September 22-28, 2019
It’s Sunday, and suddenly I’m called into an impromptu meeting with the District Health Officer at the Health Center to discuss the upcoming events. Naturally, this happened right when I’m in the middle of all my washing and cleaning, but Director Richard is out of town, and I’ve been requested in his place. So, despite my dirty and filthy state, I met with the head of the Mbale health office, Dr. Jonathan, Sister Agnes from the clinic, and Christine from Spotlight. We’re meeting because this coming Tuesday is a very big deal in the history of our organization. Afterwards, Agnes and the security team of Bukasakya Health Center III helped me to reorganize the clinic space according to my design. This will hopefully help to aid with time management, space maximization, and patient care.
Monday was a whole twelve-hour work day; at the clinic from before opening to well past closing. The new process for handling patients and increasing the effectiveness of the workplace has already proven a vast improvement. Even my fellow health workers have noticed the positive change we’re making. After the long day – with many new patients as is the case with every Monday – we focused on preparing the space for tomorrow. We worked past sundown, and even after I left, a whole team continued into the night.
Tuesday was a spectacular day; even though it was another long thirteen-hour day. After starting off at the office for a little more prep time, I journeyed to the clinic in Bukasakya, and found the festivities all ready for the big day! Today was the long awaited ground breaking and dedication ceremony for the new Maternity clinic, our vocational institute, and the new motorcycle ambulances (I call them ‘bodambulances’)! There was singing, dancing, wonderful speeches, and – of course – the symbolic breaking of the ground. We were able to see some of the work the tailor students were capable of, and see the very fair, possibly too cheap, prices of their products. The buildings and grounds were beautiful. More than three hundred people were in attendance. I was able to meet the sponsors from Harpenden Spotlight on Africa in the UK, as well as a member of the British Parliament, the Honorable Bim Afolami! They are all wonderful people. We had enough traditional Ugandan cuisine to feed everyone a nutritious meal, and then some. And despite the line for that meal bringing me physically closer to the other hungry people – closer even than some past intimate encounters – everyone was fed, happy, and had a wonderful time!
When I returned to work at the clinic on Wednesday, I was so proud to learn that the staff had continued to work using the new layout and procedures I had designed, even when I wasn’t there. And it ran smoothly to boot! They are happy with the ease and comfort that the new stages have afforded them. So, Wednesday was a rather relaxed day – albeit with a significant number of new patients. As I was walking home, expecting an easy nine-hour day as usual, I was surprised by our visitors from the UK! They wrangled me into a series of productive meetings over drinks at their hotel, and then a dinner with the board members of the Spotlight on Africa – Uganda Foundation. And thus, ended another long, productive, and unexpectedly enjoyable day on this very busy week!
Thursday, we had to be up at 5:00 in the morning, because we were all driving to Kampala! We have to be at the residence of the British High Commissioner for evening tea, and a fundraiser for Spotlight on Africa! And we made it, despite the short delay from a flat tire on the road to Iganga, and the repairing of the tire in Jinja. Since every dark cloud has a silver lining, my new friends from the UK bought me a bacon cheeseburger for lunch while we waited in Java House for the repairs! I’d been craving one for some time now, and yes: it was wonderful. We arrived in Kampala at our destined location close to the time of our tea and fundraiser, and the event itself was a smashing success! High Commissioner Alison Blackburn has a beautiful house, with some breathtaking gardens, and we were welcomed with open arms to gather as friends and co-workers. We discussed the future of our work in the healthcare field for Spotlight on Africa, and we ensured everyone would be on the same page going forward. I even gave a short presentation myself, impressing the political members of those in attendance; they said I was a natural public speaker. Afterwards, we drove through the maddening Kampala traffic to take our friends from the UK to Entebbe airport. After a friendly farewell, and a promise to meet again in a few more months, the remainder of us made the long, long, LONG trip back to Mbale. In terms of kilometers, it wasn’t that long; but for a twenty-hour day of mostly travel: it most certainly was long…
Friday was a day of recovery. And the weekend was relatively uneventful. Just the usual chores and errands. But there was another surprise meeting on Sunday evening with a district official, so that was something. All in all, this week was exceedingly busy, but an undeniable triumph for us and the work we do with Spotlight on Africa.
