Words from Big

The first I sent my greetings to all of you, and thank to your helps to my studies, so I don’t have any way to express your love to me. I thank teacher Emily who is every moment with me in difficult moment not only in  time of happiness.   I can only say God bless all of you.

I would like to talk about my study situation ,  I enjoy medicine studies, forgetting the difficult moments.  it is my child dream, and I would like to help the others in the health situation. Medicine is a good course but very difficult (complicated) because its demand to read more books and use all your force to understand anatomy and physiology of every systems of human body, also in practices    but  when you understand oh it becomes very interesting.  So I hope I will finish my course because I do my best to pass every barrier. The house here I live has a problem of ceiling when it rain it’s like outside and I told to owner but nothing resolved.  For that, I have to do that myself.

Here in Mozambique I am with my mam, one brother one sister and my cousin.  We are here like refugees in Marratane Refugee’s Center, so my mother doesn’t have any job only she works as farmer near to  refugee center. also I think she is very old to do the  hard work, she is in 50 years.   The UNHCR(United Nations High Comission for Refugees) and government they give us food monthly but that isn’t enough for all month. One again, thank you for your help because some times I take one part the money and give to my mother,. Also she is grateful and she sends you a bless of Lord to you and your families

Finally I have to thank so much to all you did and for that you will do for me, God bless you economically, socially and all families     B Renovat

News from Mozambique

Dear Friends,

Thank you for all your help for our student, Bigiruhiriwe Renovat…….. Burundian parents, born in a refugee camp in Ruanda, fled to Congo, then Tanzania, then Mozambique, fetched up at our medical school!!   Big is moving on to his second year. He had to take one makeup exam, passed that and is ready  and excited for year 2 of 6.  

The students are mostly Mozambicans, except Big, 2 Egyptian brothers, and a lovely young woman from Nigeria.

Big continues with lots of determination and good study habits.  He sends his deep thanks.

Emily

Big's Big Test

Hello Everyone,

How are you all?? Hope you are having a good summer!
Bigiwiri and all the first year med students have their Epidemiology exam on Friday...in English!!  Everyone is sweating.  Hoping they all do well!! 


All the best, Emily

Fundraising request for the Beira Medical Education Fund

"Big" News: 28 June 2011

From our Medical Student, Bigiwiri: "I don't have words to thank those who are helping me, but I  say thank you very much ! May God bless you. I feel free to study and I feel I have someone to go to with any problems.The study of medicine is my dream. It is very difficult, but I will do it." 

Bigiwiri  is now working hard at epidemiology and his other subjects. (Peter is the professor teaching epi.) He plans to head "home" to Maratane Refugee Camp in the north of Mozambique to see his mother and siblings for 2 weeks in July. You can google Maratane and read the latest, but the camp has been inundated with Ethiopian and Somali refugees. The food aid was cut off for 3 months, so Big sent some of the money we are giving him for his expenses here, to his mother. So as well as supporting medical education, a bit of our money is going directly to a refugee of the Hutu-Tutsi debacle.

There has been cholera in the camp, which is a big worry.  

When Big went to see his mother last year, the owner of the room  he was renting, stole everything.  Now he has a room at a place where he calls the woman Mother, so that is MUCH better. He has a plastic table and 2 chairs, a bed, 2 sheets, 2 pots, a plate, and a spoon. I just gave him extra covers and a mosquito net. He has malaria, diagnosed on Friday,  shaking chills, etc, but is still coming to classes. He is taking treatment. Hopefully the mosquito net will help.

Big is a short, handsome, quiet young man with a big smile who has spent his whole life in refugee camps. Even his family is amazed that he is here in medical school. He has many friends here at Catholic University, and I believe he is progressing well.  Thank you to everyone who is pitching in. With his determination, and your support, this young man will become a doctor, thus helping his family and the people he will serve. We are born to serve. 


Love, Emily

Le Weekend: 12 June 2011

Hello from Mozambique Everyone!

The electricity has been down , now back up. But when it is down there is no internet. That explains some of the times that emails are not prompt.

