My family came to visit for a week and a half. The beginning of the trip was not too great as their flight was delayed, and the next day our trip to Lake Manyara turned into a bit of a debacle. However, after that our trip was great. We went to the Serengeti for two days. Unfortunately we weren’t near the migration, but the scale of Serengeti is still beautiful and awe inspiring. Then we went to Ngorongoro Crater. The highlight of the trip to the Crater was the cheetah sighting. I had been hoping to see it each time I went and it finally happened. They were up running around as well, so it was interesting to see how the wildebeests and zebras reacted even though the cheetahs obviously weren’t on the hunt.

The next day I introduced my family to Karatu. We met some of the people I work with, though many people were out in the field for trainings. My mom was very excited to meet my friends at the market, so that was our next trip. They had also been very excited to meet my family. In fact, they had been asking about my mom for at least a month. She made new friends by taking some great photos, and Karla made friends by passing out candy. Next we visited a local orphanage because some people I work with were going there donate an Easter meal and others were going to film a commercial. Everyone had a great time playing with the kids, and I think my family was struck by the kindness of the children. That evening, we enjoyed dinner and watched a drama troupe performance at Highview Hotel. It was similar to other drama troupe shows I’ve seen, but I was glad to share the experience with my family because I knew my mom would like it, though I’m not sure my uncle Mark appreciated the high pressure sales tactics of the performers after the show.

That Thursday we took it easy. We did some souvenir shopping, then I introduced everyone to ugali. Ugali is made from corn flour and its texture resembles very thick mashed potatoes. It’s not my favorite food, but it’s not bad, and I felt it was an important part of the Tanzanian experience.

The next day we woke up early to travel to Lake Eyasi. While there we were able to meet the Hadzabe people, a hunting and gathering tribe in that area. They were especially skilled at finding honey, and the honey they generously shared with us was delicious. Interestingly, one of the types of honey tasted like mango juice. Then we drove to Lake Eyasi to see it. I had been near the lake, but never on the shore. I was surprised at how low the lake was, even though rainy season has started. We then met the Tatoga people. They are pastoralists, similar to the Maasai, who graze cattle. This was probably my favorite part of the day because the women were preparing for a wedding and we joined in the singing and dancing.

The next day we relaxed around the house and Gibb’s Farm (a fancy hotel nearby) and played cards and scrabble, and on Sunday it was time to leave. We traveled to Moshi so we could see Mt. Kilimanjaro, then back to the airport for my family’s departure.

Since then we conducted a drug shopkeeper training. It went well, but it didn’t seem like it would initially. In retrospect planning the training for the day after a five day weekend was a mistake, but after everyone arrived and we adapted the training for the participants we weren’t expecting it went well. We reviewed information about history taking and danger signs, discussed childhood illness, STIs, family planning, and their role in educating the community.

Now I am preparing for MAISHA training next week. It will be a tight squeeze to get everything ready in time, but it seems that in Tanzania everything falls into place at the last minute. I continue to train for the half-marathon and I’m preparing to spend four weeks in Israel on my way home from Tanzania. I’ll return to Minneapolis on June 20 and start classes two days later.

I haven’t written for a while, in no small part because other that work and training for the half-marathon not too much has happened. I finally got the results to our Secret Shopper Survey, and they were really good. In the fall 45% of drug shopkeepers would not sell partial doses to patients, now 90% of drug shopkeepers will not sell partial doses. (This is important for preventing antibiotic and anti-malarial resistance). More drug shopkeepers are referring people to the hospital or advising customers to go to the hospital if symptoms worsen and the percentage of secret shoppers who felt confident in the treatment they received increased as well.

Since then, I’ve been continuing to work on a new Drug Shopkeeper curriculum to continue to work on the weaker areas of “history-taking” and recognizing danger signs. I’ve also been working on a study protocol for some research about Rh incompatibility and finishing up some details about MAISHA training.

We found out last week that the President of Tanzania will be coming up to Karatu for our marathon and the opening of the Healthy Mother Healthy Baby Center. It will be an exciting and busy time for us and should bring a lot of positive attention to MIHV and malaria awareness in general.