We are planning our next trip to Tanzania at the end of 2012 with our entire family. Our goal is to spend 6-7 months evaluating the possibility of an international "version" of Allen Technology Advising (http://www.allenit.com).
The kids will all go to International School in Arusha and more will be posted at our new blog called http://ATAinAfrica.blogspot.com
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Thursday, January 8, 2009
What We Accomplished and Technology at the New Selian Hospital
OK, this is perhaps the “boring post” but also the most important, as it describes exactly what the heck I’ve been doing in Africa. Let me make it clear that Jessica, Mackie and Stephen spent significant time with me at the hospital doing everything from placing computrers, installing operating systems, configuring the software on computers including loading typing programs to creating beautiful flower arrangements for the hospital opening on December 11th.
The Arusha Lutheran Medical Center (ALMC) is where I spent all of my volunteer time working with my boss, Moye, who is a 26year old who received an RMIT degree from the University of Dar Es Salaam in Dar Es Salaam, which is in the largest city in Tanzania (with over 4 million people it is larger then the next 10 biggest cities combined). I loved working for someone else for a change, a nice break from the pressures back at home where we have a 10 person business with over 30 clients where I take on a lot of the decision making.
I was told many times that it is amazing that while I’ve been trying to make it out here for 5 years I couldn’t have come at a better time. They had an enormous amount of technological projects that needed to be accomplished and they very much appreciated the extra help.
I very much admire the way in which technology is being implemented at this hospital. Their primary software and operating systems are all “open source” (FYI – Open source is synonymous with “free” for those not in the know). While we do have computers donated with Windows 2000, for those without operating systems we install BSD, which is a flavor of Linux, an open source operating system. This can be installed on Pentium 3 computers with 256 MB of RAM (which is the typical system given to us and is about 10-12 years old) and runs fairly fast. The “servers, ” which were donated, are linux based as well, and run Apache web sites with back end databases written in mySQL, all open source software. The actual software that is being used to run the hospital is called care2x which maintains all of the patients, patient notes, meds, laboratory results, imaging and billing. There is also a program called WebERP, which is an accounting package. Again, both open source systems. Tom Barsch, a Denver based Kaiser radiologist working at Exempla Lutheran in Denver, brought over an expensive Mac server with 2 terabytes of storage for the Picture Archiving and Communication system (PACs) which will handle all of the digital imaging. The PACs software that is used is called Osirix and is open source as well (GE, Siemens, and Phillips all have software that is hundreds of thousands of dollars but again, because it is open source it is free). The PACs software is hooked up to a CT scanner, a xray machine and an ultrasound machine. We also installed SESType, an open source typing software program on all the Windows based computers so that people could improve their typing skills and also OpenOffice, a free program to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations that work with Microsoft programs as well (they can read and write to the Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint formats).
So if you followed the primary points of the last paragraph you will realize that all of the donated systems run software that is free. This has been the goal of Mark Jacobson and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania but the fact that it is all really starting to come together and works means that we have a very affordable (only in Africa would the term affordable be used to describe free software) solution that all 3rd world hospitals could take advantage of. I am building a wiki, a web based tool to share information, (http://africanmedicaltechnology.wikispaces.com ) and a discussion group (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/africanmedicaltechnology/). We will use these to share information and best practices HOPEFULLY with other African medical hospitals. Perhaps there are other discussion groups and wikis already, in which case we will shut these down and post information there.
The point is that the work is just beginning and the goal is to really work toward the continued building of these open source systems and finding PHP (a programming language) developers who want to contribute to medical technology that all 3rd world hospitals could benefit from using.
One of my primary duties has been deploying computers in the new facility. I’m happy to share that Allen Technology has donated about 3K to:
Purchase the necessary equipment to build a standby server that, in case the primary server fails, can be brought up in a matter of minutes
Purchase backup hard drives
Purchase a web site for plasterhouse.org
Purchase 5 flat screen monitors
Purchase power strips, power cords and other misc items that were needed to successfully deploy all of the computers
My other duties included documenting all of their technology environment, helping them audit the environment to determine where improvements were needed, inventorying all of their technology equipment, networking the new hospital to the existing Arusha Town Clinic (really oversaw this, can’t actually take any credit for the work done).
My most proud moments, however, were getting Stephen, Jessica and Mack involved in the deployment as stated in the first paragraph. It was great sharing knowledge and having them work alongside me.
