Yeah it is the weekend!!

At Peponi Lodge for the weekend. So great to have some time off. It has been a strenuous week , and so far it has not felt like much of a holiday! (and Leah has – by far - been taking the lead on everything for obvious reasons. The learning curve for me is still very steep as I engage in the process of supporting the development of palliative care at Bombo.) Leah and I have been at Bombo Hospital almost every day this past week, planning for the regional meeting that took place Oct. 21^st. The politics and complexities surrounding the planning of this event were as enormous and confusing. Although what seemed insurmountable and clear as mud one moment seems to have worked out the next. The meeing came together with reps from all of the 8 districts. Their reports on where they were at were impressive and moving, especially given the very limited resources. It was such a priviledge to be part of this process, as peripheral as I was. The head of the TZ palliative care assoc. attended and spoke of the work being done at a national level to get pc integrated into health policies and funding.

Leah and I continue to flog the WHO public health strategy framework and her intro to the day really dovetailed with his presentation. We were also tasked with the dubious task of introducing a monthly reporting form to measure and evaluate, that is not a great data collecting tool but seems to be the starting place being proposed by one of the ngo funders (Diana Fund UK).

I am also honoured to play a small role in 2 workshops for Bombo CTC clinicians next week on psycho social care.

So it is all exhilarating, exhausting and challenging all at once. It is such great fortune to play a small role with a group of amazing TZers – and Leah (and Dr. Ambrose, who comes up in conversation all the time!) who have so much knowledge and determination, and carry on amidst so many challenges. They shine all their light in the sun (for you GHC fans), and are definitely the grains of sand that are building a mountain.

So as I mentioned I am on a weekend off, sitting at our banda by the Indian Ocean and enjoying the breeze. Tonight is the full moon, and I have been busy studying the equatorial star chart with the hopes of identifying some of the constellations, etc.

Sal