Karatu

Karatu is a small town just outside the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. After visiting the Ngorongoro Crater, we stayed in Karatu for a night before returning to the Arusha area.
Before we left for Arusha, we had a little time to explore Karatu. Knowing that I work with an HIV/AIDS organization in Kigali, our driver took us to visit a local HIV/AIDS organization in Karatu. The name of the organization is WAMADUKA, which stands for "Women and the Struggle against HIV/AIDS in Karatu" in Swahili. The organization was really quite impressive. They have a staff of only five or six people and receive all their funding from the Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran churches, yet they provide numerous services to the community - free HIV testing and counseling, support for people living with HIV/AIDS, support for orphans and vulnerable children who have been affected by HIV/AIDS and education to the community and to local schools. The two women we met were so encouraging as they gave us a tour of their small facilities and told us about their work. It was so interesting to gain some insight into an organization which, though very different from the one with which I work, aims to accomplish the same goals.

While in Karatu, our driver also took us to a Catholic clinic where his wife works as a laboratory technician. The sister who manages the clinic was thrilled to have us there and to show us everything. Although there is no physician at the clinic, they provide tremendous medical care to the people of Karatu. We visited the maternity ward, the children's ward, the men's ward, the women's ward and the tuberculosis ward. I was so impressed at the many services they offer - infant and child vaccinations, tuberculosis treatment, HIV/AIDS testing and treatment and much more. I was very impressed.

I have to confess that I was also impressed with a very different aspect of Karatu. There were an amazing number of John Deere combines and Ford tractors in town. It was really pretty funny to be driving around town and see "John Deere" and "Ford" all over the place.
Just outside Karatu, we passed through Maasai grazing lands. The grasslands and hillsides were speckled everywhere with herds of cows and goats and round, thatched huts. Perhaps the most amazing aspect of it all was that many of the herds were being led by boys who weren't much bigger than a goat themselves.