MAF returns to Sumbawanga for the first time in more than a decade, carrying two organisations in partnership to teach local nurses how to detect cardio-vascular diseases and manage postpartum bleeding. The flight made an almost-impossible journey possible.
Story by Annet Nabbanja
Nurses Heart to Heart is an organisation founded by American nurse Anita Rich. They have a heart to equip nurses in the developing world—and were full of hope to serve the people of western Tanzania.
Meanwhile, the Tanzanian non-profit organisation The One New Heart Tanzania (TONHT) have a heart for early detection, awareness training and surgeries for congenital heart defects.
With so much heart, all these two organisations needed was a way to reach those in need.
They initially considered several locations and one of them was Sumbawanga, located in the west of the country. Anita looked at the huge map of Tanzania that hung on the wall as she discussed the possibility of flying in teams from the two organisations with MAF.
Country director Stewart Ayling and pilot Becki Dillingham looked at each other with amazement. MAF had not flown to Sumbawanga for the last 12 years, but this was just the opportunity they’d been waiting for.
“Without MAF, the team would most likely not have attempted the trip because of the distance and travel time,” said Godfrey Maro, founder of TONHT.
If MAF had not flown them, the teams would have had to travel by road from Dodoma, requiring a journey of more than 19 hours by bus.
Rural areas are facing a growing burden of non-communicable diseases, particularly hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. This is because they lack access to even basic services such as blood pressure screening.
“As a result, people often present with advanced complications like heart disease, stroke, or kidney failure that could have been prevented through early detection,” said Godfrey.
While in Sumbawanga, Anita’s team delivered three babies and trained nurses on postpartum haemorrhage prevention, early screening, detection and how to manage it.
Without MAF, the team would most likely not have attempted the trip because of the distance and travel time.
The few hours on a MAF flight shortened the journey dramatically, but many of the communities visited stood still further away from the airstrip itself.
“Many patients travel long distances to reach specialist care and some cannot afford both the journey and the treatment,” said Godfrey.
During this outreach they identified a 42-year-old woman who was 14 weeks pregnant with dangerously high blood pressure. Early diagnosis created an opportunity for timely intervention for both mother and baby.
The team screened patients for cardiovascular disease while two certified nurse-midwives worked alongside Tanzanian colleagues.
Samwel Lucas, a Senior Nurse Midwife at Dr Atman Memorial Hospital noted that many people in his community received medical services and were able to discover heart conditions that they were previously unaware of.
“As a midwife, I have personally benefited from the presentations that were conducted on how to manage patients experiencing severe postpartum bleeding,” said Samwel. “According to the statistics, this is one of the leading causes of maternal deaths after childbirth.”
Two organisations with big hearts joined hands with MAF to make this trip necessary.
“This partnership allows us to begin to see isolated people changed by the love of Christ in an area where witchcraft and traditional beliefs are still widely held,” said Stewart.
God connects the dots. He uses us to connect those dots.
Anita laughs when she remembers her call with MAF.
“It still gives me chills. They said this was the connection they’d been waiting for,” said Anita. “God connects the dots. He uses us to connect those dots. If you think He doesn't care about the people of Sumbawanga, this is one little example that He does.”