{Above is an audio recording I made of this blog post for those who prefer listening in. But for the guys like me who like the traditional option of practically reading, do proceed. :) }Â
I love mandazi. Especially mandazi that has cardamon in it. So divine!
“Wait a minute Mueni. Doesn’t the title of this blogpost say this is supposed to be about creativity and Christianity? But we are talking about mandazi...hmmm… â€
Guys, isn't this my story to tell ? Just relax, I' m getting there. :)Â
Haha, anyway… once a month, my church serves tea and mandazi to all congregants after service. I never thought I’d be the kind of person that looks forward to tea, but boy don’t I look forward to those Sundays! I get to fellowship with friends and family.... aaannd eat mandazi that has cardamon in it. ;)
Okay okay, you get it…cardamon mandazi is great. The best actually! And you will never take plain mandazi again after I've shared that secret with you. :P Fine, I’ll move on with the story.
So one Sunday, my aunt and I were having a conversation after service over tea and mandazi. I barely remember what the rest of it was about, but this part stood out the most.
She asked something on the lines of...
 “Joy,are you a creative?"
I paused for a moment.
“Me? A creative? â€
I asked, reflectively.
“Ah…why am I even asking, music, spoken word…yeah, you definitely are one…â€
She concluded rather quickly, and moved on to catch up with her friend who had come to say hello.
I stood there, wondering where all this had randomly come from and after they were done, I asked, “Aunty, what did you mean by a 'creative’?â€
“Well, as I said, your music, spoken word…all that creative stuff…that's what makes you a creative.†she responded.
I don’t remember how the conversation went on after that but it left me with many questions; does my medical school life then, fit into her definition of me as a ‘creative’?  Do my scientific ambitions assert or nullify ‘creativity’? Are scientists creatives? Can they be? In fact, who is a creative in the first place?
Whoa...questions overload!
Don't worry, we'll walk through them together, but before that, I'd like you to imagine this;
You meet someone for the first time and this is how they introduce themselves;
“Hi, my name is ___(so and so)_____ and I am a creative.â€
What are the first thoughts that come to your mind about what they could be doing as creatives? Were they any of the following?
(Please make a mental note of them before you proceed.)
So, did you think of;
Musician.
Poet.
Artist.
In our day and age, Social Media content creator…
Perhaps they even have a YouTube channooooo . :D
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Well, suppose you engage them further on that.
“Oh cool...so what do you do as a creative? "
Then they answer,
“I’m a scientist.â€
Pause. Did your mind just struggle joining those two dots? Scientist-Creative...Creative scientists…huh?
Well, this then is the series for you. #ARTWEEK #BothSidesOfTheDivide #IAmCreative #WeAllAre
This week, we will try to understand these four aspects and how they are intertwined; art, science, creativity and Christianity.
As I introduce the series, I’ll start by making a very bold claim.
You are creative. Yes, YOU!Â
In fact, we all are creative. Regardless of what we do.
But first let me share interesting nuggets I gathered in my search for answers;
“Because we image God, each one of us is born inherently creative.â€
-Hannah Varamini
“One way of thinking about the way we have distanced ourselves from creativity is this: we have lost sight of our creativity’s source. As creatures made in God’s image, we are designed by God to be like God, and this means we’re designed to create, not peripherally but as part of our fundamental nature. In other words, in the beginning, we are each given, as part of the warranty of being human, a harmonic calling, the melody of a set of good things to do with our lives. As an image or representation of God, when we create, we reflect the character of God and the glory of God. Our God-given creative passion is our unique art and the source of our fulfillment. Each of us is made to be God’s cocreator. And, as with any creative process, the work draws the workers together. When we create, we move closer to God; conversely, when we merely consume, we move further from God. To call someone, or yourself, uncreative is simply untrue. Our creativity problem is not that we don’t have this supernatural power within us. It’s that we have lost track of it. It’s latent. (emphasis mine)â€
-Len Wilson (Author of Think Like a 5 year Old- Reclaim you wonder and create great things)
The Bible itself is a work of art. From beginning to end, we are told the story of The Creator and His creation in parable, poetry and many more literary styles. Its genesis? Chapter 1 verse 1, “In the beginning , God created the heavens and the earth.†The first attribute we see of God in the Word, is Him as a creator.
Up to today, we marvel at His creation. I personally am enthralled by the majesty of creation seen in the human body. I am amazed at how every detail was worked out in such a way that we as scientists are always learning more and more about the body system. Doing more research, down to the molecular level to see how the body works. And then engineers, innovators and medics relate where man-made objects can be likened to body features. The eye as a camera. The heart as a pump. The joints as levers. The nose as a filter. The skin as protective armor. And so on.
