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| KCMC Campus |
Last night after class, Adrienne and I went home and played
with our little brother and the other kids who live around our house. They were so cute! They played with our hair and were obsessed
with my cameras… so they took about 100 pictures in a span of 20 minutes. We gave them candy bars and that definitely
helped them warm up to us haha.
Unfortunately none of them can speak English, so it was difficult to
really talk to them. For dinner, mama
made us Irish potatoes and eggs—“chips na mayai” it’s called. Basically, it was a French-fry omelet. It was delicious, but I could only eat half
of what mama served me. It definitely
wasn’t healthy, but I did insanity afterward!!
The rest of the night consisted of working on homework and journaling
(we are required to keep a journal every day here).
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My lil bro--Delke!
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Today started off with group presentations, and then it
turned into a learning day. We were all
assigned “crests” for our case study groups, and we had to say what the meaning
of the crest was and why it was representative of us. My group was assigned the Uhuru Torch. Uhuru means “Freedom” in Kiswahili, and the
Uhuru torch is one of the national symbols of Tanzania, symbolizing freedom and
light. It was first lit on top of Mt.
Kilimanjaro on Dec. 9, 1961 and is was lit to bring hope, love, and respect to
neighboring countries. My group said
this what was representative of us because we would treat each other with
respect and give each other the freedom to share our own opinions and different
perspectives with the rest of the group.
We also said that the light represents the fact that we are all
academically bright individuals with something to bring to the table—hah, yeah
that was just so we had something to say.
I learned some things from the other groups though! For example, I learned the meaning of the
different colors on the Tanzanian flag—the blue is representative of the
waters, the green of the vegetation, the yellow of the minerals, and the black
of the people.
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| My groups posters--props to Masuma for the sick drawing! |
After our presentations,
we had three different lessons—one on the healthcare system in Tanzania,
one on the 6 different perspectives of Global Health, and one on the
biomedical/anthropology perspective.
Some of the most interesting things I learned today: 1. There are only 4
consultant hospitals in all of Tanzania, and KCMC is the best in terms of each
of its individual departments. 2. There is less than 1 doctor for every 138,000
inhabitants, 1 nurse for every 5,000 inhabitants, and only 1 dental surgeon per
356,000 inhabitants. 3. The main healthcare challenges present in
Tanzania include poor infrastructure and support systems, poor working
conditions, lack of medical supply including drugs, cost of drugs, shortage of
healthcare workers, lack of knowledge, lack of motivation to seek healthcare,
and the continued use of traditional medicinal practices versus seeking
professional care. 4. Low-income countries have a higher prevalence
of infectious diseases while high-income countries have a higher prevalence of
ncd’s (non-communicable diseases).
5. Often times, it seems as though
lack of education is one of the underlying problems that leads to health
disparities across different areas of the world. However, it is not only education that is
important, but it is also important to encourage people to act upon that
education (for example, somebody may know that it is safer to give birth in a
hospital versus in their own home, but they still fail to go to the hospital
because they’d rather stick to tradition).
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Working on the presentation with Chana Isack
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Other than learning, we had a tea break (which we get every
day from 10:30-11) and they served us tea and Chapati (which is delicious and I
wish I had nutella to put on it!!)
Then, we had lunch from 1-2 and we went to this place called Jacob’s
Well Canteen for lunch, and I had spicy rice with beef. Now we’re back in the classroom and my group
and I are working on a presentation we have to give on Thursday. We have to read a case study that was written
in the past, and give a 25 minute presentation on the information, critique the
policy recommendations, and write our own.
This is also our free time to have internet!!
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| With Adrienne (roommate) at KCMC |
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| Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College |
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