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Week 1: Openings & Orientations: June 10

Posted on by Shrutika Gupta

June.10.2023

Hello! My name is Shrutika, and I am a rising junior at Rice University from Jones. I am pursuing a B.S. in Biosciences and minors in Global Health Technologies and Medical Humanities. Along with Ojas and Annika, I will be traveling to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania this summer as part of the Rice360 internship.

This past week has been a whirlwind of insightful lectures, fun activities, and team-bonding exercises. I have enjoyed learning more about the importance of communication and ethical engagement, among various other topics as well. Without doubt, one of my favorite sessions so far has been the PhotoVoice presentation, an activity that has emphasized the wealth of stories that can be captured by single photographs. As we each presented five photos, common threads emerged: from travel-lovers to nature addicts to sports enthusiasts to engineers, we all had some connection to each other. As I prepare to travel abroad next week, I hope to continue forming these links. As an admittedly poor photographer, I probably won’t be taking too many new pictures; nonetheless, I hope that I can continue to add new stories and relationships to my own arsenal, and I am excited about the prospect of connecting with others and learning about their lived experiences.

The three of us will be working with and learning from the NEST360 team this summer. My project will take a mixed-methods approach to evaluating neonatal unit infrastructure in health facilities in Tanzania. I will be conducting a combination of quantitative analysis, such as analyzing floor plans, and qualitative work, including interviewing healthcare workers. Through this research, I aim to understand and inform on the impact of hospital infrastructure on the quality of care delivered.

This summer, I am looking forward to working with a diverse team of individuals from all across the world. I aspire to keep a beginner’s mindset in my journey, and I hope to gain a deeper context to factors that can affect healthcare. We will be departing for Dar es Salaam in a week, and I am both nervous and excited about what the next 7 weeks have in store for me!

Shrutika

Workshop Whizzes: Part 2

Posted on by Grant

Angela and I were tasked on adapting and implementing a version of the biomedical equipment troubleshooting workshop (taught as a senior elective to Rice BIOEs) at DIT. The workshop takes approximately two weeks to complete and is structured as a flipped classroom: prerecorded lecture videos explain the operating principles and various components of the devices, and students are left to open up the devices and troubleshoot instructor-created “breaks.”

There are six devices covered in the troubleshooting workshop that are present in most clinical settings:
Microscopes, Centrifuges, Sunction Pumps, Rerigerators, Syringe Pumps, and Oxygen Concentrators. At Rice, the workshop is taught in a lab space that contains multiple fully functional versions of each device. We brought a used Suction Pump with us from Rice, but we had no other equipment with us at DIT.

The classroom we were given to use as a workspace contained a lot of sophisticated laboratory equipment and medical devices donated by nonprofits and local hospitals, but the thick layer of dust on the equipment indicated that these devices hadn’t seen a lot of use. Students were quick to tell us that they had never seen most of the devices before, even when taking classes about those devices, and they had not been allowed to touch or operate the few devices they had seen before. This was confirmed by the instructors we spoke to, who expressed concerns about students potentially breaking expensive equipment.

Medical Equipment Sitting in the Telemedicine Room

All this was predicted by Dr. Renata Ramos, head of the BIOE curriculum at Rice and current teacher of the troubleshooting workshop. When we met with her before our trip, she explained that DIT and other unversities in the developing world simply didn’t have the resources to buy functional equipment and provide it to students to use and potentially destroy. The way the course is taught at Rice is incredibly expensive, requiring significant investment every year to repair equipment and buy replacement parts. Such a proposal at most universities in the world would seem laughable.

So our task at DIT was to adapt the structure of the course to make it feasible and sustainable to teach in this environment. But how to teach a troubleshooting workshop without access to equipment? We didn’t want the students to sit through yet another course that focused on theory without any practical application.

