Wiki Kwanza

Aaah it's been a while since I posted! That's a good sign of how much I enjoy a place ;).
Tanzania has been nothing short of amazing. The hospitality I have been shown, the friendships I've gained and the views I've been able to take in is priceless.

It has also been an invaluable asset to me as a a dental clinician and public health enthusiast. I've been able to see cases on oral pathology that I've only read about in textbooks. The doctors and interns have given me the freedom to as much minor surgery as I would like (I have been a little hesitant about it!). One thing that is strikingly different about the Tanzanian dental experience for me is the de-commercialization of dentistry. The commercialization of "teeth care"  is one of my least favorite aspects of dentistry in the US.  Maybe it's because we are working at a government hospital, but the emphasis is on disease control at MUHAS. A good amount of the cases that we see are pain-focused, but there have been many cases where controlling the patient's dental infections is a matter of life or death. More on my experience at MUHAS soon.

Here's a recap of the things that we have done so far:

SATURDAY 4/1

Zanzibar time!! We took the ferry to Zanzibar. Due to the economy line not accepting paper copies of passports, we ended up buying VIP class tickets for $25 each. The ride was super smooth, comfortable and I enjoyed the views! When we got to Zanzibar, we got swarmed with "island tourism guides". We decided to trek it on our own to the spice market! It was hard at first, but we found some good spice and cloth deals. The spice shop owner and I bonded over our common Indian heritage and the Hindi language, leading to some good deals :)!

Afterwards, we checked out the botanical gardens, an art store and headed to the beach!

SUNDAY 4/2/17

Today I decided to go on a little walk and see where I would end up. I wanted to walk to a mosque that I thought looked pretty, and ended up seeing a different part of Dar. I wound up in Kariakoo, which has one of the biggest markets in Dar. It was for the most part closed, but I could see the astounding amounts of stalls that were set up. It was supposed to be about an hour walk but pleasantly ended up being double the time :) . 

We later met up with Sara and Frederick who are dental therapists in Tanzania! They work with Miracle Corners of the World as Dental Coordinators. It was great speaking to them about approaches to oral health in Tanzania and Africa as a whole. We ended up really bonding with them and decided to go out to eat at Mamboz Grill in the heart of the City Center! The food was amazing and I could see why it's always on the "Where to Eat in Dar-es-Salaam" travel guides.

Hanging out with Fredrick and Sara!

MONDAY 4/3/17

Monday was our first day in the Oral Surgery department at MUHAS. MUHAS Dental's "central" department is Oral Surgery, as contrasted to Restorative at UIC. All patients who come for initial exams first get screened and examined based on their chief complaint in the Oral Surgery department. Afterwards, the patient is referred to the Restorative Department based on whether the tooth/teeth related to the chief complaint can be restored and if the patient can afford to restore the tooth. The patient then also has the option to extract the tooth on the spot.

Central sterilization at the OS department

 Most of the teeth are non-restorable and of those that are, 35-50% of the patients choose to extract the teeth on the spot. Around 90% of the patients do not seek comprehensive care and only come in on an urgent care basis. The government employees and their families are the ones that can mostly afford to restore their teeth instead of extract them, because the government provides dental insurance coverage to their employees.

Dental operatories at MUHAS OS

On Monday, I was in minor surgery. I  got to see a plethora of procedures including incisional biopsies, wound dressing, intermaxillary fixations and incision and drainages of very large and life threatening abscesses. I almost fainted on two occasions- once during the morning incisional biopsy (it was extraoral and near the orbit) and the second during the incision and drainage after all of the incisions had been made. I was pretty involved in the intermaxillary fixation and got a chance to remove the IMF wires. I also did half of a intermaxillary fixation with one of the interns (side note: all dental students have to complete one year of residency also known as their internship in Tanzania).    

TUESDAY - FRIDAY

Jessica and I found out we live close by to Palm Beach. We walked about 20 minutes to Palm Beach from our apartment. It is nice to see the waves, but it was definitely not a beach for swimming in :) .  

It was a blast getting to know the other international dental students/dentists doing rotations at MUHAS! One of the Mauritian students also brought traditional Mauritian food and made us soya beans and vegetables in oyster sauce -- so delicious!

We hosted a dinner at our apartment on Wednesday. One of the other international dentists is a native Tanzanian and he gave us an unofficial tour of Dar-es-Salaam! 

Unofficial Dar Tour

Housewarming dinner at our apartment!

We went to K Tea Shop for street food on Thursday and I highly, highly recommend it! Their kabobs and chai were amazing. It was the best chai I ever had in my life actually. We also went to Level 8, an upscale rooftop lounge. The views were amazing!! We ended up on military property on accident. As chance would have it, one of the doctors we were with ended up being enrolled in the military and we all breathed a huge sigh of relief.

View from Level 8 

Kabobs and Tea from K Tea Shop

Friday was a National Holiday dedicated to the Vice President of Tanzania. We had the day off, so I went to Friday prayer at the mosque by our apartment. There was a lot of warmth in the community, after Jummah (Friday prayer) was over, everyone went around and gave hugs/handshakes to one another, including people they didn't know. It was reminiscent of the happiness of Eid prayers in the US. After Jummah, we went to Delhi Darbar, which is a fusion-Indian restaurant. I ended up getting oyster sauce chicken since I loved the dish that our Mauritian friend made us! It ended up being a quieter Friday night, since we had to be up at 4:30AM to catch our bus for a safari on Saturday morning!

SAFARI POST COMING SOON!!!

Thanks for reading!

XOXO,

Naheed