Wednesday the 16th in Iringa

We started the day by trying to visit the Bishop at the Iringa Synod office. Unfortunately, the Bishop was out of town on business so his deputy greeted us and talked in detail about the many different avenues that the Lutheran Church is taking in and around Iringa to help the local people. Everything from Hospitals and Schools to a fledgling micro-loan program. It is amazing how much the Lutheran Church, especially from the Twin Cities area, has touched the Iringa area. It is also amazing how much has been done and how much more there is to do.

After our visit to the Bishop's office, we left Iringa and headed for the small town of Ilula. The Lutheran Church has built a hospital in Ilula. Below is a map of the hospital area. The building are color coded with red roofed building under construction and green roofed building still in the planning stages/needing funding. We brought a small amount of medical supplies to the hospital - those we felt would not be used or needed in Magome. They were very appreciative of the supplies.

When we visited, a group from an international eye clinic were visiting and performing cataract surgery on as many people as they could. The hospital had an amazing surgical suite (currently being used for the various eye surgeries) and had a men's and women's ward for recovery. In our tour of the hospital, we walked through the current birthing and women's health building. We learned that a new mom with a normal birth stays in the hospital for up to 3 days and a c-section mom stays for a week or more. Also, the cost of a c-section is $60,000 Tanzanian Shillings (about $60.00 US).

After the Ilula Hospital, we went to the Isimila Archaeological Site. It is the site of a stone age civilization. They have numerous examples of stone tools: knifes, clubs, stones for hurling, grinding stones, etc. In one area, it is estimated that over 75% of the visible stones are tool stones from the ancient civilization. Our guide told us that Isimila has the most stone tools of any site in Africa.

After seeing the Archaeological Site, the tour continues up a winding patch until you reach the entrance of the Pillars - a canyon carved by an ancient stream leaving amazing pillars. Below is a picture of the canyon. I would estimate the pillars are 80-100 feet tall.The hiking was easy, so everyone had a good time in the canyon, but Kay and Dave had an especially good time. They both kept comparing the Pillars Canyon to canyon trip to the SW United States. This trip was a worthy detour for any future trips to the Iringa area.

After Isimila, we returned to Iringa and had dinner at Shooters, a pool hall/restaurant with only one pool table. The dinner was very good and afterwards, those of us in the know taught the others how to hang spoons on their nose. By the end of the night, everyone in the group, including our four guests from Magome, had successfully hung a spoon.