We concentrated on using the resources we had to source equipment and materials for our workshop. For our firs session on the microscope, we were able to acquire a microscope from the DIT dispensary and a nonfunctional microscope from our workspace. After watching the videos and learning about the device, the DIT interns were able to operate and take apart the device. For many, it was their first time using a microscope and identifying electronic components in a circuit.

The next day, we were also able to work on some microscopes donated by Aga Khan Hospital, which has a partnership with DIT that donates used equipment for instruction.* The microscopes were broken, and we were able to fix them in collaboration with the DIT interns. Using the maintenance guidelines from the course, we cleaned and repaired the microscopes to improve image quality. It was immensely gratifying to see them turn their newfound knowledge into tangible equipment fixes and mainte.


Repairing Microscopes

The workshop continued on like this, with me and Angela improvising at every turn to source equipment. For refrigerators, we trekked over to our hotel room to dissect our minifridges. For centrifuges, we borrowed a delapidated centrifuge from the DIT dispensary and added a safety switch mechanism. And for oxygen concentrators and syringe pumps, we visited Muhimbili National Hospital to help them troubleshoot some broken equipment.

Repairing a “Broken” Refrigerator

In the interest of sustainability, we were able to take constructive steps to add functionality or fix worn-out equipment instead of taking already-working equipment and breaking it. We also had to modify the structure of the course and supplement its contents to suit the needs of the DIT interns. After each session, we sent out a survey asking anonymous questions about the usefulness of the session and desires for future changes or instruction. Once we realized that the interns had little experience working with circuits or electronics, we added instruction about basic circuit components and implemented a brief soldering workshop to teach proper soldering techniques.

Soldering Workshop

* Note: we also bore witness to one of the more gnarly aspects of equipment donation to resource-poor institutions. On one of our first days at DIT, we were suddenly summoned by an administrator to help with unloading an 18-wheeler truck loaded with 5 huge, 900-pound Vitros chemistry analyzers from Aga Khan Hospial. Much fanfare was made celebrating the donation and official handshakes exchanged, but the sad truth apparent to everyone present was that the analyzers belonged in a junkyard. The huge metal and plastic shells were broken beyond repair, stripped of everything of possible value (processors, monitors, and samplers were all notably absent). They were placed in a classroom at DIT, where they will likely sit for years accumulating dust.

We frequently hear about the harms of donating faulty or improperly maintained equipment to the developing world. Here was an in-your-face example of the possible impacts even further downstream.


Chemistry analyzers taking up space in a DIT classroom

 

7. A new project

Posted on by Angela

This week, we finished up the electronics teaching modules and then found a new project to work on! Dr. Moshi, one of the professors in the electrical engineering department, asked us to help review the proposed revisions for the new biomedical curriculum to be implemented in the fall.

This past year, I was one of 7 students on the Rice BIOE department’s Advisory Board. We surveyed fellow students, researched other schools’ programs, and wrote reports making recommendations for changes to our curriculum. Getting the chance to help improve DIT’s BME curriculum was super exciting, especially since our fellow interns have been telling us about its many weaknesses since day 1.

We spent a few days collecting feedback on the proposed curriculum from current and former students. Overall, they were pleased with most of the changes: reducing unnecessary modules from 12 per semester to 9, combining courses that didn’t have enough material to be stand-alone modules, and adding more practical content.

We then spent a day working with Dr. Moshi to better understand the content of the proposed curriculum and go over the comments and feedback we received from the DIT interns. The new curriculum should provide a better and more-well rounded education for future DIT students. However, many more changes will be necessary before it can be effectively implemented.

