Day 54: Hospitals

          Today I got to see the difference between private and government hospitals in Tanzania.  The differences were quite stark.
          Today we visited an old friend of Baba's, Christopher Nasari.  He came to America once to visit Baba along with two other clergymen.  He became sick recently and was hospitalized for low blood sugar.  He had been taken to the hospital in Arusha.  It is on a very large campus with small scattered buildings connected by open breezeways.  All the buildings have run down look to them, space is scares, and supplies limited.  After arguing for quite a while with a guard we finally got to go to the room where Christopher was staying.  Unfortunately, he wasn't there.
          At a loss, we went to Shangazi Ika's place so Baba could use their computer.  While there we got a call that Christopher was at a private hospital in Arusha.  It turns out the government hospital had sent him home, so he had moved to the private hospital for better treatment.  So we drove there.  The hospital was a single large building, nice, neat, and modern.  In just about every way, it was the opposite of the government hospital we had gone to see before.
          Christopher was doing okay, he had diabetes, and they had put him on insulin.  As soon as we got there a whole bunch of other people began showing up to visit him, and us, and the room was soon packed.  I must say, word sure does get around fast, no matter where you are!  From the hospital we went straight to the Theocratic and Service meeting at the English congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses there in Arusha.  Then it was back to Ika's to pick up some things we had left behind before going back home.


E’ya! - Tate


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