I am a final year nursing student, and I went to Kenya to do an internship for my specialisation in paediatric nursing. Here I have been able to work in a local hospital, an orphanage and a youth centre.The work has been different, and the educational methods and care are very different from Finland. Naturally, asepsis and hygiene are worse here, with little care and no pain medication.
Hospital treatment is only available on payment and many people are left without treatment for this reason. Student guidance is also limited compared to Finland. The local hospital is run by student nurses and there may be only one paid nurse on the ward who is responsible for the whole ward.
The white colour of our skin also surprises many people here and we get a lot of stares on the streets and people shouting muzungua (Swahili for white) at us. However, some people are very friendly.
In our free time, we hang out with other exchange students and go jogging and to the gym. Last weekend we also went on a masai mara safari, which was an amazing experience. Each of us had dreamed of going on a safari and we finally got to do it. We saw a lot of different animals, elephants, lions, leopards, giraffes, antelopes, magnus and zebras. The scenery was also breathtaking.
(All the photos in this post are my own and taken by me!)
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