New Hope Initiative travels to the Oljoro Maasai village in Tanzania to host a medical clinic for more than 320 children and adults.
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Tanzania
How many patients do you think the average U.S. doctor sees on an average day? If you asked me I thought 20-30 patients a day sounds fair. After some research I found out I wasn’t too far from the average and while the numbers range based on practice or specialty - on the low end a highly-specialized doctor will meet and diagnosis close to 20 patients and on the other side of the spectrum an ER doctor may treat nearly 50 patients during a shift.
Taking into account that seeing just 20 patients takes an incredible amount of skill and expertise, it’s all the more amazing when you consider the news that last Monday 160 people were treated at the New Hope Initiative Olorien Community Clinic in Arusha, Tanzania.
One Hundred and Sixty.
The patients were children, parents, uncles, grandparents, boys, girls, men & women - all ages and the reasons for visits likely ranged from common colds and respiratory issues to growth removals, broken bones and positive malaria diagnosis. Now you are probably thinking, “wow those doctors (plural) were busy that day!”
Yes, Dr. Byemba – the head doctor and only doctor on site that day – was busy as he diagnosed & treated the large majority of all these cases. Much like an ER doctor, Dr. Byemba throughout the day will go from the exam room to the operating room multiple times and while the instruments are sterilized in the autoclave for the next procedure, he will see the patients not requiring surgery.
To be honest it would be easy to recognize just Dr. Byemba and his incredible work because what he does on a daily basis astonishes almost everyone that has the chance to spend the day with him. But Dr. Byemba would be the first to say that he couldn’t do this alone. The staff – from the clerk checking patients in and the nurses taking vitals to the lab technicians analyzing samples and the pharmacist distributing medications that in many cases will save someone life – together deserve to be applauded for their hard work.
I was raised to always highlight a job well done and just saying “well done” almost doesn’t seem sufficient when it comes to a person’s health and life. Yet, it’s a great place to start when recognizing the amazing staff that serve this small community in Tanzania six days a week. It is also easy to celebrate when the numbers hit 160 but how much more would you commend their work if you then found out that on Tuesday more than 120 people came, on Wednesday nearly 130 and they averaged that for the rest of the week. On Saturday evening as the front gates closed more than 800 people had passed through the clinic and this small dedicated staff of nurses, technicians, clerks and pharmacists led by Dr. Byemba brought comfort and in many cases healing to a community. When you watch the news and you hear about so many terrible things happening around the world – please take a moment and think about this amazing team in O’Lorien and smile knowing that there are people still doing great things and pursuing work on a daily basis that it so much greater than themselves.
By T.J. Walter - Olorien Clinic Project Director
For the first time ever, New Hope Initiative was privileged to tour the USA with two of our international partners. In the last quarter of 2012 NHI directors Sandy and Karen Baird, Tanzanian mission partners Vernon and Mary Smith, and our African medical director Dr. and Mrs. Byemba, crossed the country sharing the mission and message of New Hope Initiative with churches and other organizations.
The dynamic presentation centered on the Arusha medical center and the riveting story of the Byemba family’s sojourn from the Congo to Tanzania. Ten churches and many other smaller venues across the country heard their inspirational story. This tour brought a much higher level of recognition and interest to the ministry of NHI and was fruitful in producing specific help for the incredible work being done by our medical center in Arusha, Tanzania.
We are putting the finishing touches on an exciting and extensive remodeling project at our medical clinic in Arusha, Tanzania. The new wing will more than double the space of the facility and make it more effective for us as our patient base continues to expand. The new two-story wing will host all of our imaging services (x-ray and ultrasound), a new receptionist office, and a waiting area that will greatly improve crowd flow in the facility.
We will have an entire floor upstairs that will be set aside for future development. The new facility should be fully operational in the coming weeks and will not only improve the effectiveness of our center but also raise the visibility of our presence in the greater Arusha area. We are still in need of about $25,000 to finish the project so please be praying with us that these funds will be available shortly.
Irene has lived her entire 12 years in a small village in northern Tanzania. Her community is rurally poor, however her family provides a loving and happy environment for young Irene. When her health began to rapidly decline in June, the tranquility of Irene's family shattered. Her mother took her to a local clinic, but their lack of expertise and her family's financial situation prevented her from receiving the required treatment. As Irene's strength continued to fade, her mother became increasingly desperate, fearing for her little girl's life. She made the decision to try a clinic 2.5 hours away in Arusha where, according to the talk, the facilities and staff were excellent and where you could be treated even if your financial resources were meager. Irene and her mom took the arduous bus journey, made even more difficult by her severely weakened condition. They arrived at New Hope Initiative’s Clinic in the Olorien neighborhood of Arusha, where she saw Dr. Byemba and his staff immediately. Following in-house blood work, she was diagnosed with malaria, a urinary tract infection, an amoeba, and an umbilical hernia. The staff gave her mother all the necessary medications and, for the first time in weeks, Irene’s mom was finally confident that her daughter would recover.
Little Irene’s dramatic story was 1 of 134 similar stories that day, of hopeless people receiving a healing touch from the amazing staff of New Hope Initiative’s Medical Clinic. Thank you, ministry partners, for saving little Irene and for making the ending of this difficult story a happy one.
By Sandy Baird - Director of New Hope Initiative