Love,Ben and his little family
The Arusha Lutheran Medical Center (ALMC) is where I spent all of my volunteer time working with my boss, Moye, who is a 26year old who received an RMIT degree from the University of Dar Es Salaam in Dar Es Salaam, which is in the largest city in Tanzania (with over 4 million people it is larger then the next 10 biggest cities combined). I loved working for someone else for a change, a nice break from the pressures back at home where we have a 10 person business with over 30 clients where I take on a lot of the decision making.
I was told many times that it is amazing that while I’ve been trying to make it out here for 5 years I couldn’t have come at a better time. They had an enormous amount of technological projects that needed to be accomplished and they very much appreciated the extra help.
I very much admire the way in which technology is being implemented at this hospital. Their primary software and operating systems are all “open source” (FYI – Open source is synonymous with “free” for those not in the know). While we do have computers donated with Windows 2000, for those without operating systems we install BSD, which is a flavor of Linux, an open source operating system. This can be installed on Pentium 3 computers with 256 MB of RAM (which is the typical system given to us and is about 10-12 years old) and runs fairly fast. The “servers, ” which were donated, are linux based as well, and run Apache web sites with back end databases written in mySQL, all open source software. The actual software that is being used to run the hospital is called care2x which maintains all of the patients, patient notes, meds, laboratory results, imaging and billing. There is also a program called WebERP, which is an accounting package. Again, both open source systems. Tom Barsch, a Denver based Kaiser radiologist working at Exempla Lutheran in Denver, brought over an expensive Mac server with 2 terabytes of storage for the Picture Archiving and Communication system (PACs) which will handle all of the digital imaging. The PACs software that is used is called Osirix and is open source as well (GE, Siemens, and Phillips all have software that is hundreds of thousands of dollars but again, because it is open source it is free). The PACs software is hooked up to a CT scanner, a xray machine and an ultrasound machine. We also installed SESType, an open source typing software program on all the Windows based computers so that people could improve their typing skills and also OpenOffice, a free program to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations that work with Microsoft programs as well (they can read and write to the Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint formats).
So if you followed the primary points of the last paragraph you will realize that all of the donated systems run software that is free. This has been the goal of Mark Jacobson and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania but the fact that it is all really starting to come together and works means that we have a very affordable (only in Africa would the term affordable be used to describe free software) solution that all 3rd world hospitals could take advantage of. I am building a wiki, a web based tool to share information, (http://africanmedicaltechnology.wikispaces.com ) and a discussion group (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/africanmedicaltechnology/). We will use these to share information and best practices HOPEFULLY with other African medical hospitals. Perhaps there are other discussion groups and wikis already, in which case we will shut these down and post information there.
The point is that the work is just beginning and the goal is to really work toward the continued building of these open source systems and finding PHP (a programming language) developers who want to contribute to medical technology that all 3rd world hospitals could benefit from using.
One of my primary duties has been deploying computers in the new facility. I’m happy to share that Allen Technology has donated about 3K to:
Purchase the necessary equipment to build a standby server that, in case the primary server fails, can be brought up in a matter of minutes
Purchase backup hard drives
Purchase a web site for plasterhouse.org
Purchase 5 flat screen monitors
Purchase power strips, power cords and other misc items that were needed to successfully deploy all of the computers
My other duties included documenting all of their technology environment, helping them audit the environment to determine where improvements were needed, inventorying all of their technology equipment, networking the new hospital to the existing Arusha Town Clinic (really oversaw this, can’t actually take any credit for the work done).
My most proud moments, however, were getting Stephen, Jessica and Mack involved in the deployment as stated in the first paragraph. It was great sharing knowledge and having them work alongside me.
Love,Ben and his little family
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Merry Christmas!
This holiday season we have so much to be thankful for and this morning it was a very merry christmas for the entire family. Santa does visit Africa and Stephen got a watch, Mackie a serious Maasai knife and zoe got cool jewelry along with Jessica. That is a river running through our yard, which happens after a night time rain. We are excited to visit our church today, Arusha Community Church, where we have met many good people that we see extremely often in this community of almost 1/2 million people.
