Good News / Bad News

So the good new first. I continue to enjoy my work with the hospice team here. I got to do an inpatient consult on my own earlier in the week and I think I added some (hopefully beneficial) therapies that would not have otherwise been considered to the patients plan. I have adapted in many ways to an African way of life. The long waits for things and minimal productive time no longer really bother me at all - I realize this in contrast to Bryant who has been quite frustrated by the pace of his work at the new hospital. In some ways I was prepared for this by my time in Budapest, where there is also a more relaxed work flow. But I still found it a bit frustrating when I got here and have now adjusted to it. It will probably be hard to get back into an American schedule when I get home. I went to the Maasai craft market with the hospice team today to get some presents for the Exempla Team from Denver who are leaving today or tomorrow and Mama Makule said that I bargain better than she does, even. She was probably exaggerating, but she did seem impressed with my bargaining skills. This will also likely be a counter-productive skill because I can hardly go into target or the grocery store and say "Four dollars? Pshaw! I'll give you 2!" And finally, today we went back to Monduli, the site of the first day care I attended, and apparently one of the patients told Mama Makule I looked like a Tanzanian in my skirt and new scarf from Zanzibar. Last time I was there, almost exactly 4 weeks ago, I had on my pants and tennies. So it feels like I am finding a place here that is more than "Muzungu" or foreigner.

But then I got home and heard that one of the ex-pats who has been here for several years with her husband for several years doing what is essentially mission work was the victim of a home invasion robbery last night. The Jacobson's had this happen to them in October and November, so she is the second person in our neighborhood to have their home invaded in the middle of the night. She was alone at the time and I'm sure it was terrifying. She is OK physically, but one wonders if she will ever have the same trust and love for the Tanzanian people that she had yesterday morning. Just yesterday at the hospital, where she has been rounding with the pediatrics team (she was a practicing NP in America with her own clinic in Amish country, but has been out of medicine for a few years her) she was telling me somewhat guiltily about a family of malnourished children. One of the children came into the hospital at 3 mos or something with marasmus. The social worker discovered that the child's parents were both dead (likely HIV) and the child and 2 siblings was being cared for by the grandmother who could afford to give them only tea. The social worker asked my friend if she should send for the other 2 children who are almost certainly malnourished, implying that my friend should pay for their hospital stays. She replied that she didn't know and inquired about the usual procedures in these situations. (There are some funds / organization in place for orphans etc. but she didn't know the details or whether they would apply.) But later in the day she was clearly feeling guilty about not saying yes. This from a person who has uprooted her whole family and life to come to Tanzania with her husband (a physician) and improve medical care here. They have a couple kids in college, one in boarding school for Americans in Nairobi, and I am sure they are not making American doctor's salaries. While they are certainly not poor by local standards, I'm sure they don't have money flowing out their ears the way the social worker seemed to think all foreigners must. So it is frustrating that my friend, who was rounding with the peds team at Selian to try and help out and teach (and learn from Joel) yesterday, and feeling guilty about not taking care of a family of needy children that weren't even her responsibility, has now been the victim of a violent crime simply because she is a foreigner and people know that we have cars and computers, etc in our homes.