In Lushoto! And it’s cold. (Lushoto is built into the side of a mountain) I mean the area is absolutely stunning, you cannot find mountains so green and waterfalls like this in the States; but maybe a little bit more sun would be okay. I’ve been wearing pants, sneakers, a long sleeve and a sweatshirt every day! So glad I bought some extra things in Europe. We’re with Jacky, Daniel, and Shayo for the next 2 weeks in the hospital. Jacky is awesome, she’s spunky, independent and funny and we love her. Daniel and Shayo are very masochistic, so while they are interesting to talk to and certainly good people in many ways, their views on women make me want to hit them with a bat. Much of Tanzania believes that men are superior and that a good wife is one who bears children, doesn’t question her husband, and stays with him despite any flaws he might have. “Women are weak” Shayo told us. They should take their husband’s name and religion, he owns her. After having to explain that domestic abuse IS real and that yes it’s mostly men who are the abuser I was reaching my limit. So I am certainly learning a lot about the rest of the world and their thoughts… I’ll be a more patient person because of this trip.
The food is better here, avocado passion juice with breakfast and spinach in lunch! Exciting shit. Also, the place were staying in has toilet paper, a toilet with a seat, AND a shower that is not also a toilet. However I definitel liked Kibiti better, the people and the climate was so much nicer.
But I’m learning a lot about the healthcare system here. We’ll get to see a few surgeries and maybe a delivery, and the students are good at explaining all the diseases and the factors that go into them.
Today we got a tour of the hospital and I was a bit surprised with what I found. I had expected to see conditions that weren’t as clean as I expected and to see a lack of resources and education but the way these things were displayed was different than what I pictured. For example, the hospital closes at 3:30 pm. At first I was just appalled. I’m sorry, but you cannot just close a hospital! It’s not a CVS- there are sick people in there and sick people outside. Apparently there’s a nurse who stays to check on patients and calls the doctor(s) back in if there’s a problem. After talking to the medical students about it, it made more sense. We began talking about lack of resources as the cause, so I thought that they meant a lack of money. Maybe as an American I tend to assume this is the problem. The students were saying that 40% of the medical students don’t go on to become medical doctors so there’s a lack of trained professionals to work in the area and that this is actually the main problem. Doctors work hard and while they’re respected and seen as prestigious, they’re not paid well for the amount of work they must do and that the primary education is so bad that not enough students are smart enough to even go to medical school. That seemed to confirm my earlier idea about everything stemming from education. It seems like a country’s education system is directly correlated with their success; an idea I had always understood and known but didn’t realize the extent until travelling to Tanzania.
Something else that was cool to learn about was how the environment plays into the healthcare system. Daniel was telling me how a majority of the Kibiti population is Muslim. This means that they tend to want (and have) more children so family planning in that area is much more of a challenge than Christian areas. In Lushoto it’s usually muddy and since it’s on a hill the roads are steep, so one of the major problems seen in the male wards was fractures. Malaria was still a major concern in Lushoto even though there are less mosquitoes here since its cooler.
Also- all of the students stress the importance of preventative medicine when you sit down and talk to them (something every nation could do a better job with). However, the students don’t follow these themselves! They were telling us how they rarely go see the dentist it’s only if there is a problem; and we watched them pile on the sugar and salt at meals. On top of this, I again assumed that there were not funds to support these efforts and that that is why it’s a problem, but again I was wrong. There are these programs in place, but people either don’t know about them or don’t think that they will be a target so they don’t have to partake in screenings and other preventative measures. Stemming from this; Jacky was telling me that a lack of motivation is a major issue. People are happy and easily satisfied with what they have here, both a blessing and a curse. This means that they are happier in their lives, but that making a change is hard. People seem to just accept their problems without trying to change the system for the better. For example, the women at the RCH clinic wait for hours to see a clinician but are not bothered by the wait so it’s not seen as an issue. This long waiting time results in less women and children being seen for treatment.
Notes:
- Hiking this weekend! We’re doing a 3 day trip through rainforests and waterfalls, will take pictures.
- Internet is awesome here, I loaded regular gmail in less than 60 seconds.
Location: Lushoto, Tanzania
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