500 Bucks!
We have some good friends who gave us $500 to do whatever with (there was a stipulation to have it benefit people here somehow). These are the items we have used it for thus far:
$135 - PlasterHouse.org - This post is coming soon regarding the visit my family took to this house where children are kept from 1 - 3 months while they recover from their corrective surgeries. Surgeries are primarily to correct mishapen b
ones from too much floride but other operations are done, including an operation on one very small boy who happened to be 8 years old (pictured on left) with cerebal palsey who was having seizures and he had brain surgery which helped eliminate those seizures. We purchased a $270 web site for Sarah Wallis (a New Zealander volunteer who now heads up the occupational therapy department at the new hospital) which is expenisive but includes two years of e-mail and a built-in editor and half of this money ($135) was used from the "500 Fund."
ones from too much floride but other operations are done, including an operation on one very small boy who happened to be 8 years old (pictured on left) with cerebal palsey who was having seizures and he had brain surgery which helped eliminate those seizures. We purchased a $270 web site for Sarah Wallis (a New Zealander volunteer who now heads up the occupational therapy department at the new hospital) which is expenisive but includes two years of e-mail and a built-in editor and half of this money ($135) was used from the "500 Fund."$8 - A gentlemen with one leg was getting donations from people for a $500 prosthetic leg, most donations were at this level (he had a list). Still need a picture but I can tell you that it is obvious when some people sincerely need money for a good cause. Unlike a lot of cute little kids who will run up to you several times a week laughing with their hand out and simply say "Give me your money!"
$100 - Jewelry Purchases for Africaid - We purchased about 60 items at less than $2 a piece that will sell for $20 for one item, $35 for two back in the states and all funds raised will go back to the Losinoni school and purchase probably about a half year of lunches for the 700 plus children at the school (which is actually the reason they have so many kids, who likely get their only meal of the day).
$80 - Fistula Operation - Sorry to be somewhat graphic but one of the complications of having children in the "bush" is that some women "tear" and are incontinant and banished from the village for that reason...this operation was paid for through our church here, the Arusha Community Church, and will pay to "fix" this issue and allow them to be part of their community (it likely happens near the time of delivery so they don't have to go through the ugly process of being asked to leave their village.
$1 - Kilimanjaro Beer for me.
$90 - Money toward getting a wheelchair made locally out of a lawnchair and bicycle tires for a man living on our street who has no use of his legs. The family saw him in a care tire with a stick dragging himself up the road. The most wonderful thing is that Zoe raised money from so many people toward this project and the additional money made it possible. This is really "her" project.
More to come soon! We are in our last week so I've got almost $50 more to blow! Really liked this "project" of spending the money. Thank you to my friends who supported it!
Love,
Ben's Little Family
Ben's Little Family
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Awesome Visit to Mt Meru Waterfalls
Today we went to the waterfalls of Mt Meru which is about a 25 minute drive from our house and then an hour and a half hike into the jungle. Check out the video of (s)Mack 
being tarzan on the bottom of the post (right before it starts he asked me if he could swing with just one hand).So here are several pictures of the amazing trip down into the river and then barefoot along the river into the waterfall. It was
the coolest waterfall any of us have ever seen. About 150 meters high. Smacks found a frog that Jessica is holding in her hand. The funny thing is that Janet Balentyne, who did all of our shots and 
immunizations for the trip, specifically told us not to touch any animals, and the kids have not been good at all on that front. Mainly she was talking about the dogs, which are wild and have some nasty diseases associated with them apparently. But they have a long list of animals from lizards, to turtles to kitties to frogs to goats and cattle that they all love to pet. 
