Today at TAFCOM we went on some home visits. We visited three families infected with or affected by AIDS, and asked about their health, happiness, and any new events in their lives. We gave each family a small bag of rice, for which they were all incredibly grateful. The clients live in a village called Pasua outside of Moshi. The homes are mud huts with no windows or doors (just holes), and holes in the roofs. Most families only have a few plastic buckets to their names, and some have beds. All of the homes I saw were one-room buildings, and some families are as large as 8+ people. The poverty was extreme, but not surprising. I guess I’ve been a bit desensitized from TV etc.
My favorite visit was to a woman named Veronica, possibly the oldest person in the Moshi area. Veronica has AIDS and is eligible to receive AVG medicine from the government for free. Her biggest problem is that she can’t afford food, and without food the medicine is poison to your body. She has asthma and shares an inhaler with a neighbor, and has many other illness that she cannot afford to treat. She is bone-skinny and incredibly frail. She is caring for her two young grandchildren, because their mothers are unable to care for them or died from AIDS. What is most incredible to me about Veronica and the others we visited is that even though they are some of the world’s poorest people they are always incredibly kind and welcoming, and joke and laugh with you. They acknowledge their suffering but don’t dwell on it, and they try to continue on with their lives the best that they can. I find it both deeply inspiring and embarrassing, when I think about the things I complain about at home.
When we returned to the TAFCOM office after our visits it became apparent that there isn’t much for Mike or I to do while we are here. TAFCOM’s biggest needs are for fundraisers and grant writing, which are large scale projects we couldn’t possibly complete in less than 10 days at the office. Volunteers at TAFCOM most often work at the Children’s Center, but it is closed for the holidays. I am considering asking CCS to switch placements, so I can go somewhere where I feel productive. My hesitation is that I feel guilty about asking to leave an organization I was sent to because it needs help.
At lunch today it got really windy and the sky turned a reddish-brown. It lasted a few minutes and then the sky opened and dumped the most rain I’ve ever seen.