are going to join us – but I am very confident that they will be as lovely to be around as the current students are. And obviously, while I am excited for the Year 2s, I will be sad to see them go on June 17th. Working with Pat, Nareena and David in the school has been a great experience, as, just like the students, we bring different ideas and skills to the teaching, and we have all put a lot of hard work into the teaching, always the students in our mind. Sunday, May 15 Thank you for that Sine. As always your comments are much appreciated and I have to say that we have really lucked out with your presence here and although I’m not so involved with the JTTI side of the equation, I can certainly see just how hard you work and how much the students appreciate you. So thank you so much for all that you do and in so many ways. To David and Nareena, your time here in Jambiani is rapidly drawing to an end and I would just like to take this moment to thank you both so much for your dedication, hard work and commitment to the students at the JTTI. We all wish you good fortune in your future endeavors and hope that your continuing journey will be full of wonder and amazement. All good to you both from the entire HABS team here in the “Jam”. So on that note, I’ll sign off for now and hope that wherever you are in this moment that life is treating you well. Take care everyone and lots of love from all of us, stuck here in the “Jam”.