NAMIBIA BUSHMAN MEDICAL CLINIC
GOBABIS, NAMIBIA

Volunteers on this project will gain firsthand experience of healthcare in a developing country whilst assisting the medical staff at the remote Bushman clinic offering primary healthcare to the local community. There is also an opportunity to help care for the animals at the Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary...

	Location:	GOBABIS, NAMIBIA	Dates:	Volunteers can join throughout the year. There are set transfer dates from the Wildlife Sanctuary to the Medical Clinic detailed below.
	Fees:	£945 - 2 weeks £1,295 - 3 weeks (2 weeks Medical /1 week Wildlife) £1,685 - 4 weeks £2,295 - 6 weeks £2,895 - 8 weeks	Payment:	£180 deposit at time of booking – balance payment of project fee due 12 weeks before departure
	Reference:	AV020

General Information

Volunteers on this inspiring and rewarding project spend most of their time at the remote Bushman Medical Clinic in rural Namibia where they assist the doctor and nurse with its running and helping provide primary healthcare to the local community. the Bushman people are a deprived indigenous people inhabiting the desert areas of Namibia as well as Botswana and Angola.  The people have often been neglected, if not discriminated against, when it comes to medical care.  The project was set up in 2003 with the aid of overseas investment and is now run as a charitable extension of the Clinic in Windhoek.  The clinic has literally become a lifeline for the local people and an established part of the community. Volunteers provide hands on support at the clinic, participating in observations, running reception and helping in the dispensary. Dealing closely with patients from the local San community, volunteers learn more about their way of life and give care to patients living in extreme poverty.

If volunteers would like they can also work with and care for the animals at the Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary during part of their stay.  Many volunteers choose to spend a few weeks at the sanctuary before their time at the remote clinic.  If this would be of interest please contact Amanzi Travel to discuss dates and options.  The clinic is approximately 5 hours transfer by car from the Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary which is based just outside of Windhoek.  Even if volunteers do not choose to spend time at the wildlife sanctuary they may spend some time at the sanctuary before transferring to the clinic depending on the schedule of the other volunteers, patients and transfers.

Link to the Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary

Transfer Schedule

Sanctuary to Clinic	Clinic to Sanctuary
18/04/2010	29/04/2010
02/05/2010	13/05/2010
16/05/2010	27/05/2010
30/05/2010	10/06/2010
13/06/2010	24/06/2010
27/06/2010	08/07/2010
08/08/2010	19/08/2010
22/08/2010	02/09/2010
05/09/2010	16/09/2010
19/09/2010	30/09/2010
03/10/2010	14/10/2010
17/10/2010	28/10/2010
31/10/2010	11/11/2010
14/11/2010	25/11/2010
28/11/2010	09/12/2010

Activities

At the Rural San (Bushman) Clinic in the remote area of Epukiro volunteers will work alongside the clinic’s staff to learn about the common diseases affecting the local population and how to treat them. The teaching will be tailored to the volunteers skills, background and knowledge.  Prospective medical students can expect teaching on basic clinical skills, history taking and examinations of patients.   Trained professionals will be asked to run consultations with patients. There are also plans to run an outreach project  once a week to local communities who are unable to get transport to the clinic in order to screen for cataracts, TB and other medical problems. This will provide a great opportunity for trained professionals to have a greater impact on the people who are at most in need of help. 

Volunteers may also be asked to undertake a research project/assignment. This should be something that the volunteer is both interested in and will be of use to the clinic and patients. Examples of projects include mapping distances patients travel to the clinic and local patterns of disease, rates of TB amongst patients and compliance with medication, patients' knowledge of HIV transmission and disease.

Volunteers are involved in everyday clinic duties, assisting with medical needs and sharing the positive impact the Clinic has on the health of the local community. Primary healthcare is the first point of call for un-well residents in the area and it’s usually very busy. A decision is made as to whether patients need reassurance, treatment, observation or emergency referral to the clinic.

Assisting staff at the clinic might include activities such as:

• Primary Healthcare: observations, reassurance to patients, treatments and emergency referrals
• Observations: pregnancy tests, and urine tests for patients and recording findings
• Weighing babies and recording growth charts
• Blood pressure recordings
• Glucose testing and recording
• Malaria tests
• Wound dressings and cleaning of wounds
• Help in the pharmacy: stock control, packing medicines and new orders
• HIV and AIDS counselling, family planning and substance abuse counselling
• Financial record keeping and data capture input
• Accompanying the nurse into the community to carry out procedures
• General maintenance and cleaning of the clinic
• Helping with projects around the clinic such as the vegetable garden

Volunteers often have special skills that are invaluable to the clinic and we encourage you to use them and suggest new activities that you feel the project will benefit from.
Please note: Itineraries and activities are subject to change.

This project is ideal for volunteers with have some medical experience or who are currently working within the profession.  It may be of particular interest to medical students wanting to do their electives in a developing country.  Volunteers with no medical experience are also welcome.

Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary

Depending on your length of stay volunteers may also get the opportunity to spend some of your time participating at the Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary near Windhoek. This project offers the rare and exciting opportunity to help care for orphaned and injured African wildlife.

The sanctuary currently provides a safe refuge for orphaned and injured wildlife including a lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs, caracals and baboons. Wildlife Conservation Volunteers provide an important resource in caring for and feeding the animals on a daily basis, helping to maintain and develop the sanctuary and becoming surrogate parents to our orphaned baby baboons, bottle feeding and sleeping overnight with them.

