14 MARCH, 2019 

 Well, here we are, finishing a first full day at Avani Victoria Falls, and my first opportunity to sit down to reflect on our last few days at Arusha. Our flights here and our stay at Johannesburg were uneventful, with a golden sun settling in to the Western horizon as we flew high over Southern Africa, was a fitting metaphor of a season of activity in Arusha that has drawn to a close.

One of the activities that all health check teams get to participate in, is a visit to The Plaster House. I have in a couple of earlier posts written about the Plaster House, and the amazing work done there with restorative surgery for children with deformities and burns. 

On this visit we were advised that photographs could not be taken, so we have no photographic record of our time this year, but we have deep emotional memories, etched by the faces of the babies and children, the mums and the carers, teachers and nurses. I was thinking during our visit that there seems to be hardly an emotion untouched by our experience of these children. From sadness to hope to playful exhilaration we did indeed feel deeply moved, more I think than on previous visits. Maybe it was the sight of a mother patiently and lovingly massaging ointments onto the scarred back of a baby that made the greatest impression. Maybe it was children – babies, really – lying with legs in plaster casts, and patiently motionless; or children jumping along with makeshift walkers; or youngsters clinging to the legs of a visitor. At one point I felt we needed to check the bags of our team as we were leaving in case they were spiriting away one of the little children.

From there we headed across town, along what is pretty rare in Arusha – a well made road – to a newish facility the Maternity Africa Hospital in Arusha. It is the continuing story of compassionate professionals helping to build capacity and change lives. We were shown around this brand new hospital, set amongst rural fields and pasture. Again, it is a facility that deals with people in real poverty who would otherwise be very unhealthy environments for the delivery of the babies. You can read more of the Maternity Africa story at http://maternityafrica.org

When I read back to my blog on 23 March 2015 I realised I should have read this before we flew out from Kilimanjaro. I was writing about one of our then number who experienced an eerily similar ticketing disaster as we did. She went to Kili airport for an expected flight to find she was not expected on any plane – there was no assistance. There is no “Help” desk or airline offices so you do feel a bit helpless and abandoned, especially, as in this case, a single young woman. For me it was a case of lesson not learned.

Anyway, it was back to school for the team. For us it was a chance to pack our bag for an away weekend at Planet Lodge for a quiet couple of days of relaxation, sitting by the pool, having the odd drink, sleeping in, and sitting in the quiet and serene gardens of the hotel. We organised a school minibus to take us there to check in and then back to school for a couple of briefings on sponsorships and what is known as “Beyond St Jude’s” – the journey for the students after they finish school, and through to university.

Our sponsorship arrangement had gone a bit awry, so we had to fix that. Finally there was the school assembly. We had been practising our song – a variation of Baby Shark where we had included some health messages. Our performance exceeded all our expectations, but things went through the roof when the children were invited to join in. One thing that Tanzanian children love to do is sing and dance. Then we had different classes and groups give presentations – singing and dancing to the powerful rhythm of their drums. They have a sense of rhythm and movement that made us look like logs. It was all wonderful.

And then we were off to dinner to a Greek restaurant, Georges, in the city of Arusha. we had invited staff of the school who had been part of the health check team effort over the two weeks – visitor team, community team, nurses, drivers, interns, so it added up to a very large table for about 45. It was a fun night and a good way to conclude and say goodbye, but Jen and I felt like grandpa and grandma and decided to leave early, and take one of the young orthoptists home, as she was feeling ill. And we wanted to try out the comfy digs of the Planet Lodge.

It was 10.00pm and way past our bedtime when we finally paid off the cab, collected our key and found our own little bungalow. Time for a good night’s rest and a lie in. Finally.