Global Health Engagement 2018 – Team East Africa Update #4
Greetings from Team Africa in Kigoma, Tanzania! Our second and last week of Physical Therapy at Kigoma Baptist Hospital was a success. We were so busy because we had new patients and many returning patients as well. Returning patients seemed to be a lot more joyful the next few times they came around. These patients were a lot more hopeful, grateful, and improving physically. They were willing to accept prayer, despite their Muslim faith, and some even prayed for us at times. Our team continued to educate Kigoma Baptist Hospital’s staff members in different health care topics such as exercise for healthy people, posture, nutrition, hand washing, and transferring patients from one bed to another. While some team members went on house visits, others stayed on hospital grounds and were able to volunteer in other areas such as the women’s ward, men’s ward, and surgical ward. Wednesday after a long hard day of work, we were treated to ball cones, a.k.a “Drumsticks” without the nuts. It is difficult to come across ice cream here in Africa, so it was definitely a blessing on a hot day in Tanzania.
We attended Bible study in the Nyantole village and to our surprise many Muslim children came to listen and even came into the church to sit and worship with us. The Bible study lesson taught by Lina was about the story of the true vine, the true vine consisting of the root (Jesus), the gardener (God), and the branches (us). The branches become fruitful by being one with the root, and pruned by the gardener in order to produce even more fruit. The church members and new visitors really enjoyed the lesson and participated in the discussion more than usual, which was great to see.
We have continued to enjoy ourselves by bonding at the lake, during exercise, souvenir shopping, and coffee time! We experienced the most amazing dinner this past Sunday evening (sarcasm). The dinner took 3 hours to be served, the chicken was rubbery, and there was a very loud man reciting memorized Islamic prayers through a speaker for hours due to Ramadan. Let’s not forget to mention the cultural immersion experience of having to use a squatting toilet. Despite all of these things, we were very grateful to be able to leave the living area and explore. We also were grateful that we did not have to cook dinner ourselves! We hope you enjoyed our blog post. We love and miss you all! Please, continue to pray for the patients and staff at the hospital and the villagers at Nyantole, who have heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that the seed that was sown will continue to grow and bear much fruit for His glory.