GHSP Volunteers

Aid organizations of various kinds are thick on the ground here in Tanzania.  Faith-based groups run clinics, schools, and orphanages.  Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) work on everything from building cross-cultural awareness (like in my last post to this blog) to saving an endangered species.  And, of course, foreign government groups like the Peace Corps and the UK's VSO focus on education, environment, community development and health.  One unique new program is the Global Health service Partnership (GHSP).  This a public-private partnership between the Peace Corps and SEED, part of Massachusetts General Hospital's global health center. 

The volunteers are doctors and nurses who have chosen to train doctors and nurses in developing countries with limited resources.  They are posted in medical schools and hospitals and are teaching a new generation of medical professionals, which are sorely needed in this part of the world.  Currently, the program is up and running in Tanzania, Uganda, and Malawi.

We went to Mwanza a few weeks ago and met with the volunteers.  They have been in Tanzania for 3 months now, and were brought together for a conference to give them a chance to compare experiences and best practices with one another, ask questions, blow off steam, and get a second wind.  Mark and I were asked to give a presentation to the conference participants on the Tanzanian education system.  The volunteers wanted to know the educational background of their students.  I hope that the information we supplied gave them some insight into their students, who, the volunteers report, have difficulty with critical thinking and analysis.  Students here have learned by rote all of their lives, and tend to rely on that, even those in medical schools, who are among the brightest in the country.

The GHSP volunteers differ from regular Peace Corps volunteers in significant areas.  First, they are recruited by SEED and given professional support by that organization.  They have committed to a volunteer stint of one year, rather than the 27 months of a Peace Corps volunteer.  And, while the Peace Corps has health sector volunteers who work with communities' health education (raising awareness of HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention, or promoting maternal and baby care) GHSP volunteers teach medical /nursing students in hospital settings and get involved in delivering babies and treating illness.

We were impressed with the GHSP volunteers.  They are all committed and experienced, and the program has the potential to make a significant positive impact on  health care in this country.           

A Special Trip

One  of the teachers and two of the students from our school went to the Netherlands recently,  on a trip sponsored by an NGO whose mission is to expose young people to different cultures.,  The NGO has sent European students to Tanzania several times, and brought students from Peru, Tanzania, and Asia to the Netherlands for two weeks this November.

The teacher and students have never been out of Tanzania before this trip.  Since I have spent the last 18 months recording my impressions of this country, I was especially interested in the teacher's reactions to visiting a first-world country.

Here are some of the things he had to say, with my comments:

·       People would see them and say, "Jambo, Tanzania!".  (That reminded me of the way Tanzanians who don't know us see our white faces and say, "Mzungu (white person)!  My friend!"  or how little children will say, "howareyouhowareyouhowareyou..." mindlessly until we are out of sight.)

·       He was amazed that Amsterdam is below sea level:  "Can you imagine?"  (I think it's amazing, too.)

·       He was impressed by the trains.  They are fast ("Zip-zip!") and the ride is smooth.  Very different from bus rides here, most of which are not fast, and which are very bumpy, especially over dirt roads.  (The road between our town and Arusha is being resurfaced, so there is a dirt road detour of at least 10 km.  After a bone-rattling trip into the city and back I feel wobbly for hours.)

·       They toured churches, and he found them beautiful and huge, but sadly only holding a few elderly worshippers.  (Religious devotion is much more a vibrant, living thing here in Tanzania.)

·       They visited schools, and he remarked on the fact that they had special education classes for slow learners,  (Here in Tanzania, such children are lumped with the rest to sink or swim.  They mostly sink, but are promoted from year to year anyway, until they fail national exams at the end of 7th grade or their sophomore year in high school.)

·       They were given cheese sandwiches for lunch.  He didn't use the term, but his reaction was "Eeew!"  (Cheese is rare and expensive here, and most Tanzanians have never eaten it.  Some find the smell, texture, and taste disgusting.  They  are used to hearty meals of beans and rice or ugali, which is made of corneal and is similar to polenta.)

I'm sure he had many other new experiences that he is still processing.  What an opportunity for him and for the students!  I expect they will remember this trip for the rest of their lives, and that it will alter, if only slightly, their worldview.