Today started with a sign 💫...
A DOUBLE rainbow en route to the hospital!
Clearly the pair of matching murals that had 🌪JUST🌪 been completed in the two new paediatric consultation rooms were radiating their divine energies 🪄🌈🌈 (after an artsy nightshift by our dedicated community service doctors, Dr Lauren Bosman and Dr Matthew Koekemoer).
With the paint drying, people were gearing up for the opening party.
Your author was in tears of appreciation after receiving a gift of a PERFECTLY fitting traditional Shangaani dress complete with matching shoes, necklace, headdress, mask (#2020) and earrings from the nursing staff. It was so extraordinary, that it deserves a breaking of the "4th wall"
#CEOextraordinaire 👆 Merriam Moyimane and your author 👆 (Annie, AKA Mary-Anne Hartley) working together to make Tintswalo a Centre of EXCELLENCE in rural healthcare
(This Merriam is the VERY SAME woman you saw on DAY 1 of this blog, in her sweat pants dedicating her weekend by helping paint the walls of the triage bay. She has been there EVERY day since offering her unwavering support and guidance) .
We drew a BIG crowd with the many inspiring speeches..but mostly with the cake 🍰😉
Rhian Twine 👆of the Tshemba Foundation and the thoughtful brains behind the Before-During-After cakes👇
Then there was a "ribbon" cutting ✃🎀ceremony led by the chairwoman of the hospital board on behalf of the MEC of Mpumalanga Province 👇 (where the "ribbon" was, quite appropriately, a bandage 🩹stretched between the two poles)
Next, there was a training session on triage with Tshemba's Dr Daniel Still 👇 and Sister-in-Charge, Olivia Mongwe👇
...and an introduction to our new core values, that are only possible now that we have an environment that allows us to live up to them (see this post)
And finally, there was the dedication.
To the Kindness of Strangers.
To YOU, dear donors, for the trust you put in us to excel.
To YOU, from thousands of kilometres away, who felt the potential of Tintswalo, not just to be better, but to be the BEST.
You have made this dramatic transformation possible.
You have started a movement that will save countless lives and secure the dignity of our community.
We cannot thank-you enough.
And we are just getting started.
There is a critically dilapidated 400-bed hospital with enormous potential that lies beyond this emergency room.
Please continue to support us. It is just SO easy.
This massive transformation cost just USD 15'750.70.
Really.
That's not even the cost of 2 medium sized refrigerators.
Litres upon litres of paint and plaster
New durable cement flooring with hospital-grade coating and wall-protection
New tailor-made PVC wipe-clean curtains to secure dignity and hospital hygiene in SEVEN emergency consulting areas
41 days of (generous, career-changing) wages for EXPERT day-and-night labour (which have contributed to our dear Poeletso being able to attend Tourism school! Jackie and Isaac will be starting their own construction companies)
41 days of hearty lunches, that support local street chefs.
A new arched roof for the ambulance bay
4 new examination beds
Assorted critical life-saving equipment
Wood and carpentry for bespoke waiting benches, desks, chairs and shelving
Professional signage
Several doors and 2 security gates to protect our staff
6 fully equipped consultation rooms (with 2 beautiful paediatric murals designed directly by the children of the community)
A spacious, clean and professional emergency procedure room
7 new basins and a NEW patient toilet
Decades of plumbing disasters and leaky roofing FIXED
...and lets not forget that this even includes several months of dog food and support for Bohbbi-the-renovation-dog
If you would like to be responsible for Tintswalo's FIRST palliative care ward (USD 5'000) or Tintswalo's FIRST chemotherapy unit (USD7'500) or Tintsawlo's FIRST high-care unit (USD10'000...it actually does NOT exist...despite the aspirational sign that was put up a decade ago) or a particularly DRAMATIC renovation of the outpatient department (USD20'000) that sees 3000 patients a month, you can donate either directly to me or via the highly respected and well-established Tshemba foundation (though whom I am volunteering as a medical doctor) to ensure your tax-deductable benefit.
I will personally guide all further renovations with our crack team 👆of expert builders and carpenters from this wonderful community.
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Before closing, I also want to squeeze in a special thank-you to all my students in my research group back in Switzerland who have supported me by enduring the bizarre zoom backgrounds and after-hours meeting times throughout my stay here. 🙏
....And for some extra closure, we finished it all off with a little party...
...and of course, our guest of honour, Bohbbi 👆was in rapt attendance under the meat dishes.
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On behalf of the nurses, doctors and patients of Tintswalo hospital and the surrounding community that you have supported: Thank-you for believing in us.
Thank-you.
Ndza nkhensa.
Ke a leboga.
Ngiyabonga.