Health Project in Tanzania

The Rotary Club of Blaby has just completed a health project in the rural, Masai areas of Tanzania.  This was achieved with the help of the Rotary Club of Lutterworth Wycliffe and through a grant from the Rotary Foundation.  The project was accomplished with the assistance of Tumaini Jipya – New Hope, a local charity that works in Tanzania.

Three doctors were sent to six villages in the area of Makayuni where medical assistance is not accessible locally - the nearest hospital is about 50 miles away.  They managed to engage with adults and children, being given permission to go into some schools in the area to ensure basic hygiene was addressed but also some first aid to assist people before they are able to get to hospital for burns and scalds, fever, broken bones to highlight a few.  It was also possible to talk about Malaria, HIV/AIDs, Female Genital Mutilation and early marriage and pregnancy.  It was really good to see men listening as well as women.  In the primary schools the children were shown how to wash their hands correctly and nutrition was also discussed for keeping healthy.

The doctors carried out weight, height and BMI checks, blood pressure and blood glucose tests and also counselled and took HIV/AIDs tests. All results were fed back to the hospital in Arusha to arrange treatment where necessary and to add to medical records and statistics, as everything assists with getting more of an idea of the health of these rural areas.