I'd first like to apologize for breaking my blog post streak. I've been good about writing one post everyday until yesterday. However, last night a student got their wallet stolen so I was busy taking care of that mess. Today, I ended up going to the Police station in Moshi to file a police report for the theft. It only took two hours and went very smoothly to my surprise. It's a shame that this theft happened but at least it's an eye opener for the students to be extra careful about their belongings.
Here's a picture of Moshi bus stand. I originally took the picture just to show you what Moshi looks like but I realized after the fact that this is also where the robbery occurred.
Since I already made the trip into Moshi to file the report, I decided to meet with the KCMC/Mawenzi hospital group for lunch. Part of my job entails checking in on the students and taking them to a nice place to eat as they update me on how things are going. We went to Union Cafe which is a very nice place (and expensive) as it's mostly catered towards tourists.
It was great to hear from the students but it's disappointing to learn that they are not enjoying KCMC very much. KCMC is the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College and it's the largest hospital that EWH works with. It's privately owned with over 450 beds. All other hospitals in the Northern Tanzania area refer patients to KCMC for surgeries and specialists. Since it's privately owned, the hospital can afford to hire engineers on staff. KCMC is very organized and there are many rules and procedures when it comes to broken equipment. The students cannot roam the hospital looking for things to fix, instead they are given tasks by the hospital engineers. This system works well when the engineering mentors want to get the EWH students involved. This year's group is struggling with that.
The good news is that the KCMC EWH students also work at Mawenzi hospital in downtown Moshi. It's a public hospital and considerably smaller. Since there is no official hospital engineer, they have free reign when it comes to finding and fixing equipment. I hope they have better luck there.
Even though I wasn't planning on going to Moshi today it was still good that I went and caught up with the students.
I also owe pictures of the performance I went to on Saturday night. The group from Denmark performed in Danish so it was hard to understand what was going on. I think it was something about 7 nordic gods and their quest for 7 different things...and a witch, I think.
Then the second performance was an African dance group that travels throughout the Tanzanian region. It was hard to get a good picture because they were moving so fast!
Here's a picture of Moshi bus stand. I originally took the picture just to show you what Moshi looks like but I realized after the fact that this is also where the robbery occurred.
Since I already made the trip into Moshi to file the report, I decided to meet with the KCMC/Mawenzi hospital group for lunch. Part of my job entails checking in on the students and taking them to a nice place to eat as they update me on how things are going. We went to Union Cafe which is a very nice place (and expensive) as it's mostly catered towards tourists.
It was great to hear from the students but it's disappointing to learn that they are not enjoying KCMC very much. KCMC is the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College and it's the largest hospital that EWH works with. It's privately owned with over 450 beds. All other hospitals in the Northern Tanzania area refer patients to KCMC for surgeries and specialists. Since it's privately owned, the hospital can afford to hire engineers on staff. KCMC is very organized and there are many rules and procedures when it comes to broken equipment. The students cannot roam the hospital looking for things to fix, instead they are given tasks by the hospital engineers. This system works well when the engineering mentors want to get the EWH students involved. This year's group is struggling with that.
The good news is that the KCMC EWH students also work at Mawenzi hospital in downtown Moshi. It's a public hospital and considerably smaller. Since there is no official hospital engineer, they have free reign when it comes to finding and fixing equipment. I hope they have better luck there.
Even though I wasn't planning on going to Moshi today it was still good that I went and caught up with the students.
I also owe pictures of the performance I went to on Saturday night. The group from Denmark performed in Danish so it was hard to understand what was going on. I think it was something about 7 nordic gods and their quest for 7 different things...and a witch, I think.
Then the second performance was an African dance group that travels throughout the Tanzanian region. It was hard to get a good picture because they were moving so fast!
Dance party at the end to celebrate a successful show!
Unfortunately I also promised to post a picture of my braided hair. I only took this picture because I'm good on my word. It took me 9 hours to get it done and my first thought when I finished was "Oh God, I've made a terrible mistake." I then spent the next 3 hours undoing it....
So don't worry, my hair is back to normal again. It was just an experiment that failed miserably. Don't laugh...this picture shouldn't even exist:
EDIT: In the loving words of my boyfriend: "That hair...is the worst thing...that has ever happened to you." Thanks.
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