General Site Information
CTT is a school that provides education for children unable to attend other schools due to family situations and poverty. It covers all grades up to high school. Children are in class from about 10-3, Monday-Friday, and some walk up to 10km from home to attend. One meal per day is provided, and this is often the only meal that a child will have that day. The school has been growing in size, and in 2016 had approximately 600 students.
Accommodation (same as Rujeko)
We stayed at “Norman’s House”, which is located at 17 Eagle Heights Road, Lake Chivero. (Googlemap “Lake Chivero Recreational Park” and the house is located right beside that). It’s about a 45min drive from Harare.
Norman Conlon is a friend of Dr. Ray Markham’s, and he has kindly rented out his home to us for the past two years. There are a few bedrooms, and one large living room. Depending on the number staying, we had some people sleeping on good mattresses in the living room (all bedding/towels provided), and others in the bedrooms. Internet is mediocre here – ok for sending an email once in awhile, but not for extensive web browsing or skype. There is a pool, an outdoor garden shower (amazing), two bathrooms in the house, and one toilet outbuilding in the garden – all with flush toilets and hot water.
Food was looked after as a group, with your rent including all meals for your time at Norman’s house. Norman’s sister Susan was with us (as Norman was out of town while we were there), and she is a fabulous cook. Dietary requirements are well accommodated for, and expect lots of fresh fruit. There are occasional trips to town (including weekend trips to the markets) where you can buy extra food and wine/etc if you desire.
For those interested, the roads around Norman’s house are good for morning runs, before it gets too hot. You can run towards the Lion Park (about 5km round trip), or towards the Bird Park (shorter run). Chat with Ray or Susan about directions, and also take part in any 
weekend trips to properly visit the Lion Park and the Bird Park!
Health Providers for CTT
In the area surrounding CTT, there are two types of health care providers: Community Health Workers (CHWs) and the nursing staff of the nearby clinic, Rujeko. CHWs are members of the public who take on a self-directed role in medical care, but are not regulated or officially trained. The nursing staff at Rujeko have a busy schedule in their own clinic, and therefore no regular contact with CTT has yet been provided. This is something that our project hopes to help facilitate – a regular nursing presence at CTT would be highly beneficial to children who require monitoring, regular check-ups, and also for those with new health issues. As of March, 2016, CTT heads were very open to bringing in a nurse once per month, and the nursing staff of Rujeko were also open to the idea, with the caveat that transportation to and from CTT be provided to them.
Our Role
- Screening Clinic
During our time there, we set up a kids screening clinic over two days with the help of CTT staff, CHWs, and nurses from Rujeko. Nurses first screened the kids, then flagged the ones to be seen by our group. Each student/resident had a CWH paired with them to help translate and to be involved in care. Dr. Ray Markham would float between us all to help with decision-making. A local dentist group also was present to see kids with dental issues. We had most commonly-needed medications with us (brought from Canada), which we would give directly to older students, and for younger students would have them return with their parents during the week to pick up the medication.
- Adult/Family Clinic
Two of our days were dedicated to seeing local community members with specific medical complaints. We put the word out (via the CTT teachers telling the students) to let families and community members know that a medical clinic would be taking place, and people would just show up in the morning and wait to be seen. As with the kids, we would give out medications when we had them, and we would refer patients to Rujeko clinic for issues needing more than we could provide. An HIV screening table was also set up on these days, with a nurse from Rujeko managing on-the-spot testing.
- Communication with Rujeko
There was some facilitated discussion during our visit with the goal of having nurse presence at CTT on a regular basis. At the time of our visit, this was still in discussion and hopefully can continue to be built upon in coming years.
Common Health Issues
Ringworm
Scabies
Malnutrition
Ear wax impaction
Diarrhea
TB
HIV
Cough
Headache
Vague abdominal pain
Back pain
PID
STIs