Many of the problems with the current curriculum seem to lie with lack of practical skills and fundamental knowledge. We anonymously surveyed more than 15 students and found some concerning results. Students overwhelmingly complained that the large number of modules “kept them busy” with unnecessary information rather than allowing them to focus on important core modules. They also told us that lecturers of biomedical courses often did not show up, and for some classes have only attended 1 or 2 lectures the entire semesters. This forces students to basically guess at what would be covered by midterms and final exams. Even when they did show up, there was no syllabus or course plan for the class, so lecture content was determined by the depth of the instructor’s knowledge rather than importance of each topic. They want more support, both in terms of money and instructor guidance, during their final year design project. And finally, students emphasized a need for practical experience in their coursework, from learning basic electronics skills to actually seeing and being able to take apart the equipment they are learning how to maintain and troubleshoot.

The new curriculum seems to alleviate some of these problems. The overall number of modules has been reduced, and hours have seemingly been set aside for practicals. We’ve also pointed out modules where the Rice troubleshooting course can be implemented and provided example circuits and teaching materials for learning practical electronics. However, instructors must be held responsible for attending lectures and actually communicating the knowledge that they’re hired to teach.

One method we suggested was to have instructors create course syllabi and schedules for the semester. This would also help students understand how much each subtopic is emphasized and provides a study guide. Finally, a syllabus would hopefully ensure that scheduled practicals actually occur as planned. We sent Dr. Moshi a few examples of Rice course syllabi, which we hope will provide a good starting point. Dr. Moshi seems excited about the new curriculum’s potential, but acknowledges that it’ll be a lot of work. He predicts that his fellow instructors will be resistant to creating the documents, so the responsibility to create and reinforce the syllabi may fall on him.

Dr. Moshi seems to be somewhat of a visionary in terms of trying to change DIT’s education system. He’s in charge of curriculum for 8 degree programs and recently attended a conference on active learning in Malawi headed by Drs. Matthew Wettergreen (current Rice engineering lecturer) and Ann Saterbak (former Rice professor and basically the creator of Rice BIOE). He came back from the conference with lots of ideas for improving the BME curriculum by implementing more practical project-based learning. Though he seems so stressed out already, I hope that he will be able to fulfill his dream of creating a more effective curriculum.

6. Marafiki: Friends

Posted on by Angela

This past week was Week 5 out of 7. While we waited for a response from Muhimbili, we worked on the two projects we developed during Dr. Leautaud’s visit. For the electronics modules, we taught the DIT interns how each component worked, then how to use a breadboard, and finally how to assemble the circuit on a through-hole board. We also created some guidance documents on using a DMM, breadboarding, and soldering. As for the centrifuge safety switch, we successfully modified the two centrifuges we had available so that the motor only runs when the lid is closed. All we needed for each circuit was a small push button, epoxy, and some wire- a really simple but effective solution that will help protect future device users.

Watching the interns put these two projects together made me feel really proud! We were able to teach them some new skills and provide some more practical experience. The feedback for the electronics modules was especially positive; it seems that they would be an effective teaching tool if incorporated into their coursework or offered by the new design workshop.

While we didn’t receive a response from Muhimbili last week, we did get permission to visit Aga Khan. Our intern group was able to see more of the new facilities and talk to a nurse in the maternity ward. Aga Khan definitely has more resources than Muhimbili does, including newer facilities and equipment and a lower baby:nurse ratio. The two technologies that we’re especially interested in, phototherapy for neonatal jaundice and syringe pumps, are used frequently there, but the nurses rarely have problems with the devices. I’m glad that we were able to visit Aga Khan, whose maternity and neonatal care practices seem to be working well. If we get a chance to talk to a nurse or doctor at Muhimbili, I wonder what differences we’ll see. I also wonder how the DIT interns will view those differences, in terms of a potential workplace.

Though at times things have moved more slowly than I would have liked, I’m also surprised that the end of our internship is so near! There’s so much that we would still like to do here: get faculty feedback on the proposed OEDK space, help with curriculum revision, and visit Muhimbili again. But we’ve accomplished a lot too, from piloting the troubleshooting course to teaching the interns how to solder. Most importantly, we’ve developed strong relationships with the DIT interns and our supervisors. On Saturday, after our visit to Aga Khan, we had all the interns and Madam Kianja come over to our apartment for a lunch featuring Italian, Chinese, and American dishes. We had a great time and I hope that we can spend more time together outside of work before the end of the internship!

