St. Joe's Team at Slahhamo Village

Posted by Pat Bosse. Jambo! After the pageant and ceremony of the kick-off celebration at Getamock Village on Wednesday, Thursday’s visit to Slahhamo Village was far more intimate, and a wonderful contrast for us. The team from St. Joseph arrived in the village after traveling about an hour from Karatu – mostly along rutted roads of red, dusty clay. We keep the windows open, but quickly slide them shut when faced with an oncoming ‘traffic’ (which is very seldom once you leave Karatu town). The landscape as we travel through more remote areas is starkly beautiful. It is not hard to imagine life here as unchanged since Biblical times – we see women gathering water for their families at a well, a boy herding his goats along the road (how obediently they move out of our way when he waves the long reed he carried in command), men driving an overflowing cart of dried corn stalks – mounded higher than wisdom suggests, but somehow stable – pulled by four plodding and sturdy cows. Polly, our infection control expert, asks the driver to stop at the well so that she can test the water. Polly will have the results from her testing today – but our driver, Sos Peter, took a drink and declared it ‘very good.’ I think that all of us said a quiet prayer that Sos was right – water is a precious commodity here, and there has been very little of it in recent months. The well seemed to be productive and the herds of goats and cattle waiting patiently for their buckets to arrive looked healthy. We arrived in Slahhamo Village close to 10 o’clock. Dr. Slaa, a Member of Parliament representing the Karatu District, was at our car to greet us and make introductions. We met Joseph, the tall and handsome Village Executive Chairman. At 28, he clearly commands respect from the people. He has an intelligence and intensity that shine through his eyes and into his greetings to us – in very good English. Joseph put on our Village Wellness t-shirt and was a dashing sight as Village leader! Gail, Amanda and Polly made a quick trip down the road to the village dispensary to deliver medical supplies. John, Tony, Curt and I stayed with Dr. Slaa, Joseph and other leaders to get a sense of how the distribution would unfold. Curt set up his ever-present video camera behind the group of 350 or more who were sitting on the ground in the shade of large trees for the festivities. Men and women were separated – men on the right, women on the left. The morning sunlight filtering through the leaves painted the women’s brightly colored fabric with even greater splendor. It was a feast for the eyes. (Curt, I think, has been on media production overload – there is a richness and intensity to everything.) The ceremony began with a traditional African prayer, in Swahili, of course. Several of our friends helped to translate, but sometimes the dialect became very old and deep, and even they could not follow the path. The concluding rite was a litany of prayers for health, for ‘the clouds to be hungry for rain,’ for relief from malaria, for relief from HIV/AIDS, for a good harvest, and so on. The cadence to the elder’s chant – and the people’s response – was universal. Close your eyes, and you were anywhere, buried in the rhythms of a communal prayer. Christian prayer followed. The nets were blessed, and there was a thanksgiving for the opportunity to protect the 6655 people who live within the boundaries of the Slahhamo Village from malaria. Slahhamo is a Christian village, mostly Lutheran, with a simple but lovely brick church. It is perhaps the nicest building in the village. Dr. Slaa then spoke at length, educating the people about the nets and how to use them properly. He is a dynamic speaker! The people clearly know and like him. They respond with vigor to his questions and promptings. Finally, he greets John with genuine affection, wrapping his arm tightly around John’s shoulder as he introduces John to the people. Dr. Slaa tells the story of John’s deep love and commitment to the people of Karatu, the work of the Village Wellness Project, and the friendship that extends beyond oceans and time zones. Hearing St. Joseph Medical Center spoken so many times – buried in Swahili – was a treat. That part needed no translation for any of us on the team! Dr. Slaa also spoke of John’s parents – Don and Joann – and their remarkable commitment to Faraja and Karatu. The villagers listen to every detail of Dr. Slaa’s stories about John, his parents, St. Joseph Medical Center as if studying for finals, applauding with smiles and genuine emotion. It is something to witness. Travel guides and briefing books don’t quite prepare you for such wonderful moments of warmth and hospitality. John earlier had asked me to offer remarks on behalf of our team and present a monetary gift of $200 USD to Joseph, the Village Executive, to be used as the village leaders decided for health care and education. This would not be a normal role for a women in Tanzania – so when I asked if my speaking would offend anyone, John simply said that he thought that we should do things the ‘Joann Tolmie’ way! (Good training, Mrs Tolmie!) It was certainly not the kind of speaking environment for powerpoint presentations and pie charts. You speak from the heart and look into the eyes of the people – truly beautiful people, young and old, men and women. They were rapt in their attention as I offered words of greeting from our St. Joseph Team here in Tanzania and back home in Towson. I thought about Leigh Chapman in Towson, knowing how hard she worked to help us prepare for our visit. Her greetings and affection for the people of Tanzania were intermingled with mine and everyone else’s today. (I also learned that I sound so much better in Swahili, too.) Following the speeches, there was a demonstration of how the bed nets should be hung and used (complete with live bodies under them), followed by a ‘ceremonial’ presentation of one bed net to each of the 9 sub-village leaders. Then, the storage barn nearby was opened and the giant bales of nets were unloaded and handed off with precision to each of the sub-villages. During this process, we took Joseph and a teacher from the school with us in for a quick drive to the school to deliver supplies to the children. Along the way, boys were on a field playing soccer (with breathtaking landscapes beyond). We stopped and youthful and (ahem) limber President and CEO hopped out with several of the soccer balls we were delivering and joined in the play. No hat tricks for John, but maybe a few sore muscles today. Watch for the video on YouTube soon. We visited the school, then set off for 2 home visits of Faraja children. They were special opportunities, but are yet another significant chapter in the story of our visit. I will end this too-long entry with our departure from remarkable visit to Slahhamo, and pick up later on the visit to the homes of Petro and Esta. Asante Sana (Thank you very much) for reading such a missive!