It is a beautiful weekend here...blue skies, good wind, perfect temperatures. Mozambique is fabulous June and July!

I was at the Grand Hotel all day yesterday for a health fair in the grand lobby. This was built by the Portuguese to be the grandest hotel in all of Africa, and it was, briefly.  Now 3000 people live in it. There is no water or electricity or garbage collection. There are trees growing out of the roof, and families live in the rooms and hallways and old coolers etc.  It is a cement skeleton with everything taken out that could be.  You can google it...it is absolutely fascinating.  Grand Hotel Beira, Mozambique. The views from the balconies are spectacular!!  Check it out.  It is one of the most interesting phenomenas I have ever seen in my life.

The fair was nice. Irma Augusta, the ever active nun for Family Health at the med school organized it.
I went with my stethoscope and had about 100 kids listen to their heart and a pep talk about healthy heart practices. They loved using the stethoscope. There was drumming and dancing. I don't think Sister Augusta is too keen on the dancing, as it is all pelvic and suggestive!! But very fun!

Hope you are having a wonderful June and that the peonies are glamorously strutting their stuff in Maine just now. 
Love, Emily

From Peter: 2 June 2011

I visited our 4 students who are doing their rural rotation at Buzi today, 160 km from Beira. They were making rounds in the medicine/pediatric ward when I arrived, and I saw the following patients with them. These were the only patients I saw

A 40 year old woman with urinary incontinence caused by terminal cervical cancer

A 3-year old with HIV and miliary TB on CXR

A 5-year old with a hemoglobin of 3.9

A 3 year old with HIV, dyspnea, treated for PCP pneumonia

A 50 year old man with HIV and meningitis, probably cryptococcus

A 15 year old girl with abrupt onset of lower extremity flaccid paralysis

A woman with urinary retention caused by terminal cervical cancer

A woman with HIV and a 10 inch, hard hip mass and inguinal nodes

A 30 year old man with severe ear, sinus, and mouth problems, probably nasopharyngeal carcinoma

A 3 year old with HIV who weighs 5.7 kg and is not gaining weight after 2 weeks in hospital

An 8 year old girl with septic knee arthritis and meningitis, successfully treated by the students with arthrotomy and ceftriaxone, but now deaf

A 4 year old with malaria and severe anemia

A 30 year old man with epilepsy who lives by himself, had a seizure, and fell in the fire.

And this in a hospital where the strongest available analgesic is one tablet of paracetamol/acetaminophen, the only antibiotics are cotrimoxazole, penicillin G, and ceftriaxone, no antifungals, no anticonvulsants, and no antiretrovirals (because they are not allowed to be administered to inpatients in Mozambique).

I felt like I was in the middle of a holocaust.

Peter

Em Becomes a Tug Assistant

Dear Friends,
Hope this finds you all fine and enjoying June . Here it is cooler and everyone is suffering with the 60 degree temperature. Ski hats, parkas, and scarves are the thing now.

Last week, I had the best day I ever have had in Mozambique ....
 It is the law that a Mozambiquan pilot must standby with the Captain on the bridge to bring the ships in and take them out through the channel. I have been trying totally unsuccessfully to wrangle a place on the port tug boat to get out to sea with them. Security,  port policies, etc created a dead end for the official tug.

 I happened to meet 2 South African guys who are here with a vessel for another project, and are helping the Port temporarily with this job of moving pilots on and off ships. I asked them if I could come along if I made a lunch...and sure enough, I was at sea the next day.

We met the 1st outgoing ship which had a pilot already on it from port . We went along up against the ship’s leeward side going 6.4 knots. They lowered a ladder and the pilot climbed down onto our vessel. Then we went full throttle to the 1st incoming ship and did the same thing...up against the side, ladder lowered, and pilot climbed up to bring that ship in. Then back to the 2nd outgoing ship to get that pilot and put him on the next incoming ship. And so on.  The ships are lined up off shore waiting for the pilots.

The ships were from China, Emerites, Holland, South Africa, Monrovia, Nassau, etc. It was one of the most exciting days of my life!! Hope you all are having lots of excitement, too, but not too much!!!  Sending many greetings from Mozambique!! Emily

Teaching English

Dear Friends,  Hello from Beira! Hope you are all fine!

