Mount Meru Foundation

The Mount Meru Foundation is commited to improving mother and child care in Afrika.

Summary annuel report 2023

The year 2024 was a year in which we had the opportunity to make plans for the future! At the end of April, the board held a brainstorming session to discuss what we would like to achieve in the next 5 to 10 years.

Supporting ultrasound education in Tanzania remains our focus. We will actively work on securing placements for students in local training programs and continue to train and guide junior sonographers on their path to becoming senior sonographers. Of course, we will also continue our ongoing projects and strengthen them where possible.

Additionally, we aim to professionalize the foundation, expand our network in Tanzania and the Netherlands, and connect talented individuals to our mission and vision. This professionalization is necessary to execute our ten-year plan: establishing a skills lab in Tanzania where local and Dutch trainers can educate the next generation of obstetric sonographers.

The Mamabus project in Moshi is running well. Veronika Tarimo has now been working on the Mamabus for five years and performs many ultrasounds with the well-functioning Lumify. This year, we had to replace the accompanying tablet. At the end of October 2024, Veronika started a one-year training program to become a registered nurse. She is currently an enrolled nurse, which can be compared to progressing from an associate degree to a bachelor's degree in nursing. To temporarily replace her on the Mamabus, a new nurse has been hired. Unfortunately, this nurse is not trained in ultrasound, and getting candidates admitted to the local ultrasound training program remains a challenge. Fortunately, Veronika continues to hold ultrasound consultation hours on weekends and may be able to teach her replacement the basics.

Following the example of the project in Lower Moshi, and in collaboration with SDN, a second Mamabus project was launched in Karatu in 2019. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the progress of this project was delayed in 2020 and 2021, but significant advancements were made in 2022. By 2023, the bus was ready but lacked personnel. Dr. Heriel from the Karatu Lutheran Hospital was able to enroll Noela Emanuel in September 2024 in the one-year ultrasound training program at the Benjamin Mkapa Institute in Dodoma. The foundation is funding Noela’s ultrasound training. We hope that by mid-2025, she will be able to perform ultrasounds on the Mamabus for pregnant women.

In 2024, Dr. Simpa conducted many ultrasounds in the Karatu outreach program using the Lumify device donated by the foundation. He is willing to temporarily perform ultrasounds on the Mamabus until Noela completes her training.

Also in 2024, Regina Namumba, our regular trainer, provided a hands-on training for the foundation. In March, we were able to offer Jackline Shirima from Himo another training session with Regina. Jackline was highly motivated to attend; she even brought her baby and nanny to Tabora so she could continue breastfeeding.

In November, Regina made the transition from Tabora to Zanzibar. She will continue providing hands-on training for the foundation’s candidates.

Johanna Omar, a German midwife in Zanzibar, continued to perform numerous ultrasounds in 2024 using the Lumify, which she transports from clinic to clinic. Full ultrasound consultation schedules demonstrated the high demand for this service.

In November, we were pleasantly surprised by a photo showing Regina and Johanna performing ultrasounds together! It was wonderful to see that these two professionals found each other and strengthened their collaboration in Zanzibar without the foundation's intervention.

In 2023, a field study was conducted in Himo to explore the possibilities of mobile pregnancy check-ups using ultrasound in rural areas. However, with the retirement of Dr. Maeda that same year, priorities temporarily shifted towards maintaining and investing in the ultrasound capacity of Himo Health Center.

In 2024, Jackline Shirima attended a hands-on training with Regina for the second time. Regina was pleasantly surprised by Jackline’s remarkable progress in her ultrasound skills.

Jackline could use additional support in Himo. A candidate is ready to enroll in ultrasound training, but unfortunately, she was not admitted to the program in Moshi in 2024. She will try again in 2025 to secure a spot in either Moshi or Dodoma.

Initially, it seemed that we would not be able to place any students in the one-year ultrasound training program at KCMC in Moshi, Tanzania in 2024. Our two nominated candidates were not selected. However, as is often the case in Tanzania, surprises arose. Three other students managed to secure a place in the new ultrasound training program in Dodoma. They are now sponsored and supported by our foundation.

In 2024, we were able to add three skilled and enthusiastic sonographers to our foundation: senior sonographers Dagmar de Bruijn, Marga Rietveld, and Saskia Brom have recently started mentoring our ultrasound trainees in Dodoma.

To secure the future of Stichting Mount Meru, the board began searching for new board members. We are pleased to announce that two candidate board members have been found: Heidi van Keken and Trudy Elskamp.

