#IBUKU TANZANIA MEANING PORTABLE#
It means that it’s impossible to use a portable refrigerator to store vaccines in. That means that when there’s no sunlight, everything has to come to a standstill. It’s here that vaccinations and prenatal check-ups are provided, and malnourished individuals identified – everything done without electricity. But in Tanzania, health centers are often just small, bare rooms with makeshift walls, a table, a few chairs and neither light nor running water, in the midst of endless red dirt and lush, sometimes very wild, nature. «For someone from Italy or another such wealthy country, this might seem like something of little importance. «Having solar panels is an absolute breakthrough for these dispensaries,» Doctors with Africa CUAMM’s Edoardo Occa tells us. In cooperation with Panasonic, the Japanese company has donated 50 solar panels to CUAMM to be installed in 50 dispensaries in the Iringa and Njombe Regions, where CUAMM is implementing the “ Accelerating Stunting Reduction Project – TubadiLISHE Project” with the support of UNICEF. All this has been made possible thanks to a new partnership between Sumitomo Corporation and Doctors with Africa CUAMM. Like them, another 48 dispensaries will soon also have light. In recent days electricity became a reality for two small health centers in Lumuli and Magoda, located in Tanzania’s Iringa DC and Njombe Regions, respectively. What does having electricity mean for a small dispensary in Tanzania? How does it change the way its staff works? Most of all, what is the impact of such an “innovation” on the services provided to patients?