I clearly remember my interviews for the Rice 360 Summer Internship. My first interview was with Dr. Leautaud, who told me more about the Tanzania internship. “Tanzania presents a unique challenge. It is a very new site, and all there is at DIT is an empty room with a few tables. Do you think you would be up for this challenge?”.

At that time, sitting in Dr. L’s 9th-floor office in the BRC, the answer seemed almost obvious to me. This internship excited me, aligned with my goals, and I was raring to go. “Of course! I understand why that can be very challenging, but the process has to begin somewhere! I would be excited to face that challenge and make the most of my opportunities to pave the way for the future of the internship!”

I often thought of this exchange while in Dar es Salaam, and it never failed to remind me of the big picture and provide perspective. It has now been two weeks since I have returned. I have gotten over jetlag, had multiple intense catch-up sessions with my parents, and have had a long time to reflect about my time in Dar es Salaam. As Dr. L predicted, this was a uniquely challenging internship. Here are my learnings from my time in Tanzania.

• An image that I will never forget is the Muhimbili Hospital Equipment Graveyard. Near the biomedical technicians’ workshop were piles and piles of decrepit hospital equipment. Hospital beds, oxygen concentrators, suction pumps, all of brand names seen commonly in the US, lay in a mountain of metal and plastic. They were here because they simply didn’t work anymore. The hospitals had to make do with few working machines and were stretched for resources. Our interviews informed us of the crucial need for technology innovation made exclusively for the context. It seemed that technology manufactured for developed countries could not stand up to the stresses of a low resource hospital. Any new technology introduced has to consider the training of its users, the frequency and conditions of use, and maintenance routines to be effective in this hospital environment. This was summed up beautifully by Dr. Shah, a newly trained doctor who we interviewed, who used a quintessentially Indian reference to explain this to us- “You can’t drive a Ferrari on a road meant for a Maruti”. I will bring back to Rice a deeper understanding of the design criteria that would make technology suitable and sustainable for a low resource setting.

• On our first visit to Amana Hospital, Dr. Mafele asked us to prove ourselves. I immediately began to worry. Our group of six engineers had little experience with repairing medical equipment. We had limited knowledge about the context at Amana Hospital. Would we be able to convince Dr. Mafele that we were worth our salt? A month later, after having fixed multiple items of hospital equipment, developed recommendations and presented project prototypes, Dr. Mafele said: “Yes, you have proven yourself”. Apart from being incredibly proud of our team, my belief in our abilities as engineers was affirmed. We combined our different skills and experiences with our common passion and knack for problem-solving to give our best to help Amana Hospital. I remember standing in the neonatal ward, looking at the tiny babies, with the cries of infants punctuating our conversation with the nurse. She wanted the oxygen concentrator we repaired to be calibrated as soon as possible so she could use it on the babies. It struck me that a simple soldered connection to repair the concentrator could save the lives of these children. I bring back to Rice an appreciation for the need to establish trust and credibility and an unshakable belief in the capacity of engineers to touch lives.

 

• I remember a conversation with Matthew over dinner at the City Mall Food Court approximately halfway through our internship. While our peers in Brazil and Malawi already had projects, we had yet to go on our first hospital visit. Julia was untiringly following hospital leads, visiting with letter after letter, and the bureaucracy and paperwork that came with a new hospital relationship was simply taking time. We were restless and were venting our frustrations to each other. I was relieved that we were on the same page, and I realized that I simply had to be patient, trust the process, and wait. This proved to be particularly difficult in the unfamiliar environment – work is often my crutch to cling on to a sense of familiarity and normalcy. Instead, we poured our time into the design studio, working on team building, writing shopping lists of tools for the studio and making multiple trips into Kariakoo to buy these tools. When we eventually had our projects, we worked like a well-oiled machine and had a fully stocked design studio with materials for our projects. I bring back to Rice an appreciation for going at the pace that the situation demands and satisfaction for having contributed to the set-up of the DIT Design Studio.

 

• We began our days at the Design Studio with Pictionary. Julia thought it would help us with our non-verbal communication, so every morning, we would arrive at the studio to be divided into two teams and engage in a fiercely competitive game. It always struck me how effective this was in bringing us closer and improving our communication. We left every game having learned something new about each other. Over meals in the DIT canteen and trips to Kariakoo, we shared our varied experiences and found common ground. The world seemed so small – the things that bound us seemed to be universal. The Tanzanian interns were well versed in the Bollywood classics, Julia’s ‘hype music’ playlist transcended language boundaries and never failed to put us all in a good mood, and I enjoyed finding words that meant the same in both Hindi and Swahili. I bring back to Rice an appreciation for how similar we truly are and six new friends.

• Three years ago, I watched a video about Dr. Richards-Kortum and Dr. Oden’s work in Malawi and it inspired me to apply to Rice. After having spent two months in Tanzania, I have immense appreciation for the vision of Rice 360. I feel like I have come full circle. I return to Rice a changed person- inspired and grateful for this opportunity. I was so honored to have been given this opportunity, and I have been incredibly lucky to have had the experiences and met the people that I did. DIT and Dar es Salaam welcomed us with open arms and excellent weather. I am proud of the work and progress we made this summer, and the united front with which Matthew and I faced every challenge. I am sure the DIT Design Studio and our relationship with Amana and Muhimbili Hospitals will continue to grow, and I am so excited for the future of this internship. My time in Tanzania stretched my abilities. I return to Rice motivated and ready to learn and grow.

I would like to thank the donors for their support to the internship and to Rice 360. None of this would have been possible without them.

In true Tanzanian fashion, Asante Sana!