Tanzania is a great country to visit. Destinations like the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Mt Kilimanjaro, Lake Victoria and Zanzibar offer some of the most amazing travel opportunities across Africa and they are all in one country!
The climate is tropical, so some periods are hotter, wetter or more humid than others, but generally whichever month you travel to Tanzania there is something wonderful to see and do!
Safari- available throughout the year
Scuba diving - available all year
This must be one of the first Christmases where I haven’t woken up super early to see what was under the tree.
party hats!
What we have had today though is lots of laughs, fun, food and generally a lot of lazing about in the heat with drinks in hand. All in all it’s been a fantastic day. We made a big breakfast spread this morning, moved the Christmas tree out into the yard and basically set up camp in the cabana for the rest of the day. The girls then moved to the kitchen to make a cake for Emmanuel’s birthday which is also today. After ruining the package cake mix with a rotten egg we had to start from scratch with no recipe and only basic ingredients. It wasn’t the worst cake in the world but that’s about all the praise I can give it. It did look good though. Pimms and lemonade and a BBQ finished of the afternoon and now it’s beers and scrabble as the afternoon cools off and the sun starts to set on Xmas 2011.
I asked everyone what was the best Xmas gift they had ever received. Funnily enough no one could really come up with one. I think what really makes a great Xmas is the people you spend it with and the experiences you share. While I am certainly sad that I am not with family today this had certainly been a unique Christmas and one I am not likely to forget in a hurry.
I have made it to Tanzania safe and sound!
Emmanuele and my new home!
I had my first taste of the Arusha town centre yesterday and today was my first day in the hospital.I have so much to say but I’m not sure where to start. I’m still so overwhelmed and struggling to adjust.
By African standards, I will be living in absolute luxury for the next 8 weeks. The house is in a relatively posh area of town with giant houses surrounded by large fences.
The hospital where I will be spending most of my time is a referral hospital for the region but is still quite basic. The entrance is always quite crowded – it’s a gauntlet of ‘Mambos’, ‘Jambos’ and ‘Taxi?’…. everyone wants to talk to the mzungus! Our Swahili is definitely getting better but I’m sure no-one is fooled. We are still tourists to them.
A Canadian newspaper – The St Albert Gazette – has published an article about a family who chose Work the World to help them honour their son.
Climbing Kili!
Michael Westover was a medical student who was killed in a vehicle crash last year. To commemorate his life his sister Rachelle, a third year medical student, his fiance Keisha, an operating room nurse, his cousin Aryll, an ER nurse and his sister Chayne, a nursing student, decided to travel to Africa and use their medical skills.
Village experience
Safari
The majority of our students use public transport to get into town or to travel to their placement. In fact joining the hoards on a busy bus can sometimes be the best way to integrate yourself into local life. Trips to work can also provide some of the funniest travel experiences of your time away. We asked our students “ what is the public transport like in your area” in the hope we might hear about some of these funny and typical travel experiences. We had some fantastic responses from each of our destinations, with real insight into each country.
Starting in Africa;
We get hundreds of students coming to us knowing they want to do a clinical placement overseas, but with no idea exactly where they would like to go. If this sounds familiar then maybe our current students will help you decide…..
Prasanga the caterer and the gardener Uncle
Katie and Clare in Sri Lanka have a list too long to post but here are some of our favourites; (more…)
Hanging out
We set the Assistant/Programme Managers on a mission this week to find out ‘’…What games are popular in the house and what are the rules …’’
We often get students asking what participants do during their free time, especially in the evenings. Most agree that it is a pretty relaxed affair which is definitely required after a hard day’s work in a foreign environment, time is spent journal writing, exploring the local area, chillaxing as well as going back to basics and playing a good old game. Surprisingly, a lot of the games played are traditional local games learnt in country as well as things brought from home. Feel free to have a read of the following blog about what games students are playing whilst on placement, you may even learn a few new ones to help pass some time during the upcoming cold winter evenings
Natalia our programme manager in Argentina says ‘’ during the cold winter evenings, two games became popular among students and staff at the BBQ nights. The first one was “Chancho” (Pig), which is a variation of the famous card game “Spoons”. The objective of the game is for each player to be the first to have four of a kind. When this happens, the player says “chancho” loud, and places one hand on the centre of the table. This has to be followed by the rest of the players; the last one loses and gets a letter. The game ends when the word “chancho” is spelled out by a player and, officially becomes one. In some cases, the player who loses is required to complete a dare.
One of the most useful things you can learn before you placement is the Swahili for different areas of the body. Our final lesson for now is on “anatomy”:
Mwili – body
Kichwa – head
Kifua – chest
Tumbo – stomach
Mkono – arm
Mgu -leg
Mfupa – bone
Mgongo – back
Jichi (Macho) – eye (eyes)
Sikio (Masikio) – ear (ears)
Pua – nose
Mdomo – mouth
Ulimi -tongue
Shingo – neck
We thought it would be a good idea to work on “patient interactions”, so here is your next lesson:
Tulia – relax
Kaa chini – sit down
Fanya hivi – do this / follow me
Unaumwa nini? – What is the problem / illness?
Ulianza nini? – When did it start?
The third area we focussed on is “introductions”:
Jina langu ni …(name) – my name is …
Ninatokea …(country) – I’m from …
Nina ishi …(address) – I live …
Nimefurahi kukufahamu – Please to meet you
Asante – thanks
Asante sana – thanks a lot