Now, I know some of you have reached out, wondering about possible donations to Spotlight. This is, currently, difficult to do, as the website is only accepting the British pound. But I’ve talked with the members from the UK, and we should be able to change that to include American dollars in the relatively near future. So, look out for that update, and give when you’re feeling generous!
September 29, 2019 – October 5, 2019
And with the end of the highly productive, stressful, wonderful, crazy busy week, it is back to the usual grind. Monday at the health center made it clear that it was time to start the next phase of capacity building for the staff and the workings of the clinic. I started planning for my one-on-one lessons with each member of the team, and how I would build their typing proficiency as well as showing them how best to use the computers provided by Harpenden Spotlight UK. Our monthly staff meeting was beneficial in many ways, allowing for me to get most all of the staff on board with where our work together would be going next.
Wednesday also made it clear that the clinic still has some major hurdles to overcome with regards to communication. My one-on-one lessons will provide ample opportunity for this; it really just needs to be hammered in how important it is to tell others on the team where you will be, what you are doing, etc. That way we can best ensure all stations and departments are covered at all times when we are open.
My days in the office turned out to be much more complex than I thought. Both days had me running from the office to the district health office and back and forth so we can work on getting the new motorcycle ambulances certified and working as soon as possible. I also spent time revamping the schedule for the health center, prepping for my lessons, working on the quarterly report for the Peace Corps, and potentially become part of the National Malaria Think Tank to which I was invited to apply.
Thursday was another day of celebration! My homestay brother, Dennis, graduated from medical school, and I was lucky enough to celebrate with him, friends, family, and lots of food. All in all, I would say this week was another highly productive week! And it gave me a chance to start Prep-tober. Working a month ahead of time in preparation for NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month! Stay tuned for more about that as I try to write a novel in a month and steadily lose my sanity!
The weekend, starting on Friday, was hit by some of the harshest storms, thunder, and rainfall that I’ve experiences since coming to this country. It let up enough to allow for work, errands, chores, etc. but during the evening and nightly hours, the storms were at their worst. So, with the roads being in such bad, and worsening, condition from all the rain, I still have not been able to get my bicycle’s rear tire fixed. But good news: I finally have a large rotating fan for my living room, and I have my small refridgerator! Now I need to start getting some actual furniture and decorative pieces over the next few months/years…
October 6 – 12, 2019
With even more rain carried over from the weekend, a pleasant surprise was waiting at the clinic, and would remain for several weeks: nursing students! Which meant there were able-bodied and minded humans to handle patient intake and management; freeing me to start work on other projects at the center that had been bothering me for a while. For example, the storage room: it was in need of some serious consolidation, maintenance, attention, cleaning, updates, and more. So that’s what my Monday, Tuesday, and part of Wednesday were about. All and all, I freed up two whole shelves worth of space, separated the supplies, drugs, equipment, etc. into their own specified sections, and I’ve started the task of updating the inventory. The work is not finished, but it’s a solid start.
It will also make things much easier once we’ve received our next quarterly shipment of drugs and supplies… Which is already late… By several months… Another problem that happens here – it happens all over the world, but here it can be rather frequent. So, you just have the make due with what you have.
Also: Happy Ugandan Independence Day! Celebrating 57 Years!
October 9th is the day when England granted the emancipation of Uganda to its own sovereign state after centuries of colonial occupation. To celebrate, I attended a nationally sponsored training session on Measles and Rubella vaccination efforts. You see, unlike some Americans, Ugandans are aware of the importance of vaccinations – we have them for free here everyday at our clinic. Taking that to heart, you can now tell any “anti-vax supporters” that you meet that they can look forward to complications, bills, and potential sorrow, while the folks in Uganda just continue to build healthier and better lives.
(Note: at the training, when I told them, the participants were in utter shock and disbelief that some Americans were actually rejecting the uses and benefits of vaccinations; they were also very, very worried about the children living with such parents who refused their life-saving medicines)
Thursday and Friday have been in the office, as per usual. I’ve completed my first reporting of activities to the Peace Corps, and I’ve been working on finalizing the lesson plans for the folks at the clinic. I also continued working on a few outlying projects, and continued researching for the CHP health education expansion. This busy week will be concluded with a relaxing weekend with friends. The Lumasaaba crew is heading up to the Sipi Falls for the weekend, so be on the lookout for many gorgeous photos in the next installment.
Once again, my wonderful readers, thank you for joining me on this journey! And until next time: be well, be wise, and be good to one another!
Peace, Love, and Uganda 