And now, 3D printing in medical technology enables us to print organs and living tissues. New steps are being applied each day to making things better and better.
Each day, someone creates . The definition I’ll use for create is; bring something into existence. What once was not ,now is, just as was done by God in the beginning. But now, He does it through human beings. Just as God continues to show Himself as merciful and kind, He continues to create. Only that He uses people to do that. Us, His co-creators.
“How many are your works, Lord. In wisdom you made them all, the world is full of your creatures." Psalm 104:24 (NIV)
Unfortunately, we don’t really believe that. We don’t see ourselves as conduits of God’s creativity. So the glory of all our daily creative work isn’t channeled to the rightful Owner. Most times, we end up taking the glory for it.
This week, I have partnered with fellow scientist-creatives, to tell the story of how God is using them as vessels of creativity, in the fields of science and art. I particularly chose these two as they are both dear to me and I'm glad God led me to some amazing people who are shining their light in both areas concurrently! We may not focus on the art of music as much (God willingly, I’ll address this in a subsequent music-specific series) but I pray that each day, as you read their testimonies, God will use this to affirm to you that indeed, you are creative. I pray that in this realization, you will listen in to how He wants you to bring Him glory in every single thing you do and all that you create.
Do you have any expectations, opinions or questions about this topic? Have you also felt like you are on #BothSidesOfTheDivide? Do share in the comments section. I'd love to hear what you have to say!
I can't wait to share the stories from tomorrow. Every morning at 9 am sharp. Monday through Saturday!
Soli deo Gloria
(Photo credits; Deno Kim, Sammy and Alice W. |Â Featuring Julles and Mary G.)
PS- For the book lovers, here are links to 2 book suggestions I came across on this topic:
Think Like a Five Year Old- Len Wilson
The Imagination of God: Art, Creativity and Truth in the Bible
I never thought I’d have to write a post like this. Yes, I know death exists but never did I think I would have to write a tribute in honor of… or plan a funeral for someone so dear to me…or face the reality that she’s no longer here with us. Here, I’d mentioned how terrifying the thought was to have someone I know wheeled into a hospital I’d work at. How about one of my close friends dying? As C.S.Lewis says in his book A Grief Observed "Her absence is like the sky, spread over everything."
The evening I received the news is still such a blur to me. From moments of hope for a miracle of resurrection. My faith wasn’t as small as a mustard seed any more. I vehemently prayed, “God, I know you can create red blood cells in seconds, deliver oxygen…your life-giving breath…anything… please just have her wake up… for your glory to be seen and for people to believe. Tell me she’s just asleep Lord!†To moments of deep grief as I started calling friends; being the bearer of bad news that I didn’t even want to believe in. Receiving their questions while I was yet processing it all. Trying to be a comforting voice to them, while drowning in my own sorrows.
The first person I told was my mother.
“Mum, Cindy Wakio has passed away.â€
And at that moment I burst out into tears. My deep groans drowned the echoing of those words in my head. That was good, because I was in utter shock and disbelief. Didn’t I just talk to her the other day? Not Cindinyo.. No, no, no!
“We were promised sufferings. They were part of the program. We were even told, 'Blessed are they that mourn,' and I accept it. I've got nothing that I hadn't bargained for. Of course it is different when the thing happens to oneself, not to others, and in reality, not imagination." C.S. Lewis
But with each number I dialed, it became more real. Distance didn’t help either and I bet I pestered those in Nairobi, calling after every few minutes to find out if anything had happened. I barely slept. Early the next morning, I took a walk on the beach, asking God many questions. I uttered His promises that seemed so dim in light of what had happened.
Sunrise.
As sure as the dawn is your love for us.
Wave upon wave.
He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.
Where was He when she was ailing? Was He really aware of how this would affect so many people? Did He know how many plans we had together?
Yet two things continually resounded in my mind, amidst the prayers and tears.
One, the sovereignty of God.
Second, the assurance that she is with Christ since she was a believer.
"Oh the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgements, how untraceable His paths.
Who knows the mind of our God? Or who can bring counsel to Him?
Who has ever given to God that God should repay?
For from Him, through Him and to Him is everything.
To God be the glory forever and ever."
Romans 11:33-36 (NIV)
Hadn’t Cindy lived her life in anticipation of being with her Saviour one day? Wasn’t her absence in the body a surety of her now presence with God? In fact I should be elated for her.
“Yaani Cindinyo you got to see Him before me! Anakaa aje? (How does He look?) Nibookie space kwa mansion! (Please book a space for me in the mansion)â€
Losing our loved ones doesn’t happen to us so that we are punished or so that somehow we can now live out our purposes because we are scared that we too may go any time soon. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Our individual call and purposes were set out before the beginning of time. This death did not take God by surprise. In fact, it sounds almost crazy to say, but He saw it coming. And He didn’t stop it. For a reason. A good one.
