Radiotherapy in Tanzania!

As I have previously mentioned, I am not the only winner of the 'Society and College of Radiographer's International Elective Competition'; with the competition awarding this exciting opportunity of an international elective placement to two of the Society's student members.

I would therefore like to this opportunity to introduce you to to +Kim Balsdon, a Radiotherapy and Oncology student at Cardiff University, she too will be travelling to Dar es Salaam. Excitingly, she has also chosen to write a blog about her coming experiences: http://tanzaniaradiotherapy.blogspot.co.uk/

I would highly recommend keeping an eye on her blog, as she will be travelling to Tanzania in June; therefore her experiences in the country should be posted in near future. I know that I shall certainly be monitoring it, with the hope of gaining some insight of what to expect in Tanzania.

I am also going to take this opportunity to mention and thank David Evans, a previous winner of the competition and Radiotherapist, who also travelled to Dar es Salaam for his placement. You can view his experiences in Tanzania via Facebook, including interesting updates and photographs concerning the cancer centre in Dar es Salaam. I must admit that I emailed him over a month ago asking if he would like to share a short piece about his experiences in Tanzania, I have been beyond tardy in acting upon his swift reply; however this seems the appropriate moment to share with you what he said:

I can’t believe that it’s nearly two years since I was out in Tanzania on my Work the World adventure! When I met the two most recent winners of the competition at the Annual Student Conference it was hard to put into words how much I valued the experience and how much it meant to me both personally and professionally. As the first winner of the competition it was a voyage into the unknown both for myself and the team at Work the World…but I can honestly say it was one of the most challenging and also uplifting experiences of my life.

Work the World make it very clear that you are out there to experience life as it is rather than trying to change it, which is difficult in two ways. Firstly, as healthcare professionals we are focused on providing a level of care which is supported by some of the best equipment and facilities in the world. Say what you like about the NHS but comparatively we have life very easy, and it can be difficult not to be shocked by the differences. Secondly, Dar is nowhere near the normal tourist trail so seeing a “mzungu” becomes quite a talking point, and a lot of time was spent comparing cultural differences. Also, being so different compared to the locals (this means tall and very pale) made blending in very difficult.

The Work the World house in Dar is incredible. Well, except the cold showers…I never got used to them! All of the staff are so generous with their time and within days you feel like part of a very large family. There was such a blend of people there from different professions and of different ages, it was a great inter-disciplinary learning experience. I should also say that although Work the World is based around working placements, there is plenty of time to explore the area and the culture first-hand, including weekend trips on safari and to the island of Zanzibar.

When Richard asked me to write a short piece about my experience I was a bit apprehensive; firstly, peoples’ holiday stories are never that interesting and because I had such an amazing time while I was out there I thought it would just sound like someone droning on about their gap year and about how it’s changed them in such a deep and spiritual way. But more importantly, I didn’t want my experience to shape Richard or Kim’s view of Tanzania. Winning the Work the World competition is a once-in-a-lifetime experience but half the fun is not knowing what it’s going to be like. So all I would say to anyone who is going to Tanzania would be learn as much Swahili as possible, take lots of mosquito repellent, and throw yourself into everything Work the World and Tanzania has to offer.

My congratulations go out to both winners of the SCoR’s Work the World competition: Richard Betteridge and Kimberley Balsdon…it’s an experience you’ll never forget!

My Absence...

I would firstly like to make an apology for a lack of content over these past few weeks. The Easter holiday was an extremely busy period for me: going home; visiting my girlfriend's family in both Luxembourg and Belgium; and the all-important university deadlines.

Nevertheless, I do come bearing some good news. All being well, I have my flights to Dar es Salaam organised; travelling via Doha, Qatar. I have also made arrangements for remaining in Tanzania for a further two weeks post-placement. This additional time will be at my own cost, however I think that it would be foolish to miss out on such an opportunity to expand my understanding of the country.

At the moment, I am in the middle of my university exams; therefore content may continue to be slow til they are over. However, in the build-up to my placement I do have further items planned, I am especially interested in taking a further look at the Swahili language. Hopefully, the first of these posts will be ready to publish soon.

Hello World... and all that jazz!

I have to admit that writing the first blog post, on a fresh new blog, fills me with a certain level of apprehension. As nothing goes before you, and with the weight of what comes thereafter; you are left struggling finding the appropriate words to say... Therefore I write this post with a proviso, that you forgive me for my best attempts. Or, at least, please try!

To get the formalities out of the way, my name is Richard Betteridge. I am a Diagnostic Radiography student in the UK, studying in my second year at the University of Hertfordshire. I have chosen to write this blog, because I am lucky enough to be a winner of the 'Society and College of Radiographer's International Elective competition.' 

For the uninitiated, that means I entered a competition with the professional body that represents Radiographers in the United Kingdom; for which I am a student member. The competition operates in cooperation with Work the World, for two students to undertake a month-long international placement in a developing nation. Myself and the other competition winner +Kim Balsdon, had to write an 800-word personal statement, outlining the reasons that we would be the people to make the most of this opportunity.

In my statement, I outlined my personal interests in international healthcare development; especially for the provision of radiology services. Furthermore I explained my past-experiences of travelling to Nepal, for the purposes of the Scout Association's Explorer Belt award; where we planned, funded and undertook an expedition to that country. I wrote my statement with the intention of travelling to Kandy, Sri Lanka. However unfortunately due to changes being implemented to Work the World's programme, this is no longer the case... Positively this means that we had to find an alternative: therefore I shall be travelling to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

I have to admit that when making my application, it was a real tossup between Sri Lanka and Tanzania; therefore I am not to disappointed about this change in destination. The country of Tanzania has intrigued me ever since hearing of my sister's travels there: with its reputation for beautiful national parks and diverse, friendly people. Furthermore I was lucky enough to be present at the SCoR's student conference 2012 to hear from David Evans – a previous winner – talk  about his experiences as a Therapeutic Radiographer in Dar es Salaam: where he had both high praises for Work the World and Tanzania itself.

And with that, we are led to the present and the need to outline my intentions with this blog.
Firstly I intend to update on at least a weekly basis during the buildup to travelling to Tanzania. This stage will follow my research into the country, whilst exploring to some of the concepts relating to my time there. This could range from reports from the WHO, to learning the basics of the Swahili language. Following this, I shall be using this blog to fully detail my actual time spent in Dar es Salaam; documenting both my experiences as a Radiographer and of the country itself. Finally upon my return, I will use this space to writeup my reflections about the time that I spent there... Therefore hopefully giving your good-selves a comprehensive overview of my entire experience, so I hope you care to join me on this journey!

(I feel that I have hopefully covered the main aspects up to this stage. It is my intention that this blog shall remain professionally-relevant to healthcare and radiography, I am therefore aware of maintaining a strict level of patient confidentiality. Therefore within this space I intend to keep details extremely limited and where necessary apply some creative changes to the exact nature of events. As I develop this site, I shall outline my feelings and thoughts on this topic in more detail.)