mbaya kabisa

In this case, translates to something like, "Totally horrible!"


It wouldn't be that hard to go from expat event to expat event, Western-style restaurant to Western-style hotel and almost completely insulate yourself from the day to day reality for the vast majority of Mwanzans. But living so close to Bugando Hospital, and in a neighborhood without many other expats helps keep reality right in front of our faces.


As my taxi driver and I approached our home today, we drove past a large crowd of people peering intently over a bridge. The driver could not contain himself: "Mbaya kabisa!" Mbaya kabisa!" Sometime last night, someone, (people are pegging it on "some bad mother") tossed an infant over the bridge into the shallow, sludge-filled river. By the time neighbors noticed, the tiny baby was dead. 


"Does this happen a lot?" I asked the driver.
"Every so often."


If you pray, consider praying for Mwanza. Pray for the doctors, and nurses and teachers and NGO workers especially to press on in the sometimes dark, discouraging circumstances.