My trip to Mwanza_Tanzania
Catherine Napper (Medicine)

To say that I was fairly apprehensive when I stepped onto the tarmac at Mwanza would be a considerable understatement! I was tired, hot and feeling pretty lost before I was greeted by James outside the airport, but immediately felt better by his warm welcome (and cool air-conditioned taxi!). 

James was great at answering all of my (many!) questions en route to the house and was particularly reassuring that, although I had come alone, I would soon settle into the group and that it really made no difference that the others knew each other already. 

I had a little while to settle into my room, and the house, before being given an orientation of the town and then the hospital. I was due to start with two weeks of Paediatrics, followed by a week of Obstetrics, and was introduced to my consultant on the first day, along with all of the other staff on the wards. The wards are often cramped, with up to 3 children to a bed, and they lack a lot of the equipment we so take for granted at home. Yet the staff are happy and, on the whole, welcoming to the WTW students. As long as you demonstrate your enthusiasm, and are willing to be brave and grasp the bull by the horns, you could end up doing quite a lot of practical procedures that you wouldn't do at home. At times I did feel like there wasn't much for me to do, and there were occasions where the language barrier made it a bit difficult to understand everything that was going on but the doctors were always happy to answer my questions and discuss the cases when they had time. 

I spent a week on general Paediatrics, and then a week on the malnutrition ward before moving on to Obstetrics. Although frustrating, and quite upsetting at times, obstetrics was the best week I had at Bugando because there were so many more opportunities to get involved. By the end of the week I had been present at numerous births, and had even delivered a baby on my last day - an experience which I will never forget and made my trip!

The social side of the trip was great - the house is lovely and the communal living is a great way to get to know everyone really well. We did lots of things as a group, including visiting the local orphanage, an art lesson, spending some lovely days at a swanky resort on the lake for a spot of sunbathing and swimming!

After my placement, I spent 10 days exploring Tanzania; Mwanza is a great starting point for safari in the Serengeti and there are lots of flights from Mwanza to Kilimanjaro International or to Zanzibar too. My safari was an incredible experience, and included a hot air balloon flight at sunrise which was unforgettable. Zanzibar is beautiful, and easy to explore - its a lot more touristy than Mwanza so a bit more expensive but you can still do it on a fairly modest budget and it is well worth it when you have come all that way!

I adored my time with WTW and am so pleased that I chose Mwanza - I have made some great friends, and some brilliant memories, all whilst getting some relevant and practical medical experience. It is paramount to remember that you are in a different country, and that things are different there - 'TIA - This is Africa' became a favourite phrase to explain away all of the frustrations and eccentricities that we were experiencing with the African healthcare system. It is definitely essential to be proactive and to take responsibility for your own learning experience; often you may find that there is nothing for you to do on your ward but there are other learning opportunities around so go and find them!