Mwanza is beautiful

I love traveling and recommend applying to graduate school or internships, such as the Western Heads East program, if you do so as well. Of course there’s a lot of other work involved, but traveling around the world makes it worth it! Since I have been in graduate school I have traveled for conferences in Jyväskylä and Helsinki, Finland, Los Angeles and Riverside Valley in California, US, Paris, France, most of Ireland, and Birmingham, Alabama, US. Now I am in Mwanza, Tanzania, for an internship.

Since I’m in Mwanza I am going to focus on how beautiful I find the place. I am going to start off with the people. Not everyone, but most are extremely nice. When I walk down the street for example many ask mambo – what’s up or habari - how are you. People are very helpful. If I am having difficulty trying to communicate with someone because I do not know Swahili well enough and the other does not know English, someone who can speak both languages will help us. The friends that I have made are very open to learning about people who come from other cultures and different countries. They are also very helpful; they will do whatever they can to help you out. I find that to be very rare in today’s world, and appreciate their morals and strive to do the same for others.

Not only are the people in Mwanza beautiful, the city itself is miraculous to look at. Mwanza city, Rock City, is known for the Bismarck rocks, which appear as if they were man-laid but really are due to nature. As well, the colours the sky makes when the sun is setting is amazing. One of my favourite things to do here is on Sunday afternoons, go to the beach with friends and play volleyball, relax, and watch the sunset. Another one of my favourites is every morning on the way to Bugando we walk by the Bismarck rocks and there is music and people dancing. I am sure that you have figured it out that I love nature and scenery, and have fallen in love with Mwanza City! 

Sarah Krasniuk

RTA Project

#QE Scholars

Courses at CUHAS

Over the last month working as a research intern with the Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences (CUHAS), I have had the opportunity to attend many lectures in psychology, health management and systems in Tanzania, and on communicable and non-communicable diseases offered for Master students in Public Health. Overall, I have really enjoyed taking part in these courses, and have found them to be very informative.

In kinesiology I took about five psychology courses, and so most of the content being taught was a refresher for me. Some of the topics discussed were on responding and managing stress, self-efficacy, arousal, and anxiety, and on health behaviours, attitudes, and beliefs. The lectures that I attended in the communicable and non-communicable diseases course focused on non-communicable diseases. The most common ones that are starting to raise attention in Mwanza are cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes mellitus. Taking kinesiology I have also learned about these diseases. Nonetheless, I enjoy talking about these topics; I consider myself to be a student for life and love learning!

What was most interesting for me was learning about the health system and the cultural views on health topics (such as the ones mentioned above) in Mwanza. The lecture in the health management and systems course was very interesting to see how healthcare was like in Mwanza, and to compare it to what I am used to. In Mwanza, healthcare provided is broken down into sections depending on what the patient needs. There are dispensary clinics, health centres, hospitals, specialized centres, and they can be public or private. Everyone except children and elderly pay for the services they need. This is very different than what I am used to; with funding via OHIP in Ontario provided to everyone, other types of coverage for seniors or persons with disabilities, and additionally, coverage can be provided through insurance plans. Aside from this course, I was given the opportunity to see a private dispensary and a mobile dispensary, a ship, called the Jubilee Hope. In both dispensaries there were rooms for observation, doctor consultation, laboratory, and pharmacy. In the private dispensary there was also a physiotherapy room. While, on the Jubilee Hope they had other rooms for living – kitchen and bedrooms. 

Sarah Krasniuk

RTA Project

#QE Scholars

Ladder of Inference

Recently, a new friend from Mwanza asked me “why Africa?” I responded by telling him about the Western Heads East internship programs and how there are multiple projects that students can work on as interns in different countries. Then I told him about how the road traffic accident project is of interest and directly related to the research I am doing at school now. He was very interested in what my thoughts were before coming to Mwanza and what they were now, and told me that he has asked many others the same question because he is interested in knowing what others thought about Africa. Not surprisingly, many of the assumptions were similar and exaggerated to what you see on T.V.

This conversation made me think of a Mitacs course that I previously took on communication skills. In the course the instructor introduced us to the “ladder of inference.” The ladder of inference is a model that shows how people can make conclusions based on assumptions and actions, and how they can lead to poor judgment. Below is a link to a video that explains it very well.   

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9nFhs5W8o8

I find this model to be very interesting. It makes you realize how your assumptions are made and what your actions can be based on, which can be skewed to what you want to believe. 

Sarah Krasniuk

Motor Vehicle Project, Mwanza, Tanzania

#QE Scholars

Jambo!!

Hi everyone! My name is Sarah Krasniuk and I am a first year PhD student, in the Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Occupational Science field, at the University of Western Ontario (UWO). I have a background in kinesiology. I did my HBK and MSc in kinesiology at Lakehead University, and have worked as a registered kinesiologist for two years in my hometown Thunder Bay, Ontario. My ultimate goal in life is to help enable persons with disabilities to carry out functional, ADLs, and leisure activities. Working in clinical and long-term facilities thus far, I have seen the appreciation that individuals with injuries, disabilities, or conditions have toward the help they receive, and it is extremely rewarding. However, there is not nearly enough accessibility services provided within the community.

As part of my PhD, I work as an active member of the i-Mobile Research Lab (http://www.uwo.ca/fhs/ot/about/facilities.html#facilities), directed by my supervisor. This lab focuses its research on identifying, screening, and evaluating fitness to drive abilities of medically at-risk drivers, and focuses on the use of technology to enhance mobility. The research that I am working on is investigating the effects of visual ability and visual attention impairments on fitness to drive of adults with multiple sclerosis. I enjoy being a part of this lab. Overall, it is helping me work toward my goal to enable people with disabilities to participate in any occupations that they enjoy, including driving, for as safe and long as possible.

The research that I am doing in Mwanza, Tanzania, in collaboration with Ross, Gavin, Shabnam, and the Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, investigating the high instances of road traffic accidents, is directly related to the research in the i-Mobile Research Lab. Road traffic accidents is a global issue; it is reported as the sixth most common death in developed countries, and one of the leading causes of death in Tanzania (Ngallaba, Makerere, Kapesa, & Gilyoma, 2014). By experiencing the driving environment first hand and talking with some local Tanzanians, I believe that it is a well-known problem in Mwanza. I find it extremely interesting to learn about the culture and reasons why there is such a high risk of road traffic accidents in Mwanza, and to also compare it to what I am used to researching at the UWO. I am truly grateful that I have been given the opportunity to immerse myself in a new country for the entire summer, to learn about a new culture, make connections with new friends, and work in collaboration on a project that could potentially reduce road traffic accidents, and thus, injuries, disabilities, and mortality rates in Mwanza, Tanzania.

Sarah Krasniuk #QE Scholar

Motor Vehicle Accident Project, Mwanza, Tanzania