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Meet a Few of Our Follow-Up Patients in Tanzania

When patients are simply referred to local hospitals for treatments many times they still fail to receive the actual treatment they need due to lack of resources, lack of confidence, or lack of a true understanding of their medical problems. For all of these reasons, MEDLIFE has developed a year-round patient follow-up process. We support our patients in many ways. We provide financial resources for treatments, emotional support, nutritional assistance for malnourished families, and educational resources to help individuals better understand their conditions.  

Meet some of our follow-up patients in Tanzania!

CAROLINE MOSHA

CAROLINE

Let me introduce you to Caroline Mosha! Caroline is a six year-old girl, living in the community of Kilema-Moshi. She became a MEDLIFE follow-up patient in May of 2017.

Caroline is a charming young girl who was diagnosed with chronic tonsillitis at a mobile clinic and subsequently enrolled into our patient follow-up program.

We made our first visit to Caroline’s home on August 11th, 2017 with Dr. Geofrey, a mobile clinic physician. This was the first time we were able to discuss Caroline’s treatment plan with her and her siblings. 

During the visit, Dr. Geofrey recommended that Caroline undergo a tonsillectomy to cure her tonsillitis. After everyone agreed to her treatment plan, we then made an appointment at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre’s ENT Department.  Caroline went in for a medical consultation on August 18th, 2017 and the doctor recommended the surgery be performed as quickly as possible, as Caroline’s tonsils were quite enlarged and caused her discomfort, especially at night.

The doctor scheduled Caroline to be admitted into the hospital on August 21st, 2017. However, when we arrived to the hospital we were told that there were no available beds because the hospital’s capacity had been reached. The hospital staff could only recommend that we return the following day and try again. On August 22nd, 2017 a bed finally became available and Caroline was admitted to KCMC. Caroline was operated on a day later and had a successful surgery with no complications. Her surgery went so well that the doctors discharged her the following day! We are very thankful that Caroline had a successful surgery and no longer suffers from tonsillitis.

THERESA MZAVA

theresa

This young girl is named Theresa Mzava. She is eleven years old and lives with her parents and four siblings. One day, she was helping her parents prepare food for the family when a part of her headscarf caught fire. She tried to remove the cloth herself but was unable to.

Fortunately, her father heard her screams and came running to help her. Theresa’s father removed the burning piece of cloth but she had already been burned on her head, back, and buttocks.

Theresa’s family took her to the hospital where she was given medication and treated for her injuries. However, as the days went on, Theresa’s family could not afford to pay the medical bills associated with her treatment, and she was discharged from the hospital.

Shortly after being discharged, we met Theresa at a 2016 mobile clinic in her community, Kilima mswaki. After we spoke to Theresa’s mother, we agreed to assist her with the cost of Theresa’s medications until she made a full recovery.

However, shortly after Theresa became a MEDLIFE follow-up patient her family experienced another tragedy: her family’s house collapsed due to heavy winds and rains. While this could have put Theresa at a higher risk of infection while she recuperated, a neighbor kindly offered to take Theresa in while her family rebuilt their house. In the summer of 2017, Theresa made a full recovery.

WILSTANELY MAKERE

WILSTANELY

Meet Wilstanely Makere! He is 53 years old, and lives with his wife in the village of Kitifu. He is also the father of two children. Wilstanely suffered from a hernia for over three years, but was unable to go to the hospital for medical treatment.

In January of 2016, MEDLIFE conducted a mobile medical clinic in his community, where he was immediately enrolled in our patient follow-up program.

We worked with him to help him get the hernia operation he needed and now he has fully recovered!

 

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Reya Seby
Western University

This trip motivated me more to pursue a career in the healthcare field so that I can use my resources to help those who need it the most, similar to MEDLIFE’s mission.

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Victoria DiCanio
University of Connecticut

It was most enjoyable to finish the hard work and see how big a difference a group of individuals can make. It was such an amazing experience.

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Anita Woo
University of Toronto

I enjoyed the mobile clinics the most, especially the dental and triage portions. I would definitely recommend a MEDLIFE trip, it was a great experience.

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David Saff
Maclay High School

The most enjoyable part of my trip was hanging out with the amazing group of kids I was with. I would highly recommend a MEDLIFE volunteer trip to others.

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Sydney Sansone
Nova Southeastern University

This trip made everything that I was learning in my public health courses come to life and immersed me in a new culture while also learning about medicine.

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Abygail Youmans
College of Charleston

Being involved with MEDLIFE is not like joining another club - its bigger than that. It is about joining a movement that seeks to help change people’s quality of life for forever.

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Emi Hofmann
University of Central Florida

Not only was I able to participate in a week long Mobile Clinic, shadowing doctors of all types of specialties including pharmacy, dentistry, gynecology, and more, but I was also able to learn about the culture and visit incredible places.

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Julian Takagi-Stewart
University of Toronto

One thing that I really loved about this trip was that MEDLIFE made sure that the volunteers got an understanding of the complexity of issues that lead to underprivileged people in communities outside of the main city

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Hannah Van Hofwegen
University of Ottawa

Whether it was basketball with the local kids, assisting the doctors, talking with families, building washrooms, holding babies, or spending time with the people who were on the SLT with me, this was an amazing opportunity that I would do over and over again.

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Isabelle Holt
Cornell University

I loved learning about the patients MEDLIFE has followed and how they offer real help to people with chronic/urgent conditions. It is amazing how the organization formed real connections with the communities.

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Valerie Lindeborg
Parent

Our family had the privilege of participating in multiple trips with Nick [founder] and his amazing staff. Their expertise made the trips unforgettable while instilling in my boys the fundamentals of good character: selflessness, compassion, and empathy.

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Harry Vildibill
University of Georgia

As an aspiring physician, MEDLIFE motivated me to further continue my goal of becoming a doctor. In fact, I enjoyed the Tanzania Service Learning Trip so much that I decided to go on another trip to Cusco, Peru.