Volunteer reflections
Mayumi Mikawa
Mayumi, a nurse from Japan, worked in the dispensary in Iguguno, Tanzania (2007-08) The following are extracts from her letters:
September
Sister Aurelia and Mayumi
It was so - long journey!.. It made me completely tired.. I was just able to see dry tree and dry sand and vast earth from the window of the car. Anyway, I arrived Iguguno safely.Let me tell you about Iguguno convent. There're 3 sisters at this moment. Sister Adria is teacher of geography at primary school. Sister Monica and Sister Aurelia are midwives in dispensary. They're planning to open maternity ward as soon as possible. Two girls are helping to cook, to clean, to take care of our farm.. We have electricity, so we can use light, TV, ironing etc. Sometimes we get running water by windmill. Not every time! Depends on wind. (Now) we don't have running water at all. That's very hard! We have to draw water from a well. I'm using it little by little. Our kitchen doesn't have electric stove so we use firewood. Sometimes I gather wood, but there's plenty!...
Food is very nice here. They eat rice a lot. So I'm very happy with that. We have some papaya trees in our farm so we can eat it almost every day. They have bread and tea and coffee in the morning. They also have a kind of porridge -it looks not so attractive to eat. The colour is grey - thick sauce but it tastes nice! Especially, it's hot. So I don't have any problem with the food here.
Esther and Mayumi, volunteers in Iguguno dispensary
This dispensary was built by Italian funds. We cover the area of east Iguguno, Serene, Lukomo etc. Total population is approximately 10,000. Opening times is 8am - 4pm. The number of patients is 10ish daily, especially in the morning. the diagnosis, malaria 50%, urinary tract infection 10%, ARI - Pneumonia 10%, eye or ear infection, worms, skin infection etc. Every Wednesday we give vaccinations such as BCG, Polio, DPT-B, measles and vitamin A. So the dispensary is better than I thought... I have something to teach them to improve. But they have their way which they have been doing already. So I'll try to tell them little by little and also I'll learn from them.
Everything slowly here. even they walk slowly. From convent to dispensary it'll take a few minutes for me, but they walk slowly and stop everywhere, so it takes 30 minutes for them! It is the way they are. I have to cope with that!...
I want to tell a lot of things here. Because everything is different, interesting, new to me! Thank you very much to give me the chance to come here!
The dispensary in Iguguno
January
Let me tell you what I like and enjoy here. One is 'song'. The songs which I have a chance to hear are gospel musics. They sing it so beautiful in Swahili. They're good at harmony using just human voice. Sometimes they use drum, that's nice. But some place they use electronic organ.. I think that sound disturb the songs. It's very loud. Sometimes choir practise songs behind the church. So sometimes after work, I went and sat next to the choir (some of them also staff of dispensary) and enjoy listening to the songs.
There is another thing which made me happy. One mother told me that she'll come to this dispensary to check her pregnancy because of me! When I heard that I was so happy! You know, my Swahili is broken and not enough to explain what I want to tell them. So I haven't been having confidence of what I'm doing. I'm feeling it's not professional way. But at least one mother said like that! Thanks for that! I'll keep my best even it's not enough though.!
March
Can you imagine this huge land covered by green everywhere? How rich land here is! When I arrived here first time, I wasn't able to see any fresh green at all. What I could see was just dry ground and sand and dust everywhere. But now. after their hard work I can see huge maize farm and beautiful sunflower farm! They'll make oil from that sunflower. This is so nice to see.without any chemical fertilizer they can grow so nice, I can say this land is rich and blessed well!
Since I came here I've been thinking - what is poverty? Not having TV? Not having mobile? No of course nothing like that. As you know it's not essential stuff for life. (It might make their life easier though.) When we have good relationship with family and friends and when we're in good state of health so that we can work and get daily bread, this is the most happiest time in our life. isn't it? But once we want to have a lot of stuff, just then we start to feel we're poor. We are the one who make us poor. I am the one who regard those village people as poor. They don't need to feel that they're poor because they can't have TV at their home. That is unnecessary feeling. I wish they realize how rich land they have and they evaluate it rather than feeling poor compared with another person. But it must be hard, globalisation is everywhere even in this small village and man can't help competing as human being.
Let me talk about my work. Yesterday I've got good news! The mother who I had been checking pregnancy gave birth at last! The baby looks no problem and her weight was 4400g (Big!) Anyway the baby and mother are both fine and I feel relieved.!
