I'm starting to get settled into what I'm supposed to be doing here. We began some health facility assessments this week in health centers and dispensaries in the area. Though they are not far away, the farthest was 50 km away, the roads aren't paved and they wind through the area, so the 50 km drive took about 3 hrs. Seeing the clinics were interesting too. Since the clinical officers have five years of post-secondary training (including their internship) before they are out practicing on their own, much of their practice is based on protocols. This takes away a lot of the art and detective work of medicine and may result in missing something important, because often these clinicians don't even examine the patient. They hear the word cough and reflexively prescribe an antibiotic for pneumonia. In the circumstances where people are traveling for hours to reach you you might think better safe than sorry, but antibiotic is becoming a major issue as pharmacists give out antibiotics without a prescription and may not give a full course, even if parents get a full course of antibiotics they often stop taking it as soon as the child is feeling better. It is my opinion that antibiotic resistance in Africa will be an even bigger problem in Africa than it currently is in the states because most people won't be able to afford the new antibiotics we use to treat resistant infections.

Last night, I went out for nyama choma (barbecue)with the staff at MIHV, we had a great time. The staff here is very kind and friendly and they are helping me a lot in my quest to learn Swahili. Though sometimes they forget I don't speak it until they see the blank stare on my face.

I'm using my free time this weekend to look into some options for travelling. In September or October I'm hoping to climb Mt. Meru, fortunately last night I met a man, who works for a Canadian NGO, who grew up right by there and his brother is a guide. It sounds like he will be able to help me find a good deal and a great trip. I am also excited for a trip I'm planning to Tarangire National Park. It's one of the few big parks that has most of its wild life during the dry season, so I hope to take advantage of that and see an elephant migration. Some other trips in the works are a trip to Zanzibar and a trip to Madagascar once I've done a little more research.

This coming week I'll be going out into the field again to continue the assessments before we start training community members in recognizing signs of severe childhood illness. I might go to Arusha to pick up a cell phone (so I can stop mooching off the office phone) and I hear they have last minute safari deals, so I might try to find a good deal on those as well.