I can tell you that on a trip of this length in a place such as Tanzania you do fall in love with the culture and the slow pace. Standing in lines for an hour is no
big deal. When the electrical company turns off your power for non-payment and you wonder why you never got a letter informing you prior to the disconnection, it is no big deal. Everywhere you go all you have to do is smile at someone (and there are typically 50-100 someones about ever kilometer) and the chances are likely they will give you a smile back that is so big you walk away thinking you just made their day. So many people we have met come here and then keep on coming or decide to stay for good. I'd say the weather alone is a reason to live h
ere, ever single day is roughly 80 degrees during the day (lots of humidity) and 60 at night, without fail. Perhaps a little rain will fall. Back to the waterfall. When we got there Mackie proceeded to go directly under the waterfall (he's the daredevil of the family...we have to be careful what we dare him to do!) It was chilly down there even though when we popped out of the jungle canopy it was the typical hot day. For some reason there was quite a lot of wind even though we are way back into a grotto with 3 sides. Do you see the size of that tree (click to enlarge and see a picture of Mack with Roger, our guide?!?! The jungle here is incredible.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Kathleen's Post (by ben)
OK, a little unfair that I get to post what Kathleen’s life is like but she is cute and doesn’t want to 
sound negative. It’s not negative, it’s just the way it is. Kathleen has, after many years of child raising, found some great friends in Evergreen that she loves and respects. She loves her volunteer affiliations with the elementary school and adores swimming Monday and Wednesday mornings and teaching spinning and aerobic step classes. Her life in Evergreen, Colorado is hard to beat. Africa is quite different, as anyone would expect. She is home schooling kids (she is really great, but again, this is the first time she has taught her kids and it has its rewards but the word “easy” doesn’t come to mind in describing her daily efforts) and while she gets time in the morning for herself it is limited, not the same as having kids in school. She hasn’t made good friends yet but that should change in the next couple weeks but let’s be realistic, it can take month and years to make great friendships, not a couple weeks. She has a great attitude but her day is mostly similar to the following:
Wake up
Get some time hopefully for herself
Home school children
Take kids to the swimming pool up the street
Wait for Ben to come home from the hospital where I go on and on about how much fun I am having
Suffice it to say, it can be tough married to a completely extroverted, always positive person whose glass isn’t half-full, it’s always overflowing. My goal is to try and make this experience great for her and for the rest of my family, it’s actually going pretty well.
Love,Ben’s little family
sound negative. It’s not negative, it’s just the way it is. Kathleen has, after many years of child raising, found some great friends in Evergreen that she loves and respects. She loves her volunteer affiliations with the elementary school and adores swimming Monday and Wednesday mornings and teaching spinning and aerobic step classes. Her life in Evergreen, Colorado is hard to beat. Africa is quite different, as anyone would expect. She is home schooling kids (she is really great, but again, this is the first time she has taught her kids and it has its rewards but the word “easy” doesn’t come to mind in describing her daily efforts) and while she gets time in the morning for herself it is limited, not the same as having kids in school. She hasn’t made good friends yet but that should change in the next couple weeks but let’s be realistic, it can take month and years to make great friendships, not a couple weeks. She has a great attitude but her day is mostly similar to the following:
Wake upGet some time hopefully for herself
Home school children
Take kids to the swimming pool up the street
Wait for Ben to come home from the hospital where I go on and on about how much fun I am having
Suffice it to say, it can be tough married to a completely extroverted, always positive person whose glass isn’t half-full, it’s always overflowing. My goal is to try and make this experience great for her and for the rest of my family, it’s actually going pretty well.
Love,Ben’s little family
Hospital Opening Ceremony
The opening of the new hospital occurred on Thursday, the 11th of
December after years and years of work to get it ready. The cool picture of the chameleon has nothing to do with that celebration, fyi. For the past week either Jessica or Stephen has accompanied me to the hospital to assist in all of the activities necessary to pull off the opening. I received an e-mail from Sue Green, the wife of Mark Green who is the US Ambassador to Tanzania, saying that she had got an e-mail 
from my uncle Phil Hauck who she knows in Green Bay. She read our blog and her husband was happy to greet us at the opening. Small world. Picture to the left is Mark Green shaking the hand of Eunice Simonson (see info later). Apparently the country of Tanzania is the largest recipient of both malaria and AIDS treatment funds in the entire world (thank you USA), which is good, they need it. Kathleen and I found out on Friday that the hospital is assisting to educate over 5,300 kids in the Arusha region who don’t have parents, and 75% of those kids are orphans due to AIDS. The extended families take care of these children, they are not in “orphanages” as we think of them (there are orphanages in Africa but they are more like schools with extended “day care” Kids go to the orphanages during the 