Here is a beach photo from Gerald, the Austrian colleague. People here are so fit, because of the physical demands of daily life and a whole foods diet. People do all kinds of sports on the beach...soccer, rugby, karate.

I’ve been helping teach English to the Preparatory Year Med students.

As you get warmer, we are finally cooling down a bit. We had a massive storm off the Indian Ocean that has brought fresher weather. It was so hot day after day, I was starting to drink cokes and get really grumpy.  We have 12 hours of day and 12 of night.

April 7th was a HUGE holiday...Day of the Mozambiquan Woman. Everything was shut. Women were all dressed up in bright cloths around the waist and matching cloths around the head. (called capulanas). There were parties and parades and great celebration of Women!

Hope this finds everyone doing great and enjoying spring!! Would love to hear from you!! All the best! Emily

Chicken in My Lap

Dear Friends, Greetings!! I finally made it out to Young Africa today and met your 2 Moms!  They looked very professional and happy. One is doing very well and one is struggling a bit but will continue and carry on. I think she can’t read and has some coordination issues. I got nice photos which Peter will put on the web at work tomorrow.

They are doing great, the teacher is lovely, and the classroom nice. They are very grateful and send thanks. It is changing their lives. Young Africa has 1000 students now.

After the visit, Sister Augusta wanted to go on down the road to see someone in a village. So we stood by the side of the road, sweating for an hour, finally packed into a bus and reached a small village. After the visit, packed into another bus, chicken in my lap and got back to Beira.

Will get those photos to you ASAP.

Hope you are all fine! Sending many greetings and lots of thanks!  Emily

Back down the Beira Corridor

Dear Friends,
Hope you are all fine.

I had to go back to Zimbabwe for a Residency Permit...so it was back  down the Beira Corridor, over the car eating potholes , through the flooded areas, through green, green fields, and into Zimbabwe!  There, the country seems to be recovering from the worst inflation known on earth. The shops are full of goods and full of people shopping. That was wonderful to see.

But there are a lot of extremely serious political and social issues brewing and I pray things remain calm in Zimbabwe.  For a dissident view, if you are interested in the country, you can google Zimbabwe Situation. I did have a wonderful morning shopping and chatting with the ever friendly people.

Here in Beira there is a worrisome lack of rain. It’s hot as can be. We are eating avocadoes, mangos, pineapples, guava, and a lot of shrimp and octopus.  I visited the house of a local “Traditional Healer/Witch Doctor”. (Many people tend to go to a traditional healer before going to clinic) or hospital). Her brother had been working in Germany , so we could chat in German! There are many Mozambiquans who worked in East Germany before the collapse of the East Block and they all speak German.  It’s so much fun to meet them, as my Portuguese is a big struggle and English isn’t an option!

I am reading A Complicated War, the Harrowing of Mozambique, about the horrendous war that took place here in the 80’s and into the 90’s. I really recommend it if you are interested in Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe. It is horrifically spell binding.

Now Mozambique is brimming with exuberance, projects, schools, all trying.  Let’s hope for peace and forward progress in southern Africa!
Sending all the Best and take care!!
Emily 

Baby Ngotenda

Latest from Mozambique

Greetings  from Beira!! Hope you are all fine!

Got back to Mozambique yesterday...into serious heat and more serious lack of rain for crops.  I went through Johannesburg ,South Africa, where World Cup Soccer  will start June 11th. The soccer mania is at fever pitch, and all the prices of things in the airport have gone way up!!

The winter Olympics are not being covered in Mozambique,(funny thing about that!)
Off continent topic...Heard that Riley Masters from Bangor , U Maine sophomore, ran a sub 4 minute mile last weekend. How brilliant and exciting!!

Just chatted with a Mom selling bananas across the street. She has 6 kids, her husband left and there is no money to send the children to school...even elementary school. Would like to remake the point that universal, free education is a remarkable concept and hardly universal.  Attending school is quite a privilege.

