Useful Terms and Phrases in Swahili

CACHA hands out a mini pamplet of useful words and phrases for medical and logistics staff. Here's a sample of the translated terms/words:

Medical terms

What’s your problem?      Una tatizo gani?

Do you have a temperature/fever?      Una homa?

Do you have diarrhoea?      Unaendesha? Unaharisha?

Do you have dysentery?      Unahara damu?

Do you feel nauseous?      Unataka kutapika?

I have / Do you have:       Nina / Una:______

     A blister            lengelenge

     A headache       maumivi ya kichwa

    A sore throat  maumivu ya koo

     Joint pain       Maumivu ya kiungo

     Flu           Mafua

    Wound     Kidonda

    A cough   Kikohozi

    Heart problem   Matatizo ya moyo

    Dizziness      Kizungu zungu

    Constipation     Shida kujisaidia

    Numbness     Kufaganzi

    Skin problem    Ugonjwa wa ngozi

    Ulcers      Vidonda vya tumbo

    Hiccup     Kwi Kwi

   Gynecological pains    Maumivu ya sehem za siri

   Pus / Discharge     Ninatoka/Unatoka uchafu

Does your body itch?     Unawashwa
My _(insert body part)_ hurts.      Ninaumwa _______

      Ex. My back hurts       Ninaumwa mgongo
Where does it hurt?    Unaumwa wapi?

I have pain here.    Naumwa hapa.

S/he has been cut on the ______.    Amekatwa ____ni.

    e.g. hand etc.     mkoni

I’m allergic to: penicillin.      Nina mzio wa: penisilini

Are you pregnant?     Una mimba? /Wewe ni jamzito?

Would you like to take a HIV test?      Utapenda kupima VVU?

Useful words for logistics

Come (here)      Njoo (hapa)

Go there      Nenda kule / Nenda Pale

Join the line     Unga mstari

Sit       Kaa

Move over      Sogeni

Move back     Sogea nyuma

Wait (a little)    Subiri (kidogo)

Go to that building    Nenda kwenye jengo lile

Please sit down     Karibu ukae

Relax your arm       Tulia mkono wako

I will take your blood pressure      Nitakupima pressa yako

Have you seen the doctor?      Umemwona daktari?

Medication       Dawa

Pharmacy      Duka la dawa

Dentist      Daktari wa meno

Doctor      Daktari / Tabibu

Greetings + Useful Words 

Greeting of respect.      Shikamoo

Response to Shikamoo.     Marahaba

Hello     Jambo

Hello, how are things?     Hujambo

Response to hujambo.      Sijambo

How are you?     Habari yako?

Good. (Response to habari…)     Nzuri / safi / njema

At peace    Salama

Bye!      Kwa heri!

Thank you      Asante

Very      Sana (Asante Sana)

What is your name.      Jina lako nani?

My name is:     Jina langu: / Ninaitwa:

I don’t speak Swahili.     Sisemi kiswhahili

Please     Tafadhali

Yes (It is so)    Ndio

No     Hapana

How old are you?    Una miaka mingapi?

What village are you from?     Unatoka kijiji gani?

How much do you weigh?     Una uzito gani?

Sorry for your sickness.    Pole kwa kuumwa.

I would like…     Naomba…

What do you want?      Unataka nini?

Where are you from?     Unatoka wapi?

Food     Chakula

Water    Maji

I am from Canada     Natoka Canada

I am Canadian     Mimi ni mcanada

Do you understand?   ** Umeelewa?**

I don’t understand.     Sijaelewe

I don’t understand you     Sikuelewe

**Not to be confused with:

Are you drunk?  Umelewa

Scrubs

One of our team members offered to order scrub tops (and bottoms) for those of us who were interested.

 His daughter designed the logo, which promotes CACHA and is a great way to show team spirit!

I think we ended up paying about $8 CND for each scrub top. The plan was for everyone to order one for themselves and then order (and pay for) a second one that would  be donated to the Kilema Hospital.

More About the Medical Bins

The medical bins are actually large, blue Tupperware containers with several holes drilled around the lids for securing with plastic tie straps. They are stored in CACHA's warehouse in downtown Ottawa; a few blocks away from the their office.

In an effort to bring as many medical supplies as possible at a low cost, CACHA requires each participant to claim 2 medical bins as their personal, checked luggage. All group members are expected to help pack the bins and write out a detailed content list for each bin. From these lists, the mission lead will create a manifest list of all bin contents.

Participants can take the bins with them or have them delivered to the bus pickup point just before the flight.

Once the bins have cleared Canadian customs, they are then secured shut with the tie straps.

For the trip back home, participants are asked to bring the empty bins back with them, again as checked luggage.  The bins take a beating during the caravans, so many don't make it back.

If you're travelling light (i.e. carry on /back pack only) then the bin(s) you bring home will provide a way to cart home any souvenirs that you purchased.

Pre-Mission Meeting

In preparing for our mission, we attended a Pre-Mission meeting here in Ottawa at the CACHA Office, Saturday Sept. 11 from 10:00am to 05:00pm. This meeting is setup for participants so they may ask outstanding questions, raise any concerns, and help with bin preparation. (Bins are the containers we use to ship the medical supplies)

The meeting started with an introduction to one of CACHA’s founders Dr. Don Kilby who was there to address the medical side of the mission with the doctors and nurses who were volunteering. Having no medical background ourselves, I still found this part of the meeting very interesting and helpful overall.

