Besides
infectious diseases, the hospital has an obstetric department with a
labor and delivery sections as well as a post-delivery section. Very few
women in Tanzania attend regular checkups during their pregnancy, and
the time of birth is often the first contact with a health facility. In
the obstetric department, the doctors and nurses try their best to
assist the many patients with the limited means they have available. The
hospital has only one delivery room with three beds next to each other,
which often can be occupied by women at the same time. After delivery,
the women are taken into recovery where the health personal attend to
them as best as they can. However, the limited means and personal
usually means that the women are sent home quite soon after delivery if
there is no acute complications to be seen. The
women attend regular checkups after birth, where the children are being
weighed and offered the appropriate vaccines. However, as the personal
is few and the patients are too many, the women are often waiting in
vain for hours only to be sent home in the end of the day with no
checkup.
For
the moment, the hospital are preparing an surgical room to perform the
most basic and acute operations, which they have referred to other
health facilities in the past. As you see as well in the picture, the
room is very basic and the personal is forced to make use of the few
means they have available. However, if you have surgical experience and
wish to expand your knowledge, you have the possibility in this
hospital. The
few departments we have mentioned are just few of the areas, the
facility is dealing with. As it is located in a poor area of Arusha, the
many thousand residents in the area around the hospital often seek help
and treatment here first. Therefore, patients suffering from traffic
accidents, burns, domestic abuse victims and patients suffering from
non-communicable diseases (diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome)
will appear daily and the work in the clinic will differ from day to
day.
As a medical worker, you will aide and assist the medical staff at the hospital in the different departments. Depending on wish and experience, the volunteers will be placed in a department that suits them and will be guided through the daily routines by qualified staff. In this placement we are looking for both qualified doctors, nurses and midwifes as well as students enrolled in any of these educations. However, we are looking for volunteers who are so far along in their education that they are able to actively take part in the treatment of patients. We are looking for volunteers, who are mature and can act on their own without putting themselves or the patients of any risk. At the same time, we are looking for volunteers who also are able to know their own limits of what they are capable of and who are wise enough to say no or when they are put in a situation beyond their knowledge.
It is important to keep in mind, that working in a hospital in a developing country usually is very different from working in a hospital in a developed country. As the hospital has much fewer means to work with, alternative solutions are often part of treatment plans. We hope, that you as a volunteer can help contribute to with useful solutions, bringing new ideas for better hygiene or maybe come up with a better charts-system.
As you can never predict which patients will enter the hospital, you never really know what you will arrive to work and find, especially in a country like Tanzania who is facing a great deal of health related issues. As medical worker, you will assist and help the staff with basic assignments as cleaning burns, cuts and scrapes and to help proscribe and pass out medicine as well as more complicated assignments like assisting during delivery, help asses trauma patients suffering from traffic accidents, help treat victims of domestic abuse and assisting at surgeries. Due to the limited staff, you will also help guide and teach the patients how to prevent diseases and explain the treatment plan of current ones. We understand, that the language barrier might make communication difficult but since you will always be working along side with the permanent staff, they can help you out with translations.
Typical day
A typical day will usually begin 8:00 AM at the hospital, where you will be assigned your department or work area of the day. At this time, patients are already lined up by the dozens outside the hospital and from this time on you will work along side with the staff helping them the best you can. Around 10-11 AM there will often be time for a little break and a cup of tea to gain energy again, after which the work continues to lunch time. As part of our volunteer program, all three meals are included in the accommodation price and you can at this time return to the White House on foot to have your lunch. Depending on the individual agreement with the hospital and the volunteer's wishes, the volunteers can then return back to the hospital after lunchtime to work in the afternoon as well or they can take the afternoons off. If wished, the volunteers are welcome to join the staff in evening shifts and night shifts as well.
Details on Arrival
As hospital are open at all times, this project can be joined throughout the year. Daraja Mbili Hospital is in great need of assistance, which is why your work at this placement can begin at anytime that fits you. We will recommend that you arrive to Tanzania by the end of the week so that you have the weekend to settle in and get comfortable in the house and area before beginning your work the following Monday.