Am forwarding you a note from Zimbabwe from the new Hospital Administrator at Mt. Selinda  Hospital where we used to work....note and photo follow.  Look at that baby’s fierce determination in her face.

Many Greetings and all the Best for a great school  year 2010!!!  Would love to hear your news!    Ms. Wesson/Emily

"Please send thoughts for Baby Surprise One.  (Her Shona name is Ngotenda which means Thank You.)  Surprise was born January 12 weighing 950 grams (2 pounds) and she dropped to 750 grams. (1.6 pounds)  Amazingly, at age three weeks, she is fighting hard with almost no medical intervention.  All we can do for her are keep her warm, feed her with a cup or NG tube and weigh her every other day.  Her mother, Concelia, is a sweet woman who is very dedicated to her baby. "   

 “If we took an eye for an eye, the whole world would be blind.”  M. Gandhi
 

"Extreme Age"

Hello from hot Beira. Hope you are all WELL!!

Peter lost his camera so have not been able to take pictures. I am forwarding some beautiful pictures taken by an Austrian colleague of Peter’s. These are from just outside the city. Look at the loads of charcoal on the back of the bikes! Every one cooks on little charcoal grates. What ever happened to the solar cooker idea?? The world needs some smart students to figure it out and market it.  Hey Orono science classes?!

The following is for those 50 plus....One of the med students was doing the problem list for a patient here. He listed as a problem, “extreme age.”  The patient was age 51!!! Huh!!

Hope these photos can be opened OK. All the Best, Emily

Gerald's Photos

Spare Stethescopes?

If anyone has an extra stethescope that they would like to donate, I am collecting them for a hospital in Zimbabwe.
I am also collecting embroidery thread for projects in Beira.  Please email me if you are able to help! Thanks!
You know, Peter lost his camera so have not been taking photos. I will try to send some beautiful photos taken by an Austrian. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. We start our journey on Fri...via NJ to see my Dad. Back to Orono around the 8th. Love to all, Emily

World Aids Day

Greetings on World Aids Day..December 1st.  The day was well noted here in Beira, with parades, theater,  and speeches. The theme at the Medical School this morning was Domestic Violence, how it is involved in the spread of HIV, and how to prevent it.
 The ARV drugs are very good and really prolong life, which is the good news.

World Health organization  (WHO) made  a groundbreaking recommendation  today...that is that HIV positive mothers take medication and  continue  to breast feed if conditions don’t allow for safe bottle feeding. Not breastfeeding is  a death sentence for babies in Mozambique. Previously they recommended nursing 6 months , then stopping. A baby can not survive, as formula is not affordable or safe. (The Pediatrician living downstairs is dancing for joy at this reassessment.)

This disease has touched so many, but many are now surviving with medication.

It is raining just now such that many houses in the slum area will have a foot of water in them tonight.

Hope you are all fine . Many Greetings!! Emily

Diapers and Stethoscopes and Rain, Oh My!

Dear Friends,

Happy Thanksgiving for Thursday from Beira.

It is raining in Southern Africa, the mangoes are ready, and everyone is planting!!
It is POURING. The  roof of the new clinic is leaking all over the receptionists. The clinic driveway is a quagmire and will require 10,000$ US to shore up. And the sheet metal roof blew off the medical school when a big storm came through. All the slums are like a lake around the peoples’ homes. It is supposed to be sunny tomorrow.

The news from Zimbabwe is, “It is a little better. It is picking up. We are still surviving.”  All through the ‘80’s  till 1992, Zimbabwe was full of Mozambiquans seeking safety, food, jobs and shelter.  Now Mozambique is full of Zimbabweans looking for the same.
Last year when the inflation peaked, there was no money, no food or goods in the shops, everyone lost their savings in the banks, and their pensions. Can you imagine, the nurses, teachers, and everyone, had to walk across to Mozambique, try to sell something/anything, to get a little money to buy some food.

Our old hospital on the border between the two countries (in Zimbabwe) has held on and we saw many old friends. They are not complaining. They are hoping for a change in government and economics. The school at Mt. Selinda had to shut down last year due to no food, salaries etc.
Now the official salary for everyone..nurses, teachers, doctors, staff, is 150$ US per month. Education is not free and universal so school fees must be paid. Food, electricity and everything is expensive. So no one can get ahead. Zimbabwe was once described as the jewel of Africa!