Explanation of Activities 2024

Project Lower Moshi - Northern Tanzania

The Driving Nurses Foundation and SMM continue to collaborate on the Mamabus project in the Lower Moshi region, also referred to as Mamabus 2.0. The TPC Hospital in Moshi, with which we have strong connections, helps provide a qualified nurse/midwife for the Mamabus.
A portion of the prenatal care can be funded by the Tanzanian government and is universally offered to all pregnant women in Tanzania. As we previously mentioned, we are still looking for a second ultrasound specialist to train, ensuring the continuity of the Mamabus in the future. In 2024, Veronica started an advanced training program, which means she now only conducts ultrasound consultations on weekends. During this time, she also trains her Mamabus replacement in the basic principles of ultrasound.

Project "Adopt an Ultrasound Specialist"

In 2019, we launched the "Adopt an Ultrasound Specialist" project.
In 2024, the foundation is sponsoring three candidates who began their one-year training program in Dodoma in September.

Project: "Further Training for Graduated Ultrasound Specialists"

Regina Namumba, a long-time acquaintance of the foundation and a highly experienced and well-trained ultrasound specialist, has once again made herself available in 2024 as a senior hands-on trainer for our ultrasound specialists. The foundation has worked successfully with Regina in the past at Mount Meru Hospital in Arusha. Since Regina now lives in Tabora, on the other side of the country, the trainees must travel a long distance and stay in Tabora for 10-15 days. The foundation covers the travel, accommodation, and training costs. In 2024, one ultrasound specialist traveled to Regina for hands-on training. In November 2024, Regina relocated to the island of Zanzibar, where she will continue to support the foundation with hands-on training.

Project Himo: "The Mobile Ultrasound Specialist"

In 2023, in collaboration with the Driving Nurses Foundation, a field study was conducted to explore the possibilities of setting up a mobile ultrasound service in the rural areas around Himo.

With the retirement of Dr. Maeda, a gap has emerged in ultrasound expertise. As a result, SMM is prioritizing the training of new ultrasound specialists and further developing Jackline’s skills before advancing plans for a mobile service in Himo. In 2024, Jackline was able to attend another hands-on training session with Regina. Additionally, a suitable candidate for ultrasound training was identified, but unfortunately, she could not secure a spot in the Moshi or Dodoma training programs in 2024. It is hoped that she will be admitted to one of the programs in 2025.

Project Karatu: "The Mobile Ultrasound Specialist"

Similar to Himo, Karatu is also focusing on both training and the development of a mobile ultrasound service. This project is being implemented in collaboration with the Driving Nurses Foundation.
In 2019, the foundation began working on this initiative in Karatu, but progress was delayed in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, significant advancements were made in 2022, leading to the official launch of the mobile ultrasound bus in November 2023.
Since there is still no ultrasound specialist available for the Mamabus, Dr. Simpa will provide support whenever possible. During the 2023 visit to Tanzania, a portable ultrasound machine was handed over to Dr. Simpa.
In 2024, a nurse from Karatu Lutheran Hospital was sponsored by the foundation to enroll in the ultrasound training program in Dodoma.

Project Zanzibar: "The Mobile Ultrasound Specialist"

In 2017 and 2018, Margriet and Anna Lied provided hands-on training and material support to German midwife Johanna Omar on Zanzibar. Over the years, Johanna has developed into a fully trained ultrasound specialist, now conducting full consultation sessions using the ultrasound machine donated by SMM. During the September 2023 visit, this progress was observed firsthand. At the request of SMM, Regina Namumba was also present in Zanzibar to provide training to Johanna and other beginner ultrasound specialists. In 2024, Johanna continued performing numerous ultrasound scans using the Lumify machine donated by the foundation. Since November 2024, she has been receiving further training directly from Regina, who has relocated to Zanzibar.

Project Usambara Mountains

During our stay in 2023, we visited the Usambara Mountains, a potential new project for SMM. The garden of Tanzania. For two days, we drive through the mountains, visiting both government and private health centres. We see a cross-section of local health care. Our focus is always on mother/child care, how is it organised and what place does pregnancy ultrasound have in it. The picture is varied, we see very old equipment but also relatively modern ultrasound devices. 10 years ago, a number of people in this area were trained in ultrasound and they still make most of the ultrasounds. They do what they can, but it is clear that ultrasound expertise is structurally lacking, that there is insufficient capacity to meet the demand for ultrasounds and that unfortunately no investment has been made in training a new generation of sonographers. There are too few of them in Tanzania anyway, but in this remote corner of the country the shortage is even more noticeable: it is very difficult to entice people to come and work here.
In 2024 we have not succeeded in developing the project further.

Sponsoring

In 2019, SMM also started a packaging campaign at large supermarkets throughout the country. This campaign also raised more than €2000 in 2024. The campaign will continue in 2025. SMM was also allowed to receive other donations in 2024.