5. Matata: Trouble

Posted on by Angela

This week we finally got a chance to go to Muhimbili. We spent 3 days there working with the technicians and helping troubleshoot equipment. There are a lot of broken devices here! Much of it sits in the BME department’s main workshop, waiting for spare parts from dealers or other cannibalized equipment. If broken parts can’t be obtained or the device can’t be fixed, then it is “condemned”: stored in the courtyard for an annual public auction. Additionally, Muhimbili seems to depend on inconsistent government funding and donations from NGOs to obtain new equipment, unlike Aga Khan which replaces its equipment after 5 years. Thus, the hospital has many brands of the same type of equipment, but parts in those devices are not analogous with each other, resulting in even more machines collecting dust in the workshop. I wonder how this lack of functioning equipment affects Muhimbili’s patients, doctors, and nurses, and if there are any technologies that Rice and DIT students could develop to help.

The BME workshop/ device graveyard

We were also able to see some of the hospital wards, like maternity and the surgical ICU. Unfortunately, we found that we had yet another obstacle to overcome: while we were allowed to work alongside the BME department, we had not received authorization to ask doctors and nurses questions about neonatal and maternal care. We’ve now written and submitted yet another letter that specifically requests permission to do so, and I hope that it is approved soon.

Fixing an infant warmer

While I’m getting more accustomed to the slower pace here, peeling back these layers of red tape is incredibly frustrating. My main goal for this internship is to learn about patient care in a low-resource setting. I hope to compare the standard of care, available facilities, and patient/provider needs here with those at the hospitals and clinics I will be trained at when I begin medical school in the fall. Of course, I expect that the technologies and resources in an American hospital would far exceed those at Muhimbili or Aga Khan, but I wonder if those advancements have any trade-offs that might be revealed when talking to healthcare providers here. Furthermore, I am really interested in observing patient care that occurs in a different culture and language.

On Thursday, Grant and I attended a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding between Rice and DIT. We witnessed the principal of DIT sign the document and said a few words about our schools’ partnership. I’m excited to see what the internship looks like in a few years’ time! Hopefully, pushing through all of our current difficulties will pave the way for future interns here.

Signing ceremony

Finally, some bad news. We spent the weekend in Zanzibar, which was beautiful and lots of fun! But Gilden was right to be worried about my phone; it was stolen while we were there. 🙁 Sadly, my future posts will probably not have pictures. Note to future interns, especially wearers of pants for women: your pockets are not a safe place for your phone!!

Workshop Whizzes (Part 1)

Posted on by Grant

One of the main goals for our internship was for Angela and I to pilot a biomedical equipment troubleshooting workshop for DIT students and find ways to integrate the workshop into the biomedical engineering curriculum. Keeping with this goal, we worked with DIT students, graduates, and lecturers to understand the curriculum and education system here.

At DIT, the biomedical engineering program is still relatively new (the first class matriculated 5 years ago), and the nascent department is housed under the electrical engineering department. In all of Tanzania, there are currently only two universities offer programs in biomedical engineering: DIT (where the highest degree offered is a technical diploma) and Arusha Technical College (where students can earn up to a Bachelo’s.)

The biomedical engineering curriculum at DIT lasts 3 years, and students accrue additional certifications at the end of each year (levels 5-7 in the chart below). In between years of study, students have the chance to go on Industrial Practical Training (IPT), a 2-month job shadowing opportunity that embeds students in the engineering departments of hospitals across Tanzania and even internationally.

Students take 12 modules per semester: 6 core courses (typically centered on a particular medical device) and 6 general education requirements (math, physics, finance, and the ilk). Grades are determined by high-stakes midterms (40%) and final exams (60%). All this sounds fairly banal, and you may wonder why I am going into such detail about these education requirements. Had Angela and I stopped after this assessment, we may not have seen a role for ourselves in the coursework here. However, peeling back some layers and asking questions of current and former students revealed some disparities between the curriculum’s design and practice.

