Tungamalenga Village Posted on January 23rd, 2015 by Linda Shaw

Written by 

 Kelsey Harms and Rachel Arnold 

On the 16th we woke up and headed to Tungamalenga village. The three hour ride there consisted of a very bumpy narrow road. We first arrived to the church being greeted by beautiful songs from the people of their congregation. Mothers and children were dancing and clapping for our arrival and were so happy to welcome us. Many members of our group joined in to sing and dance with the locals. Some of the little children of the village came up to us group members and greeted us by “shikamo” and places their hands on our head. This was a very moving moment for us because shikamo is a common greeting given from a younger generation to an older generation to show their uttermost respect. After the warm welcome the ladies of the church served us all a hearty lunch after our long journey there. We then got to check in to the Tungamalenga Lodge, which we stayed at for the next four nights. The lodge was very nice and allowed us two hours of electricity each evening. Many of us had fun getting to use our headlamps in the evenings, and discovering some large insects throughout our rooms. Good thing we had our mosquito nets! Our first night in Tungamalenga  concluded with a very large thunderstorm. Some of us awoke to wet beds from water leakage through the roof. The next day we woke up and went to the Tungamalenga Dispensary run by a man named Barnabas. He runs this clinic where he consults with his patients and treats illnesses. Their clinics are a lot different than those in the United States. There is no such thing as HIPPa, there is one doctor, and the doctors do not require the same extent of schooling. Our students got the opportunity to take turns shadowing Barnabas in his consulting appointments with his patients. While we were waiting our turn to shadow him, the students got to play many games with the local children. Our group of students did a great job at connecting with the children through body language and games. The kids really enjoyed playing soccer, ring around the rosie, playing tag, and especially giving high fives! It was hard saying our goodbyes to the children because of the great connections we made despite our language barrier.