Thumbs up

Well, that's it. My bags are packed and I'm currently standing in a very slow line to check my bags in at Mt Kilimanjaro airport.

I've had a good last day. We went to church this morning with Witness which was a bit of a first for me. There would have easily been over 1000 people there - it was really quite amazing. I think religion works well here. It seems to be a very important part of their lives. People are always very disappointed here when they realise I haven't 'found god' yet.

It was quite a teary departure from the house for me. I had to say goodbye to some really really wonderful people. That was hard. Apart from that though, I am 100% ready to come home. 8 weeks is a long time to spend apart from people you love but it has definitely given me a whole new appreciation of them as well.

I hope you have enjoyed the blog. It has been a really good way for me to remember what I've done and also process it. There is no way I could begin to explain it all once I got back - where would I start? So doing it in small chunks has been much easier. Many people have sent me some really lovely messages along the way also. Thank you. They have been really encouraging and inspiring.

I have really loved my time here. You all should give it a try some day.

Bye x

Giving

It is an assumption here made by many that, because I am white/foreign, I have a lot of money. It's not really a wrong assumption. Compared to an average Arusha citizen, I am absolutely rolling in it, but it's an assumption I'm not really comfortable with. I find it marks me as a target and while most of the people here are absolutely lovely, there are always the few who value you only for what they can get from you.

Of course, I had always intended to be quite generous here with donations as it seems to be the general way in which we think we can make a difference. However, I have had some very different experiences here with 'giving' over the past few weeks. 

When giving little toys for the kids on the ward, money for the School of St Jude or food supplies for the orphanage, everyone seemed genuinely thankful and grateful. When we 'give' at home, it is often to a cause or organisation that, when I think about it, is actually quite faceless. This was a very different kind of giving. Much more personal. I went along to see the nuns at the hospital who give food and clothing to all those patients without family, and donated a bag of hand-knitted baby clothes for the orphans that come through (they loved them Mrs H!). It was strange but much more satisfying than any donations I have ever made in the past.

But I think that is probably where I have a little problem. I realised I actually have quite a selfish attitude to giving... I do it because it makes me feel good. Not necessarily because it benefits the other person. That's a little bit wrong isn't it? I realised this when the nurses on the wards started asking me for stuff. I would introduce myself and they would look me up and down, pick at my scrubs and say 'When you leave, you give these to me'. I had always intended on leaving all my hospital stuff behind for them but now that they had asked, I found myself not wanting to give anything to them because I didn't feel good about it anymore. Why does it matter to me so much that they have asked for things? It doesn't mean they need them any more or less than before. It just means that I don't feel as good about giving them. Hmm.

I had thought I would make a bit of a difference by being here. A small difference maybe, but definitely an impact of some sort. But lately I had been thinking that any difference I could make here would be temporary at best. But then I met Baraka.

I mentioned him in an earlier post. He is a junior doctor here and I was with him on casualty a few weeks ago.  He is one of the nicest doctors I have met here and he genuinely has a thirst for knowledge and a passion for medicine. He would often say to me 'I have so much still to learn' and would always be interested to hear my opinions and be open to discussion when treating patients. In casualty he would often ask me to examine the patients' chests as he had no stethoscope (there have been big problems with interns getting paid here - money is quite an issue). One of the other Australian students had brought over some equipment to donate and we managed to get him a stethoscope so he could finally listen to a chest himself. It was bright pink but he loved it.

Later he broke his glasses. He had no money to replace them so he just lived on paracetamol for a few weeks for the headaches. He never once asked for anything from me. He just carried on. My heart broke a little for him.

And yesterday I saw him again on obstetrics and gynaecology. He was on ward round in a hurry. He stopped to say hi but he was in a bit of a fluster. When I asked him how he was going, he again said to me 'I still have so much to learn here. They are about to operate on an ectopic pregnancy and I really want to go see it but I have no clothes. You have to buy your own clothes here' (He was referring to scrubs worn in theatre). And then he was off again.

When I was finished my shift, I went and took the scrubs I was wearing off and took them to him. He couldn't quite understand what I was doing. In saying those things to me earlier he hadn't intended to ask for anything at all but that is exactly why I really wanted to give them to him. 

I really don't think I can make much of a difference here... but I think Baracka can. I hope in a small way I have empowered him to go on and learn and be a truly great doctor. I think that is what is needed here in the hospitals most of all - great people. They have equipment and supplies, often there is just a lack of willingness to use them properly or appropriately. I hope he stays as keen as he is now. I really do admire him.

Sorry for the wordy post - it is my last week so I've been spending a bit of time thinking over my time here. It's been quite a journey.

