During September Bridge2Aid’s Clinical Director Paul Brind visited the Manyara region, in preparation for our February DVP taking place in the area. Here, Paul reports on his trip:
Manyara region (popn. 1.5 million) is located in the north of Tanzania. It is north of Dodoma region, and south of Arusha region and Kilimanjaro region. Along with Dr Samuel and Haji, I spent two nights in Babati, the largest town in Manyara region, with a population of just over 100,000.
Manyara is a very beautiful and rural region with high mountains, the beautiful lake manyara, and Taragire national park. It has a large Maasai population, along with large herds of cows in the rural areas. Babati sits at an altitude of 1,600m above sea level – for those of us from Mwanza it definitely feels a little chilly at night.
Next February, we will be working in Babati district, with the district dental officer, Dr Isack Ayo, looking to train 6 Health Workers. The team will be staying at the Silver motel and travelling out to site each day. Babati is far smaller and more rural than Mwanza, and we are convinced this is a really needy area and are looking forward to stepping out into Manyara region.
Our thanks to Dr Godwin Molel (Regional Dental Officer and acting Regional Medical Officer) for helping us to set everything up for this highly successful visit.