Thank you God for you are sovereign and you are good. All the time, you are good. Time will not heal my pain of losing my beloved friend, but you will. Thank you that each time I remember her, it serves as a reminder to me that this world is not home. That I should fix my eyes on the eternal prize. For to live is Christ and to die is gain. Even here, it is well.
Here is a song tribute I did with some friends of mine from BSF(Bible Study Fellowship) for Cindy and those who lost their loved ones in the FlySax plane accident. ( I would love it if you shared it with others, that they too may choose to trust and praise God even when they don't understand what's going on around them.)
Lastly, there’s a new segment on this website called Taste and See that I am unveiling soon. It is greatly inspired by and dedicated to Cindy. Read how and why here.Â
Last but not least in the #WhileIwasaway series comes what I enjoyed the most. NEW CULTURE! AIESEC Global Volunteer is a cross-cultural experience for youth who want to gain personal development and leave an impact on the world. There's nothing quite like being in a brand new country, living and volunteering with people from all around. I can really attest to that.
Although Tanzania is just our next door neighbor, there are elements of new culture I experienced while there. Perhaps the different vocabulary; apparently the word ‘stima’ that Kenyans use to mean electricity doesn’t exist in Kiswahili. Its ‘umeme’ guys! But catch a Kenyan saying ‘Umeme umepotea.’ Haha! Rarely so.
Another thing that was new is the greeting culture. People greet each other courteously on the streets, whether or not they know each other. I’m told the same happens in Coastal Kenya but that was definitely new for the Nairobi-bred me. There’s one particular lady who lived a few houses away from us& sold chapati at her verandah every morning. I had no problem greeting her at first occurrence each day, but she insisted that we should greet her each time we passed by her home. Shikamoo more than 5 times a day? To the same person? That was new! But I finally got the hang of it with time since “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.â€
AIESEC Mzumbe organized a Global Village event where we could all showcase our culture. It was an amazing experience!
Laura's holding bubble tea, a famous Taiwanese drink ( Tony made this for us to taste one day prior to Global Village)Makini&I winnowing the maize and beans with an uteo. We were making Muthokoi, a Kamba meal similar to githeri. (Githeri uses whole maize while Muthokoi uses maize without husks)Maggie and I singing Amenifanyia amani by Paul ClementMakini shows them how Kenyan men dance
Our Muthokoi was a hit! #TeamKenyaJoy and laughter as we are taught how to dance to the TZ local song; Bertha, Nangi, Lightness and Gervas (in pic)
Maggie took this splendid photo of Jackie, the current AIESEC Mzumbe LCKenyan queen, Laura AdhiamboDancing to a Taiwanese traditional chant
Learning about Taiwan from Jason, Maggie and Tony was lovely too. First, the English names I have been using to refer to them are just nicknames. Can you imagine? They give themselves these names to avoid the trouble of having to make others pronounce their Chinese names; though I challenged myself to calling them by those names over time and finally got it! And yes, I say Chinese because the languages spoken in Taiwan are both Chinese and the native Taiwanese language (which is mostly spoken by the older generation.) In the hiking video here, Jason taught me the Chinese word for waterfall pu - 瀑 - pù...which was very funny because that word means something quite different in Kiswahili!
If you are wondering where Taiwan is, it is a small island right next to China. Its capital city is Taipei. And guys, I finally got to learn how to tell Asians apart! Haha, well, to a certain degree. They told me of the cultural differences between Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese and Koreans. Not only by their looks, but also by how they write out their language. Trust me, it’s similar but it’s not all the same!
Remember how I said here that we had taught them how to sing in Kiswahili? Well, I learnt how to sing a Taiwanese welcome song as well. Don’t laugh, it was among my first tries.
Closer home, Serge from Rwanda taught me some Kinyarwanda. I don’t know why I had always assumed that all of Rwanda is French speaking until he told me that they have Anglophone and Francophone regions. I also realized that Kinyarwanda is somewhat similar to Kiswahili; perhaps due to the similar Bantu roots.
So you now how in Kenya if someone calls you "Wee nani" it sounds so rude? Apparently, in Rwanda, it's the total opposite. Serge would call me "Wee Joy Muli" with good intentions, but up until he explained that it is a respectful way of referring to someone in his country, I thought he was being rude! Haha...
Mozambique! Did you know that they speak Portuguese? 'Te amor Senor'. That means 'I love you my Lord.' Sounds amazing huh? Leila was my partner when it came to composing songs as I had narrated here. We had lyrics in Chagana (one of the native Mozambican languages), English, Kiswahili and Portuguese. International music… don’ mess!
