Newsletter
DECEMBER 2011 - JANUARY 2012
A Newsletter
by Priscilla and Henry Ziegler (Tanzania)
In February, we will be going again to
Tanzania for two weeks. This time 10 members of our
congregation at Church of the Holy Cross (Dunn Loring, Virginia)
will be going with us. They have many talents and will be
doing things such as painting and repairing the health center,
improving the grounds at the Women and Children’s Centre, and
updating the accounting.
Women and Children’s Centre
It is open. We officially have a
Women and Children’s centre and so the first hospital building is
completed. Thanks to the prayers of many, the United Thank Offering
grant, and a lot of work by the Tanzanian team, the St. James
Anglican Hospital site now has electricity and water. This
building will become the obstetrical ward building in the future.
Right now it is the site for all of our well women and child care:
well child visits, prenatal care, postnatal care, family planning,
and HIV counseling and testing services for women. The photos
below were taken by Dr. Chilowaka, our Community Health Director) at
the new building. The child on the left is being weighed and
the waiting area is pictured below.
We have nearly finished the planning and
approvals necessary to start the surgical building. The remainder of
the United Thank Offering money will pay for at least the slab, roof
and outer walls. We are applying for other grants to finish this
building. When it is open, the obstetrical ward building will have
room to do four deliveries at one time. With two operating
rooms, the surgical building will allow two operations to occur at
one time and will have a four-bed post operation area. Most of the
operations will be C-sections for high-risk women; although we will
also be doing other operations, especially gynecological surgery.
As a step towards this, we now have an
obstetrician-gynecologist coming once a week to see women with
gynecological problems. Thanks to a gift from a British donor, we
have been able to get a gynecology examination table for her as well
as a second delivery bed for our current delivery area at the health
center.
Patients at the health center
The man and woman pictured below on the
left were treated at the health centre for severe malaria. As
we have told you before, this is the most common reason for
admission.
The patient on the right is a 23-year-old
who came in semi-comatose, with swelling of the legs, malaria, and
mild anemia. Her HIV test was negative and we treated her for
malaria. We were not able to evaluate her kidney function since
there was no money for the reagents for the chemistry machine.
Money has to first go to medicines and salaries. It is little things
such as this that further donations can help pay for. She lived far
away and so we kept her an additional day as charity care since she
was out of money. She left somewhat improved with a thankful
mother.
The child on the left above was treated
for vomiting and diarrhea. We are more and more going to oral
rehydration salts for these children since it prevents the cost and
risks of intravenous fluids. In young babies and children, it is
easy to fluid overload them. On the right is a baby who was
treated as an outpatient for an infection of his umbilicus (belly
button).
On the left above is a six month twin
admitted for treatment of pneumonia. Interestingly, the other twin
was totally healthy as the picture with the father shows.
Donations
Yes, we are always asking for donations
but we believe in what is being accomplished in Dar es Salaam.
Please consider giving to the Tanzania
program. We are now using our church in Virginia as one of two
accounts for donations. If you are sending a check, send the
donation to:
Holy Cross Episcopal
Church 2455 Gallows Rd.
Dunn Loring, VA 22027 or
Margaret’s
Episcopal Church
Write “Tanzania Program” on the check so
that the money goes to the mission program. As both churches
are non-profits (501C3), any donations sent to the church are tax
deductible. If you want to designate what the donation is to
be used for, please do so.
Please continue to pray for the health
programs in Tanzania.
May God Bless All of Us,
Henry and Priscilla
P.S. Just so you understand how far
donations go in the health centre, the following are some
approximate costs:
-
$0.80 pays for a doctor’s visit.
-
$2.00 pays for HIV counseling and testing.
-
$5.00 pays for a visit for malaria – including lab tests and
medication.
-
$6.00 pays for a medical visit of an AIDS patient – including
lab tests and medication.
-
$8.00 pays for a circumcision to help prevent AIDS.
-
$20.00 pays for an inpatient stay for malaria, pneumonia, or
another severe illness.
-
$100 pays to support a home care patient for one year –
including social support, medications, and medical supplies.
(We really need money for this program.)
-
$100 pays for health care and school uniforms and supplies for a
year for an AIDS orphan
