Our team is traveling to rural Tanzania to work with the Tanzania Rural Health Movement (TRHM), founded by Dr. Marko Hingi to expand access to emergency and primary care in Mwanza. TRHM operates the Beacon emergency response system, locating and assisting individuals involved in motorcycle accidents and other urgent events. Their mission—to close critical gaps in emergency care and provide dignified services for street children and underserved populations—aligns directly with my work at Cahaba Medical Care.
I will provide wound care and treatment for common illnesses among unhoused children, assist with transport to dispensaries or clinics for urgent care, and participate in continuity clinic services. I will also train local clinicians and community responders in first aid and emergency response, fostering cross-cultural learning. TRHM has served over 500 unhoused children, more than 17,000 clinic patients, and 3,750 individuals needing pre-hospital urgent care. Because HIV is prevalent among street-connected youth in Mwanza, as it is in U.S. street medicine populations, this work will strengthen my ability to care for pediatric patients with HIV and may support future global collaboration and research. Learning from TRHM’s mobile and emergency response models will inform protocols and educational partnerships for street medicine in the U.S., promoting culturally competent, dignified, and sustainable care.
At my core, I am driven by the belief that every life has intrinsic worth. Working with TRHM allows me to honor this principle, serve highly vulnerable populations, and bring lessons home that improve care for marginalized communities both abroad and at home.
This project serves rural communities near Mwanza, Tanzania, where many residents face significant barriers to healthcare access. These communities experience high burdens of preventable illness—including malaria, HIV, typhoid, parasitic infections, and traumatic injuries—and often lack timely access to physicians, emergency care, and diagnostic services.
Motorcyclists (“bodaboda” drivers) represent a particularly vulnerable group. They are essential to the local economy yet face high rates of road traffic injuries, some of which are fatal. Pregnant women, children, and older adults in these communities also face delays in accessing primary and emergency care, contributing to ongoing disparities in health outcomes.
This project is expected to improve access to primary care and emergency response services for rural communities in Mwanza, Tanzania, particularly for populations at high risk, such as motorcyclists, pregnant women, and unhoused children in Mwanza. By assisting in clinical care and supporting the Beacon Emergency Response System, our team will help reduce delays in treatment for injuries and acute illnesses while contributing to more efficient, organized care delivery.
This project will expand access to primary care and emergency response services for rural communities in Mwanza, Tanzania, focusing on high-risk populations such as motorcyclists, pregnant women, and children. By providing clinical care and supporting the Beacon Emergency Response System, our team will help reduce delays in treatment for injuries and acute illnesses while promoting more organized and efficient care delivery.
The project will also strengthen local capacity through hands-on training and mentorship of clinicians and community responders, leaving a sustainable impact on clinical skills, emergency preparedness, and community-led health systems. TRHM’s model of mobile medicine and emergency response offers critical lessons for improving care delivery in resource-limited settings.
After returning, I will apply these lessons in the U.S., enhancing my residency practice and work with vulnerable populations. At the FQHC in Birmingham, AL, we provide care through chronic disease management, prenatal and suboxone clinics, walk-in care, pediatric care, and street outreach. Our Street Medicine program, “Care for Our Journey,” partners with local organizations to serve unhoused individuals. Learning from Dr. Hingi’s TRHM model will inform protocols, educational partnerships, and culturally competent practices, promoting dignity and equity in care for marginalized communities.
This population is the focus because the need is substantial, the healthcare system is overstretched, and targeted primary care and emergency response interventions have immediate, measurable impact. Partnering with TRHM ensures that our work aligns with community priorities and strengthens care where it is most needed.
Our trip to Tanzania was such a great experience. We primarily spent time working with unhoused children, mostly boys, in Mwanza, Tanzania. They were between 6 and 21 and had various reasons for their unsheltered homelessness. Most came from complicated family situations and did not do well in orphanages or were unable to return home for some reason or another. They had various medical needs from chronic wounds from not wearing shoes to pneumonia, HIV, or malaria. We also worked in a rural Tanzanian Medical Dispensary caring for men, women, and children helping with multiple vaginal deliveries and 1-2 overnight admissions to their clinic for observation.
