Laundry Day

Soak:





Wash:



Rinse:



Dry:



I think they could make my laundry day into a comedy show. In fact, it sometimes becomes one with Tanzanians from the place I stay hanging around trying to help me out and wondering what in the world is wrong with me that i just can't wash my clothes like a normal person. I usually consider myself to be pretty coordinated, but for some reason when washing my clothes I just can't figure out how to make my hands move the right way, no matter how many times people show me. Most people here have washed their clothes by hand since childhood, so they think it's pretty weird that I haven't perfected the art by now. Hopefully each laundry day I'll get a little better.

Until then, I just try not to get my clothes too dirty...

This has been a week full of learning for me as the temporary health room person at Amani. Three of the kids had doctors’ appointments this week at three different hospitals, so I’ve gotten to experience a few different sides of the Tanzanian healthcare system. I won’t bore you with the details of all the visits, but I’ll describe one of them so you can have a taste of what it’s like.

First of all, imagine you are 10 years old. Things are bad enough at home that you decide to move to the streets with your 9 year-old brother. Things are pretty rough on the streets, too, but luckily you meet someone who tells you about a place called Amani where children can live and be safe and get food and an education. You and your little brother decide to go to this place. You like it there, but it is a hard at first getting used to living in a new place with lots of new people. Then, just as you are starting to make new friends, you fall off the swingset and break both of your arms. Seems like some kind of cruel joke, doesn’t it?

But that is real life for Bahati, whose name means “luck” in Swahili.

He’s had casts on both of his arms since May, and since then has had to depend on others to help him with almost everything, from eating, to dressing, to taking a shower. We went to the doctor 2 weeks ago with the Amani nurse, and his bones weren’t completely healed yet, so they told us to come back this week. It was my first visit to the hospital by myself, so I was a little nervous, but here’s how it went…

When you have an appointment at this hospital they just give you a day, not a time. You just get there when you get there, and then you stand in line. So you have to arrive pretty early if you want to be seen before lunch. The hospital opens at 8, and we arrived at 7. You have to bring this little card with you that has your appointment date written on it, and when you get there you put it in this specific potted plant with the other cards so they know the order of everyone’s arrival. Once the hospital opened, we went inside to wait for Bahati’s name to be called. This was an adventure in itself because the “official” name they use at the hospital is not the name that people usually go by. Bahati couldn’t remember his “official” last name, and it was written badly on his card, so we just had to listen for “Bahati” and hope that he was the only one with that first name. Luckily, he was, and when they called his name I went up to the counter and got a little piece of cardboard with #20 written on it. We were number 20 in line to see the doctor. Then we waited about another hour for his name to be called again so that we could pay our office visit fee of 75 cents. Bahati was getting pretty hungry by this time, but I refused to leave in fear that we would miss his name being called. Once we had paid, we went to the hospital restaurant and had some tea and donuts. Then we returned to the waiting room. At about 11:30, they called our number and we went back to visit the doctor. It turned out our doctor was from Massachusetts and is here volunteering for a month. He was very sweet with Bahati and said his arms had healed enough that his casts could be removed. Bahati couldn’t understand what the doctor had said in English, but he was so excited when I told him in Swahili. He kept saying, “Are you sure he said both of them? Are you sure?” I don’t think he ever really believed me.

We then went to the room where they apply and remove casts. There were lots of people in there waiting to have things done, but the cast person was nowhere to be found. About an hour later, he turned up and removed Bahati’s casts. Bahati was so excited—I’m not sure I’ve ever heard him talk that much. When I arrived at Amani, it took him a week to feel comfortable enough to say anything to me. After our first hospital experience together, he would greet me almost as soon as I arrived every morning. And now, here he was, saying “Look! I can move it like this! Hey look, I can do this!” He was quite beside himself. I wish you all could hear his tiny little voice.

While we were waiting for the car to arrive to pick us up, we had a celebratory soda. Bahati was very excited about being able to pick it up himself. Although I think I may have embarrassed him a little when I clinked my bottle against his and said, “cheers!”


I hope you all will join me in a “cheers” for good “bahati” for Bahati from here on out.

I don’t have a car here, so unless I take the daladala somewhere, I do a lot of walking. I now live kind of in between Amani and town, so walking both places takes less than half an hour. So it’s not bad, and it’s actually kind of nice to have that time to think. Sometimes I get caught up thinking about where I’m going or where I have been that I don’t really pay attention to what’s around me. But eventually, I stop. I look around, and I remember. And I get goosebumps. I AM IN AFRICA. Everything around me is so beautiful and alive. And I wonder, how did I get so lucky?

At Amani, they work very hard to make sure each child is treated equally and, at the same time, receives special individual attention from the staff. I believe this is very important, and I try my best to show the children that I love and respect them all. Whether it’s by greeting them by name or sitting with them at lunch or caring for them when they get sick, I want them to know they are all special and have value, something they are sometimes not shown at home and definitely not shown while on the streets.

And so, when I first visited Amani in 2005, I wasn’t looking to have a child who was more special to me above the rest. Back then, the education program was less formal, and I tutored some of the kids who hadn’t yet been enrolled in school. They were eager to learn and often asked me to tutor them in different subjects. I tried to make time for them all, so when a little boy named Baraka asked me to tutor him in English, of course I said yes. Like I said, I was working hard to treat everyone equally, and I never thought I would have any kind of lasting relationship with any of them.

But I think sometimes things happen while we’re not paying attention. It’s like how it is when I’m walking. All of the sudden, I realize where I am and what’s around me and what a tremendous blessing all of it is. It was like that with my little Baraka. I was just tutoring him the same way as the other kids, and then all of the sudden one day I realized how sweet our little friendship had become, kind of like that of a big sister and little brother. It has continued since that first year, and I think it has been a blessing to us both.

Baraka has taught me how amazing it is to play even a small part in shaping someone else’s life. Even though we have been on different continents most of the time, through letters and visits I always tried to encourage him to work hard in school and to be a good boy, and to remind him that I am always praying for him. He is 15 now and in 7^th grade, and until a few days ago was in another city playing in a soccer tournament for a chance to be on the youth national team. Even while he was away, every day teachers and other kids were telling me what a smart and helpful child he had become. He is back now, and seeing him these past few days has made my heart so full. He is number 2 out of 100 in his class, he KNOWS English, he is an awesome soccer player, and he is, above all, a truly kindhearted person. I am oh so proud.

While I’m still a big believer in treating all the kids at Amani equally, I also believe that, no matter where you’re from or what your life is like, everyone needs someone to tell them that he or she is just the best. For many people, including me, parents do that for them. But for kids like Baraka who do not have parents, they have to have someone else. I really believe God put me in Baraka’s life to be one of those people for him. What an incredible gift it is! I am so thankful. And I continue to wonder, how did I get so lucky?

2005

2006

2008

yesterday