Just a pretty field. Oh! But there’s actually a stream hidden somewhere here! Can you find it?
September 1-7, 2019
Well, the weekend did not go as planned. I don’t have my mini-fridge, my fan, or my
bicycle. This was due to an unexpectedly
copious amount of rainfall, and ATM services being completely down. But this is Uganda. And in Uganda – like anywhere else in the
world – things happen. Which is why the
mentality here is along the lines of “the work will get done… eventually.” I’ll get what I need and what I’d like to
have eventually, but not necessarily when planned. So, in the meantime, you just have to greet
these changes with a positive attitude, and find other work and activities to
occupy your time.
Bukasakya Health Center III Exterior
And Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were… an experience. Monday and Tuesday with more than 150
patients each, and Wednesday with around 75 patients… to put it very
mildly. While it was an extremely
informative three days at the health center, there’s clearly a very large
amount of work to be done. When we have
an influx of patients (sometimes as many as fifty in an hour), the center
devolves into absolutely chaos. Somehow
every patient is seen, and somehow the nurses make it work, but there are
opportunities for space maximization, resource allocation, time management, and
more. I’ve already started planning a
nearly complete restructuring of the floorplan, and we’ll be working on putting
that into practice moving forward. I’m
also going to need to practice my Lumasaaba, but with twenty-one possible
languages spoken in all of the villages served, there are many more language
barriers that need to be traversed. It
was also a fine three days getting to know new co-workers and healthcare
professionals.
Quite a small space for such a large population, isn’t it?
Thursday and Friday were slow days in the office. I spent the time drawing up an outline of the
individual subjects for the health promotors’ curriculum expansion, and
researching the first topic. I’ve been
preparing a draft, one that should be ready for adjustment, critique, and
improvement by the end of next week. We
can then work on moving forward with all of the topics, as well as what is next
on our leadership training for the month’s coming CHP leaders meeting.
September 8-14, 2019
This weekend was the right – and the wrong – time to buy a
bicycle. The shop owner is a wonderful
man, who sells used bikes at very reasonable prices. They are sturdy, strong, and solid. So, I bought mine, and began to ride it home
on Sunday. I made it further than
three-fourths of the way back to my house… when the rear tire exploded. Literally, it sounded like a loud rifle
blast, and it was most likely due to over inflation, which I was told is a
common problem for bicycles, motorcycles, and cars in this country. Regardless, I have a bike, and it will be
repaired for free, but it is currently out of commission.
Generalized Topographical Map of the area we serve at the health center.
This week, during my days at the health center, Monday was
completely madness once more – seeing more than one hundred and fifty patients
come through. But Tuesday and Wednesday
were much slower. As it turns out, word
can travel very fast when a clinic is out of medication for particular – highly
recurring – illnesses in the community.
When it comes to diarrhea, malaria, flu, and the like, we’ve run out of
medication for treating them, and so the number of patients coming through
dropped to less than fifty patients a day.
If anything, this speaks to the clear and present need for better
prevention strategies and interventions in the community. Like in America, people have become too
reliant on medications, instead of focusing on keeping themselves healthy before
they become sick with something that is preventable.
Wednesday was also the day when I caught a cold working at
the Health Center. Not all that
surprising, considering every other patient presents with cold, flu, and
coughing symptoms. Which they then cough
and sneeze in our general direction all day long. But I don’t have malaria, and I feel strong
enough to continue working, while resting earlier and longer while home.
Thursday, I felt stronger, so I spent the day at the office,
as was the plan. I met with Joseph, a
member of the Peace Corps staff here in Uganda, and he was very excited about
the work that I’ve been doing and the work I will be doing here at
Spotlight. He is also considering me for
a position on a new regional committee of volunteers that the Peace Corps is
building, so that’s pretty exciting.
Joseph is also a gosh dang superhero!
That’s very important for you all to know…
See? That single red line means you’re Malaria-free!
I took a malaria test, to prove that my sickness wasn’t
malaria, and I was right!
But that didn’t stop me being more or less completely
bedridden for all of Friday… Only cold showers could really break my fever and
there was a lot of resting and recovery.
Everyone in this country (exaggeration for the win!) seems to have this
cold, so even my neighbors were sick, and we were all miserable together.
I felt strong enough to make my way into town on Saturday to
buy food, because I need food and food is important. But as soon as I got home, my fever had
spiked back up and it was time to stand under cold water for a while!