Free-time activities
In Arusha, there are plenty of free time activities to do, both multiple-day trips, one-day trips and afternoon activities. As Tanzania are one of the best places in the world to go on safari, there is plenty opportunity to do so during your placement. At the White House, we can help you customize the safari of your dreams and to make it fit your timetable. Depending on how many days, which parks (Arusha National Park, Serengeti, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorogoro Crater), camping or lodging and whether you wish to be part of a group or travel on a private safari we can help you arrange it all.
As well as safaris there is also plenty of possibility to hike our beautiful mountains, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru. Regarding both these mountain treks we can help you arrange everything and advise you about number of days, the different routes and so on.
If you are more in the mood for day-trips, there are tons to choose from. Hiking to Mt. Meru waterfall, visiting authentic Masai villages, swimming in natural hot springs, making coffee the hills of Mt. Kilimanjaro, visiting man-made underground caves and visiting banana plantations are just few of the suggestions, we can give you. All these can be arranged from the White House upon your arrival.
During the afternoons when you are off work, there's also plenty of things to do and see. In the warm weather here in Tanzania, it can be well
needed to cool down in a cold swimming pool. Most of the hotels in town
offers guests from outside the hotel to use the pool for a small fee.
This way you and your friends can get to relax after a day of work. If you are more adventurous and in the mood for an
activity, we recommend you to go to Lake Duluti just outside of Arusha,
rent a canoe and paddle around the lake for some hours while watching
the birds and monkeys along the shore. This relaxing experience will
help you gain energy for the rest of your work-week. In case if rainy weather, Arusha has one museum to
offer - the Museum of Nature and Wildlife. It doesn't take many hours to
walk through, but it can be a fun and different activity. Or you can
pay a visit to the Cultural Heritage Center, which is a gallery that has
many small shops to visit too.
Program Requirements
Included Services
Before your journey
On-site services
- Voluntary Work in Tanzania
- Work permit in Tanzania
- Project fees
- Single or shared room with full board during entire stay
- Assistance from a local coordinator
- Orientation on your first day
- Airport pick up
- Any personal expenses, soft drinks, bottled water
- Any entrance fee during sightseeing and traveling
- Insurance
- Tourist visa fee
- Immunization
- Plane tickets
We provide our volunteers with airport pick-up - from both Kilimanjaro International Airport and Arusha Domestic Airport. Just provide us with your arrival detail - date, exact time, flight number - and we will make sure our driver is waiting outside for you with a sign of your name and a big smile.
The hostel consists of various room types differing from double rooms, twin rooms with separate beds, triple rooms, quadruple rooms and finally an 8-person dorm room, which are all facing a common courtyard with couches, pillows and a daytime bed for chilling during the warm afternoons in Arusha. The common area is also where our guests, both volunteers and travelers, will come together and enjoy their meals. In the house, breakfast, lunch and dinner is all included in the prices and is eaten together in the courtyard. We find these times to be a good possibility for our guests to share experiences and ideas and even to plan future trips together.
The bathrooms in the house are all shared, which means that the rooms don't have individual bathrooms. The bathrooms are located at the end of the courtyard and consists of bathroom booths with both shower and toilets. And compared to many other Tanzanian accommodations, we always have warm showers to offer!
Location wise, the White House is only 15 minutes walk from the central city, where you will find cafes, ATM's, shops and restaurants. Our hostel is located in an area called Daraja Mbili, which is a more authentic Tanzanian area than the ones you will find in central town, but perfectly safe. Our guests are more than welcome to walk anywhere during daytime, but at nighttime it is no longer safe to walk on foot (this is the case all over Arusha). However, it is very easy to arrange taxis or other kinds of transportation to the White House during nighttime.
Included in your accommodation price, you will also find a good functioning WIFI at all times, so you can easily communicate with your friends and family at home.
In case of any allergies or intolerance or other special needs, feel free to let us know and we will try our best to come up with an alternative for you. As said earlier, all these meals are included in the price but our guests are free to leave the house and go out for dinner whenever - all we ask is that you let us know to prevent unnecessary food wastage.
In the White House we have a small bar that sells cold water, soda and beer for affordable prices. Drinks ARE NOT included in the accommodation fee, ONLY meals.
Program Fees
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