Let me tell you guys something random about me. I support Manchester United Football club. “Okay, Joy. How is that even related to what we’re talking about in Mozambique?" Well, remember Christiano Ronaldo? Hehe! I liked how he played (ahem) and that’s kinda how I became a ManU fan. So honestly, he’s the one person that comes to mind whenever I think of Portugal. Random huh? (shout out to the real football fans unlike myself; my brothers and close friends like KB. ) But let me challenge you since you’re probably out there judging me. How many former Portuguese colonies can you name? Mozambique…Angola…are you blank? Haha! At least I'm not alone. So don't judge me with my Mozambique-Portugal -football correlation.Â
Anyway, another thing I admired about Tanzanians was their unity. Despite having so many tribes, they identify themselves by what region they come from. Each time I asked, “Where are you from?†I’d get answers like “I’m from Mwanza…From Moshi…From Iringaâ€. Rarely did they go by their tribes. Not that they don’t ascribe to a particular tribe, but it isn’t a huge point of differentiation, conflict or a matter to lord over others. This I admire, and hope for the same to happen back home one day. I also got to know tad bits about Ghana, Nigeria, Poland...there was such great cultural diversity within the AIESEC community!
(Photo credits to Maggie, Dennis Damian &Isaac)
There you have it. That’s it for the #WhileIwasaway series.  Hope you enjoyed it and learnt a thing or two from my narration about this journey that God purposely set out for me.Â
I’m one person who believes that I never meet new people by accident. Everyone who crosses my path, does so for a reason. Makini was the only friend I knew when I went to Mzumbe but he wasn’t the only one I left with. I loved the fact that we were all from different backgrounds, which made it so much more interesting. The house was always filled with energy of some sort; from teaching each other how to dance and sing cultural songs, to having deep conversations about life (apparently some day we were talking about marriage and I dozed off on the living room couch. They say {to be confirmed} that I was still contributing to the convo while asleep. Goodness me! I don’t even usually sleep talk….so it’s my word against theirs. Haha! )
As life has it, we had our share of ups and downs. But conflicts were resolved and happy moments celebrated. I’ve picked the most memorable of those to share. So here it goes.
Cooking-
''Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly! '' M.F.K.Fisher sure wasn’t wrong about that. The kitchen is where we all met to make mandazi, cake, bubble tea, muthokoi and Mozambican badjia together. Boy wasn’t it fun!Making Chinese stir fry for lunch
Did you notice our makeshift rolling pin? I bet you didn't, so watch it again and see the solution oriented people we were right there! Oh yeah! Lift your hands in the air! Like you don't care! (I just wanted to rhyme! Hehe!)
2. Milk thief scenario-
Speaking of food…I love milk. So for the first few days, I was sad because the only milk we could find was store-bought milk that was so expensive! Thank God we eventually were directed to a nearby homestead where they sold it quite cheaply. This was yet another task that we did together; each with his/her own bottle, walking the path together to go buy milk. One unfortunate day, we had bought milk and I offered to boil it for everyone, so that it wouldn't go bad quickly. I did so & poured the milk back into each person's designated and marked milk bottle. Lo and behold! A few hours later, Serge wanted to drink his milk but found most of it gone. In fact, he only found a quarter liter left! Yet he had bought 1 entire litre. Who had stolen the milk? Watch the video Maggie, our media correspondent on the ground made, to find out!
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Church-
It was so lovely going to church and experiencing the fellowship there. The service was filled with lovely song and dance!
Entertainment :Dancing, singing, watching movies-
As I’ve said the house was constantly booming music. From Taiwanese songs (to which we sung along despite not knowing how to pronounce the words right) to learning how to move our waists gracefully in Mozambican dance. Moving to the beat together was definitely a favorite pastime. Leila and I actually bonded so much through composing songs with a guitar we'd borrowed (I know how to play only 5 chords, but those sufficed!). We were even able to teach Maggie, Jason and Tony a song in Kiswahili! They did a perfectly good job at it btw!
Â
Accident-
This was the lowlight of the entire trip. Jason was hit by a motorcycle on his way back home from lunch at the university. You can imagine the horror on my face as he was brought in unconscious&profusely bleeding, to the emergency room at the health centre. I hope I never have to see someone I know brought into the hospital I'm at in such a state. Especially because he lost his memory temporarily. It hit me most when he asked me what my name was as we rode with him in the ambulance.Â
For an entire week, we stood by him until he got full recovery. Dr. Lillian was great help through this process. She cared for him even as he was admitted at the Regional hospital. And didn’t I also see great solidarity from the guys amongst us. Makini, Tony and Michael slept with Jason at the hospital and took great care of him. Serge then became Jason’s personal bodyguard anywhere they went together. As ladies, we ensured he ate well and took him for dressing too. Eventually, God did make it all work for good.