For virtually all of their core classes (half of their coursework), our fellow interns had either never met their lecturers or met them only once. Their teachers, they explained, were typically busy professionals and adjuncts who lived and worked far away, so they rarely (if ever) show up to scheduled classes. Students end up attending fewer than half of the lectures on their syllabus, and they are left to study on their own and guess at what material will be covered on their exams. Even when lecturers make an appearance, they teach theoretical concepts without demonstrating on real devices. The students’ core curriculum is supposed to include 2 sessions of practical lab work per week, but almost all the sessions are cancelled or never scheduled.

The list of grievances go on, but students cite 2 major problems again and again with their education: lack of instructors and lack of practical training. This leads them to feel unprepared when they go for IPT or enter the workforce. When asked about DIT graduates, the head of engineering at Aga Khan hospital noted that they lack the required technical skillsets.

The challenges faced by DIT are compounded by the fact that the national government is pushing DIT to establish a Bachelors program for biomedical engineering. As Mr. Moshi, the head of curriculum for the biomedical engineering explained to us, the degree-conferring system in Tanzania is strictly hierarchical, with National Technical Association (NTA) levels assigned to each degree (detailed in the chart below). Instructors in a particular program must have an education level at least 1 above the students they are instructing (i.e. a Masters or above is required to teach Bachelors coursework). The current biomedical engineering staff, already spread thin, does not have lecturers qualified to teach Bachelors courses. Moshi expressed worries that he would have to hire unreliable adjuncts that were unlikely to stick around to teach upper-level coursework.  
Source: Tanzanian National Commission for Universities Qualification Framework

Armed with this enhanced understanding of the educational bacground at DIT, Angela and I set out to pilot the Rice biomedical equipment troubleshooting workshop.

4. Pole pole: Slowly, slowly

Posted on by Angela

As always, our week was quite eventful! Since we had finished all the troubleshooting modules, I was honestly feeling a bit frustrated going into the week. I’m the type of person who likes to plan things out and get things done, especially when responsible for a group of people, so not having any specific next steps was a bit stressful. However, Dr. Leautaud joined us at DIT from Monday through Wednesday, and helped us establish some more goals for the coming weeks. I also learned that I should be more patient, take things slower, and try not to stress about things that I can’t control. For example, we finally got a permission letter sent to go to Muhimbili, and ~yay!~ got internet working in our room.

Dr. Leautaud also brought the great news that Rice 360 has received a grant from the Lemelson Foundation, similar to the one received for Malawi (1,2), to further the Rice-DIT relationship and help establish a biomedical engineering design studio and practical workshop. Our DIT cohort was really interested to learn about the resources we have at the OEDK, and together we created a set of student and instructor surveys to help gather ideas for the new spaces.

Right before Dr. Leautaud’s departure

We also came up with a few more projects to tackle: creating practical electronics modules and installable centrifuge safety switches. For these two projects, we walked the DIT students through the design process: defining design criteria, brainstorming solutions, and selecting the best one. The DIT curriculum only has 1 design project that is assigned during the final year of study, and it consists of pitching a solution to a problem, building it, and giving a functional demonstration. It seemed that they are not taught the processes of needs-finding, definition of design criteria, brainstorming, and validation of design criteria, so these exercises were a bit challenging. However, with lots of patience, we pooled together some good ideas and a shopping list for electronic components to buy in Kariakoo.

Kariakoo is a HUGE market that sells everything. Literally everything. The DIT students accompanying us on the trip took us straight to the electronic components shop, but we easily could have spent hours looking for the right place if they hadn’t guided us there. Seriously, Kariakoo was like a physical Amazon.com, without the search bar. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a photo of the streets because Gilden was paranoid I’d get my phone stolen, and kept it in his pocket for safekeeping.

