One evening, a seven-year-old girl, playing as children do, accidentally swallowed a coin.  What followed was anything but ordinary. When she walked toward her mother with tears in her eyes, unable to speak, her mouth filled with saliva, her mother quickly realised something was wrong. With worried neighbours by her side, she rushed her daughter to FAME, hoping to find help. In moments like these, when a child cannot speak and every passing minute feels longer, where else can a family turn?

At FAME’s Emergency Department, the evening was already unfolding under immense pressure. Four other critically ill patients needed urgent attention, and staff numbers were running low. Among them was a patient who had suffered a cardiac arrest, prompting a Code Blue call for additional staff from other wards to assist with CPR.  Dr. Matthew Spotswood (our Australian volunteer and critical care specialist), Dr. Gabriel and senior nurse Kizito were also called from home to join the team. Their arrival brought much-needed support, particularly as other critically ill patients still required ongoing attention. With so many lives depending on the team at once, every helping hand mattered.

Meanwhile, an X-ray confirmed that the coin was lodged in the little girl’s throat. Removing it safely required putting her to sleep. Two more anaesthetists were called and responded by leaving their homes to join the team. One cared for the little girl while the other helped care for the other patients. Amid the urgency, the team worked carefully, and the coin was successfully removed.

Just 30 minutes later, the little girl was back from the procedure room, playing a game on her emergency bed and smiling as though the frightening evening had never happened. The tears that had brought her to FAME had given way to laughter, and the worry that had filled her mother’s heart was replaced with relief.  To truly understand the joy on her mother’s face, you would have needed to see the fear in her eyes when she first arrived at the gates of our Emergency Department.

This is what we are here for. The moments when a family is frightened, when a child needs urgent care, and when the difference between fear and relief depends on how quickly help can be found. We are grateful to our dedicated medical team and to everyone whose support makes it possible for families in our rural community to access the care they need, right when they need it most.

Behind a strong nursing team is a commitment to keep learning, growing, and improving the care we provide. Over the years, Professor of Nursing, Anne Hartman, has been among the key people helping to strengthen and shape our Nursing Department through her continued mentorship, knowledge, and dedication to advancing patient-centered care at FAME. 

Each year, Anne spends more than a month at FAME, working closely with our Nursing Department to strengthen clinical skills, share knowledge, and support professional development. During her extended volunteer visit earlier this year, she helped guide our nursing competency assessment initiative, led by our senior Nurse Manager. The exercises covered cardiac rhythm assessment in the Emergency Department, vital signs assessment and interpretation in the Medical Ward, male catheterization in the Surgical Ward, newborn resuscitation in Maternity, hand scrubbing and sterile field preparation in the Operating Theatre, first-visit antenatal history-taking in Reproductive and Child Health (RCH), and pre-anesthesia preparation in Anesthesia. These practical assessments reinforced existing skills, identified opportunities for further growth, and strengthened our team's commitment to consistent standards of care. Her support continues well beyond her time at FAME, with regular follow-ups and ongoing guidance whenever needed.

“Anne and I have a call every other week to discuss the Nursing Department's progress and areas where we need support. Even between our scheduled calls, she is always available whenever we need her guidance. Her continued mentorship makes a real difference in how we strengthen our team and improve the care we provide to our patients,” says Joram Sumawe, FAME Nurse Manager.

Anne's commitment extends beyond clinical mentorship. She has consistently supported FAME's fundraising initiatives, including our local marathon. This year, while runners took to the course here in Tanzania, Anne and her husband supported the cause by running in the United States and making a donation. Her husband's contribution to strengthening our data tools and middle management competencies has also been incredibly valuable, reflecting the couple's shared dedication to FAME's mission. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Anne and her husband for the time, expertise, generosity, and unwavering commitment they continue to give to FAME. Their support reminds us that advancing patient-centered care is a shared effort, reaching across borders to make a lasting difference in the lives of the rural communities we serve.

An ambassador represents their country in a foreign land, building connections and helping others feel at home. At FAME, becoming an ambassador doesn’t require travel. Sometimes all it takes is a long stay, a welcoming smile and a heart that finds joy in encouraging others. That is how Loveness earned her nickname, “Our Ambassador,” a title she was more than happy to carry. 