Till next time x  

Brew Crew

Well I've just about done and seen everything there is to do and see in Arusha now but there was still one thing I wanted to tick off my list...the brewery tour. It may not be the first thing that springs to mind when you think of Africa but having lived next to the XXXX Brewery in Brisbane for a few years and never actually visiting it, I decided it was high time I check one out.

The brewery is actually quite close to town and the tour was free so it was a good way to fill an afternoon. The tour itself was a little dull as the guide felt the need to rattle off the recipes for each of their 7 or so brands but there was a  cracking finish to the tour which made it all worth while.

This is me and our tour guide, Mr Magoo! (His real name! I giggled every time I said it)

One of the most interesting parts of the process was the bottling room. Most glass bottles here in Tanzania are recycled. It is not unusual to get a coke in a bottle that looks 20years old. They just get taken back to factory, washed and reused. The same happens here with the beer bottles and it is an amazing process to watch. It looks like something straight out of 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'. No Oompa Loompas though.

But, as I said, the best bit was at the end. We all went to the bar for the taste testing part. That basically just means you sit down and try to get through as many of the varieties as possible. I love a challenge. Then at 5pm, it gets really busy all of a sudden. As an employee of the brewery, you get to come down to the bar and have free beers every evening. And if you are a good employee, you get to take home an extra crate a month! Job application anyone?

This is our brew crew. I think I took my love of the safety goggles a little too far - I'm wearing them in every picture!

Till next time x

Ngorongoro Crater

So on the third day of safari we set off to explore the Ngorongoro Crater. We were just a teensy bit excited... can you tell?

The campsite we had stayed at by the rim of the crater was fantastic and had energised us for the last day. The elephant visitors were especially exciting, although, they didn't seem at all fussed. Just three boys out for a drink (from the water tank!).

There were lots more animals this day and without the long grasses of the Serengeti it was much easier to spot them. The crater itself is actually more of a caldera. That is, there was once a volcano on the site, probably around the same height as Mt Kili, which exploded a few million years ago and basically collapsed in on itself to create the crater shape.

We were lucky enough to see many births and baby animals this day. It was so cute to watch the newborns struggle for their first steps - they looked positively drunk.

The two animals we had really been looking forward to seeing here were the rhino and the cheetah. They were quite far away but we still ticked them off the list! Here they are.

We also had another (very) close encounter with some lions as well. There really are very few trees in the crater so it is incredibly hot. All this kitty wanted was some shade so he could cool down. I could have put my hand out the window and touched him he was so close.

I love safari! 

Till next time x

Serengeti

Lots and lots of photos today!

We had a fantastic safari over the weekend. No one got eaten by anything so we have all made it back to Arusha safe and sound and with amazing memories of a once in a lifetime experience. I will tell you a little bit about it but to be honest, words really can't describe it. You'll all just have to come to Africa one day and try it for yourself!

We were headed to both the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater for our 3 day, two night camping safari. Photos today are from the Serengeti and we'll get to the Crater ones tomorrow. Before we had even made it to the Serengeti though we were spotting some interesting wildlife not native to these parts....tourists. There certainly were some crackers. Apparently, safari is the perfect opportunity to sport short shorts, matching outfits and your best khaki ensembles.

There were a few 'my lens is bigger than your lens' kind of moments, but taking pictures on an iPad was a whole other approach altogether..

Anyway, the Serengeti was truly breathtaking. It was so much larger than I expected (it's 30 000sq km) and it just seemed to go on forever.

We saw four of the Big Five here in the Serengeti. For those unfamiliar with the term, this is wiki's definition:

The phrase Big Five game was coined by white hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot.  The collection consists of the lion, African elephant, cape buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros. The members of the Big Five were chosen for the difficulty in hunting them and the degree of danger involved, rather than their size.

So, Lion...

Elephant...

Buffalo...

And Leopard (On the bottom, left-hand branch)

There are no rhinos in the Serengeti but we would be seeing them in the crater the next day. It is the time for the start of the migration here so we were lucky enough to see thousands of zebra and wilderbeest. They just continued forever into the distance.

They seemed to be everywhere. We couldn't resist calling out 'Zebra crossing!' every time this happened.

But it wasn't just big game, there were animals everywhere you looked (and rocks that looked liked animals as well. It got quite confusing at times).

It was incredible that we actually got to camp in the middle of the Serengeti. No fences or anything but I think there was a watchman who stayed up to make sure nothing untoward happened. I took this picture from the door of our tent. It was the perfect end to a magnificent day in Africa!

Till next time x