Day 1 - The Clinic

What an incredible day - I am still processing what I have seen today and am totally in awe of our wonderful team.

Straight after breakfast we took delivery of all the gear that has been stored here in Tanzania, the guys sorted it and prepared surgery kits for tomorrow, before preparing what we needed for today's clinic. As we arrived at the hospital we could see the huge group waiting; they had all been brought from the rural community by Gaita Gold and will stay for two weeks, camping out at the hospital. As the team approached there were hugs al round and then Alice spotted Charlie - Charlie was a patient two years ago who lost his whole family in a house fire - Alice and Taka could not believe Charlie's smile. He was with Vinney a doctor from Uganda who had brought Charlie down and told us how happy he was and how loved he is - those of us who hadn't met him before instantly fell for him too.

The clinic is where the prospective patients are seen for the first time, their details are taken, they are weighed, and then photographed in one room before being passed on to be assessed by the surgeons and anaesthetists. I spent most of the day in the first screening room photographing the patients but could not help but follow some of the cases into the next room.

The other mining company unfortunately did not send patients today however along with community patients we saw 46 and the team are now busy scheduling 36 operations from their work today. The majority were mostly cleft lips and pallets or burn contractures (i.e. where a burnt hand closes right up rendering it unusable). Burns are so common as they cook on open fires and the babies don't know to keep away. We saw so many today with terrible contractures, although not many raw burns that the team have seen before. We saw three of the most beautiful girls today with growths that will amaze you; Eliza whose mouth was totally mis-shapen, Bisia with a perfect egg on the top of there head who has the features of a super model and the amazing Rose who I will write more about who is just 15 and came on her own, she has such a huge growth she can hardly see out of one eye and has taught herself how to strap the thing up under a head scarf by literally pulling it out of the way.

There are so many stories, but I will just mention one more before heading off for dinner; and that is Garus who is 72 and has the warmest smile and a huge Keloid on his neck; unfortunately these will grow back and he had to decide whether or not to undergo surgery. You could sense his challenge as he posed questions to Matt through an interpreter - at the end of the day he decided not to have the operation. My heart just goes out to this lovely gentle man. Matt explained that this is a genetic reaction to scaring that could be something so small.

Finally, I also had the opportunity to tour the theatre and the maternity ward today. The theatre we will see more of but the look on Mardi and Mel's face was quite something, especially when they saw where they will scrub. I couldn't believe the age of the equipment; but as Alice explained it is all basic but functional and clean - they get minimal infections in this environment. Then the maternity ward with all the separate rooms; we went to the premature baby unit where they just keep the room warm, no incubators or meds; in the final stages of labour ward women are quiet and in serious pain as there are no pain killers offered in Tanzania; in the ward where they babies had literally just been born they sat two to a bed, still soaked in blood; .and this is where 984 babies were born last month!

Again I will try and post photos overnight - oh how to pick what to show?

Gosh there is so much more I could write about today -  overwhelmed!