The countdown has begun! We will leave for Dar-es-Salaam in 3 weeks. Until then, the other Rice 360 interns and I are working at the OEDK to prepare. We spend all day prototyping technologies we will be carrying with us, gaining a thorough understanding of these technologies, and planning out our projects for our time in Tanzania. Matthew and I have divided the technologies we have been assigned between ourselves. As Matthew is the inventor of the OxyMon, he is focussing on it, while I am responsible for the Clean Machine and the IV Drip Lock. The Clean Machine is a simple device, made out of two buckets and pool floats. It makes the sterilization of surgical equipment an automatic process and prevents inadvertent rusting. The IV Drip Lock is a mechanical lock for the roller clamps of IV Drips. It prevents non-clinicians from gaining access to the roller clamp and changing the dose of the patients. I spent the last week prototyping these technologies and learning enough about them to be able to troubleshoot on the field and get useful feedback.

Matthew and I have also been tasked with setting up the design studio in DIT, analogous to the OEDK we have here at Rice. This is the project I am most excited about! After spending the last 10 days in the OEDK learning new skills and using its wide variety of resources, I have been able to experience just how essential hands-on engineering design is to my understanding of the theoretical knowledge I gain in class. I am so excited to share this with my Tanzanian peers! We have been thinking about creating a website, some training videos, and posters for their design space.

I am sure these next weeks will go by really soon, and preparation is in full swing. We got vaccinated for yellow fever and typhoid yesterday, and we also got our malaria medicine. Our flights have been booked, and we know where we will be staying. Now, I must begin packing my bags. Along with the equipment and prototypes in my suitcase, I will try to fit in as many books as possible and my mother’s spice jars. As I am a vegetarian, my dining options are quite limited, but I am excited to cook for myself.

I am nervous and eager as I anticipate my time in Tanzania. I cannot wait to meet my Tanzanian colleagues and begin work in DIT. But I am also full of uncertainty. As we are the second intern cohort heading to Dar-es-Salaam, we are responsible for cementing the connections made by the first intern cohort and establishing new ones. Although our predecessors have left us a useful guide with loads of advice, there is still so much that I do not know about the environment we will be working in. However, I plan to be armed with a ton of research such that I can adapt to a variety of circumstances. This is a huge responsibility, and I am raring to go. Tanzania, here we come!