In the special ward where Jason sleptJason skyping back home while at the hospitalThe brave and kind men who stayed with Jason at the hospitalGoofing away with Maggie at the hospital while keeping Jason company
“Every new friend is a new adventure…the start of more memories.â€
~ Patrick Lindsay
More sweet memories...
Here is what I was telling you guys about us dancing!
Plus these pictures are worth a thousand words!
Maggie, the ball of energy :)Chacha (TZ) and our diva, Laura (fellow Kenyan)Jason, Tony and I on Furahiday!Ken CTA, Laura and I
Now that's enough photos lest this post becomes a photo album! See you tomorrow for some exciting things I learnt from my international friends! ;)Â
I had never been away from home for this long. More so, alone. Never been away on my birthday. Never travelled alone. So this trip was literally a jump of faith and I thank God for making every day worth it.
At the beginning of this year when everyone was declaring their resolutions, I somewhat resented it all. Wasn’t new years day a day like any other? Why the hype? Scrolling through people's Instagram posts one after another, each with a caption about new chances, new beginnings… Yet there I was, still waiting to hear from Him about so many things in my life. Waiting. All I knew is that I needed to surrender it all to Him. I’d have to leave my concerns & burdens at the foot of the cross and not come back, to pick them up again. I would need to mean it every time I sung ‘I surrender all’.
This was real sanctification guys. My goodness I’m such a perfectionist. I plan for everything. And I mean everything! And most times I’d present my plans to God, rather than asking Him what His plan for me was and following through with that. You see;
Perfectionism is just a high-end couture version of fear…just fear in fancy shoes and a mink coat, pretending to be elegant when actually it’s just terrified. ~Elizabeth Gilbert.
So letting it all go into His hands wasn’t so easy. Letting Him plan my holiday rather than strategize my way through the months. Choosing to be still (Exodus 14:14) in the midst of conflict rather than (in my younger brother's words), ‘finesse my way’ through arguments. Cycles of anxiety over the unknown and worry over what is to come. Such cycles needed to be broken.
Did I see it coming in the way it did? No.
I’ve been asked countless times, “Why Mzumbe?†“Why Tanzania?†“6weeks! That’s so long!â€
All I can say, God needed me there to break some cycles.
Cycles of worry.
Cycles of fear.
Of self-reliance.
Of perfectionism.
Of too much planning. (A huge struggle I'm overcoming)
Before I left, I knew among the things I was going to miss was the sermon series we were doing at my church based on the book ‘Unstuck’ by Mark Jobe; ‘Out of the cave and into your purpose’. It’s based on 1 Kings 19, the story of Elijah. Seeing a great prophet like him get spiritually stuck immediately after such a magnificent feat against the prophets of Baal at Mt. Horeb is what most amazed me. Had he not just witnessed fire come down from the heavens and consumed a soaking wet sacrifice? However, after a loss of perspective and depressive feelings engulfing him, we see a man who isolates himself in a cave, hoping to die. Stuck. Can you believe it? Among the greatest prophets having suicidal thoughts.
Before you judge Elijah, just remember that everyone gets stuck at one point or another. You too, whether you admit it or not. How often do we hide in the caves, unwilling to confront our sin because it seems to have such a tight grip over our lives?
We’ve stalled on the roadside of our faith and refused to call for a rescue car; we don’t want anyone to see us while we are such a wreck.
My heart cries out each time I see a case of substance abuse. I may be able to diagnose it clinically in the hospital but I know that most of the time, taking drugs is fueled by unresolved matters in one’s life. Feeling of lack of belonging. Family conflict. Stress. Whatever it is, each time the matter arises, we run to our drug and hope that it satisfies us. We are addicted to drugs of self-sustenance& temporary pleasure; making a home in the caves. On and on in the same cycle. We isolate ourselves, throw a pity party over our sorrows, replay all the negative things in our minds like a broken record.
Anyone who knows me knows I love Jonathan McReynold’s music. His most recent album has a song titled  ‘Cycles’ , that’s God-incidentally about the same matter of getting unstuck. Dr. Darwin Jason said (in the comment section of one of Jonathan’s IG posts about the song);
“But see, if God wanted us to face and fight the devil alone, He would have given us our islands of solitude. God expects us to listen and support each other so we can see glory together. However, we cannot accomplish this if we struggle alone and let the devil keep us in our cycles.â€
Nikki Alexander, on the same forum, also said;
“Satan is in his own cycle- he always loses.â€
Can I hear an Amen! Which cycle have you fallen into time and time again? Which cave have you isolated yourself in? Are you willing to get out of it and face the sin that so easily entangles you? Definitely not in your strength, but by the same power that raised Christ from the grave. As crazy as it can be, we still walk in victory, for we live by what we know and not how we feel.
“Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.â€
“Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes.â€
~ 1 Samuel 12:16 (NIV)
Now, Im’ma put this song out there. For those who have ears, listen! I personally have had it on replay as a favorite since the day I got it. All the guys I was with in TZ probably remember me practicing the voice runs for the #Cycleschallenge over and over again!Â
There is power in the name of Jesus to break every cycle. Do you believe that?
See you tomorrow for more from this series. #WhileIwasAway #42daysinTanzaniaÂ
All work and no play makes Jill a dull girl. In my previous posts, I’ve pretty much narrated my professional experience while there but I wore the tourist cap too! We would work till around 2pm at the hospital, so we had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves, as well as the weekends.
What better ways to have fun than explore the outdoors. This trip helped me confirm my love for nature. I’d definitely prefer a date in the wild than wining and dining at restaurants. Though there’s a place for those too. Hehe! :)
Mzumbe University (remember I’d gone for an AIESEC student exchange so that was the university the project was affiliated to) is beautiful. Most students there don’t like the fact that it’s in the rural areas but I kept saying that they are so lucky to have the mountains as their backyard!
Just look at that! The view of Uluguru mountains from Kilimahewa
Kilimahewa is the picnic site within the university compounds that overlooks Uluguru mountains. It felt so surreal. Having a picnic over the sunset was our favorite past-time, as we shared stories and learnt about each other’s culture, especially food. Gervas, a caring friend from AIESEC Mzumbe, brought Sharifu for us. The only way I can describe it is that it looks like a giant samosa. We had some chips mayai that day as well. Delish!
The famous chips mayai (which I tried replicating once I came back home)Gervas, Maggie, Jason and I at our first picnic at KilimahewaJason learning how to traditionally cover himself with a Maasai blanket
At some point, Jason was describing how they cook and eat chicken testicles in Taiwan! I was half bewildered and half bursting out in laughter at the description! :)Â
Picnics were for the dainty days though. Some days we went for the hard stuff. Hiking up Uluguru mountains wasn’t a joke. Here, I’ll let the photos by Maggie and the video that Po Yen (Jason) put together do the talking. Â
Our diva Laura, paving the way'Blanca, Maggie and I before the climbTony was always excited! Here he's eating a jackfruit (fenesi)Waterfall moments with Michael ChachaJason challenged me to a rock piling competition!Can you guess who won?
https://youtu.be/GtCQ-YUen6E
Can't wait for tomorrow's post as I'll be sharing some very personal lessons I learnt during this journey. Soli deo gloria! #WhileIwasAway #42daysinTanzania
Medicine is all about facts and what better proves our days at the hospital than photos! Haha…so here are a few more pictures of us at the hospital.
The amazing staff of Mzumbe health centreHaving breakfast at the students' IDM cafeteria before work. They had the best samosas I've ever tasted!A selfie is always in order :)
While at the hospital, we were alarmed at the large number of cases of teen pregnancies. It was heart breaking to sit in and listen to a father filled with grief, as he explained what led him to bring his teenage daughter to the hospital. He had just come from reporting the case at the police station and needed us to fill in the P3 forms and carry out a pregnancy test. Somehow, along the way I figured that although the father had reported the case to the police as rape, it was actually a consentual act between her and her schoolmate at their boarding school. But to protect his daughter, he reported it as so. The doctor roped me into the conversation to give my advice, seeing as the young girl would have to drop out of school, following regulations that the Tanzanian government had just instated concerning pregnant girls in schools. We gave both the parents and the young girl counselling but it sure did leave me thinking about matters abstinence and sexual purity, even in the presence of pressures of peers and raging hormones.
This led us to then carry out a training at a local high school concerning SDG 3: Good Health& well-being(with a focus on Reproductive health), SDG 13: Climate action and SDG 15: Life on land. It was in partnership with the Environmental club at SUA University, Morogoro. Language barrier was quite interesting as Kiswahili is the national language. Our Taiwanese friends are the ones who had a hard time, though we translated a lot for them. Though I too was nervous at first because it has been a while since I translated some words, especially medical ones, to Kiswahili.
Jason actually learnt so much Kiswahili on this trip he could easily hold a brief conversationMakini teaching on the reproductive systemLaura and Maggie teaching on premature sex and its consequences
Sensitization on environmental conservation
We ladies took the challenge of answering the students' questions
Michael Chacha captured the kids attention with his fluent Kiswahili and charisma
I’d like your input on something though. After the talk, a young man walked up to Chacha and I and shared his heartfelt desire to abstain despite pressures from his peers. In particular, he asked: "Sometimes I get the urge to engage in sex. What should I do at such moments?"
