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.