The Mt Selinda orphanage had 25 children when we were there. Now there are 46 children- 8 infants. At night there is only one staff on duty.  Diapers are few and now they don’t dry because of the rains.

I am now going to start a campaign to raise some money for diapers for the Orphans at Mt Selinda. I will also try to collect stethoscopes and BP cuffs for the hospital as they have all broken.  And I am still collecting embroidery thread for the nun’s project here in Beira.

Will be back in Orono mid December briefly. Look forward to seeing you all.  Have heard Naomi has the nurse’s office computerized!!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving break. 
All the Best to you all, 
Emily

Visit to Zimbabwe

Dear Friends, 

Greetings and hope you are all fine, no flu, staying strong!!
Peter and I are in Zimbabwe for the week. We lived here from 1985-1988 and are revisiting (and renewing my visitor visa for Mozambique). This comes to you from the Outward Bound- Zimbabwe, in the Chimanimani Mountains. These are mysterious looking, BEAUTIFUL sandstone mountains, forming the border between Zim and Moz. You can pick them out on the map, straight west of Beira.

In 1985 one US Dollar bought 1.50$ Zim dollars. Inflation started and we were dismayed to see it go to 13 zim for one US, then 50, then 100. Last year, the government printed a 3 trillion dollar note that was worth 50cents US by the next day. This country has experienced the worst inflation ever in history in the world, with devastating effects on the people.  After that 3 trillion dollar note, the country switched to the dollar economy and US dollars are in use. ....there is no more Zimbabwean money. There aren’t any coins
 so they give you matches or candy to make up the change in the shops. Things are slightly improving. But MANY of the professional and educated Zimbabweans have left the country.

Then there are the commercial  white farm seizures by the veterans of the war of liberation from the Rhodesians. It is complicated and hard to explain in this letter....but the land did not end up with the poor people, but rather in the hands of judges, politicians, and President Mugabe’s friends. (President since 1980!).

The director of Outward Bound  here was a farmer for 40 years. He bought his farm, recently paid it off, grew flowers and crops for export, thus employing many people and earning foreign currency for Zimbabwe. Last year it was seized; house, land, farm equipment, everything, the workers turned off the farm, and he and his wife turned out. So at age 68, he has started a new career as director of Outward Bound, a job he was really lucky to get. His farm is lying fallow..no one is growing anything. This is the story all over Zimbabwe and it will take years to recover.

Our friends in Mutare grew roses for export. They had acres of greenhouses. Their farm was seized 2 years ago, the plastic is in tatters and nothing is being grown. They also have started a new career of making wine. They are sticking it out.

The many hospitals that had doctors in the ‘80’s when we were here now have no doctors. The university in the capital, Harare, is mostly shut down. The roads aren’t being repaired...and so on. People are just bearing it, waiting for change, and feeling this year is a tad better than last.

This is  such a beautiful country with wonderful people throughout.The greed of a few has had such an impact on everyone . In 1985, new hospitals, clinics, schools were being built. There was tremendous optimism and hope after the liberation from Ian Smith’s repressive white government.  But the rebuilding will have to start again after  TOM (that old man, Mugabe ) goes.

Meanwhile, everyone is doing the best they can. And it is a spectacular country.
Muswere Zvakanaka!! Stay Well!! 
Emily

Outward Bound, Zimbabwe

Dear Friends and family, 


Hey , we are at Outward Bound, Zimbabwe...way up in the Mountains of Chimanimani.  Went on a serious walk with an instructor. Had to wiggle through a hole in a rock over a gorge. Couldn’t fit my bum through!!! Had to go around and swim for it.
Gave a lift to a Mom with a baby...baby’s name was...Boston Miami. Isn’t that a great name!!

Zim is really struggling...really difficult for people here.  No development in 25 years. There is wireless here at the Outward Bound directors house, but the electricity is going off any second. Bye for now.


Love, Em