Wtoto (Children) in Tanzania

Today, like every morning, we were all up for breakfast for 7 :30 so that we could star our clinical day at 8 :30.  We are spoiled here and had fresh buns, muffins, pineapple (my favourite)and mangos for breakfast.  Breakfast is certainly an amusing time of day! We always are greeted with high fives and good mornings.  After breakfast we went to set up a meeting with our clinical coordinator, who is in Canada. What a trial and error Internet system they have here in Tanzania! One minute the Internet works and then the other it doesn’t. However, the fact that we even have Internet is amazing so I should not complain.  We finally did get connected and had a preconference meeting.

This morning the plan was to go to a government run maternal and child health clinic and get a lecture on RCH (Reproductive Child Health) by the doctor who works there. We were also told to wear closed toe shoes and a lab coat in the event that a mother would be giving birth! Unfortunately, when we got there no mothers were in active labor, but we hope in the near future some of us will have achieved one of our goals of seeing a birth.  On another note it is so amazing to see the women who were currently in labour and the ones who had just given birth a few hour previous. They are so strong, they don’t shout or cry out in pain during the labour process. Shortly after giving birth, they are up and walking around (about an hour after).

In Tanzania there is a big push for proper antenatal (pre-birth) as there are approximately 24 women/day who are dying from complications in childbirth. These are often treatable issues in Canada such as sepsis. We were privileged to get a lecture from a doctor from the clinic, that was very informative about the family planning system.  Basically, RCH is a form of family planning that begins during the antenatal phase of the pregnancy and ends when the child turns 5..  What family planning is trying to do is work together with the entire family, husbands included, to promote healthy families. Healthy families equal a healthy community. It was a very informative talk.

Later in the day we made our way to a private school in which they take in the brightest children from the poorest families in Arusha.  The children are put through two exams (one reading and the other written).  Once they pass those staff members will go out to their communities to see where they live to ensure that their situation is indeed as the families say it is. They have many applicants every year and people will try to do anything to get their kids into this school. It really shows how much school is valued here in Africa. In Canada, school is a right whereas in Tanzania it is a privilege. Also, without education, they are not in a good position to move on in life.  It really puts into perspective how lucky we are to be living in Canada and have the opportunity to do trips like the one we are currently experiencing.

On a lighter note, this evening was a relaxing one, the group decided to go out of supper at a place around the corner. It was nice to just sit, relax and talk about how our day went.  I can tell you that once our food came the table was pretty quiet!                               

Usiku mweme, tutaonana kesho (Goodnight, see you tomorrow)

Alix