Unforgettable 2 weeks !!!!

I spent the 2 most life changing weeks in Tanzania, and it has been the most eye opening place i have had the pleasure to visit. I cannot fault the staff or anything in the house, all meals were amazing and cater for all nationalities as well as including some local influences which is always nice for a change. Wednesday nights are usually spent playing football at the local university a short walk from the house, this is a perfect way to end the day either watching or playing and the local younger children who live near by usually come into the grounds to play with students who are not playing football. I found this gave me a real appreciation for culture and spending time with friends. First impressions when on placement at the Regional hospital are a shock to the system but you soon realise that they simply make do with what equipment and resources are available. I spent my first week on paediatrics, at times i found this difficult due to the seriousness of the illness of the children you are exposed to, however the doctors do work to the best of their abilities under the circumstances and you have to realise that this is the day to day running of things. Intensive care is particularly striking due to the lack of equipment when compared to the UK and the young age of the children. I spent some of my time on the children's surgical ward, this was helping to dress burns which are surprisingly common. Myself and my group contributed to pay for a child's prescription as they were unable to afford treatment and we increased what was prescribed in order to make sure there was enough to distribute round the rest of the ward for other children in the same position. This was particularly rewarding in the sense that all of the staff were highly appreciative of the donation and it was going to benefit. My second week was spent on surgery, this was exciting in the sense that there is a variety of procedures to watch, the most common thing i experienced was hernia removal or repair and the most interesting thing i watched was part of an intestine being removed. However, i would advise taking some strong smelling oil or vapour rub to put inside the surgical masks as sometimes depending on the type of surgery the smell can be strong and unpleasant as i found out during the removal of part of an intestine. I would also advise to take lots of hand gel and keep it in the pockets of your scrubs at all times, this comes in handy all day every day. I was lucky enough to spend my last night on the nightshift, during which i watched 2 c-sections and 1 normal delivery. This was the perfect way to end my 2 weeks as i watched 3 healthy baby girls come into the world. The doctors in the hospital are remarkable, they speak good english and explain everything as they are going particularly in surgery the surgeons are very good at this. All of them will ask who your name is and it is very rare for them to get it first time, my friend Pippa spent 2 weeks being called Pepper.
I visited the orphanage twice, this was the most life changing experience as i did not know what to expect going there. Beware that they love cameras and the front camera's of mobile phones. The older ones love to look through old holiday photos on your camera's then take the odd selfie. As everyone probably says who has visited the orphanage, i wanted to bring a child home. My memories there will be with me forever and they have given me more of an appreciation for the smaller things in life. I loved going into town after placement, i felt it really exposed you to the culture, some people do look but i believe this is purely based on the fact that we are white and to put it honestly, you do stand out but i did feel safe at all times. Beware of the children who beg outside of the supermarket who will then follow you on the way into town, we found that if you just ignore they will eventually give up and go back, however we learnt that these are from the mountainous areas and they make their money from livestock therefore should not be begging.
In summary, i could go on and on about my trip here. I cannot fault hardly anything from the moment i booked it to the moment i landed back home. It has changed my life as cliche as it sounds, it has given me food for thought when it comes to having such a negative attitude on things which don't really matter. I believe that everybody should experience something like this at one point in their lives to put things into perspective.