The first two days of this Mission Rabies vaccination drive, we worked “static clinics”.  We drive to a place, set up our makeshift clinic, and people bring us their dogs.  Today, we did “roaming clinics”.  We drive through an assigned area announcing that we’re offering free rabies vaccinations to dogs and cats.  When we see someone with a dog, we stop the van and give the vaccine.  We wait around a little bit, and other people start to appear with their dog or cat.  If no one comes after a few minutes, we continue along, driving slowly up the streets and alleys, announcing our presence. Before we even got to our static clinic area, two people pulled up to us on a motorcycle, with a box containing two puppies.  

It’s always good to start the day with puppies. 

Motorcycles, by the way, are a very common mode of transport here in Tanzania, and every now and then dogs are brought to us by motorcycle.  The drivers of these motorcycles, however, are not always the most safety conscious.  

We drove a little further into the area, and Lucy started broadcasting on the megaphone that we’re in the area. I’ve heard Lucy make the announcement over the megaphone enough times that I can now do it myself.  “Tangazo, tangazo! Unafuga mbwa? Unafuga paka?  Chanjo, chanjo ni bure! Chanjo ni bure!!”  Translation:  Attention, attention! Do you have a dog?  Do you have a cat?  Vaccination! Free vaccinations! Free vaccination!”   Well, the megaphone announcement worked pretty well, because people started coming.  

Some of the dogs, like the one above, get freaked out when they have a leash or chain around their neck, because they spend their entire life roaming free.  When the owner brings them on a leash, and the dog suspects we’re going to do something to them, they get fearful, and sometimes aggressive.  The owner often can’t restrain them well, so we may have to wrap the leash around a pole or tree to immobilize the dog for a second.  Once the vaccine is administered the dog usually zooms away, although some stick around and show their friendly nature.  The dog above, for example, turned out to be a real sweetie.  

Once again, we had a few cats for vaccination.  

One kid brought his puppies to us in a bag with just their heads sticking out.  Very cute.  

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These roaming clinics tend to not attract as many people as the static clinics do.  We managed to vaccinate about 65 pets, which was one of the better totals of the day. 

Also, it rained pretty hard for about an hour, which prevented us from doing much.  It cooled things down pretty well, however, and that was a blessing, because our van doesn’t have air conditioning and the back window is broken and only opens about a quarter of the way. During the rain, I took a pretty cool photo out of the window.  

Because we’re seeing less pets, I’m taking less photos during these roaming clinics.  Well, less photos of dogs and owners.  I’m still taking some photos of scenery,  and of children, of course.  African children are amazingly photogenic, and I can’t stop myself from snapping their pics.  

As we were driving back, we went down a road with a few shops, and I was amused to see, in this little village, a sign for “Brooklyn Hardware”.  Even here in the middle of nowhere, I see references to my hometown.  

Tomorrow we go up into the mountains to visit an area that a team already visited, but didn’t reach the 70% goal.  Should be interesting.  

CONTINUE TO MISSION RABIES TANZANIA PART 8

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We smashed all records from previous Mission Rabies Tanzania trips, vaccinating 7,657 dogs and 1,229 cats.  Total number of animals vaccinated against rabies: 8,886.  It’s an incredible accomplishment.  To continue to do this kind of work is expensive. If you like reading these blog posts and you support this kind of work, I humbly ask for you to make a small donation if you can.  Every little bit helps.  Thank you.