Here is another post for you! I'm not sure when I will have internet access again so I'm going all out!
Last week was one of the best experiences of my life. We left Nairobi on Monday morning and drove to a town called Arusha in Tanzania. We stayed the night at a guesthouse there and made some delicious mango chicken for dinner. The next day we piled in the van again and headed off to Magambua. It was a two day drive and is in the middle of nowhere. Google earth can't even find it! It is in the heart of the bush of Tanzania. I don't think it can really be called a town...or a village...or at least we didn't see any of that. Nonetheless, that area is beautiful!!
We arrived to 4 year old Rachel, the daughter of the missionaries hosting us, jumping up and down because she was so excited the guests had arrived! They do not have many visitors. There were three houses near each other we stayed in. Dr. Jon Eager and his wife Melissa have lived in Magambua with their three kids, Josh (10ish), Drew (8ish), and Rachel, for the last 6 years. Dr. Eager runs a small clinic near their home. We got to spend a few days shadowing him and his nurse and see how a bush clinic operates. It was great! There are only those two, one nurse/pharmacist, and a receptionist to service people for miles and miles around. It was sobering hearing that some people had walked a whole day or more to get there to receive medical care.
The day before we arrived an eye doctor had done 23 eye surgeries and all of the patients spent the night recovering at the clinic on the floor of a newly built ward (soon they are getting 21 beds to fill it up!). The first morning we were there, we got to see the bandages taken off of the patients eyes. Majority of them had suffered from cataracts and most had let them go for years and could barely see before the surgery if they could see at all. The looks on their faces when they could truly see for the first time in years were a privilege to see. I can't get over that in the US cataracts can be dealt with easily while these people were blinded by them for years. Things are so different here.
The rest of our time at the clinic consisted of watching Dr. Eager interact with the people. He would stop and translate for us so we could follow what was going on. Tanzanians only speak Kiswahili or their tribal language. Many of the illnesses people complained about were caused by dehydration, due to how much work it takes to get water. Dr. Eager said most of the tribal people will only have a cup of tea in the morning and nothing else to drink for the rest of the day. Again, I was overwhelmed by how easy it is to come by clean drinking water in America compared to here. A lot of the other cases were due to cultural practices such as polygamy. It demonstrated how the people need healing in so many ways besides only physical. The Sandawe, Betabi (not sure how to spell that), and the Maasai tribes were the ones we were in contact with. They wore beautiful necklaces, clothing, and smiles. They were so kind and I loved speaking to them in the little Swahili I have learned.
Us four girls on the Mediquest team stayed at the home of a missionary who is homeschooling the Eager children this year, Merideth. I'm not sure who gained more from our time together, our team because she shared so much about her 9 months in Tanzania and life in the bush, or Merideth because we were the first American girls her age she has seen in 9 months!
The third house I mentioned is where the Huntzigers live. They are a Swiss couple that has been living in Magambua for 20 years! They have been working on translating the Bible and other literature into the tribal languages. They have gotten pretty far along in what must be tedious work.
Our time in Magambu was invaluable. Those books I read growing up about missionaries serving in the bush and the tribal people that live in huts in the jungle all came to life. I will never forget the people there and I know the way they have impacted my life.
On our two day drive back to Nairobi from Magambua the clouds cleared and we were able to see Mount Killimanjaro in all of it's glory! We were pretty lucky as most days you can't see the mountain. I have added climbing Killi to my bucket list!
I was sad to leave Tanzania. I fell in love with the country. It is beautiful.
But I wasn't too sad. I have a feeling I may be back here again someday :)
After spending a nice relaxing weekend at the guesthouse in Nairobi, we will be flying out tomorrow morning to Lokichogio. This town can be found on google earth! Please pray that the tiny plane flying us there will make it! It only seats 8 people! We will be there Monday through Saturday and will return to Nairboi again for the weekend. I can't wait to see what God will show me this week! His love is so huge and is available to everyone. He can heal people in every way-physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And He desires to have a relationship with everyone-including the tribal people living in the bush of Tanzania!
