Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mandritsara also, surprisingly, has one of the best hospitals in Madagascar: the
Baptist
Missionary Hospital
. They have a regular turnover of medical students on their electives
from all over the world; see box opposite.
BEALANANA
A good road with picturesque views runs 129km northeast from Antsohihy to Bealanana.
The town is quite high (about 1,600m), and the climate with ample rainfall allows the cul-
tivation of potatoes and a great variety of fruit.
HotelCrête
has simple but comfy rooms, some of which are en suite, and you can get a
good meal at
hotely
Faniry
just 200m away.
CONTINUING INLAND
Heading further northeast you reach
Ambatoria
in less than
1½ hours along a beautiful stretch of road. This small lively town has many shops and is
the last stop for the
taxi-brousse
and the last place you can buy petrol. Beyond Ambatoria
you'llneeda4x4andaguide.Thenext25kmto
Mangindrano
(nohotels)couldtakethree
hours, as there are several small rivers to ford.
A MEDICAL ELECTIVE IN MANDRITSARA
Chris HowLes
Every year, thousands of clinical medical students head off to other countries to ex-
perience new cultures, practise their skills, and assist local health staff. Madagascar is
one such destination and, having one of the lowest staff-to-population ratios and lack-
ing access to essential services in many areas, offers a great insight into low-resource
healthcare in contrast to the privileged developed world.
In the mission hospital in Mandritsara, a mix of local Christians, missionaries from
Tana and European staff provide essential healthcare, surgical care and community
public health services for a 200km radius.
Everypatienthastheirownstory.It'snotoftenthatdoctorshavetimetolistentoall
the details, but as students we tend to ask more questions (often trivial or irrelevant to
care) to build up a picture of how things have come about. In Mandritsara this led to
some amazing stories from local people, both sad and joyful. There were babies with
club feet, corrected over months by plaster casts; pregnant women who arrived just in
the nick of time for an emergency caesarean section; men whose long-standing her-
nias strangulated, requiring immediate surgery; children whose pneumonia required
fluids; premature twins who could finally go home after reaching a safe weight.
