NET DISTRIBUTION KICKOFF CELEBRATION in GETAMOCK village

Posted by Meghan Ray

Wednesday we departed after our morning reflection to Getamock Village about an hour from Karatu town. We heard last night from Dr. Slaa (Karatu member of Parliament) that preparations were well underway and that they expected more than 2,000 villagers to come to the ceremonies!! Wow! We arrived at Getamock and parked in a big field. In front of us was shaded structure for the guests of honor. The villagers were putting the finishing touches on the decorations as we arrived. We are not sure if the pink fabric along the roof was in honor of Breast Cancer awareness month, but who knows? A few of us went to the dispensary to deliver some supplies before the ceremonies started. Dr. Cunningham worked with Agnes, the nurse midwife, to show her how to use the blood glucometer. When we came in January, Agnes shared her ideas about attracting more patients to her dispensary. Because we couldn’t deliver a TV to her waiting room, we settled for bringing some baby blankets instead!

As the ceremonies started at 10:00am, villagers were still lining up to see the festivities. By this time they were stacked 10 deep along the ropes. The colors and patterns of the traditional dresses were vibrant and beautiful. Seated against the ropes were hundreds of schoolchildren dressed in their uniforms and ready for us to begin. The ceremony and pageantry in Tanzania is unlike anything most of us have ever seen. Each sub village presented a song or dance to the honored guests in brightly colored clothing. Drummers kept the beat while the dancers chanted and moved in formation. All of these songs represented a welcome to Getamock, gratitude for our gifts and daily life in the village. Some of the dancers stomped so hard that the ground shook under our feet! It was spectacular! After about an hour of song, we began the speeches. The Bishops from the Catholic and Lutheran dioceses were there, a representative from USAID/US Embassy, Charles Llewelyn, Dr. Slaa, Representative from the Tanzanian Ministry of Health, Mr. Mliga, and they were joined on the dais by John Tolmie, CEO of St. Joseph Medical Center and Kirk Dignum, CEO of Mercy Regional. Since this was such a special occasion, each representative talked (mostly in Swahili) for quite some time. It makes speeches in the US look fast! Each speech emphasized the importance of bed nets and using them properly to protect against malaria. “Kataa Malaria” is the Swahili phrase for Kill Malaria and we heard that often. This day is so important to the health of the village. With a free net, people can immediately begin to protect themselves. Since we delivered the nets to the village, people didn’t have to make a 3 hour walk to town to redeem a net voucher that is too expensive. Our partnership with the government, CHI, St. Joseph and all of the Village Wellness workers means that people will be able to enjoy an immediate benefit to their health and well-being. The nets we ordered from A-Z textile mills in Arusha have packaging with educational information printed in Swahili to instruct in proper care and usage of the net. During our ceremony we blessed all of the nets and also had a bed and nets prepared to demonstrate how to sleep under a net

The ceremonies continued with more song and dance and also gift giving. The Mercy, St. Joseph and CHI team were presented with traditional African fabrics. John Tolmie presented the Bishops with commemorative books from the Basilica in Baltimore signed by Cardinal Keeler. After the ceremony ended at 1:30pm, we were treated to a traditional feast of rice, vegetables, plantains, beef, chicken and potatoes and very special cake. For those of you who do not know, traditional Tanzanian cake is a GOAT. Not goat in the shape of a cake, but a whole entire goat carried into the room with leaves stuffed in its mouth and carved right in front of you. Before you eat this goat, it is blessed and presented ceremoniously to the guests of honor on a plate. Then you take a piece and pass the plate to the next person. If you don’t enjoy eating meat that was just carved from the animal sitting next to you then it is advised to look like you do anyway to be culturally appropriate. Some of our group mysteriously disappeared as the goat entered the room. I wonder why…? ;0) Our hosts also prepared traditional American yellow cake with frosting which complimented the goat quite nicely.

As the afternoon sun got stronger and the goat digested, we mingled with some of the villagers, especially the children. They are so curious to see us and say hello. Many of them giggle when you wave or say hi. Taking photos of children on digital cameras and showing them the picture results in hysterical laughter. Some of them have never seen their own reflections! The children that weren’t following us around were sitting up in the trees watching the music and dancing that was still going on.

We finished the day witnessing the net distribution procedure. People were so excited about receiving nets that they did not want to wait until tomorrow. Hundreds of people gathered to watch the nets retrieved from a shed, get blessed and carried to the sub-villages for distribution. Each village has sub-villages and a chairman who is responsible for representing the families within it. After careful thought by Tony and the Village Wellness Team, this process was determined to be the most efficient for distribution, education and tracking. Watching bales of nets carried through the crowd was pretty spectacular. How amazing to watch the generosity of so many people at St. Joseph Medical Center, Mercy Regional Medical Center and CHI impact people’s lives like that. The people of Getamock and Karatu thank you. ASANTE SANA.

We arrived back at Kudu Lodge, happy and tired from this amazing day and also covered in layers of red dust!

Tomorrow, net distribution continues in Slahhamo and Ayalabe villages.