Aussie blog

When we, “the Aussies,” first planned this trip, we had no idea what we were in for. Never would we have expected the array of medical, cultural and social experiences we have had, which we shared we both the Minnesotians and Tanzanians.

The hospital here is very small yet services a huge population in neighbouring areas. We were shocked to see the lack of resources, yet impressed and inspired with the important work done by the staff at Ilula Lutheran Hospital with so little. Our infectious diseases knowledge has grown immensely. Coming from urban Sydney we had only seen one case of malaria between the three of us. It took some time to adjust to a place where ‘fever and diarrhoea’ signify malaria until proven otherwise and was treated empirically whether or not the blood smear was positive or negative. Similarly, the exposure we have had to HIV medicine has been a great supplement to our prior knowledge from Australia; here, we were frequently seeing the consequences of AIDS, including opportunistic infections and malignancies.

One of the busiest areas of the hospital is the maternity unit and we’ve loved attending natural births, ceasarean sections and checking up on the mothers and their infants. The staff at Ilula have all been so helpful and have really made the visit wonderful. The relationships we’ve formed with them and the local people in Ilula have really cemented the visit and made us feel a part of the community, not just visitors to it.

We’ve also very much enjoyed the cultural side of things at Ilula. Thinking we’d be able to get by on the (very) minimal Swahili we crammed before we left Australia, we were a little bit disappointed to hear that most people in Ilula actually speak the tribal language, He He. We were up for the challenge and with our secret weapon (He He guru Mwa Moody) on board, we were introducing ourself in He He in front of the Lutheran congregation at church in no time! There is so much to talk about in terms of culture here; from the food, language, customs of greeting and introducing people, gender differences, all the way through to watching the kids walk to school balancing hoes on their heads to practice skills for working in their shambas.

As a treat at the end of our trip we took the bus to Tungamalenga, a village just outside Ruaha National Park. One evening we took a tour of the village and were stopped by locals in order to try some of their “pombe” (bamboo juice). The next morning we sang in church (in He He) and then headed of for a two-day safari stay in the park. Needless to say the hot showers and beautiful accommodation were much appreciated, as were the safari drives for some light relief after the past three weeks.

Overall, there have been ups and downs in all areas of our trip but the most important thing is that we have achieved what we set out to do: experience medicine in a developing country in order to start us thinking about what our roles can be in the future to aid in such endeavours, to form lasting relationships with the people we work with and above all, gain an understanding of the culture and lives of the beautiful people of Tanzania.

Chantal, Sarah and Trish