Preparations and Beginnings

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Dear Readers,

It is Christmas Day, one of my faith’s holiest of days, and that of one of the non-governmental organizations (NGO) closest to my heart, Shoulder to Shoulder, the one supporting and sponsoring the medical trip to Tanzania and supporting Ilula Lutheran District Hospital (ILH).  I hope you will look up http://ilulahealth.org to get plenty of detail about the organization and Bega Kwa Bega, the organization that spawned it and several others.

So on this Christmas Day, now that the hustle and bustle leading up to this holiday will be winding down after one more sweet gathering.  But my attention is already drawn to the poorest of the world’s poor.  The average per capita income is about $485/year (2008).  Take a look at this web site for some up t date info: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tz.html .

ILH is situated in a resource poor rural area about 25 miles from Iringa, a city of probably 200,000.  More on that in the next few weeks.  The US  Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is roughly 630 times that of Tanzania.  I cannot quite get my head around those huge numbers.

Or these:  HIV prevalence is nearly 15% in Iringa.  About 30% of patients admitted to ILH have HIV.  At least 1400 attend the HIV clinic at ILH.  Somewhere around 60% are women.  Most men do not want to hear about HIV.  Nearly 100% of people with TB at ILH have HIV.  Over the next few weeks, I hope you will hear the stories from the friends and acquaintances you have at ILH, the students and faculty visiting ILH and not only me.

Ken

The view from ILH Guest House 2011