Maputo, Mozambique
I am packed and off to a new country- Maputo, Mozambique- working with colleagues from Utah (Weber State University) and one from FURJ (Rio de Janeiro). This will be a new experience as I am the only person not fluent in Portuguese! Maputo is at the bottom of Mozambique and is the capital of the country. It is on the Indian Ocean, warm, and quite tropical!
We will be performing assessements at hospital labs and universities to assist their laboratory professionals in revising the curriculum for the basic, medium, superior level medical laboratory science programs
History: Maputo (previously known as Lourenzo Marques) has a population of about two million people and a large, busy harbour.
Under Portuguese influence, it became one of Africa's most beautiful and fashionable cities with an impressive skyline of tall buildings and a cosmopolitan Portuguese/African atmosphere.
Mozambique's war in the 1970s and 1980s left Maputo in chaos and poverty. The city was in terrible disrepair after the wars: Thousands of immigrants crowded buildings, litter was everywhere and water and electricity were scarce at best.
Today Maputo is slowly rebuilding but has still not regained the romantic heyday of the 60's and early 70's. The gap between rich an poor is vast: multi-million dollar mansions overlook the sea while massive slums ring the city, and dilapidated concrete high rises stand next to beautiful Portuguese villas.
posted by medtechtravel | 2:09 PM
12 Comments:
I hope you have a safe and productive travel. Is this your first trip to Mozambique?
Yes, this is my first trip. I am part of a 3-person team: Travis is a Med Tech Professor from Utah and speaks Portugeuse and Luis is a Doctor from Rio de Janerio who also speaks Portugeuse! They translate for me though many of our meetings are in English! We are visiting labs and universities to see what type of assistance they are requesting and what their particular needs are! We have been eating shrimp, fish, squid daily!! Maputo is right on the Indian Ocean and is gorgeous!
Do you find it hard to communicate with other people since you are not fluent in Portugeuse?
Not really difficult, frustrating at times. I am currently studying Portugeuse so when we return I can communicate better!
Pamela/HESC 1010
WOW!! It must be so rewarding to you to be able to take part in all these efforts and causes. I hope one day,when my family is older and on their own, that I can do something similar. I am very interested in the school system in Kenya. Does every child have access to education? and how is it funded?
It must be really difficult and heartbreaking to see so many people there suffer with AIDS/HIV. I would like to know what inspired you to do the work that you're involved in. I would some day love to do what you are doing. I have such a love for people and would like to get involved in helping make a difference in the lives of others, whether its here in my own country or in another foreign country.
do you like being in a different country? i hope that your trip there will bring joy to you and to them. have a nice time.
I think it's great you can travel the country to help people. You don't find it hard to do at times? Are you traveling to high poverty places? Do they have enough healthcare professionals in these countries?
Chelsea HESC 1010
I think what you are doing is amazing and being able to help and travel with such causes is something that I hope I can experience in the future. Are the people living in poverty able to access the medical care and assistance that they need to access and are there enough medical professionals to provide the care and assistance needed?
Ashley Duplantis
I wrote a long and detailed response a few days ago and somehow the posting didn't go through. So, I will try again! the education system in Kenya is based on the English education system. You can google that to find out the details. Kenya passed a law about 15 years ago mandating that all children must attend school, and the government opened many schools in rural areas for that purpose. There are also many private schools. However, reality is that there are many reasons why all children do not attend school regularly. Some of the 42 Kenyan tribes are nomadic, making education impossible. In other rural areas, a family member must walk (from a short distance up to several miles)to fill large plastic containers with water each day. If families have a sick parent(s) that responsibility falls to the child(ren). So again, school doesn't happen. There are many other reasons as well: children are needed to tend to the family goats, cows, etc..; if the parent(s) have HIV/AIDS, the child(ren) have to take care of the other siblings. Education is highly valued, but there are challenges.
Question # 2: How did I get involved? I am a medical technologist and love the medical laboratory. I also have a passion for community service. When I received an email from ASCP asking for volunteers to work with PEPFAR in improving lab services, I applied, went through several interviews, and was accepted! My husband is a retired AF fighter pilot, so as a family we moved around and lived in Germany and Japan so we all feel comfortable out of our "comfort zone"! All the experiences just seemed to fit together and I absolutely love being a part of something so positive and needed on a global basis. I have always wanted to "make a difference"; and combining my education, experience, and passion just seems to be the right way to do that!
Question # 3: Do I go to poverty areas? Yes, we go where there are facilities for laboratorians to meet and train- so sometimes we stay in really fabulous places and other times, in very rural places. Sometimes we have challenges with electricity going out in the middle of our presentations. We just wait for it come back on or we pull out our flashlights and continue! Last July I went to Nairobi to give a workshop on Basic Laboratory Operations Training to a group of laboratorians working at Health Centers (HC). The HCs are the bottom of the healthcare system, so resources are limited as to the services provided. But, the HCs are in very rural areas so as to reach all tribes and have some sort of care availability for all people. When I say rural areas- even our driver had a difficult time locating some of the Health Centers! Kibera is the largest slum in the world, it is located in Nairobi, and it is guestimated that ~ 1 million people live within the 1 square mile area. There is a brand new Health Center located in the middle of Kibera, but there are no roads or paths to reach the center. We had to find a person living there to guide us through the area to reach the center on foot. Until the last few years,health care was only re-active and for urgent care. With the involvement of PEPFAR, lab improvements were centered around health and services related to diagnosing and treating patients with HIV/AIDS and secondary infections. Very quickly, we are seeing increased services with respect to preventative care! That is exciting! Are there enough health care professionals? Well, that answer is always "there could be more"- improvement in all education areas helps and provides for more knowledgeable and qualified health care professionals. Health care is available to everyone whether they can pay for services or not. Some of the health centers charge 10 Kenyan shillings (75 ksh = US $1). This is about 13 cents and many families cannot afford this charge.
The important message for all of us in the US is to appreciate what we have and not complain.
Thank you for the opportunity to see these great pictures.
... Do you find the healthcare system heirarchy to be similar or different to that in the United States of America?
ex: Aids, LPNs, RNs, DRs, Administration, etc...
Yes, I suppose the hierachy system is similar to the US. There are generally 4 levels of healthcare locations:
1. Health centers located in the very rural areas to give all people access to at least mimimal care.
2. District level hospital )and lab) are located in districts and offer more services. There will generally be a general surgeon with nurse aides and nurses and a pharmacy- some will be equiped to monitor liver enzymes, CBC, and give out HIV meds. Labs will have increased testing menu.
3. Provincial level hospital and lab: Generally 1 hospital / province. These hospitals have multiple departments and can treat a variety of diseases and conditions. Will have surgical dept, OB/GYN, medicine, pedi departments. Labs will be fairly advanced with automated equipment and a large testing menu. Usually will receive specimens from level 1 and 2 labs. Patients are also referred up to provincial labs depending on their conditions.
4. National or Reference labs: These labs are staffed and resemble top US labs in all respects!
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