day for school, meals and to be bathed. In the evening, they go home to the relatives with who9m they live). The president of Tanzania was supposed to do the opening ceremonies but unfortunately he was predisposed at the last moment and the vice-president came in his absence to do the ribbon cutting. FYI - Mark Jacobson, the man behind the whole hospital, is shown at right. A couple hours late but again, this is Africa, get used to it. But perhaps the biggest honor was meeting Eunice and David Simonson (see picture on left) who are partially responsible for the 
Lutherans even having hospitals in this part of the world. David is very aged but is the only white Maasai (he killed a lion that was accosting a village which earned him the unique title) that I believe ever existed. His wife, Eunice, in the 1980s was serving medications out of her back porch when 3 out of 5 children didn’t make it to age 5. It isn’t great now, “weanies” is the term that is used to refer to children who are off of breast milk and that is when the death rate is the highest because at family meals they are the last to be offered food, men first, then women, then children from oldest to youngest. It may sound awful but if, for example, you reversed that and fed the men last and they died then there would be no food for the family which would mean….you get the idea. Years ago I heard that they were bringing AIDS vaccine to Africa but were giving it to parents, not kids. It sounded so awful but follows the same logic, if the parents die, there is little chance for the kids. FYI - The picture of Mack and Zoe also has nothing to do with this post. But we were talking about the opening of the hospital. Cannot tell you how big of a deal this is, Arusha which is 
home to hundreds of thousands of people, now has an ICU unit opening next week. People with money will no longer need to go across the border to Nairobi, Kenya for great medical assistance, it is located in Arusha, right here, right now! Yea. So it was an awesome opening. We arrived at 8:30 and it was a lesson in patience to hang out for hours to await the vice president who was several hours late. Truth be known, we unfortunately left 15 minutes before he finally arrived because we were really late for an appointment to visit the International School where, if we returned to do work for a longer period, our children would possibly attend. We love it here. Need more friends for everyone but the next couple weeks should be fruitful in that category.
Love, ben’s little family
December after years and years of work to get it ready. The cool picture of the chameleon has nothing to do with that celebration, fyi. For the past week either Jessica or Stephen has accompanied me to the hospital to assist in all of the activities necessary to pull off the opening. I received an e-mail from Sue Green, the wife of Mark Green who is the US Ambassador to Tanzania, saying that she had got an e-mail 
from my uncle Phil Hauck who she knows in Green Bay. She read our blog and her husband was happy to greet us at the opening. Small world. Picture to the left is Mark Green shaking the hand of Eunice Simonson (see info later). Apparently the country of Tanzania is the largest recipient of both malaria and AIDS treatment funds in the entire world (thank you USA), which is good, they need it. Kathleen and I found out on Friday that the hospital is assisting to educate over 5,300 kids in the Arusha region who don’t have parents, and 75% of those kids are orphans due to AIDS. The extended families take care of these children, they are not in “orphanages” as we think of them (there are orphanages in Africa but they are more like schools with extended “day care” Kids go to the orphanages during the 
day for school, meals and to be bathed. In the evening, they go home to the relatives with who9m they live). The president of Tanzania was supposed to do the opening ceremonies but unfortunately he was predisposed at the last moment and the vice-president came in his absence to do the ribbon cutting. FYI - Mark Jacobson, the man behind the whole hospital, is shown at right. A couple hours late but again, this is Africa, get used to it. But perhaps the biggest honor was meeting Eunice and David Simonson (see picture on left) who are partially responsible for the 
Lutherans even having hospitals in this part of the world. David is very aged but is the only white Maasai (he killed a lion that was accosting a village which earned him the unique title) that I believe ever existed. His wife, Eunice, in the 1980s was serving medications out of her back porch when 3 out of 5 children didn’t make it to age 5. It isn’t great now, “weanies” is the term that is used to refer to children who are off of breast milk and that is when the death rate is the highest because at family meals they are the last to be offered food, men first, then women, then children from oldest to youngest. It may sound awful but if, for example, you reversed that and fed the men last and they died then there would be no food for the family which would mean….you get the idea. Years ago I heard that they were bringing AIDS vaccine to Africa but were giving it to parents, not kids. It sounded so awful but follows the same logic, if the parents die, there is little chance for the kids. FYI - The picture of Mack and Zoe also has nothing to do with this post. But we were talking about the opening of the hospital. Cannot tell you how big of a deal this is, Arusha which is 
home to hundreds of thousands of people, now has an ICU unit opening next week. People with money will no longer need to go across the border to Nairobi, Kenya for great medical assistance, it is located in Arusha, right here, right now! Yea. So it was an awesome opening. We arrived at 8:30 and it was a lesson in patience to hang out for hours to await the vice president who was several hours late. Truth be known, we unfortunately left 15 minutes before he finally arrived because we were really late for an appointment to visit the International School where, if we returned to do work for a longer period, our children would possibly attend. We love it here. Need more friends for everyone but the next couple weeks should be fruitful in that category.Love, ben’s little family
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