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MAASAI HEALTH SYSTEMS
16714 91st Ave. E.
Puyallup, WA 98375
a tax exempt 501 (c)(3) charity
NEWSLETTER # 54 June, 2019
UPDATE ON THE 2017 GENERATOR PROJECT
Back in 2016, a hospital in Denver was kind enough to donate a digital x-ray machine to Selian which provided an improved piece of technology, but also presented a new problem due to unreliable city power in Arusha. The old generator wasn’t powerful enough to run the digital equipment. To remedy this and other power-related uncertainties, Maasai Health Systems was able to raise the funds necessary to purchase a new industrial-grade generator.
Pictured here is the delivery of the new generator along with hospital director, Dr. Amon Marti.
There was a protracted debate with the Tanzanian government about whether our mission hospital should pay a tax on this purchase or not. This has been resolved, but unfortunately, the decision was that Selian had to pay 18 million Tanzanian shillings in tax (almost US $8,000). The good news is that the generator has finally arrived, been installed, and is in service.
LAUNDRY PROJECT
The 2018 project was to modernize the hospital laundry. When I visited Selian in 1993, they were washing the hospital linens by hand and drying the linens by spreading them out on the lawn. Since then, the hospital was able to purchase both washer and dryer, but those machines are now old and failing. The picture below from November 2018 shows laundry hanging on clotheslines since the dryer can’t work fast enough. The pictures below show the old washer and dryer. Thanks to your donations, new units have been ordered and should be arriving in August or September.
Laundry hanging on clotheslines since the dryer can’t keep up with demand.
I invite you to help with the final phase of the generator project, paying the tax bill. The $8,000 to cover the tax burden for a hospital that struggles to cover operating expenses is in addition to the $12,000 we will continue to contribute for surgeon salary support. Dr Marti also has requested several smaller projects ( EKG machine, Hormone analyser, newborn incubator, photo therapy machine, CPAP machine.). He is working on contacting vendors and getting price quotes. Please recall that since we are a 100% volunteer organization, 100% of donations go directly to the project. Donations can be made to the address in the heading.
I thank you in advance.
Don Rowberg
President
Maasai Health Systems.