For the first few moments there was silence. I knew at his age, adolescence had just kicked in and hence, his vulnerability to open up was very admirable. We thought for a short while and gave him a few solutions on what he could do. Considering he knew the dangers of pre-marital sex (Tony and I had just done a skit about that, where I'd pretended to be pregnant etc), he needed action points.
Hence why I ask, do you think that the society has made it hard for young people to ask such vulnerable questions? What influence do our beliefs and culture have on the methods used to address this issue? What should we do to reach out to young people, especially concerning sexual purity? What’s the best approach? I have my two-cents but I definitely would love to hear your opinions in the comments.
There are so many more stories concerning medicine, but I’ll share just one more. This one touched me because the mother was a lady my age. It even led me to share on my Insta-stories later that day, especially because it taught me a thing or two about grace. #WhileIwasAway #42daysinTanzania
(Most photos were taken by our lovely photographers: Maggie, Tony and Makini)
PS- I'll be sharing more about my trip tomorrow, not necessarily about hospital/medical related things. So stay tuned. :)
One particular lab technician liked greeting me that way. I kept saying that I was just a student but hey, if he wanted to call me daktari (doctor), no one’s complaining! I volunteered as an AIESEC intern at Mzumbe University Hospital at Morogoro, Tanzania. I was there for 6 weeks doing My Health project where I interned as a medical student and helped out where I could. The hospital serves both the university students and locals.
Makini, Maggie and I at the hospital sign board
Doctor's parking; I found this so funny, because back home this would probably be interpreted in a different way :)
It was a health centre, hence there weren’t as many serious medical cases as I see back at my university, but it was good exposure nonetheless. I mean, I did an Obstetric ultrasound on the first day. Can you imagine! I don’t mean watched… but performed one! I poured the gel onto the patient’s abdomen and all that jazz. (Insert happy dance! ) Though I had no clue of how to measure the fetal head circumference and other measurements needed for the antenatal checkup. But that’s why medicine is an apprenticeship journey. Each day we learn something new from each other.
My favorite part of our journey from the AIESEC house to the hospital each morning was the view of the Uluguru Mountain range in the morning sun. I was in awe each morning and I bet Maggie and Makini wondered how I never failed to marvel at them; “Look at the mountains!†I said, every single day. Also, there was a young girl who lived in a house along the road we used. We nicknamed her ‘Mzungu’ since she always, and I mean always, ran after us (mostly Maggie) shouting “Mzungu! Mzungu!â€
Uluguru mountain range. Isn't it a beauty!
We had various duties at the hospital; we helped out at the laboratory, labour ward, inpatient wards, outpatient clinic and the dispensary. On that note, this is a message to all doctors (and my fellow doctors to be). Kindly write prescriptions in a GOOD handwriting. My goodness! God surely gives grace to all nurses& pharmacists who read prescriptions. I guess by now you can clearly tell that my days on duty at the dispensary weren’t particularly my favorite.
Besides that, talk about half-life of information! (Some medical slang there; half-life is a pharmacological term that is used as slang to mean ‘the time needed to forget something’. eg. Person 1: What was the name of that drug? Person 2: I don't remember. Hee...Halflife! ) Each drug prescribed had me flipping mental pages trying to remember what I had learnt about them…drug classification, adverse effects, indications…etc. Dr. Lilian, who was in charge of us as interns made sure we knew our stuff. She assigned topics to us and we’d give presentations of our research every alternate day. Read as ; sleepless nights of research, calling friends back home to help me with soft-copy notes on certain topics I didn’t have, understanding what a partogram is for maternal labour recording…all this while our fellow AIESEC interns at the house told us stories of their days teaching kindergarten children at a nearby school. (They were doing an Education project, quite different from ours I must say :) ).
Chen Po Yen (Jason) with one his students called Love, who really did love him. No pun intended! :)
Who were my partners in crime at the hospital?
Maggie. Yu Hsin is her Taiwanese name. She’s a ball of energy and talent! (That’s a story for another post…today were talking business!) She’s a third grade medical student, but because they have a different curriculum, her medical knowledge is equivalent to a first year medical student back home.
The gentleman is Makini, a fellow Kenyan and dear classmate of mine. Besides being a student, he doubles up as a photographer and business man. Don’t mess ya’ll!