The tiny storefront for the electronic components shop

On Saturday, Grant and I had a chance to visit Aga Khan, meet the head of the BME department, and tour some of their facilities! We will get a chance to take the group there in the next few weeks as well. Their current ICU is tiny, only 4 or 5 beds, but they are constructing a new building with an entire floor for the new ICU, complete with brand new equipment.

Stacks of brand new syringe pumps

And finally, on Sunday we ended the week with a visit to Coco Beach! Though I only have Galveston Beach to compare it to, I thought it was absolutely beautiful. We even found a spot to do a little cliff diving! All in all, a very relaxing trip that provided some time for me to destress and think about what we’ve accomplished so far. “Pole-pole” (slowly, take it easy): adjusting to a slower pace of life has been different but definitely enjoyable.

Before the jump

3. Eid Muburak!

Posted on by Angela

We have now finished the first two weeks of our internship at DIT! At this point, we have finished going through all the modules of the troubleshooting course that Grant and I brought from Rice. While we did not have access to a syringe pump or oxygen concentrator, we watched the associated videos and also were able to look at several centrifuges. Additionally, we got to check out some of the other devices that have been stored in our work space: an incubator, water bath, shaker table, and EKG machine. I think that all of these practical sessions have been really beneficial to the students, and our next step will be to figure out how best to implement this in the DIT curriculum and ensure its sustainability once the course passes on to other lecturers.

Centrifuge Day

Apart from the troubleshooting course, we also held a soldering workshop, showed the Rice GLHT projects, and discussed the engineering design process. As for soldering, it seemed that most of the DIT students had little to no soldering experience. Grant and I brought the basic tools- soldering irons, soldering wire, and wire cutters- but were challenged to find materials to practice soldering with. I’ve definitely been spoiled by how plentiful the resources at the OEDK were. Initially, I thought that maybe we could solder together a simple LED circuit on a through-hole PCB. However, not only could we not find a PCB, we couldn’t even find an LED in the electrical engineering workshop. But after some digging, we made do with some lightbulbs and a switch and were able to construct a simple circuit together. I really wish that we had the capability to work on some more sophisticated circuits, but at least we were able to have all of the DIT interns get some hands-on experience with soldering.

Soldering Practice

We combined our discussions on the GLHT projects and the engineering design process. We explained the needs for and designs of both the Mathermal and Colostomate, which the DIT interns were pretty interested in. By showing our fellow students these projects, we were able to introduce the design process that we are taught at Rice: needs-finding, brainstorming ideas, establishing design criteria, prototyping, and testing. Hopefully, we will get to show the GLHT projects to medical professionals for more feedback and conduct some needs-finding sessions with our fellow interns soon!

Our work week ended slightly early because Friday was a holiday. It was the end of Ramadan, or Eid, and Madam Kianja invited us and all the interns to her house in Pugu to celebrate! The food was delicious and the hospitality was, as always, amazing. I have never experienced an Eid party, and this one did not disappoint. Grant and I made some beef dumplings to bring to the gathering. Though it seemed like most were wary of the unfamiliar food, Dr. Kianja’s son and daughter were happy to try them!

Very full and very happy at Dr. Kianja’s!

2. Karibu: Welcome

Posted on by Angela

This first week in Dar has really flown by! We arrived in Tanzania on June 1st, last Friday. At the airport, we were greeted by two DIT students, Gilden and Hamida, and the DIT driver, Stuart. They spent the entire drive to our residence at the Raha Tower telling us about Tanzania and asking about Rice. Once we arrived, they helped us settle in and promised to come back in the morning, before finally returning to DIT. But this was just one example of how welcomed we’ve been. From teaching us greetings in Swahili, to helping us figure out ATMs and SIM cards, to checking up on us every day, despite being in the midst of a two-week exam period, our colleagues have gone above and beyond in ensuring that our stay is off to a good start.

