The story of Joseph's grandmother
During a visit to one of the District Referral Sites (DRO) visited by
the travelling eye care caravan, one Maasai women (who had travelled for hours to get to the DRS site) asked
us to go into the village and help her mother. We drove approximately 30
minutes further and further into the bush. I’m don’t’ know the mileage (it’s
hard to calculate when you never get out of 2nd gear due to the
bumps in the dirt road – when there is a
road).
We arrived at the family hut. There were two huts – one for the husband/wife and mother and a second smaller hut for the child. The main hut is approximately 12 x 12 and has two rooms. I should also mention that the goats live inside the hut as well. If the goats stay outside they would likely be killed which would be a huge loss. The goat represents food - or money, if they choose to sell it.
We were greeted very warmly and asked to have a seat in their home while they prepared the mother. The picture below is Marceline sitting in the husband and wife’s bedroom. The bed is made out of straw and sticks. The mother’s room was beside this area and was approximately 5’ x 6’ (just big enough for a bed.) It was a very small … very dark … and very depressing. I recognize she is blind so her surroundings aren’t that important but it was still upsetting.
It took approximately 15 minutes for family members to get her out of her room. I suspect she was partially/fully naked due to the heat and wanted to be properly dressed to ‘meet company’. Pride is a big thing in Tanzania no matter what tribe you are from. While I was waiting, I went outside the hut to view the surroundings. I became friends with the grandson of the patient - Joseph.
He is a happy, adventurous and very proud young man – not unlike the children in North America. He is very excited that he will be starting kindergarten next year and that the school is close to his village. He loves his home and is especially proud that he has his own hut to sleep in. He is also proud that his family is rich enough to have a goat (which he often sleeps with). He knows the goat will be killed by his family or whoever they sell it to and he is fine with this.
The ophthalmologist examined Joseph’s grandmother. Unfortunately there was nothing that could be done to help her. She was fully blind in one eye and while the nerves were not completely dead in the second eye, it was just a matter of time. Upon hearing the news (through a translator and not from a family member) she showed no emotion! She just turned around and walked back into her hut – and into her very small, very dark and very depressing space.
I know that this type of thing happens every day in North America (and around the world) when doctors have to tell patients there is no hope. I think it just bothered me so much more watching her strive to maintain her dignity. As she came out of the hut and was being examined, she continually was grabbing her robe to cover her breasts which kept becoming exposed. Although blind, she could feel this was happening. After hearing the diagnosis she showed no emotion … she did not cry … she maintained her dignity as she went back into the hut.
This may have been a different story if her family had been able to get her help sooner. Much of the challenge in East Africa is making people aware of the services available to them.
We arrived at the family hut. There were two huts – one for the husband/wife and mother and a second smaller hut for the child. The main hut is approximately 12 x 12 and has two rooms. I should also mention that the goats live inside the hut as well. If the goats stay outside they would likely be killed which would be a huge loss. The goat represents food - or money, if they choose to sell it.
We were greeted very warmly and asked to have a seat in their home while they prepared the mother. The picture below is Marceline sitting in the husband and wife’s bedroom. The bed is made out of straw and sticks. The mother’s room was beside this area and was approximately 5’ x 6’ (just big enough for a bed.) It was a very small … very dark … and very depressing. I recognize she is blind so her surroundings aren’t that important but it was still upsetting.
It took approximately 15 minutes for family members to get her out of her room. I suspect she was partially/fully naked due to the heat and wanted to be properly dressed to ‘meet company’. Pride is a big thing in Tanzania no matter what tribe you are from. While I was waiting, I went outside the hut to view the surroundings. I became friends with the grandson of the patient - Joseph.
He is a happy, adventurous and very proud young man – not unlike the children in North America. He is very excited that he will be starting kindergarten next year and that the school is close to his village. He loves his home and is especially proud that he has his own hut to sleep in. He is also proud that his family is rich enough to have a goat (which he often sleeps with). He knows the goat will be killed by his family or whoever they sell it to and he is fine with this.
The ophthalmologist examined Joseph’s grandmother. Unfortunately there was nothing that could be done to help her. She was fully blind in one eye and while the nerves were not completely dead in the second eye, it was just a matter of time. Upon hearing the news (through a translator and not from a family member) she showed no emotion! She just turned around and walked back into her hut – and into her very small, very dark and very depressing space.
I know that this type of thing happens every day in North America (and around the world) when doctors have to tell patients there is no hope. I think it just bothered me so much more watching her strive to maintain her dignity. As she came out of the hut and was being examined, she continually was grabbing her robe to cover her breasts which kept becoming exposed. Although blind, she could feel this was happening. After hearing the diagnosis she showed no emotion … she did not cry … she maintained her dignity as she went back into the hut.
This may have been a different story if her family had been able to get her help sooner. Much of the challenge in East Africa is making people aware of the services available to them.
