Day 1 – Meeting Our Expedition Group

Our expedition met tonight around 11:30PM for the first time. We are thirteen medical providers from Germany, US, Caribbean and Japan. Everyone has varied experience and expertise. We were briefed on safety and told never to take pictures of crowds, bridges, banks or of policemen. We were advised to always travel as a group and not to leave our compound. We were to be up in just a few hours to begin our hospital rounds in Arusha. Some background on Tanzania: Although many speak English, the official language is Swahili. Knowing a few words goes a long way such as “Jambo” (hello) or “Asante “(thank you). According to the Lonely Planet reference, although this is an ancient land, 44% of the country is under the age of 14. Most of Tanzania is dirt roads, some very hard to pass. We used Jeeps throughout our travel and traveled “Poley Poley” (slowly, slowly).