Village experience in Mwanza, Tanzania
The Maasai might be the most famous of Tanzania’s tribe, but they are nowhere near the biggest. The Sukuma account for more than 15% of the population, and are the largest ethnic group in the country. With distinct cultures and traditions, the chance to live within a tribe community for the week will give you an amazing opportunity to understand what life is like for over 5 million Tanzanians.
Working in a rural Government hospital, you will assist healthcare staff in a huge variety of treatment areas. It is a world away from the hub of Mwanza, but many of the cases can be similar and doctors must be creative in order to treat them with the limited resources on offer. There is much to learn about the choices and culture of people outside of the big city and your experience will undoubtedly broaden your healthcare elective.
Get to know the locals
Village cultures and traditions can vary region upon region, so we provide you with a personal guide who is local to the Sukuma community that you are visiting.
Your guide will meet you at the Work the World house on Sunday and take you by dala-dala to the village. It takes about 2 hours, giving you plenty of time to ask questions. Travelling with locals and watching the scenery change as you head off the tarmac roads and onto the dirt tracks is a great introduction to your week. Your guide will also travel back to the Work the World house with you on Saturday.
You will work each morning in the village health clinic and each afternoon you will undertake a different activity with your guide. The guide will take you to visit the lake, which is spiritually meaningful to the local people, take a trip to Busisi Island, as well as introduce you to a traditional healer so that you can learn about their traditional medicine, which for most tribes-people is the only form of treatment used. You will also have the opportunity to watch performances of traditional dances such as the thorn, snake or hoe dance which are central to the tribe’s customs, demonstrating the strength and courage of the young tribesmen involved and to visit a local school to meet the young students.
Read one student's experience of life in the village here.
Accommodation and food
While you are in the village you will stay in basic quarters owned by the local hospital, where meals and purified water are provided. As with most rural villages, there is no running water, and villagers rely on one or two central wells for the whole community.
Placement with a healthcare practitioner
You will spend each morning working in a rural government hospital. Despite extremely limited resources the hospital still caters to a large number of people and during your time you can expect to help with anything from general healthcare, road accidents, deliveries and more unusual cases such as snakebites.
Benefits
The size of the Sukuma tribe makes it a particularly interesting placement as so many of the population follow its traditions and cultures. Understanding how they mix modern and traditional medicine, coping with minimal resources in a rural hospital, will add a new dimension to your healthcare placement.
With a maximum of four people taking part at one time, you can fully integrate yourself into the community and enjoy a very personal experience. This is great for those keen to see another side of East Africa, and a way to truly get off the beaten track in Tanzania.
The Village Healthcare Experience is an invaluable experience, both professionally and personally, and will really stand out on C.V.