To be honest, labour ward had the most memorable experiences. I’ll spare you the gory details as I know some have already cringed at the bare mention of ‘labour ward’. However, I’ll never forget the first delivery we helped out with. This first-time mother had no idea that she was bearing twins and was also severely anemic at the time of delivery. We ordinarily would have referred her to Morogoro Referral hospital, but she had come during second stage of labour and it was too risky to take her there. It was 25kms away and who knows what would have happened in the ambulance? So baby number one comes out; healthy looking. The nurse proceeds to deliver the placenta as I weighed the baby, but he was shocked to feel another baby, who was in breech presentation. Don’t ask me how we didn’t find out about her multiple pregnancy earlier. To be honest, she didn’t have any ultrasound or clinic records and said she had travelled to our health centre to give birth (since her friend had recommended the place to her, compared to hospitals in her hometown.)
Anyway, baby number 2 came out but there was a lot of post-partum bleeding. From this point, it seemed more like a scene right out of a movie. All I remember is…
Dr. Lillian comes to check on the going and finds a relatively calm nurse handling an obstetric emergency. Being the doctor, the buck falls on her to handle the situation and she begins barking orders left, right and centre.
“Joy, rub her abdomen. It’ll help in uterine retraction to reduce the bleeding.â€
“Nurse, we need oxytocin STAT.â€
“Maggie, bring normal saline for resuscitation.â€
The mother is in shock. Medical shock. Low blood pressure. Severe palor.
“Nurse, insert another IV line.â€
“Maggie, squeeze the IV fluid bottles. We need as much fluid to get to her system as fast as possible.â€
“Let’s lift her onto the wheelchair so that we take her to Morogoro Hospital.â€
Mother faints.
A moment of sheer panic.
“Put her in shock position. No time to carry her back onto the delivery table.â€
“Call an ambulance. Quick!â€
“Place mother on stretcher.â€
Filled in referral forms quickly and baam…Dr. Lillian, the patient, her twins and her friend sped off in the ambulance towards Morogoro Hospital. After that, we all just slipped into the doctor’s room and took a breather for an hour. That was too much to handle all at once.
For the next couple of days, that’s all Dr. Lillian made us read about! Shock, twin pregnancies, anemia in pregnancy, post-partum hemorrhage…all in a bid to try to theoretically understand what we’d seen before our eyes.
Hospital life is really unpredictable! Seems I have so much to say about the hospital so... I'll continue in the next post which will be up tomorrow morning! #WhileIwasAway #42daysinTanzania
I'm here with good news! I am so excited to announce that Bloom has moved here, to our new website! Isn't God faithful! *happy dance!*
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I've struggled to entitle this post because on one end I want to be as direct as possible but on the other, I know it seems controversial and some may judge my intention from the word go. Too long we have listened to what the world has to say about our identity in this area in particular, that if I we're to say that God is the one who gave us our sexual desires, I'd be welcomed with awkward silences. Silent uproars because that sounds almost like heresy. Aren't there other aspects of Christian identity to talk about? Yes, there are. But leaving this part to the world to dictate what we believe about ourselves has only left us with a torn sexual fabric as the church.
The evening I received the news is still such a blur to me. From moments of hope for a miracle of resurrection. My faith wasn’t as small as a mustard seed any more. I vehemently prayed, “God, I know you can create red blood cells in seconds, deliver oxygen…your life-giving breath…anything… please just have her wake up… for your glory to be seen and for people to believe. Tell me she’s just asleep Lord!†To moments of deep grief as I started calling friends; being the bearer of bad news that I didn’t even want to believe in. Receiving their questions while I was yet processing it all. Trying to be a comforting voice to them, while drowning in my own sorrows.
“Yaani Cindinyo you got to see Him before me! Anakaa aje? (How does He look?) Nibookie space kwa mansion! (Please book a space for me in the mansion)â€
Although Tanzania is just our next door neighbor, there are elements of new culture I experienced while there. Perhaps the different vocabulary; apparently the word ‘stima’ that Kenyans use to mean electricity doesn’t exist in Kiswahili. Its ‘umeme’ guys! But catch a Kenyan saying ‘Umeme umepotea.’ Haha! Rarely so.
If you are wondering where Taiwan is, it is a small island right next to China. Its capital city is Taipei. And guys, I finally got to learn how to tell Asians apart! Haha, well, to a certain degree. They told me of the cultural differences between Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese and Koreans. Not only by their looks, but also by how they write out their language. Trust me, it’s similar but it’s not all the same!
Making Chinese stir fry for lunch
For an entire week, we stood by him until he got full recovery. Dr. Lillian was great help through this process. She cared for him even as he was admitted at the Regional hospital. And didn’t I also see great solidarity from the guys amongst us. Makini, Tony and Michael slept with Jason at the hospital and took great care of him. Serge then became Jason’s personal bodyguard anywhere they went together. As ladies, we ensured he ate well and took him for dressing too. Eventually, God did make it all work for good.
