Lessons Learned

We’ve had a couple of days to process what we have seen, experienced and done at Iambi Lutheran Hospital since last Saturday. Much was accomplished. The nursing school is several steps closer to being ready to open, the medical lab has great new equipment that will help with diagnoses, the central supply room is fully stocked and ready to serve desperately impoverished patients from the surrounding villages, a website is well on its way to being completed to give the hospital some web presence, and the much of the staff has expressed its gratitude for our visit.

Yet, there is much work yet to be done. The team has identified some key next steps and possibilities for future trips. Training is needed in basic medical practices that will reduce infection and promote better practices. Medical specialists and nurse educators are needed to provide services and training to hospital staff that will increase their capacity to deliver medicine. More equipment and maintenance expertise would help them take care of some of the instruments that they have. The list goes on.

One of the chance visits the team had last week was with the retired bishop of the Central Diocese. He lives in Nkungi Village, where the hospital is. He was sitting in his yard one late afternoon when we walked by. The pastor of the local church, St. Wanzalea, was with us and introduced us. He spoke for about 30 minutes about the importance of our presence at the hospital and pleaded with us to make a significant difference in the village. We talked about what we were doing and our hope to be in partnership with the hospital for several years to come. He talked about the needs of the community at large there as well. It was difficult to hear about all the needs, knowing that we were only able to do a small part of it.

The needs are significant. As we spent more time there, the needs came out of the woodwork. One person wanted funds to help kids whose parents had HIV/AIDS, another person wanted support for their organization that helps the poorest of the poor, another family was looking for tuition help for their teenage son, and yet another person told us about another health care program that was desperate for funds to carry out their mission. The reality is the best thing we can do is focus on the hospital and concentrate our efforts and resources there.

As we leave Tanzania tomorrow, the team takes a little bit of Iambi home with us. We are grateful to those of you who have joined us on this adventure through the blog, and even more grateful for your prayers as we served in the name of Jesus, on Zumbro’s behalf. It has been an incredible journey and I give thanks to God for the team who has traveled here. We have said again and again that the right group of people was assembled and responded to God’s call for this particular trip. Gifts were used ina all kinds of ways, expected and unexpected.

We look forward to seeing many of you in person when we return and sharing more stories of our interactions and discoveries about our partners at Iambi Lutheran Hospital in Nkungi  Village, Tanzania.

Asante sana (Thank you very much),

The Zumbro Tanzania Team