It’s been an interesting week… We feel so proud when we go
for a such a long time without getting sick (five years!) but then when we do,
it hits us like a an unpredictably moving car.
Oh well, another week, another experience…
September 15-21, 2019
Something interesting that I’ve noticed, I’ve been in this
town long enough now, and I’ve met and have gotten to know enough people, that
I find myself running into friends, acquaintances, and co-workers every time I go
into town. I know there’s not a whole
lot of people in this city, but it’s still a nice feeling to have, and a nice
realization to make.
The Maternity and Post-Natal half of the Health Center.
This week was relatively uneventful; spent much of the time
recovering from my cold. I did go to work,
however, just not at the health center. I
refused to stay in my house as I recovered.
Just not the kind of guy I am. But
it is the smarter option not to risk re-infection, or catching something
entirely new with a compromised immune system.
So, my week was spent in the office, and even there it was a mad scramble
for much of the week.
There is something very big – several somethings, actually –
that will be taking place next week. And
since I’m feeling puckishly cheeky, what with being healthy and strong again, I’ll
be leaving you on a cliffhanger to find out what happens when I release the
next post.
Once again, thank you all for your time and coming with me
on this journey! It means the world that
so many of you find enjoyment and education from this: our shared experience. So, until next time, dear readers: be well,
be wise, and be good to one another!
Up the mountain from my hometown, Mbale. No big deal, or anything.
July 22 – 25, 2019
For the whole duration of this week, our focus has been on
preparing, practicing, and studying for the real Language Proficiency Interview
(LPI). As such, not a whole lot of
import or excitement happened to report.
There was just a lot of preparing, practicing, and studying Lumasaaba. However, I am feeling better about my use and
understanding on the language. So, I’m
not all that worried about the exam. For
now…
July 26, 2019
Well, I took the LPI exam, and… it actually went fairly
fine, as it turns out. I can only say
that from what I felt about the experience, and if it turns out that I actually
did horribly, I’m going to be very disappointed. That being said, I was able to answer in
complete sentences, make coherent paragraphs, use descriptive adjectives,
various tenses, and understand all but one of the questions. So, if I did poorly, I will be disappointed
and surprised.
I was lucky enough to finish my exam early, so I headed into
town to buy some sweets from a fantastic bakery and café as thanks for my
homestay family for housing and caring for me these past five weeks. I bought enough for us to enjoy tonight and
tomorrow night. Our last night of
homestay. So we will have a veritable
feast – which we were preparing some of tonight – sweets, and another movie
night.
July 27, 2019
As a way of Peace Corps giving thanks to the family’s who
took us in the past month, we invited our families to a send off and
celebration of our time together. We
shared a meal. We shared words of love
and praise. We shared our time. But naturally there was more to do.
Many of us seemed to have a similar idea of a final night surprise
for our host families. But where some
bought pizzas for dinner, I had my cookies and sweets. They were very well received, as well as a
comedy for movie night, plus the oh-so-necessary Indian soap operas. Thus, did our final night together – at least
for now – had wrapped up smoothly and happily.
Through the forests and the trees.
July 28, 2019
We’ve travelled to the boarder town of Busia, and to use a
proper but cliched metaphor: it’s like a whole different world. Where Mbale is a city of hills, trees,
sidewalks, and buildings sometimes as high as five stories; Busia is flat, with
very few trees, no sidewalks, and short buildings. It also borders Kenya, so while we’ve not set
foot in Kenya just yet, we did set tires in the country, so we’re counting it
as a visit. No matter how arbitrary and
derived entirely from semantics. Also,
the palpable disconnect from not being able to use the language we’ve been
trained in for five weeks has rendered me temporarily mute. Uganda is a nation with over fifty spoken
languages, and leaving our small area has opened the door for five new, and
completely foreign, tongues.
We’ve also split into two groups: the four health volunteers
together, and the four agricultural-business volunteers. We health volunteers met with our two current
volunteer trainers: Alyssa and Madison, who will be taking us through Technical
Immersion, while we stay at the Maryland Inn of Busia. One of the last two weeks of training before
we are officially sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers.
Masafu Hospital Exterior, Main Entrance
July 29, 2019
There was exploring.
There was learning. There was
meeting new people. There was
eating. There was planning. There was meeting new people. Alyssa and Madison took us to both of their sites,
introduced us to their co-workers, showed us some of their active projects, and,
of course, fed us and answered our seemingly endless array of questions. Our hosts have been so wonderful and patient
so far in our time together, and they’re very ready to help us dive into our
group and individual facilitations among the communities they serve.
