September Update
Hello everyone. If you are wondering how the above picture fits into our newsletter, continue reading.
We have some exciting news. Our 12 third year students at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center in Moshi have graduated and they have taken their National Exams in late August. They are now waiting for the results which come out in November. Most of the girls have gone home to their villages to be with family.
More exciting news!!! Julia Shao, one of our sponsored students who graduated in August, has come for a three month visit to the U.S. This was made possible by a private donation made for this purpose. She will be staying with us, Linda and Tony van Werkhoovens in Blandford, MA. She came Sept. 4 and will be with us until Dec. 9th. She is currently doing a six-week internship at the Hilltown Community Health Centers in Worthington and Huntington, MA. Her stay here will include many interesting and varied healthcare-related experiences. A lot of people have stepped forward to insure she will never be bored. Next month Julia will write to you and tell you of some of her experiences. She is a lovely young woman who is bright, cheerful and a lot of fun. She has had no trouble fitting in where ever she goes. We will be having two fundraisers while she is here– a brunch on October. 19th in W. Stockbridge, MA. and a dinner Nov. 2 in Blandford, MA. We hope that some of you will be
able to attend one of these gatherings and meet Julia. For any information on the fundraisers please contact Wendy Tryon at 413-528-4058 (tel:413-528-4058) . If you are not able to attend either, but are in the Blandford area and want to say hello to Julia, please feel free to call Linda at 413-848-2773 (tel:413-848-2773) .
I thought I would give you some idea of who our friend Julia is:
Julia completed both the Ordinary Level and subsequently Advanced Level of secondary education in Dar es Salaam. In Tanzania, Primary level is 7 years, Ordinary level is 4 years, Advanced level is 2 years. According to a recent study, less than 0.5% of females from rural areas and lowest quintile economic status complete the Advanced level education.
Julia completed her three-year program at the School of Nursing at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center the summer of 2013. She has taken her national examinations in the last half of August, 2013. When she passes her national examinations, she will be a Registered Nurse and Registered Midwife. During the 2011/12 school she was “Deputy Secretary” and during the 2012/13 school year she was the equivalent of student body president.
Julia was excited to receive our invitation to come to the United States. Arranging all the details of this visit has taken place over about nine months. Getting a passport and visa was quite an undertaking. We weren’t certain whether she would be issued a visa to the U.S. but all went well and here she is. We are all enjoying her and hope she is enjoying us. We celebrated her birthday with friends and sang many Happy Birthdays throughout the day. She laughed and smiled and seemed to enjoy herself. For her birthday on October 2, we invited friends for a pizza party at a local Italian restaurant with a surprise birthday cake for dessert
A few pictures of the event follow:
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And now to hear from some of our other students.
A third-year student at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center:
Helo friends
how are u there.its my hope that your doing fine.Am in holiday since
September 9.i will be in holday for six weeks.Am at moshi with my
family and i thanks God we both doing fine.and my beloved mother,she
is doing fine.she ask me to thanks you both there for your help and
may God bless forever.Here at home am try to educate community about
health,and what i can see they understand what i told them.i was try
to give heath education about using mosquitoes net an family
planning.becouse most of people are not educated.They understand well
and take an action.
And also i try to visit mawenzi hospital for learning at lobour ward,i
learn a lot and i want want to conduct delivery.i thank God i did what
i nee.next month from 20october i will finish my holiday,so i will be
back at college
Be blassed friend.
A student going into her third year in Tukuyu Nursing School:
I hope your doing fine. !am doing good and continue well with my studies!
Now am at female Ward in Tukuyu hospital and met with magreth who been hospitalized due to jaundice for the long time before coming there she was living at dar es salaam Big city in Tanzania but when she was bad progress her relative decide to take her in Mbeya !her condition was not good because she was unable to talk, walk and doing anything in my duty I feed her,change the position in order to prevent pressure sore,also I give her passive exercises,and given her proscribed drugs, also the doctor order to do DITC for checking HIV/AIDS and the result was positive but the second day she was already died!I was very sad to listen that report but no way!
Also next month we start the semistar examinations so am in preparation on that!
I would like to say thanks to you Guy for helping me until this time may God bless you all.Amen
A student in her second year at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center:
MONTHLY REPORT
In our block study we learnt many things, also we have been doing continuous assessment test, among the things we learnt are,
· Management of patient with burn injury.
· Neurological disorders
· Disorders of female reproductive system
· Management of patient with poison
And others, also we have been rotating Medical ICU where serious patients with medical condition are admitted, in this ward the most serious condition was Tetanus where among Our patients four had tetanus and one had cerebral Malaria and one had Un Controlled Diabetic mellitus.
I was so interested with tetanus because i never seen before such patients, these patients get recurrent spasms with accumulation of secretion in throat which obstruct airway. Tetanus is a systemic infection caused by anaerobic bacteria (clostridium Tetani ) characterised by painful spasm of muscle.
The source of infection is soil, dust and faeces, bacteria penetrate to the body through contaminated wound. Surgical treatment of wound and dressing help to prevent risk of infection also Tetanus toxoid injection as prophylactic of infection.
Patient may present with signs and symptoms like fever, muscle spasm and difficulty in breathing which may need intubation and ventilator for supply of air as the disease obstruct airway which cause to be known as lock jaw.
NURSING CARE OF THIS PATIENT
· Control spasm
· Maintain clear airway (suction when necessary)
· Care as serious patient
We have been managing these patients by administering medication to control spasm, Diazepam, chlorpromazine, phenobarbitone, eliminating poison by giving antibiotic therapy to eradicate bacteria (metronidazole), neutralization of circulatory with Human tetanus immunoglobulin.
Our patients progress well.
THANK YOU.
Here is a report from a third year student in Tukuyu, who will graduate in March 2014:
Hellow my friend ! How are you? For my self am doing well and continue
with studies. I have been rotate in out patient departiment for two
weeks. In out patients department we learnt a lot of things that
discovering such as how to fill Information Management of Health
System (MTUHA).There are a programme that pregnant woman should be get
health care if they have form of National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
Without these form no one can get health care.There fore each
pregnant woman if she come to the first visit of antenatal clinic,
nurse you are responsible to provide that form.Nurse you are required
for fullfil the form that are required for pregnant woman to have
Intermittent Treated Net.Pregnant woman should take form that filled
by nurse and should have TZ shs 500/= to be paid to the shop that
have that programme of promoshen for pregnant woman and child for
purpose of prevention of Malaria.
Another thing we learnt how to provide vaccination to under five
children.There are the vaccination that discovering now such as
pneumococcal (PCV13) used for prevention of pneumonia,Rotax is the
prevention of diarrhoea.Pneumonia (PVC13) are injection 0.5mls
intramuscular on the right thigh should start given to the child have
six weeks first dose ,second dose to ten weeks and the third dose to
fourteen as the last dose .And also Rotax given to child have weeks
as a first dose orally1.5mls and seconda dose ten weeks as the last
dose.On16 September,2013 we started examination practical and theory
(written) up to 27 September 2013.The holiday we take one month,we
plan during holiday to practice on the hospital at Morogoro
_Ifakara.We thank very much for school fees and pocket money have
already get information by the principa tell us about that.Our thanks
can not be counted,but all God know, wish all the best and for your
activities
A final note, I am looking forward to sharing with you next month Julia’s experiences at the Hilltown Health Center (in Western MA), the nursing program at Capital Community College (Hartford) and other regional healthcare facilities.
Thanking you for your continued support,
Linda van Werkhooven, President
Tanzania Nursing Scholarship Program, Inc.