What's cookin' in Tanzania... and Uganda?: Buckets, Floods and Masks

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Tanzania is now increasing more rapidly. Most are in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar but there are also more confirmed cases in Mwanza. We say "confirmed cases" as testing is very limited and therefore real numbers of cases will be significantly more than confirmed case numbers. International flights are now stopped, schools remain closed, there are talks of a lockdown in Dar es Salaam, but apart from some individual districts with significant restrictions, there is nothing nationally. As for the rest of the world, it is a worrying time for Tanzanians.

We are still busy as a team doing all we can to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Hand washing stations are being widely distributed through our partner churches and we are working to safely but effectively spread awareness about the virus and how to prevent it. We personally are no longer attending church services, but there is still much we can do to effectively help communities during this time. We are also thinking, praying and preparing for what we can do in what could soon be the next phase.

Louisa helping us with getting taps and labels on buckets

Can you spot Louisa?

With Peter at Chabakima Church a couple of weeks ago, as he teaches on prevention

People in Chabakima read the information poster just put up at the church

There has been much debate about fabric face masks here … as everywhere! Certainly at first, I was very wary about encouraging the use of them. However, since talking to our friend in Dar es Salaam and a lot of research, a few of the women in the Upendo wa Mama group who can sew are now making cotton masks. There is minimal profit for them, but it is something the women can do, especially to help non-profit organizations that are also serving the community during this time! We heard that the national hospital, Muhimbili, has a huge shortage of masks and they have asked for 10,000 masks to be made! Also, now that the regional commissioner has called for all people in Dar es Salaam to wear masks in public, there is a huge demand … and a huge shortage of masks. And so begins a new project of mask-making, which I have to confess I am really not enjoying! It has been terribly stressful with high demand while the women try to learn how to make them quickly and work to make many on their own at home. I seem to have spent hours unpicking all the ones that went wrong, have at least three burns on my arms from the iron and feel as pricked as a pincushion! I have almost called quits several times, but we are persevering … and the work is now getting better and faster and we are now even starting to teach others to also make!

Jeni cuts out masks and ties

Laurensia sewing masks

Finished product

Our good friend, Dorothea, helping the efforts

to get more masks ready to sew!

The shortage of masks really just highlights the shortage of all things here when it comes to dealing with the spread of COVID-19. Hospital beds, quarantine areas, ventilators … As prices rise and stocks of different things start to run out, the thought of a lockdown is pretty awful for everyone.

Meanwhile, it keeps on raining! The rains just don't stop and the water table is getting so high, the roads so bad and Lake Victoria is full to overflowing! We have now been flooded downstairs in our home since Christmas and are getting quite used to wading to the bathroom for a shower. All we can do is keep sloshing the water out of the study and storeroom a few times a day! This is all good for the rice farmers, but not much else. It is another reason, along with the fear of a lockdown, to be concerned about food security.

This is a restaurant by Lake Victoria … except that now it is IN Lake Victoria...

Update on Amisadai's knee … She is doing really well! We went to our good friends the other week and they took her stitches out, at the dining room table! Mwanza life … very thankful! And finally after about 70 days on crutches, she is hobbling about without them now and movement is increasing all the time!

Audience engrossed as Dr Rob takes the stitches out with the light from Liz's phone!

And to finish, here are some photos of our Easter … We enjoyed a quiet day last Sunday in the midst of the chaos and a number of struggles on the side! It was rather like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter rolled into one as we made a pumpkin pie and ate Christmas pudding and then some delicious crème eggs (which were no longer egg-shaped!). But is seemed appropriate with much to be thankful for... and there really is no better reason to celebrate hope than at Easter!