One of the locations we visited was the Busia District Hospital, Masafu. Now, in Uganda, the healthcare system is entirely government supported. For those who don’t know, that means that Uganda provides universal healthcare for all of its citizens, and they pay no cost for services, treatment, laboratory investigations, surgeries, anything. But the biggest issue seems to come from a national struggle to actual reach the people and to get them to use these services than most anything else.
Single Building Health Center II. Often sees more patients daily than the hospitals.
The same number of patients, or more, would visit a much
smaller Health Center II or III, simply because those facilities were closer,
even though they only offer a third of the potential services and
expertise. Only when a Health Center
reaches a Level IV do you actually have a certified physician on duty, so the
lower the number, the less there is, but the people come for the help and
healing that they need. It is a
difficult situation, and far more complicated and nuanced than this explanation
is offering, but I am going to be working in one city of one district of one
region. Not on the national stage. I will focus on what I can focus on.
A two building Health Center III
July 30, 2019
It was a day of needs assessments, fantastic food, and new
animal friends! Groups of two of us
conducted needs assessments of two sites today.
And we designed a lesson to address those needs today as well. One group – not mine – worked with secondary
school aged girls to learn what they new of teenage pregnancy, sexual and
reproductive health, their menstrual cycles, etc. The other group of two – mine – visited a
primary school, to speak with a couple classes on what they knew of HIV/AIDS.
Afterwards, we retired to Alyssa’s house, and she prepared
us a feast of macaroni and cheese, brownies, dozens of different tea options,
fresh fruit, and a vegetable salad. We
played with her dog and two cats while working on our presentations, which we
will bring to the communities tomorrow.
July 31, 2019
No doubt you all would understand that somehow making a
connection in less than an hour with a group of over eighty or so children on a
dour and serious topic like HIV/AIDS can be a struggle. When I work with the two schools sponsored by
Spotlight on Africa in Mbale, I will naturally – but very much deliberately –
take more time with the students before even beginning to assess needs or make
changes. But still, that is what we
did. It was like pulling teeth, but it
was still a valuable educational experience for both us and the students.
August 1, 2019
Now was the time for even more community needs assessments,
within new communities, one for each of the four of us. We would individually be facilitating for
four different groups. One would teach
and train a group of community trainers on RUMPs (Re-Usable Menstrual Pads),
one would investigate the needs for nutrition among village mothers, one would
also be working with RUMPs with Secondary School-aged girls. And one – that would be me – would speak with
a Women’s Group in the village of Musafu about malaria.
Compound of a Rural Secondary School
After completing this, we were once again treated at the
best restaurant in Busia: Alyssa’s House!
She made fish tacos! Being
spoiled like this is going to ruin my own culinary failures all the more. No, I cannot really cook, but two years of
practice… has to do something, right?
Nothing Like a Joyous Welcome of Singing and Dancing to Get You Excited about your Work!
August 2, 2019
Well, my facilitation with the women’s group regarding Malaria was a rousing success! As we pulled up, and as they waited, the women were all singing and dancing, wearing countless infectious smiles on their faces. My translator, Lilian, told me that they were celebrating our return, expressing their gratitude in joyous song. We learned together, played games together, answered questions and distributed mosquito nets together. In one two-hour session, eighty families had a new mosquito net for their home. In two hours, I was able to share relevant, and potentially life saving information, to eighty women to share with their families. In two hours, Alyssa and Madison gave me an opportunity to make a real difference. This is what makes Peace Corps something special; this is what makes work like this worthwhile.
Lush Green Plains and Hills.A Fancy Modern Bridge.The Famed Nile River!
August 3-4, 2019
Well, it was time to travel back to Kampala! We piled into a mutatu (taxi van) and drove a
beautiful, if a little cramped, five hours from Busia back to the capital. The eight of us Lumasaaba bazungu (plural for
muzungu) grabbed lunch at a local brewery and Japanese restaurant. It is Restaurant Week here in Kampala, so
there were a few deals that we took advantage of before catching a ride with an
Uber to Paul Paul VI Memorial Hotel.
The next day, a couple friends from the other language
groups in our cohort, and myself were given the freedom to explore some of Kampala
before being back at the hotel for dinner.
