Today begins a new step. I am nearing the Persian Gulf via Qatar Airlines on the way to Tanzania via Doha, Qatar. For the next two plus weeks I will try to document our journey to Moshi, Tanzania and our time at KCMC – the local hospital.
Several months ago I stumbled upon HVO – Health Volunteers Overseas. It is a medical organization dedicated to bringing knowledge and skills to developing countries. In brief, they function like the old saying – give a man fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats forever. I will be teaching orthopedic surgery to residents and medical students there, I think.
I think.
Yes, that’s the catch. Unsurprisingly, it’s very hard to understand and grasp exactly what my family and I are getting into. HVO has a wonderful website and it’s chock full of information for the budding volunteer. But even with the reviews, the reports, the slides, and the guides; it leaves open the room for doubt and insecurity. There are concerns about supplies, yet no way to verify the needs. There are contacts, yet no solid communication with my Tanzanian counterparts. There are concerns about transportation, safety, food, housing – all of which I am sure (or perhaps I hope) are simply nerves from traveling into the unknown. Many of my emails to KCMC were not returned, but my contact at HVO served to reassure us that all was well.
For the most part, I attribute this to language barriers, the Tanzanian’s busy work days, and mostly the fact that the only person who has not done this many times is, well, me. I take it as an extremely good sign that many HVO volunteers return time and time again.
I would be remiss not to loudly thank the good folks at the hospitals and surgery centers in both North Carolina and West Virginia. I told them of my trip and the response was incredible. Gloves, hats, gowns, surgical tools, suture, towels, and more began to appear. Hopefully these items, that would otherwise have been wasted, will serve a purpose. Thank you all for your efforts.
Here’s what we know so far:
I have been in contact with a hospital administrator who confirmed housing and I think transportation from the airport tomorrow.
I received an email yesterday (December 25) from a physician at KCMC via HVO. Unfortunately he is not going to be in Moshi until Jan 5, but he was enthusiastic about my visit and briefly summarized the daily routine.
My family has been to Moshi before – as you know from this blog, we climbed Kilimanjaro last year. Certainly this gives an element of familiarity to the trip which helps to alleviate some concerns We have remained in contact with two of the guides there via Facebook (Isn’t technology amazing?) They are excited for our return.
I have a USB stick with many PowerPoint teaching talks. Some were provided by a dear friend at the Campbell Clinic, where I went to residency. His contribution is greatly appreciated as well.
Much beyond that is guesswork from reading other post-volunteer reports on HVO’s website. Obviously, the passage of time from many of those reports makes their value somewhat unknown. The underlying tone of them all is certainly very positive!
So for those of you interested, curious, or bored, hopefully we can discover together how things work as a first time overseas medical volunteer. Let’s get started!
We will figure it out along the way! (Assuming I can post overseas!)