Lost in translation....

A few lucky people slept deep as the roosters, dogs, and prayer calls woke the rest of us up too early. Breakfast was delicious as usual and accompanied by fresh Kili coffee. Some of the students were able to capture pictures of the top of the mountain, which has been shy (covered in clouds) since we arrived. We started our day stopping to see a Bao Bao tree - George informed us that the tree was 1000 years old! These trees are very large but have soft bark and are used to hide poachers that would hollow it out to hide during the day and come out at night to avoid being seen by locals. After some local information on the Bao Bao tree, he informed us even the 1000 year old tree still produces fruit – I guess trees don’t go through tree-nopause. After the delightful history lesson we continued our journey to the dispensary clinic. Here we set up our second medical camp. Students were paired with practitioners, the pharmacy was stocked, and glasses set up to prepare for a busy medical camp day.  Jessica coordinated an informative oral hydration therapy talk right before beginning to see patients.

            It was a slow and digestible day for the students. We saw a few patients, around 50 patients (give or take a few 10) and everyone struggled with the misunderstood and mistranslated; however, we all had a great day. We take simple medication directions like “take daily” for granted here as the words we use in America rarely translate easily into Swahili. 

            After the medical camp we were able to stop at George and Cornell’s (two of our wonderful tour guides while here in Tanzania) houses. It was a joy to see both of their houses and meet their families. George showed us his chicken coop. He received two chickens from Julie and Lance last year and each of the many chickens they have now came from those two original chickens.

            We were so happy to see our travelers that climbed Mount Kilimanjaro- they showed us pictures of the summit and they were amazing. We quickly went to dinner and talked about the next day and what we are going to do. We were just so happy to be back as a team.  It has been a joy to have been grated such an instant loving relationship with everyone here as each contact we meet in Kenya or Tanzania makes it clear how much a part of their family Hope Without Borders has become.  It is clear how much of an impact Julie and Lance have made here in Africa. It was another amazing day here in Tanzania and we are enjoying the more tropical weather of Tanzania than Kenya. We are at a bittersweet point in our trip. We are of course missing our families and friends, but are already sad to anticipate our departure from Africa.  

~Emily & Josiah