We journeyed to the arts and crafts market, and then to a trendy café called
“1000 Cups” for snack and caffeine. It
was nice to catch up with friends we’ve been separated from for over a month
and a half, and it was good to get away from the hotel for a couple hours. The arts and crafts were plentiful, but often
repeating. Still, there were beautiful,
unashamedly African, and gave us plenty of ideas for decorating our future
homes.
August 5-7, 2019
The days here were pretty uneventful. Mandatory sessions, more waiting, more
sitting, more reconnecting. The
anticipation was palpable to say the least.
It was fair to say that a significant number of us were very much ready
to begin our services.
Look at that official invitation! Look at that Official Seal!
August 8, 2019
We did it! We’re
volunteers! It’s official! Finally…
The ceremony – which was quite a lot of fun, as well as
exciting – was held at the home of the United States Ambassador to Uganda. A kindly, matronly woman – named Deborah Malac
– who could still command great respect and authority, despite her petite
figure. She and the Guest of Honor, Dr.
Jane Aceng, were delighted by our presentations, our dances, our songs and
speeches. There was laughter,
photographs, and colorful kitenge all around.
Good food, good people, in a beautiful setting; it was such a welcomed
and delightful day.
The Honorable Ambassador to Uganda: Deborah Malac.
And, since we would all soon be apart for quite some time,
naturally we volunteers stayed up well past our bedtimes to celebrate and spend
a night of joyful revelry. For tomorrow,
the real work begins!
My Lumasaaba Language Teachers: the Beautiful Beatrice, and the Manly Maango Francis.
August 9, 2019
Driving, driving, driving across country… It takes a while
to get out of Kampala and Mukono district.
Like three and a half hours, long.
Yeah. And that wouldn’t even be
considered bad by the standards of Uganda!
Because at least we were moving every once and a while. A truly bad traffic jam is to be stuck in
place for at least an hour and a half, not making any progress at all. The public transport drivers will even leave
their vehicles to socialize and spend the time, leaving their passengers
inside. Because if you, a passenger,
leaves, someone else can very easily take your seat.
Still, we made our way, over the course of eight or so
hours, to Mbale. And so, it is time to
sleep.
August 10-11, 2019
It takes time and money to make a house into a home, and
despite the best efforts of the infrastructure of Mbale city, I was able to
collect everything that I need for my kitchen, and all the cleaning supplies I
required. One of the struggles of living
in Africa, as opposed to the United States is: sometimes the phone companies
are down and you’re unable to settle accounts or acquire new services,
sometimes the ATMs are out of money, sometimes the internet is down or the
establishments that offer it are closed.
Any number of things can happen, and for me they just all happened at
the same time.
Not that this is an inherently bad thing. It gives one more time to explore, to meet
new people, and to navigate new contacts in the city. Still, with a frankly staggering amount of
walking, shopping, cleaning, washing, talking, and more these past couple days,
I am tired. Very tired. But tomorrow, I start working. And that is something that every part of me
can get behind.
A Recently Renovated Health Center III outside Mbale.
August 12, 2019
Today was my very first day.
After collecting some additional funds for groceries this afternoon, I
ventured to the office in order to manage some logistical and administrative
responsibilities. Afterwards, my
counterpart Richard and I walked the rather long distance to the sponsored
health center – thank goodness for overcast days with a cool breeze. I was able to reconnect with the staff of the
health center, as well as go over plans and schedules for the first few months
here at site and with Spotlight on Africa (SoA).
Sometimes I cannot believe the beauty of this country; and I’ve only been to the East!
Myself, three Richards
affiliated with SoA, and one Dr. Edith visited another health facility in a
truly gorgeous area around Mbale. It was
as much a professional visit as it was an investigative visit. You see, SoA is planning on breaking ground
on the second building of its health center next month! And the center we visited today had a
remarkably cool and comfortable interior – temperature wise. This was achieved through ingenious local Ugandan
means of ventilation and space maximization.
It was certainly a very education and worthwhile visit with my new co-workers…
But… it really didn’t leave any time for grocery and supply
shopping. I mean, I could go out at
night and visit the night markets, but I was very tired from all the walking
and the traveling and whatnot. So,
instead, Richard and I made a quick round for some necessities and a bushel of
bananas for my breakfasts this week.
Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to get some real food shopping
done. So, until our next conversation,
dear readers, be well, be wise, and be good to one another.
Peace, Love, and Uganda 