Formerly Minnesota International Health Volunteers

Improving the health of women, children and their communities around the world.

The primary objective of this NGO (Non-government organization) in Karatu is to increase survival of mothers and children. This is accomplished by educating the community about the top three “killers”: 1) Malaria; 2) Pneumonia; and 3) Diarrhea; what symptoms to look for, when to go to the doctor, and prevention, such as hand-washing. WellShare-Tz also trains Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) from the villages within the district of Karatu the proper procedures for clean and safe labour and delivery. WellShare-Tz has many other side projects and works with other NGOs; all with the goal to help the community.

 

During my six weeks with WellShare-Tz, I went out into the “field”, to the village of Endabash to help participate with TBA training, which was held as a classroom style learning. These women arrived everyday, often traveling long distances by foot to sit in an unairconditioned classroom for 7 hours/day, because they wanted to learn; you could really tell how much these women cared for their community. Their livelihood is based on donations from the women they care for and oftentimes, the TBAs wind up giving their patients things like food and a clean cloth to wrap the baby in. We also went to surrounding villages and met with the village elders to ask how the TBAs are doing within the community and what kind of support is needed. While in the field, I had the opportunity to go to the monthly market day.  WellShare-Tz took advantage of having a large audience, by arranging a local dance and acting troupe to come perform and educate the community about malaria, pneumonia, and diarrheal diseases.


As a personal project, I worked with the group UMATU, which is organized by CPAR (a Canadian NGO) and run by HIV positive ladies. These ladies work with the community to educate about HIV and AIDS; speaking about prevention, and try to dispel myths and alleviate fears about the disease. Eventhough the local  people are more educated about HIV/AIDS, there is still a large stigma placed on these women; which makes it hard for them to maintain a form of income. I used my creative and handiwork skills to teach these women how to sew, do patchwork, and do hand beading/weaving. Additionally, I organized a system for the ladies to collect scraps of fabric from the local tailors, which are usually sizeable and would normally be burned. This allowed the women to receive fabric for free versus paying 10,000 Tsh for a large piece of nice fabric. I felt really happy that I could take a hobby of mine and teach someone so that they had a means to live. I kept thinking about the saying, “give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, but teach him to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” I worried that my teaching would fall to the wayside when I left for India, but when I came back two and a half months later, I learned that my ladies continued to bead and sew and made many items, which were taken to Canada and sold. One of my proudest moments in my life.

 
This was an amazing opportunity for me. I learned so much about Tanzanian healthcare, culture, language, and people. I have made some very good and lifelong friends. Most importantly, I learned a lot about myself and how much I really had to give.