Jemmac recently sponsored Tom Fisher, the eldest son of co-founder Mark Fisher as part of his trip to Tanzania to help improve healthcare in Africa.
Tom has just completed his first year as a medical student at Nottingham University and was raising funds for The AMECA Trust, an organisation dedicated to improve access to healthcare in Africa, and have been running since 2006. They work closely with the University of Nottingham Medical School and Nursing School to provide the opportunity for students to experience placements in Africa, whilst raising money to improve health access and quality.
Happily Tom raised the required funds, with Jemmac donating towards the total so it’s over to Tom for a description of his trip…
Part I – Uru
On the 27th June, a group of 20 University of Nottingham medical students ventured out to Tanzania to renovate a village, and to get some hospital experience.
First up was the village of Uru, a small village about a twenty minute drive from Moshi, a town in the shadow of Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was here that we were tasked with fixing up the local primary school and dispensary with tools and materials paid for by the fund raising we all did prior to the trip.
On arrival, we were settled in and shown around the village where we met ‘Father’, ‘Sister’, and the headmaster of the school, as well as loads of excitable school children. All were very welcoming and grateful for all the help and resources we had brought with us.
Mainly, we were painting, sanding and cleaning, while local workmen did the more dangerous and skill requiring tasks of plastering and roofing.
We were there for a total of nine days, but with Sundays being a serious rest day, we spent seven days working on the project.
To the left is one of the bigger school buildings, housing two classrooms and the headmasters office. All rooms were painted in the cream/orange/black, a favourite all around Tanzania.
It may look abit unfinished, but another group head out in August to finish the job we started! We have made a real difference to the village, giving the children a chance at a good education, and also bringing the dispensary back to working form.
Part II – Hospitals
After working in Uru, the group said our farewells and trekked on back to the town of Moshi for a quick overnight stay. We were split into two groups of ten, each to go to a different hospital.
One group went to Kilema hospital, further up Mt. Kilimanjaro, while my group went to Kibosho, a German funded hospital, found just the other side of a river.
We were housed in a Catholic mission, and transported to the hospital every morning by Alex the driver, who invited us to his home one Sunday – a really good experience, seeing how local Tanzanians live. We were treated to his wifes ‘Mbege’, the local homebrew of fermented banana and maize.
Back at the hospital, we were there for six working days, cycling through the wards in pairs. We all spent a day on each: mens, womens, paediatrics, outpatients, minor surgery, and surgery. It was an incredible experience, and a first time for a lot of things for me.
I saw births, C-sections, various surgical procedures and some fairly harrowing ward rounds, none of which I would be able to see here for at least a few years.
It really opened my eyes to healthcare out in Africa, and I would love the opportunity to go back out there, or somewhere similar, once I have qualified so that I can help out! I’ve got a few email contacts from the doctors at the hospital, and also have made some great friends within our group.
After Kibosho hospital, we had a bit of free time to travel before our scheduled flight home. All twenty of us went to Zanzibar, which was a great place to relax after the hard work of Uru and the hospitals.
Thanks very much for your donation to my fund raising efforts. Without it I would not have been able to experience the hospitals and everything they had to offer, nor would the village or Uru have a nice new school or dispensary!
Tom
For more information, see:http://www.ameca.org.uk
