Nyakato Health Center

July 3, 2010.

The next day, Saturday, is a half day at the clinic. I get my feet wet with Dr. Bon and Jade. Dr. Bon is quite a character, always smiling when he sees you and he has a unique laugh. Dr. Bon was the first doctor at the Nyakato Health Center. He started the clinic before the Lofstroms came.

The International Health Partners is a non-governmental non-profit organization formed to facilitate partnerships from all over the world with Tanzania to improve health care. The IHP-US INC is a sister organization in the United States that helps raise funds. The IHP-TZ in Tanzania is on the ground working with the funds to develop the projects. The East of Lake Victoria Diocese of the Lutheran Church donated a 16 room building for the beginning of the health center. The area has the highest maternal and infant mortality rate, thus IHP is about to finish building a Women’s Health and Birthing Center.

After the clinic was started, a Tanzanian pediatrician contacted his sister-in-law, Mary Kitundu, who contacted Dr. Dennis and Paula Lofstrom four years ago. Dr. Dennis Lofstrom was a physician and Paula Lofstrom was a nurse from Minnesota. They were already in Tanzania for 4 years before they came to Nyakato. When they came to the area, there was only a building, Dr. Bon, and a few staff. Dr. Msengi came with them and last year Dr. Vicky came to work at the clinic.

The dedication for the birthing center will be Friday, July 16, 2010. The Patricia isolation ward has already been built as well. With the help of donations, they hope to open the Eye center and ward, a surgical building, an imaging room, lab, laundry, physical therapy, pharmacy, Peds ward, dental clinic, and maintenance. The grounds would be fueled by solar panels and backed with wind power/generator. They will use a water filtration system modeled after one at an orphanage nearby.

IHP also started the Department of Nursing at Saint John’s University in the area of Dodoma. In Dar es Salaam, they hope to build the first non-profit pediatric HIV/AIDS hospital in Tanzania.

So my first day at the clinic, I witnessed my first circumcision on a 1 year old boy. Pole sana, mtoto mchanga. Dr. Bon is the only doctor at the clinic that does surgery. Since there isn’t a dentist here, Dr. Bon does tooth extractions as well. We had a patient who had a baby molar pushed aside by her permanent teeth. We extracted her baby tooth. Let’s just say, thank God I’m not going to be a dentist. What a great start!

Common illnesses here are malaria, typhoid, H. pylori infections, UTI, vaginosis/STI, URTI, arthritis, worms, and other GI infections. We have a lab, where they can test blood, urine, stools, and test for malaria, typhoid, HIV, and parasites.

A patient would come to the clinic and go to registration. From registration, they wait to be called by triage, where their BP, weight, temperature, and pulse are measured. Their registration card/chart would be given to a doctor. They would wait until the doctor calls them into their room. Dr. Bon would ask them questions for the chief complaint and history of present illness as we write everything down. We would give them a sheet to order labs. They would first go to the registration desk to pay for their labs. They would get labs done and wait again for the doctor. Everyday, there would be 30+ patients for each doctor. Monday and Saturday are usually the busy days.

Today is also Sylvia’s birthday. Paula made bangin pineapple upside down cake. Yum!