My trip to Arusha Tanzania
Pritesh Narsinh (Dentistry)

Flying in over Arusha and seeing the great plains of the Serengeti and the peaks of Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro is a great welcome to Africa but it's only the beginning of the awesome times ahead. After I landed  and found that half the plane's bags were missing I wondered if Africa was indeed the right decision, but looking around and seeing everyone relaxed, saying  Hakuna Matata (which means "no worries", just like on Lion King), I started to understand the real meaning of  "African time".

After an amazing drive, we came up to the Work the World house; there I was met by our very own Maasai warrior, the ever smiley Ema, who would wait to walk us down the road every morning and night. All the staff were amazing and no one could forget any of them, especially Witness the cook. The house was not only full of friendly staff but also other amazing students from all around the world.

Work the World makes every part of the placement easy. On the orientation day, I was shown around town and even got my first taste of the African staple, ugali, at a local restaurant. Can't say I'm the biggest fan though (haha)! We also got shown how to catch the crazy vans called dala dalas which sat 20-30 people inside! Every other day for the six weeks I was there, the staff helped with anything we needed, from organizing Swahili classes to finding you the cheapest prices for safari. I think it was a great way to be introduced into Africa for the first time.

Working at SDA clinic was an awesome experience.  The dental work was basic with no water, suction and occasional power cuts, but we still managed to do extractions, temporary fillings and even some composite restorations! You would also get very good at taking radiographs with the 'bisecting angle' technique. The best thing about working at SDA has to be the staff- Dr Tekele, Kingazi, Mole and Dennis who are all incredibly funny and caring people and are always happy to teach. The respect they get from the community is also amazing.

The first morning in SDA didn't just start off as an observation session as I was given my own room to work from while my very first patient had an upper impacted wisdom tooth. Throughout my whole time at SDA I was never alone and the tough struggling times were always made up for with lots of jokes from the staff.

I also went to Meru Regional Hospital for a few days and saw dentistry at a really high pace. There were no radiographs taken at the hospital and often there were 3-4 people being injected with anaesthetics at once to save time. The clinic rooms were also incredibly small but the staff always seemed to make do with what they had. It only cost around 1000 shillings to extract a tooth which is around 1 US dollar! So there were always lots of patients waiting to be treated.

I would recommend going to a hospital as well as SDA to see the differences between a government and private dental clinics in Tanzania, both types in many different ways were deprived compared to western standards but seeing the improvisation with minimal tools can be really impressive.

Outside of clinic, Tanzania has so many things to offer and you can't go far passed safari which sits at the top of the list! Being out and sleeping in the Serengeti with hyenas howling around you, elephants walking through your campsite and the amazing landscapes meant safari is worth the trip to Tanzania alone. Climbing Mount Meru was also a wonderful experience. Reaching the peak after going up in the dark is great as long as you don't look down. It's all worth it especially when you watch the sun rise over Mount Kilimanjaro while sitting way above the clouds. Anyone semi fit can do it! A trip to the tropical island, Zanzibar, is also a must; with golden sandy beaches, crystal clear water and giant turtles on Prison Island. Who wouldn't love it? You can also go on a really cool spice tour. The sunset cruise is really nice and after that, you could visit the Mercury cafe on the beach front which has awesome live music on Saturday nights.

Around Arusha itself, there are heaps of things to do from eating at some really good restaurants and cafes (I recommend Picassos! They have really nice cakes!) to dancing in monsoon rain at Via Via. A trip to the orphanage will also give you and the children heaps of fun but you may get really tired after giving never ending piggyback rides!  The Maasai market has heaps of cool stuff to buy and practising Swahili while bargaining just adds to all the fun. Oh and don't forget the prices can always go much cheaper.

Moshi is only an hour away by a bus that jumps a meter over every bump and has an awesome coffee plantation tour, there we made our own coffee and drank cups and cups of it while listening to lots of funny stories about the local Chagga tribe.

To sum up, Africa is a world with so much colour, vibrancy and culture! Work the World gives a well organized and safe way to explore and learn about the health system. If I could do it again, I would definitely not think twice!