Africa.... Part 5... Build it and they will come...

Beautiful Ikwiriri school children...



After a couple of stops and one very bumpy road detour, we arrived in Ikwiriri- exactly one week after we had departed from California.

The malaria clinic was to be held in a school building on the local TAG (Tanzania Assembly of God) church property. As with many of our experiences in Africa, there is a bit of a background that you need to know...

The local pastor had been given permission to build a church on this piece of property with the condition that he build a school for the local children as well. The church was built, but there was no money left for a school. After a couple of years had passed, he was in danger of losing his property- since the building conditions had not been met. The area bishop (what we would call a presbyter) contacted R and C McD, founders of CHaRA. Not only was CHaRA able to build the school, but they added a much needed water project as well.

Women fetch water from the well (the church building is in the background)...





Water projects are vital. Beyond providing the obvious- desperately needed clean water, a well also creates a connection between the local church and the surrounding community. Local women come to the church daily to fetch free, clean drinking water for their families.

In Tanzania, where children often do not attend school- it has an added benefit. Water projects encourage school attendance. Parents will spend precious shillings on uniforms so that children will go to school. The children bring empty water containers with them in the morning and return with containers full of clean water at the end of the day.

Clean drinking water...





So when R and C contacted this pastor, he agreed to host a malaria clinic at the school. But he related to R and C that the local woman would only cross the church property to get water. Any other time that they passed through the area, they would walk completely around the outskirts of the property. He was not optimistic that anyone would come- since a malaria clinic meant that women would not only have to come on the property, but inside the actual buildings as well!

Posters advertised the upcoming clinic...





After arriving on Friday, we had lunch and then a prayer time with the pastor and other workers. We returned early the next morning to set up before the clinic started. The pastor was delighted to see a group of women waiting for the clinic to begin.



Within an hour or so, the crowd grew...



By mid-afternoon, we had a new problem. So many mothers came to the clinic, that we ran out of nets! Not wanting to turn anyone away, we came up with a quick solution... Since the mothers are required to attend the malaria education class before they receive a net, we gave one presentation to all the women who were outside waiting for a net. We then issued tickets as rain checks. The women could return in one week to the church and exchange their ticket for a malaria net (CHaRA arranged for additional nets to be purchased and delivered to the church).

Teaching the malaria education class to the crowd outside...




All told we gave away all of our 500 malaria nets in Ikwiriri and issued rain checks for 600 more. It was definitely a successful clinic!