Summer in Tanzania

Editors Note: M. DeAgostino visited Tanzania from May 29 to August 1, 2008. This is a piece she wrote about the time she spent volunteering with Global Service Corps in the HIV/AIDS Education and Prevention Program.

This summer I traveled to Arusha, Tanzania, to intern with an international NGO, Global Service Corps (the internship was sponsored by the Kellogg Institute at the University of Notre Dame). I spent weekdays teaching secondary school students and community groups about HIV/AIDS and life-skills and conducting research in medical anthropology for my senior thesis, which I will complete this academic year.

I was placed in a homestay with a local Tanzanian family, so I had the opportunity to eat traditional cuisine, improve my Kiswahili, and ride dala dalas, the public transportation, every day. The dala dalas are crazy vans created to hold 15 people typically crammed with 25 or more.

On weekends, I was able to make small trips outside of Arusha. I went on safari to some of Tanzania’s beautiful national parks, including Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, and the Serengeti. The parks were breathtaking, both for their landscapes and the incredible wildlife.

Not only are the varied species amazing, but the density of animals is astounding!

I also had the privilege of visiting a Maasai village outside of Arusha. A Maasai warrior who works for Global Service Corps invited some volunteers to spend a weekend in his traditional village, where we witnessed and attempted to participate in (at their insistence) spectacular jumping dances; in the morning, they slaughtered a goat for breakfast, and they shared its blood with us!

My time in Tanzania was amazing, and I definitely plan to go back ideally as a physician after medical school.