Dear reader,

I am relieved to share that, after over 20 hours of travel, I have made it to Dar es Salaam, TZ!

Our mentor Dr. Christine Bohne invited me and the two other interns Annika and Shrutika to a wonderful meal at Woodberry Cafe. We chatted about kicking off our projects in person (finally!) and tips to fight jet lag (melatonin is a must!).

Christine is such an inspiration to me, for many reasons, but among them is that she has a clear passion for integrating change into existing systems rather than trying to introduce a new “American” system into global settings. This principle will certainly guide me in my future endeavors to address health disparities. For my project on neonatal hypothermia prevention, it means supporting the public health researchers in Tanzania that have been working on these issues for years and collaborating to aid current hospital quality improvement teams.

After some rich discussions about working in public health, Christine treated us to a dinner of some delicious local foods, including urojo (“Zanzibar mix”) and fried cassava. She explained that the coastal location of Dar makes it easy to access amazing spices.

In the following days, the NEST Tanzania team invited us to attend the 11th Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS)Scientific Conference! There, I learned all about some of the pressing health issues and some innovative solutions teams are implementing. One project that stood out to me was m-mama, an emergency transport service that connects mothers in rural areas to quality care. I thought this affordable system is profound because in order to reduce maternal mortality mothers must be able to access the support they need. I look forward to hearing about more projects like this. When NEST presented, it was reaffirming to see that the project I am part of will be useful to the teams addressing hypothermia across neonatal wards.

I can’t wait to tell you more about this journey!

With gratitude,
Ojas