We were looking for materials to make new earbuds for stethoscopes when we met these Masaai who wanted to try them. This man to the left had an amazing expression hearing his friends heartbeat.
We found this screw at a “fundi wa saa” – a technician of time – in the streets of Moshi. The stethoscope is now in use at the medical ward of Mawenzi hospital.
Blood pressure cuffs and sphygmamometers are probably the most commen and easy fixes. Often they can be pateched using bicycle tire patches, however woth this specific case that did not work.
This photo from a vital signs monitor shows once again how tubing is really common in medical equipment. Quite often it is the only thing that needs changing and machine will work seamlessly again.
Thermometers are extremely commonly out of battery in the developing world. This is the easiest fix of all.
This photo is from the storage room at Mawenzi hospital where they have an abundance of broken equipment. We eventually cleaned out the room (partially) and turned it in to our workshop.
KJ is teaching how to use the manual suction pump at Mawenzi Hospital.
This is a common quickfix seen in at KCMC and it is definitely woth a disignproject to develop something they could put on the wire – transducer junction that would prevent it from breaking.
We fixed this anesthesia machine. We have seen it in use several times since.
The last couple of weeks have been stuffed with interesting fixes and great experiences in Moshi, KCMC and Mawenzi, Here are some of my favourite photos.