We started off our week by meeting the DIT intern group that Grant and I will be working with. Gilden, Hamida, and Godwin are all second-year students, while Nyangige, Twalib, and Kasim have already graduated. They are all very friendly and were eager to get started on our troubleshooting workshop. Though their 3-year diploma allows them to begin working as biomedical technicians, most of them have had little experience with devices beyond classroom lectures. Kasim, in particular, currently works as a technician at Muhimbili National Hospital. Though he still has to get permission to work with us for the duration of the internship, hopefully he’ll be able to show us around the hospital and help us access more equipment next week.

So far, we’ve worked on different modules of the troubleshooting course we brought from Rice: microscopes, suction pumps, and refrigerators. We’ve focused a lot on the troubleshooting process: observing the failure, defining the problem area, identifying possible causes, ranking them in order of probability, and testing and repairing the equipment. We want them to understand how important it is to think about the problem, using the aforementioned process, rather than jumping in and trying to see what the problem is. While the process seems unnecessary for the simple devices we’ve looked at so far, it is definitely an important skill to learn for situations with unfamiliar or complex equipment. Thankfully, we’ve had positive and enthusiastic feedback from our fellow interns so far.

Microscope troubleshooting

Some more notes:

  • We’re often greeted by “m’china”: Both Grant and I are Chinese, and there are quite a few Chinese people in Dar. Lots of Tanzanians know bits of Chinese. Gilden, for example, knows greetings and the numbers from 1-10. The fishermen at the fish market knew all the names of the seafood they were selling in Chinese too. And right across the street from our apartment, there’s a pretty authentic Chinese restaurant that we checked out on Saturday night.
  • DIT is trying to start a bachelor’s program in biomedical engineering. However, teachers of first-year diploma students must have at least finished second-year diploma courses; teachers of freshman level classes must have at least finished the sophomore level. Similarly, senior classes must be taught by someone with a Master’s or PhD, but there aren’t enough current faculty with these degrees. Hopefully they are able to recruit enough faculty to offer the bachelor’s!
  • I turned 22 on Wednesday! Grant made me a delicious cake, and the interns sang happy birthday to me at work. They sang the same song that we’re used to, with the addition of another stanza: “How old are you now, how old are you now, happy birthday dear Angela, happy birthday to you!” Finally, they told me that a birthday custom is to pour water on the head of the birthday person! Fortunately, I escaped this “shower” because we still had work to do on our suction pump.

A very yummy mango cake

Overall, this first week has been a great experience. We hear “karibu” (welcome) and “mambo” (how are you) all the time. I have definitely felt extremely welcome here and am looking forward to the rest of the internship!

1. Owl-lons-y!

Posted on by Angela

We leave for Tanzania tomorrow! I’m both excited and nervous for the next two months. Grant and I will be the first cohort of Rice interns to go to Dar Es Salaam, so a big part of what we’re doing is establishing relationships to help future Rice 360 interns. We will also be receiving feedback on two technologies developed at Rice: the MaThermal, a maternal temperature monitor; and reusable ostomy bags for low-resource settings. Finally, we will implement a device troubleshooting workshop similar to one taught at Rice.

I’m so excited to be immersed in a new culture, and I’ve learned a little bit of Swahili in preparation. However, I’m also really nervous. Even though we’ve been getting ready for the internship for so long, I still feel a bit unprepared for the next two months. There’s so much to do, yet so much uncertainty in how we do it! But no matter what happens, I’m sure that it will be a valuable learning experience for me and really help Rice 360 in the future.

The title for this post is a play on words, a combination of “owl”, Rice’s mascot, and “allons-y, “let’s go” in French. Though I won’t be speaking any French this summer, I am definitely ready for all the new experiences I’ll have! Please feel free to follow this blog to see what I’ll be up to. So, let’s go – owl-lons-y!