Kwaheri Tanzania!
- Vera
- Aug 8, 2019
- 2 min read
On my last day in Ifakara it seemed logical to reminisce and look back at my time here. It is safe to say that the last three months have been the most intense, most adventurous, but also most exciting, educational and most rewarding months so far.
I've had the enormous pleasure to be welcomed by a passionate, empathetic and dedicated team of doctors, clinicians, nurses, receptionist and laboratory staff at CDCI and the friendly and trusting atmosphere made my time here extra special.
So without further ado here are my highlights and also some lows (let's keep it real).
Highlights
1. Conducting my own clinical consultation with HIV-patients: Arriving at CDCI my first day, I would never have thought that eventually I would sit in a consultation room by myself with a translator nurse, doing a clinical follow-up with a patient without supervisor. However, the teachings and reading up had paid off.
2. Camping on the sandbank: The camping trip was probably my favourite spare time activity we did together as a group. Playing cards, drinking cold beer and enjoying the magnificent sunset and sunrise at Kilombero river was unforgettable.
3. Chapati and Avocado: Crispy, oily flatbread combined with the by far best Avocados in the world - need I say more?
4. Swahili: In the beginning Kiswahili could have easily been Chinese. However, Jaqueline my Swahili teacher, had gathered the patience to teach me the basics of the language in just three months so that by the end of my time here I was fairly independent regarding food shopping, small talk with the night guard, booking a train ticket and maybe even do a simple medical consultation.
Lows (that turned into highs!)
1. Blackouts: During the past week we had a blackout for 6 days. Eventually, even the water didn't work anymore and we had to get creative as where to get water from. Fortunately, we have a well with a water pump just 50 m from our home. Cooking and eating in the pitch black dark certainly was a challenge but we were rewarded with an amazing starry sky. There is a silver lining to every story!
2. Rainy season and taking a bath in mud puddles: In my first week in Ifakara it was raining all day every day and the streets had filled up with muddy rain water, forming pools of mud and dirt. My biking skills on the rocky roads were not on point back then and it so happened that one beautiful morning I fell into one of those pools. Even now in dry season the whole in the ground is still there and we named it Lake Vera.
All in all it is extremely difficult to summarise my experiences and adventures in one single blogpost. So the only thing that remains to say is: Asanteni sana kwa muda mzuri kabiza. Nitarudi Tanzania hivi karibuni, tutaonana!
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