Joelle spending time with one of her patients during her trip in 2008.
Watch this inspiring two-minute video on youtube showing some of Joelle Rosser’s work in Shimbwe, Tanzania in 2008.
Background:
“During my previous trip in 2008, I was Program Manager for the Health Department of a local women’s group called Minjeni. With the help of several Tanzanian and foreign volunteers, our department conducted an enormous survey of the 1340 households in a village outside of Moshi Town. This village, called Shimbwe, is located on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, which means that it is absolutely beautiful (it’s like a magical forest) and very difficult to hike through during the rainy season. I absolutely loved my time spent in Shimbwe. We also started some educational seminars, advocating for patients with special cases, and documenting all the people who need individualized medical attention.
During my trip in 2009, I am hoping to use the information from the survey and partner with other medical organizations to improve and expand the educational seminars (for local nurses and for community members), provide more services for certain types of medical problems, and improve medical access.
One of the most upsetting cases I encountered while volunteering in 2008 was a mother (Zita) and child (Amani). The mother, suffering from severe peripheral neuropathy, was completely unable to walk. Her infant’s long bones were curved and thickened at the joints. I asked a visiting American physician to help me further investigate the problem and confirmed my suspicions that the child had rickets and the mother was suffering from severe vitamin deficiencies. Her hospital records show that she stayed at the regional hospital for 6 months during pregnancy, diagnosed with “hysterical ataxia.” No one noted that she vomited everything she ate while pregnant or that she had symptoms of peptic ulcer disease. After delivery, she was simply told to return home where, unable to walk and abandoned by her husband, she relied on neighbors to give her one meal a day of corn meal or banana porridge. I still cannot completely understand what it feels like to have such poor access to quality healthcare, to have so little familial support, and to not even be able to walk or feed my baby. However, as I uncovered each layer of misfortune, I gained a little more insight into what it means to be truly disempowered. I strongly believe that health is the most basic human freedom: it enables one to study, work, care for a family, fight an oppressor, and build a community. Zita and Amani are to me a symbol of our struggle towards that freedom."
February 2009:
“I experienced a moment of pure joy today – a moment that has made absolutely everything worthwhile. I went to visit Zita and Baby Amani today and I found both of them WALKING! Zita still has some numbness and weakness in her legs, and Baby Amani clings to the side of the wall, but nonetheless they are both walking.
The last time I saw them was several months ago. Loading them up with a supply of vitamin supplements and leaving instructions to follow up on nutritional supplements, I left for the U.S. Now, several months later, I see Zita, who has just returned from the fields where she is able to make a small living for herself and her son. I am just so overjoyed to find that they are doing so well. I’m also quite proud to be a part of their recovery.”