Nyamuswa is a small village in Tanzania. The population of Nyamuswa is about 6000 people. It is located about 20 miles east of lake Victoria. The city of Musoma is 41 miles to the north and to the east there is the great plain of Serengeti. Nyamuswa is located south of Butiama, the birthplace of Tanzania’s first president, Julius Nyerere.
As a small child growing up Nyamuswa, I didn’t understand how poor my country was. We used to go to school without shoes. That was normal as almost all kids in the class didn’t have shoes. After school most of us used to go home to help our parents with house duties. I remember going with my mom to fetch water in a water pond near our house as there was no tap water in the village.
When school closes (during vacation or holidays), many students used that time to sell agricultural produces (fruits, nuts & sugarcanes) to earn money to buy school supplies, school uniforms and sometimes to help their parents with little income they earn.
There was only one health center in Nyamuswa then, this is the only health center in the area. People used to come from other villages to get treatment from this health center. When we used to get sick (mostly malaria), my mother used to take us to the health center, we used to find a lot of people also waiting to get treatment. We used to wait for hours to be seen by the doctor..
I remember one time I climbed to a orange tree to pick oranges, a branch of the tree I was on broke and I fell from the top of the tree. In my way down the another branch caught my leg and I had a big wound as a result of that. My mother took me the center to get stitches, we waited for 2 hours to be seen with a doctor who was still helping other patients. I finally got my stitches and was released to go home. It was the longest wait for me since I was in very severe pain.
With this memories of Nyamuswa and my experinces growing up there plus the love I have for Nyamuswa and its people, I ask you friends to support me in my effort to help the people of Nyamuswa improve provision of health services there. The need if real, patients are sleeping on the floor with no mattresses. The doctors there are working hard to provide healthcare services but they don’t have proper tools and equipments to enable them do their job. The government has limited resources to equip each and every healthcenter in the country.
ASANTE SANA KWA MCHANGO WAKO, MUNGU AKUBARIKI. THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATION, GOD BLESS YOU.