Long before this pregnancy, Loveness had already experienced the heartbreak of losing two babies, at 16 and 22 weeks of pregnancy. Her cervix had begun opening too early, putting her pregnancies at risk before her babies were ready to be born.  For a woman who deeply longed to hold her baby in her arms, these losses were devastating. She later learned about the care available at FAME and, when she became pregnant again, she began attending the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) clinic early, hoping that this time her story would have a different ending.

The RCH team closely monitored her pregnancy, paying attention to her condition and the development of her baby. When concerns arose that she might give birth too early, the medical team admitted her for close monitoring and strict bed rest. What followed was an eight-week stay at FAME's Maternity Ward. As the days passed, the team continued caring for both mother and baby, working towards one precious milestone: giving this little one more time to grow safely before birth.

Over those eight weeks, she made FAME feel a little more like home for everyone around her. She welcomed newly admitted mothers, wished others well as they left, and knew the maternity team by name. If someone needed directions to the ultrasound room, they knew whom to ask. If a new mother needed a friendly face, Loveness was often there. She had arrived seeking care, and along the way she became a source of comfort to others. That is how she became our ambassador.

At 35 weeks, the medical team delivered her baby by Caesarean section. After everything she had endured, Loveness could finally hold the little life she had waited and hoped for in her arms. Today, as she exits the doors of our maternity ward, she does so with the precious gift. And perhaps this is the sweetest farewell of all: the woman who spent weeks wishing other mothers well as they went home is now beginning the same journey.

At FAME, we are deeply grateful to the donors and supporters whose generosity makes this care possible. Their support helps our medical team walk alongside women through vulnerable moments, providing the monitoring, treatment, and compassionate attention they need. Today, we bid farewell to our ambassador with full hearts. Loveness, thank you for the warmth you brought to our ward. May you and your little one enjoy a beautiful journey home—and may the joy you have carried through these doors follow you into the next chapter of your life.

It was well past midnight when Safari arrived at FAME Hospital after being struck by a fast-moving motorcycle. The impact left him with a serious head injury and multiple fractures in his left leg. In those critical moments, access to immediate emergency care made all the difference.

Because FAME's Emergency Department is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Safari was received without delay. The medical team quickly stabilized him before conducting a thorough assessment, including X-rays to evaluate his leg fractures and a CT scan to determine the extent of his head injury.

The diagnostics showed that Safari had sustained multiple fractures in his leg, and that the swelling was too severe for a plaster cast (POP) to be applied safely. Instead, they put together a treatment plan that put his safety first. Once he was stable and his head injury had been fully assessed, Safari was discharged with instructions to return one week later, when the swelling had reduced enough for definitive fracture treatment.

For patients like Safari, emergencies do not wait for daylight. They happen in the middle of the night, on weekends and when families have nowhere else to turn. Thanks to supporters like you, FAME is able to keep its doors open around the clock, ensuring that expert emergency care is available whenever it is needed most. Every patient treated, every scan performed and every life stabilized is possible because of the generosity of partners and donors who believe that no one should face a medical emergency alone.

When Dr. Frank and Susan were establishing FAME, they encountered a challenge that would become one of the foundations of the hospital: how could patients and clinicians be confident that every laboratory result was accurate and reliable?

They knew that patient-centered care begins with getting the diagnosis right. So, from the very beginning, FAME invested in building a strong laboratory foundation, bringing in a highly experienced laboratory expert—a retired microbiologist and laboratory technology professor, Dr. Joyce, who teamed up with Anthony, FAME’s laboratory manager. Together, they began transforming the FAME lab through training and mentoring our team and establishing rigorous standards for accuracy and reliability.

Today, FAME’s laboratory works around the clock to provide clinicians with the information they need to make decisions about patient care. Last year alone, the team performed more than 115,000 tests — supporting patients across the hospital, from the emergency department to maternity and beyond.

Now, the lab needs to grow again.

As more patients come to FAME for care, we are renovating and expanding the laboratory to increase capacity and create the space our team needs to continue providing reliable, timely results. Because a laboratory result is never just a number. It can help a clinician determine what treatment a patient needs, what happens next and how quickly care can begin.

More patients. More tests. More capacity to provide the trusted care they depend on.