Guest Post By: Katarina Gospic - read other posts by Katarina here.

On the 17th of May 2008 I started a journey that where to change my life – my first trip to Africa. I was going to Tanzania. Two weeks of studding and two weeks of vacation was waiting. Here follows four snap shots from the trip:

I – First impression does not always lastsAs I went off from the aircraft I could feel the heat hitting me in the face – I had finally arrived! After catching a cab I and my two friends arrived to the hostel were we had pre-booked a room. The first sight that meet us was two young guards with a weapon each looking at us. I was not mentally prepared for that… We presented ourselves and told them about our reservation. They told us that there was none and that we were at the wrong hotel. We were sure that we were right and tried to reason with them. They suggested that we should head out in the pitch black night to find another hotel. As we were talking I could not help that their weapons made me really uncomfortable. Finally, after one hour (the longest in my life) of reasoning we got our room! The first thing I did as I came in to the room was to wash my hands –as I placed my hands under the tap I noticed that the water was brown! My friend told me ironically “don’t switch on the light next time”. “Oh my…” My first impression of “Africa” was set. From this point nothing could get worse.

II – To do magic out of nothing

Luckily everything from the first day just got better! Four weeks of travelling in Tanzania was fantastic (!) – I got used to non-working toilets, holes in the ground, mosquitoes, cold showers, zero electricity etc. During the two first weeks I visited different levels of the health system, from dispensaries to university hospitals. What was strinking was the very limited amount of doctors (e.g. 6 doctors on a population of 0.5 million people!), still they managed to do so much! As a medical student it was very interesting to see so many rare diseases with obvious manifestations (something you would never see at home due to prophylaxis and screening programs). The most amazing scene was when I visit a 20 square meter “incubator” (it was a small room in the pediatric ward) tempered to 37 degrees with 60 neonatal children sharing beds three and three. What was even more amazing was when 60 mothers (!) entered the small room to breast feed their children - could you ever imagine this happening in your country? There were 100 stories like this.

III – Trivial everyday things that we take for granted Another were touching meeting was when I made a home visit to a woman and her child. She lived in a house mad of clay and sticks. The floor was of soil and the roof was made of steel with holes in it. The room she rented was 8 m2 and her bathroom was localized in the yard – the absurd thing occurred when we gave her one of the gifts - a key chain. The problem was that she did not own a key!

IV – Destiny makes life pathways cross

One of the most interesting meetings occurred on a bus from Dar es Saalam to Arusha. I sat next to this properly dressed Tanzanian who showed out to be a business man. After I had told him that my father was from Croatia this man asks me if I speak Croatian and started to say some Croatian expressions. Can you imagine my facial expression?! This black man spoke perfect Croatian! It turned out that he had worked for the UN for 10 years (5 years in Balkan). He was heading to the Sullivan conference  and was hoping to meet business partners interested in making investments in Tanzania. During the 10 hour bus trip he taught me everything about Tanzania, his life story from living in Tanzania to becoming a great American business man and his work for the UN. (For all of you business men/women reading this blog I suggest that you read a little bit about Tanzania and you will find out about their natural resources (gas, copper), gem stones (e.g tanzanite – which is only found in Tanzania!) and their BEAUTIFUL nature!). His life story was inspiring, as a 22 year old he had left his country (after saving money), studied economy in the States, started to work for the UN for 10 years, ended his high status job at the UN as it did not match his expectations and started his own (international) company! His salary included more zeros that I could count to, but that was not the most fascinating part. It was that he returned back to his homeland in hope to fulfill his dream, to build up his country! So why did he take the bus? Well, all the flights were booked and his private chauffeur had a couple of days before been involved in an accident…..

Traveling does not only change people it changes the world!