November 17 – 23, 2019
The week before the events begin, and there was much work to do. There were many meetings to attend, supplies to gather, transportation to secure, personnel to mobilize, and a NaNoWriMo novel to complete. Luckily, we were able to complete everything from scheduling, planning, and whatnot. We begin execution and implementation next week. World AIDS Day is traditionally on the first of the month of December. But this year, that day falls on a Sunday, so we had to get creative.
There will be free HIV and Tuberculosis screening, testing, counseling, and health education at the following five village sites: Masanda, Musoto, Bugema, Kibiniko, Marale. The World AIDS Day celebration – as designated by the district of Mbale – will be on the fifth of December in Tsabanyanya village.
And luckily, I was able to complete the National (International) Novel Writing Month challenge! For the first time in three attempts, I was able to write over 50,000 words in the month of November! Guess that old saying is right: the third time’s the charm. I’m just glad that I was able to complete this goal I’d set before the hard work begins. Being out in the field, all day and every day for a while now, will make for some very tiring work. Not exactly conducive to being energetic enough for extra writing.
November 24 – 30, 2019
We started on Wednesday in Masanda, and completed everything for four of the six events we planned for. Minus the recurring frustrations and miscommunications (the likes of which I will not go into detail about), the events were all very successful. As it turns out, this was the first major outreach for HIV conducted by Spotlight on Africa, and I was helping to chair it! Glad I learned that after we actually started, and not before. I might have been a bit too overwhelmed.
It has also been said that for events like these, if you have at least one hundred participants, you can consider the day a success. Well, we had far more than one hundred people every day, so needless to say: we’re all very happy with how things have progressed so far.
Taking on a supervisory role, as well as actively working with staff and community participants, was just as draining as I expected. Looking back, however, I’ve found it all to be extremely rewarding. During our time in the field, I also encountered quite the number of humorous exchanges about me. I was accused of being responsible for creating the virus that causes HIV and now expected money from the community for the cure. I was propositioned for marriage, believing that I had an unprecedented level of wealth, and their thinking would not be changed, no matter how many people attempted to convince them to the contrary. Several children thought that I was famous Bollywood soap opera personality R.K. (pictured below). They were very excited to shake the hand of a famous actor, and I was flattered that they thought I was that handsome, so I just rolled with it. No harm in letting those children have a fun story to tell others about that day.
It was a stressful, fun, educational, productive, and successful week. And the work was not done.
December 1 – 7, 2019
In the off days when we weren’t in the field, I was in the office compiling the data we’d collected. Monday and Thursday were the final days of the events – with Monday in Marale village and the main event on Thursday in Tsabanyanya. The night and day of the celebration was unfortunately mired by tragedy and hardship. Torrential rains had resulted in impassible roads, severe flooding, and deadly mudslides. Many homes and lives were lost in the districts surrounding ours, and we had to begin late as a result.
However, despite sorrows and setbacks, World AIDS Day was still a success as well. We still tested over one hundred residents of the village, and there was music and festivities to enjoy, too. Several organizations, schools, and the like came to perform and to entertain. One of which was our sponsored school: Musoto Primary School – as well as a marching band. Earlier, before the events, I’d prepared a poem and a short performance for the event, and the children to perform. Surprisingly – for me, not for the others – the little actors did a phenomenal job! They took what I had written and made them into something relevant, powerful, and enthralling. The poem became a spoken word performance that was met with a stand ovation by some. And the skit became a dramatic comedy to rival even the most popular day-time shows produced in Africa. They were both the highlights of the day for those in attendance. I was very proud.
December 8 – 13, 2019
This week was in the office – finishing up the data from the previous weeks, and moving forward with next steps and plans. The unmitigated success of the HIV outreach really cannot be understated. In six separate villages, we tested nearly nine hundred citizens. Of them, only around 1.5% of those nine hundred tested positive. We had a Skype meeting with our counterparts in the UK, and discussed how we are going to move forward. My focus will be on completing my projects at the clinic, as well as mobilizing any potential partnerships for securing a new, more powerful microscope for the clinic, too. I’ve started researching potential sources of partnership for the microscope, and I’ve been drafting possible proposals for contact with them as well.
As we press on and on and on, I want to once more thank everyone for your continued patronage of this little project of mine. It’s become rather difficult not to upload but once a month, it seems of late. However, if that is the case, I trust you all had a very grateful Thanksgiving with family and friends. I also wish you all the very best in the holiday season, no matter what holidays are yours to enjoy. (And no: I am not ready, no one is ever ready for the holidays!) Merry Christmas to all, and to all: Be Well, Be Wise, and Be Good to Each Other! Until next time, dear readers…
Peace, Love, and Uganda 