Dr. Kilby explained that this mission is actually an outreach program of the Kilema Hospital so we are in fact representatives of the hospital while we are there. He went on to describe the hierarchy of health care facilities in Tanzania. Apparently there are three levels that we could be interacting with:

• Dispensaries—located in the rural villages of Tanzania, these locations only provide basic care, observation for 48 hours, midwive service and dispense medication
• District hospitals (of which Kilema Hospital is one) provide limited surgeries and an out patient department
• Regional hospitals—the closest for us would be in Moshi which is the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC)

Cost for care in the district and regional hospitals is $3/day for hospitalization, yet most residents cannot afford this. If given the money directly, many will end up using it for more urgent things like food.

The most common problems we will see are:

• Musculoskeletal (MSK) problems
• Goiters
• Large tumors
• Low hemoglobin count (apparently a low count of 4-5 is common)
• Many incidents of osteomyelitis (particularly in children) which may lead to amputations
• Malaria, Pneumonia, Urinary Tract Infection (UTI), Diarrhea, Worms, Tuberculoses, HIV/AIDS
• C- Sections

Rapid testing kits will be available for syphilis and malaria. All people who come to the caravans will be invited to take an AIDS test. Many fear that if they accept the test in public, they will be ostracized by their peers. Because of this, we have been instructed to also ask the question in a moment of privacy so that each person has an option to reconsider.

Our caravans will dispense the same amount of medication in 2 weeks that the local district hospitals dispense in 3 months.

Next was an overview of what the logistics team will be doing, presented by the mission lead, Lise Turpin.
Logistics participants (that's us !) will be trained to perform triage (among other things).
First step in triage is to take temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure.
Questions that need to be asked are:

• Are you pregnant?
• How many children have you had? How many are still alive?
• What is their main concern for this visit (try to limit to one)
• Invite them to have an HIV test

Translators are hired to accompany us on the caravans so they will be asking the questions (whew).

There is a common misconception amongst the villages that Gynecological exams are performed on both sexes; anything below the waist is considered gynecological! The Gyne team was warned not to be surprised if men showed up wanting an exam…they should (obviously) direct the patient to another doctor.

The emphasis from both Don and Lise was teamwork across the board; it's what makes these missions work.

We all broke for lunch and dined at a nearby restaurant—another good opportunity to get to know the people we will be on the mission with.

After lunch, we headed to a storage unit where the bins of medical supplies were located. These bins were pre-packed by other volunteers. Some bins contained logistics supplies, some medical and some a bit of both. Seeing that we, as volunteers, are traveling with these bins (they are essentially our luggage), we should know what’s in them. This is why it is important to participate in this pre-mission task. We spent some time counting and verifying the supplies based on pre-made lists. We ensured that the bin numbers matched with the identified items within. Bins are labeled and weighed to ensure they were under the maximum allowed weight (23 kg). Later a hard copy manifest of each bin will be created for the volunteers to take with them during their flights.

Flight Arrangements

As soon as you have submitted your half of your mission fee to CACHA, it's time to book your flight. All mission travel arrangements are booked through Premiere Travel (PT)

UNIGLOBE Premiere Travel Planners Inc.
100-24 Selkirk St.
Ottawa, ON K1L 0A4
Phone: (613) 230-7411

All mission participants are responsible for contacting PT and making their own travel arrangements. We dealt with Shirin at PT who was extremely patient and very helpful. Since we were planning an extended trip (staying in Africa past the mission dates) we needed to make sure our departure dates were altered.

Once booked, PT contacts CACHA, notifying them of the amount to pay. At this point your itinerary may be altered slightly as CACHA negotiates with PT for cheaper flight dates/times.

It seems as though KLM is the PT airline of choice for flights between Canada and Africa. I think that this airline does not land in either Ottawa or Toronto—so all flights are in and out of Montreal (Pierre Elliott Trudeau Intl.) airport. Thankfully KLM runs a shuttle bus (as part of the flight cost) back and forth between Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal. If you are leaving from Ottawa, the KLM bus will pick up from the main Ottawa train station (on Tremblay Ave) ONLY and will drop you off at the Montreal airport.

The flight runs from Montreal to Schiphol airport in Amsterdam (6 hours 40 minutes). You switch flights to another KLM flight which then flies to Dar Es Salaam then on to Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) which is located half-way between Arusha and Moshi. In Dar Es Salaam, the flight makes a stop over—basically you are waiting on the tarmac. Total duration from Amsterdam to Kili is 8 hours 25 minutes.


Blue pointer shows the Kili Airport, Red pointer shows Kilema Hospital

If you are arriving at the Kili Airport in the late afternoon or evening, you will be staying at a hotel (arranged for you by CACHA) in nearby Moshi. Apparently you don't drive on the roads at night because they are in pretty rough shape. Regardless of whether you are staying the night in Moshi or driving directly to Kilema, your mission leader will meet you at the airport and will have arranged for transport to Kilema.

Trip Insurance
CACHA recommended not purchasing trip insurance. Since we usually do this, it was a bit difficult not to. If you decide to purchase any of the insurance offered through the travel agency, you do so out of pocket. Arrange with your agent to pay for the fees separately.