We ask volunteers to be flexible as the time spent at the sanctuary and the clinic will depend on resources and timetables of other volunteers and activities. Please advise if you are interested in working at the sanctuary as part of your time on this project.

Free Time

At the Bushman Medical Clinic you will have the evenings to relax from approximately 5pm, Saturday afternoons and all day Sunday. You will need to help with preparing dinner in the evenings and meals over the weekend. 

You may spend some of your free time visiting the local San Bushman village, playing football with the local children or visiting nearby villages to learn more about the San community.

Optional Activities

When/if based at the wildlife sanctuary you may be able to undertake some of the following activities:

Paintballing and abseiling may take place during your time at the sanctuary (approx £25)

Sunday transfer to Windhoek – where you can visit the mall and have a leisurely lunch at the famous Jo’s Beerhouse. Please note that volunteers may be needed to look after animals on a Sunday from time to time.  (approx £16)

Staying at our guest lodge – why not treat yourself to a bit of luxury during your time on the project. You can book a 1 or 2 nights stay at the Lodge at a special volunteer rate, Here you can relax with a drink, take a swim in the pool and enjoy the tranquil and stunning surroundings. You can organise your stay once you reach the project (approx £50pppn)

Volunteer evening at the lodge where you can socialise, enjoy a drink at the bar and take in the stunning views across the African veld – occasionally this is offered as a volunteer a buffet dinner and transfer (approx £13).

Sunday lunch at the lodge and spend the afternoon relaxing by the pool with a cool drink (approx £15)

I spent four weeks in Namibia spending most of my time volunteering in two different medical clinics.  I also spent some time working on the Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary.

I spent two weeks in a small town called Epikuro working at the Bushman Medical Clinic for the very poor and neglected Bushman people.  During my time there I helped provide basic treatment for patients that came to the clinic as well as spent a lot of time with the Bushman people in the community.  I especially enjoyed playing with all the Bushman kids.  They loved all the attention we gave them (especially taking their picture).  Hopefully I brightened their lives as much as they did for me.  Spending time with them and seeing their smiling faces despite the conditions they live in made me greatly appreciate the life I have.

After returning to the sanctuary from Epikuro, I spent the rest of my time working in a clinic in the city of Windhoek with the doctor there.  During this time I learned a lot about basic medicine.  As a future medical student I was glad to get a chance to take patient histories as well as administer injections and draw blood.  I was also lucky enough to observe one of the doctors surgeries and I spent a night at one of the local hospitals in the maternity ward watching deliveries.  Rudie, the Doctor was an excellent teacher and an amazing person in general.  I learned a lot and it was very satisfying to help the people in any way I could.

When I was not working at one of the two clinics, I worked at the wildlife sanctuary.  This was also an amazing experience.  This farm takes in animals that would not make it in the wild because of various reasons such as they have been orphaned or removed from their families by farmers.  The farm has 5 lions, 4 leopards, 3 tame cheetahs, 2 wild dogs, 16 baby babboons and many more.  I did such things as feed the animals, go on enclosure patrols to check all the fences, and basic jobs around the farm that needed to be done.  The highlight of my time there was getting to go into the cheetah enclosure and petting them.  It was incredible!

During my time on this project I met a lot of interesting people from all over the world.  There were many other volunteers that I worked with and I made many new friends.  I miss the people I worked with already and will definitley keep in touch with them.  When I first arrived I thought four weeks would be a long time but it went by way too fast.  I wish I could have stayed longer!

All in all this was probably the best trip I have ever been on.  This is an amazing project that has some amazing people running it.  I was so happy to be involved in such a worth-while project.  Obviously the medical care was needed, but what is happening at the sanctuary for the animals is extremely important as well.  I recommend this trip to anybody who loves animals or would like to get involved in medical volunteering and learn from a great doctor.  I hope I am blessed with the opportunity to return in the future.

Mark - USA - 2008

Support

Support and advice is available from the local Project Managers whilst on the project and from the UK Amanzi Travel Team.
Find out more about Amanzi Travel support

Orientation

A comprehensive information pack will be sent to volunteers upon booking their placement and further advice and information will be provided via telephone and email before departure.  A full orientation will be provided on arriveal at the project by the project coordinator.

Accommodation and Meals

Medical Clinic

Facilities at the outreach clinic are basic.  Accommodation is in a shared four-room house with two to three people sharing a room.  Volunteers will have the chance to buy supplies and will cater for themselves whilst at the clinic. 

Wildlife Sanctuary

Comfortable shared accommodation including three meals a day are provided. Rooms are single sex and generally three volunteers per room.

Getting There

Volunteers should fly into Windhoek International Airport where they will be met on arrival and transferred to the wildlife sanctuary (approximately 45 minutes).  

Transfer to the clinic is either by road or light aircraft (depending upon availability).  If volunteer wish to travel by light aircraft there will be a supplemental charge.

(There may be a number of ways to reach your destination airport - for further information or advice please contact Amanzi Travel)

Fees

What is included

• A contribution to the project for items such as medical supplies
• Daily transfers on the project and road transfer to the clinic
• Orientation on arrival and support from the project staff.
• Accommodation and meals as indicated above

What is excluded

• Travel insurance (to include cover for repatriation)
• Return flights to Windhoek International Airport
• Visas (if required)
• Use of internet and telephone
• Beers, wines and spirits