My trip to Arusha Tanzania
Jasmine Koh (Medicine)

I knew I wanted to do my placement in a developing country but did not know where to start. I soon stumbled upon Work the World's website and although I had initially thought of going to Nepal or India, after talking with the staff over email, it sounded as Africa would suit me better.

The UK staff were very helpful and answered my 1 million and one questions about Tanzania VS Zanzibar VS Ghana.  After all, I was heading out there on my own, and my parents were quite concerned about my safety. When I finally got the parental green light and paid up my deposit, I was counting down to the trip even though it was 7 months away.

In the meantime, I had heaps of advice with regards to what to pack, what touristy stuff I could do etc. Whenever I had any questions, I would simply drop an email to the staff and always got prompt replies, so being based in Melbourne is definitely not an issue. Besides, they even offered to call me if it was easier to discuss over the phone.

I have no regrets at all on my choice, and I would most certainly pick Tanzania again if I had to. The house was comfortable, the staff were friendly, the home-cooked food was amazing, and I made new friends from the UK and US.

Safety was not too big an issue; of course one still had to be cautious like you would when travelling to any country. The house was surrounded by fences, and there was a security guard on duty at all times. There was even someone escorting us up and down the hill every day!

In terms of my actual placement, I had an amazing experience at Mount Meru Regional Hospital - diseases that I have never seen before, learning how to cope with limited resources, and lots of hands-on (eg my first lumbar puncture, heaps of IV cannulas, and delivering babies!). I spent 2 weeks each in Paediatrics and General Medicine, and a week each in O&G and Surgery. It was nice to have the flexibility, so I managed to get a broader perspective and saw how the various departments worked.

The only difficulty was not being fluent in Swahili, which impeded communication with the patients. We did have Swahili lessons in the house, which equipped us with basic everyday phrases and some medical terms. However, patients sometimes launched into a long story in answer to "do you have diarrhoea?", which we then had trouble understanding. Nonetheless, the doctors and local medical students spoke English, so we could get them to translate when necessary.

Of course, I did not pass up the opportunity to do some travelling while I was in Tanzania. I actually arrived there a week earlier in order to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. Until now, I still can't believe I did it since I had never done any mountain climbing before. I remember thinking to myself: since I'm already going to be there, why not? So I booked and went for it without any prior training even though I had planned to. I'm just glad I didn't kill myself up there!

Over one of the weekends, 9 of us headed on a safari to Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro. It was breathtaking to see animals in the wild so upclose, and our guide fed us with so many interesting facts that we never knew! It was also the perfect opportunity for photography; we all took some pretty amazing shots of nature at its best.

We also did other random stuff in the afternoons and over the weekends, such as visiting a Maasai village, visiting the orphanages, going on a coffee tour, souvenir-shopping in town, and lazing by the pool at one of the nearby hotels. I was quite surprised to find out that there were actually clubs in Arusha, and a cinema as well. We had night-outs to the movies, or for some drinks and partying. In short, there was never a boring moment and we could always find something to do!

All in all, I had a wonderful time in Arusha. It's been about 6 weeks since I've left, but I still miss it every day. I can't stop sharing random stories with my friends back home; so many little things just remind me of my time there. Thank you Work the World, for making this entire experience possible!