Over Before You Know It

It's already been a week since I returned home from Africa and it's hard to believe that it's over. 11 weeks went by far too fast and there are several things about Africa that I am already missing. The people that I met on my trip will forever hold a place in my heart and there is not a doubt in my mind that I want to return to Africa some day.  It was the epitome of a "once in the lifetime" opportunity, and I learned a lot about different cultures as well as PT across the world. I had an incredible journey, learned a lot about myself, and definitely grew as a person.

Some of our CCBRT co-workers on our last day.

Until next time!


- K

More Amazing Kids!

This internship IS a pediatric affiliation, so I figured that I better post one final tribute to some of my favorite kiddos. I wont drag this post down with commentary, as most of you know that I love working with these amazing children! 

Some extreme Genu Varum. There is quite a bit of this seen here, as we have seen quite a few cases of Rickets. This little guy had surgery to stop the growth in part of his bones. Poor thing is NOT a fan of mine, but adorable and fun (when he's not in pain).

This little man has weakness in his foot from post- injection paralysis. 

This little ham is usually all smiles with the cutest dimples. She tires Krista and I out because she loves to bounce.

Technically not our patient, but we got to play with him for a little bit and he's quite adorable! 

 Post humerus and distal radius fracture. 

Little boy with spastic CP.

 1 month old baby girl with Erb's Palsy.  She slept through this whole treatment, I usually don't get that lucky.

There have been quite a few little ones that have captured my heart over the past 5 weeks. I am sad that tomorrow is my last day with these wonderful kids that I have grown to love.


- K

The Art of Sambusa Making

Friday after work Mari, Silje, Krista and I went over to our clinical instructor, Zulekha's house to make home made sambusas! I was particularly excited about this endeavor because they have become a favorite staple of mine here in Tanzania and I wanted to see if I could make them when I got home. I can't make any promises, as they were quite a bit of work. I will say that nothing beats a fresh homemade sambusa!

Zulekha's daughter showing us how to prepare Sambusas. First by chopping the green peppers, carrots, onions, and pilipili

Then you mix all the chopped veggies with the ground beef for the filling. 

Next, you take the manda leaves and intricately fold them  to make a  pocket for the meat.  For the "glue" we used wheat flour and water.

Scoop some of the filling and then fold the rest of the leave over using more glue to close the triangle.

And then you end up with TONS of sambusas ready for frying! 

Voila, the finished product. 

And then you chill out, because that was hard work! 

Zulekha also made a wonderful meal for us of rice and cow liver. I can't necessarily say I loved the cow liver, as it was a little strange. However, after all the sambusas and the meal I have never been so full in my life! We left her house with TONS of leftover sambusas for breakfast and lunch.

Hopefully I will be ambitious enough to try this project at home!


- K

Extraordinary Kids

This post is dedicated to some of the fabulous, amazing, incredible, adorable, outstanding children I've had the pleasure to work with. Obviously I cannot photograph every single child I see everyday (which I would honestly love to do, because they are all so adorable). It has been such a joy to see all the smiling faces and get to play with these children while helping them. I can honestly say I will miss the children more than any other aspect of this experience.

A little boy I worked with for a few days who was had casts for bilateral club foot, but also had arthrogryposis. I was helping him walk again, as well as give him exercises to strengthen those little legs. 

Always a smiley face and so happy to play with me!

We have been establishing relationships with some of the children and have been treating some patients for quite some time now. This little boy from one of my previous posts has been staying at the ward for a couple of weeks with severe spastic CP. I evaluated him initially, and we have had the opportunity to be involved in his plan of care since, including discussing with the physician about surgery. We even got to watch the surgeon perform an achilles tendon lengthening. Since then he has had casts placed on both legs below the knees and we are working on standing and upper extremity movements.

Another shot of Krista and I working with our little boy with CP. 

Working on standing.

Such a pleasure to work with! You will almost always find him smiling and happy.

Some of the other children I have seen I haven't had the pleasure of working with on multiple occasions, but they are nonetheless adorable and fun.

This little one suffers from Post-Injection Paralysis (PIP). This happens quite frequently in Tanzania following gluteal injections from malaria or other sicknesses. 

Most days there are MANY people in the treatment room, and we try to have fun with it.

I gave one little boy I was working with my camera, and he became a great photographer. Especially with a great model like Krista! 

Krista has been working mostly with this little guy who has spastic CP. Today I got the chance to treat him and have some fun. 

Krista and I have shared some of the same patients, mostly the ones that stay in the ward and come to physiotherapy everyday. A majority of the time we see different patients, and she has no doubt also been lucky in treating some adorable little ones.

Krista and one of her patients with Erb's Palsy.

When the clinic is slow and there aren't tons of children waiting to be treated we often can co-treat with Mari and Silje. It's fun to collaborate with physical therapists from a different country.

I have had some amazing opportunities thus far in this internship. I am excited to see what the next and final week brings!


- K

Dar Night Clubs & Mbudya Island

This weekend started off with a night out dancing with some of our new friends on Friday night.  We ate homemade pizza at Mari and Silje's house and then headed to the bars at 12 am. The atmosphere at these bars is crazy and so fun! The men here dance like no one's watching (literally) and it was definitely fun to join!  The first bar we went to was an outdoor bar (which I can't quite remember the name of). When that closed at 1 am, we headed to the nightclub called "Club Bilicanas" until around 4 am.

Myself, Krista, Mari, Ob, Silje, and Mira

Some guys behind us in this picture were getting down! It was a great time!

Saturday night Krista and I headed to an Ethiopian restaurant called "Addis in Dar." I've never eaten Ethiopian food, and to be honest I was a little nervous. I didn't know exactly what to expect and I'm not a huge fan of spicy food, but it was really good! Ethiopian cuisine consists mostly of veggies and spicy  meat dishes. They are served on top of injera (a sourdough flatbread)  and you eat everything with your right hand (which is also a customary thing here in Tanzania).

We ate prawns, beef, and lentils with some delicious Ethiopian spices!

Yummmm! 

Sunday we went to yet another island. Mbudya Island is right off of the coast and after a quick bajaji ride to White Sands Hotel we took a 15 minute boat ride to the island. We've had some pretty rainy weather the past week, as "rainy" season has started a little bit early. We were a little nervous that we wouldn't have great weather, but once we got to the island it was sunny and hot and we had no problem getting a little more sunburnt.

Only one weekend left in Dar! So many more things to experience and new restaurants to try before it's time to go home....


- K