I think malaria would have been easier.

Sorry for the relative quiet over the past week ... all will become clear.

On Sunday, we explored the Amboni caves and the sulphur springs near Tanga.

This is the crocodile we knew about in the sulphur springs. I'd bet he (or she) had friends.

Look! Someone dropped a handbag in the sulphur springs!

On Monday morning (the 22nd), while we were meeting with a company that takes plastic and turns it into bags, tarps, etc. I started feeling bad ... feverish, achy, chills. I texted our host and said, "I need to see the doctor."

Before we go any further, I'm finally feeling better. I rejoined the team on Sunday night when they returned to Dar es Salaam, and I look forward to closing out the remaining time with them at full strength.

Getting from where I was on Monday to where I am today, both physically and health-wise, has been a bit of a journey.

The doctor did some blood work on the 22nd and told me that, without a doubt, I had a mild case of malaria, from the Plasmodium falciparium parasite (there are a few different parasites; this is the least desirable). He said that the lab work also showed a bacterial infection. He put me on an anti-parasitic, a combination of two antibiotics, and something for the fever (and nightly sweating sessions ... I actually squeezed water out of the bed linens).

Tuesday morning, I get a sore throat, and swollen glands. After starting the antibiotic. Still sweating. Still achy. And these strange sores start coming up on my right hand and my left foot.

Tuesday afternoon, more sores, and the aching is getting worse. Local Tanga doctor thinks it could be a reaction to the medicine, but isn't sure. Wants me to continue with both. I feel really awful.

Wednesday, no improvement. So in the evening, I consult with my family doctor (of 28 years), a friend who's an MD, and I decide it's time to get checked out in a larger city. IBM has a service that arranges for me to be seen in Dar es Salaam (where we were returning on Sunday anyway, I just got here Thursday evening). Nairobi was the other option, but it presented even greater travel, logistical, and visa challenges. Much thanks to our host, Phil, for making a special trip to Dar to drop me off, and to Theo for meeting us at the clinic on Thursday evening in case he could help.

I show up and they do a battery of blood tests. Two doctors come in and say, "You don't have malaria, and you've never had it. What you have is ... (wait for it) ... "hand, foot, and mouth disease". Ewww.

Before we go still further: this is completely unrelated to "hoof & mouth disease" (animals only, not zoonotic), nor is it "foot-IN-mouth" disease. I am expecting a sudden, subsequent outbreak of the highly contagious WD, Wise-ass Disease - often spread through social media - to afflict many of my friends, particularly fellow Wabash men and fraternity brothers (it seems to be partial to y chromosomes). WD is recurrent and there is no known cure.

The doctors say, "We can give you something for the sore throat & the discomfort, but this has to run its course. You should start feeling better on Sunday and be completely cured - and immune to this virus - a few days after that."

Apparently this is a relatively common disease for children. It is significantly less common for adults, not common in the US, and tends to hit adults a little harder.

I will spare you any photos of my hands, feet, or throat. Suffice it to say: not pretty.

I spent the rest of Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in my hotel room, sleeping, trying to stay hydrated, and eating things from room service that I think my throat can handle. Fortunately, I've had no "stomach trouble" (as it were). It's not a diet plan I'd recommend, but the pounds have just flown off. Seriously.

Finally, though, the body aches are retreating. I'm sweating less when I get the sweats. My hands and feet are less sore (and still not pretty). I went to meetings yesterday and today.

I appreciate the wonderful support of the team - here and back home - making sure I've had what I need to get better.

I'm ready to get back in the game. Lots to do.

A "small world" story here in Tanzania.

Last weekend, each person on the team got a local cellphone and SIM card, graciously provided by our hosts. We had gone to the local Airtel shop (IBM customer and cellphone provider) and activated our phones; the activation process apparently hit a couple of snags.

I called the customer service number, spoke with a man named Julius, and was having trouble communicating that we had, indeed, activated our numbers - with all our passport information - at the shop the day before. I asked if I could hand my phone to one of our hosts (Mr. Mlaki) and maybe he could explain more clearly (and understand & communicate back to me) what the problem was - and let me know if there was any additional action I needed to take.

They spoke for a few moments in Swahili, and I heard him say, "Mondari? I know that name. Julius? Is that you?" It was his nephew.

Of all the customer service agents at Airtel, I got my host's nephew. Small world, indeed.

Over lunch the other day, one of our hosts was happy to talk about the realities of doing business here as a farmer, and to share some family history.

In 1874, his 12-year-old grandfather ran away from his large family in India, contacted a friend working at the docks, and stowed away on a ship going to Mombasa. After arriving in Mombasa, he walked seven days to get to Tanga, and eventually became the postmaster here. He owned camels, and ran the Tanga-Mombasa route as well. He earned & saved enough money to bring his family from India to Tanga.

While our hosts's father also worked as the postmaster here, our host is a teak farmer. He employs people from the local villages to work on the farms. Average wage for a laborer in Tanzania is around 70,000 TZS (Tanzanian Shillings) a month; that equates to $43 US.

Our host provides several benefits for his employees because it makes business sense to do so - he can attract & retain workers, and it reduces theft. He pays 5,000 shillings a month (around $3, the cost of a goat, the weekly cost of the cellphone service we have here, 1/2 the cost of a hotel meal, or 5x the cost of a small bottle of water) to provide healthcare for the worker, his or her wife or husband, and up to three children - after they have worked for 90 days.

If someone requires medical care (dental care is "not so big here"), they would see the medical professional at the local dispensary, then would be referred to the district or regional hospital as needed. Ambulance service in a city (such as Tanga) is transport only, and is likely unavailable outside the cities. Without insurance, it's "pay as you go".

He provides porridge in the mid-morning for them. "Well-fed workers are more productive."

For every thousand trees a worker plants, the worker gets 10 trees for their family. It takes around 15 years for teak trees to mature; many of the workers will wait 3 or 4 years and turn the tree into charcoal to sell. Yes, teak charcoal.

He had tried several payment methods ... daily, weekly, and monthly. Each presented challenges, including the risks of traveling with a lot of cash. Daily was a lot of work to manage. If he paid weekly, the employees would often not show up for work for 2 days after payment because they would be out drinking. If he paid them monthly, they would often not have money for food at the end of the month. So he settled on a hybrid model: he pays them 50% of their wages weekly, and then the other 50% of their wages at the end of the month.

Payment is very technologically advanced. In my previous post, I mention that there are cellphone "shops" in each village where one can recharge (with usage credit) a phone, and transfer money. Employers can usually pay money in at a cellphone outlet, then transfer that (for a fee) to the cellphone of a worker using SMS text messages. The worker can then withdraw that money as cash, or (in turn) transfer (again, for a fee) funds to the hair salon or the fruit & vegetable stand. The cellphone company gets the use of the money while it's held in the accounts. It's called M-Pesa (mobile-money) and you can read more about it here.

Land is often farmed without holding title to it. The government owns the land but will sell a 99-year leasehold (UK model) of the land to an individual, and then expect payment of 4,200 - 5,000 shillings (~$3) a year per acre as a land use tax. The only reason someone would (and would want to go through the Byzantine bureaucracy to) get a title to the land is if they needed to use it as collateral for a loan. Even microfinance loans require some kind of collateral.

Business is good for him, and for farmers like him. Treating employees well seems to be a global constant for getting good results.

#ibmcsc Tanzania