First off, sorry for the delay - as you can imagine the past almost two months have been crazy to say the least. After 2 weeks of Peace Corps/SEED Global Health Orientation in Washington DC - with may I add a swearing in of our service at the White House - we arrived in Dar es Salaam on July 21st. Our first week in Dar was spent meeting the US Ambassador and then the President of Tanzania, President Kikwete.
The group I am pictured with are all the doctors and nurses who will be serving in Tanzania for the next year. We are a mix of cardiology, family practice, pediatrics and internal medicine,OB/GYN, midwifery, community health, women's health and general nursing. Our ages range from early 30's to late 60's.
Two will be in Dar es Salaam, one in Mvumi at the Medical Officer's Training School, two in Dodoma at the Mirembe School of Nursing, two at Sengerema District Hospital and two at Bugando Medical Center. There are also two other Peace Corps Volunteers, spouses of two of the SEED Global Health Volunteers who are serving as well. One at Baylor Center for Excellence in Mwanza and one in Dar es Salaam.
After one week in Dar es Salaam with a brief exposure to Swahili, we then went by bus to Dodoma, about 6 hours on a two lane "highway". Dodoma is actually the capital and where Parliament is located, however it is a small town - We stayed there for one week, working more on our Swahili...and now ninasema Kiswahili (I speak just a little Kiswahili).
We left those that would be staying in Dodoma; at Mirembe School of Nursing and Mvumi and went back to Dar es Salaam for one night before flying to Mwanza. Here is a picture of the traffic jam in Dar -
Traffic in Dar
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| Plane to Mwanza |
Mwanza is where the large regional hospital for the Lake Zone (Western Tanzania) is located and where I will be teaching. It is 900 beds with some of the sickest patient's, as they are referred from surrounding District Hospitals. Although it is old and certainly not to US standards in appearance, it is well organized and clean. The hospital is located on a hill and overlooks Lake Victoria (2nd largest lake in the world) so definitely reminds me a bit of home with the water. Mwanza is the 2nd largest city in Tanzania and the launching point for safaris to the Serengeti which is about two hours east.
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| Road up to the hospital |
I will be teaching in both Bugando School of Nursing and the Catholic University of Allied Health Sciences. Bugando has a Diploma Program in Nursing - similar to the LVN/LPN program in the US and CUHAS has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Education. Fortunately when I arrived, the students were in the process of taking a national final exam and the new class will not start until the middle to end of September. I have had a chance to meet with the faculty and sort out the courses they would like me to teach. The biggest need is in the clinical supervision of the students on the wards. It should all be very interesting.
I am now familiar with day to day African life. The Tanzanians are very warm and wonderful people and operate on "Tanzanian time". This will be a welcomed adjustment. Greeting one another is the most important part of any encounter - With asking what is new, how are you doing, are you peaceful. Everyone answers, nzuri or njema (fine).
Life here is hard, everyone works hard just to live day to day. The unemployment is high (around 40%) and the median age, if you can imagine is around 17-18. Only 2% of the population is over 60.
English is taught in the secondary schools -and from what I have observed is not the best, but should improve, hopefully after I spend some time with them. It will be mutual as I'm sure my Swahlili will also improve. The nursing courses are all taught in English.
My housing right now is very nice - in a compound of 4 houses behind a guarded gate. That is how most "ex pats" live. In the next month, I will be moving to housing closer to the hospital. Right now we walk a path over dirt to the paved road leading to the hospital It takes about 20 minutes.
A week after arriving here I took the ferry over to Sengerema - where there is a district hospital and where we will be giving some inservice training to the nurses. This really reminded me of home. It also gave me a wonderful opportunity to see more of Lake Victoria.
Ferry to Sengerema
I have also attached a few pictures of some of the birds and other creatures around my housing, as well as a picture of the lake from a restaurant. Certainly more will be coming.
Thank you all for your support. I am happy I came, although there have been days, I thought "what was I ever thinking". I must add that this place really does "grow" on you and I can see why so many told me "I'd go back in a heart beat". I am so looking forward to working with the students and improving health care and nursing in Tanzania.
