Caught in the act

One of my co-workers took these photos with her phone last week. The first is the clinical lab that I'm helping out one day a week, I believe that I'm prepping a blood sample. The other is from my day working with Women At Risk.

Starting Routines

So my weekends here are almost getting into a routine.
Saturday: Go to a restaurant in town and have a decent breakfast and converse with the other volunteers. Eventually make my way to the paradise resort and bum around the pool for a few hours trying to get rid of an awful farmer’s tan.
Sunday: Go to church down the street, have lunch with more Muzungus, inevitably discuss work for the week ahead.
Lunch yesterday was actually with a large group of people from the US. Some were here on their own account, a good portion were from a small school in California. Later decided to take advantage of the US actually being in soccer final and watched the US vs. Brazil game at a local resort last night.
I’m trying to implement what could become my weekly routine for most of the time I’m here as far as work goes. Today I helped the clinical lab with overflow, Tuesday I’m slated to do outreach, Wednesday I’m going to try and get to a small village to draw some blood from several children, Thursday teaching First Aid, and Friday working with disabled children.
The picture posted above is taken from the edge of the pool area, in case you were wondering the river in the background is indeed the Nile.
I’ve also included a photo of the building that I’m currently housed in.

International Relations

So not much has been going on work wise in the last few days; I’ve been taking half days to work on medical school applications. My co-worker who had her money stolen has been giving statements at the police station all day, not sure what they’ve been doing with the culprit. When I came back to the base yesterday around lunch, the guy was tied up and lying on the ground in our backyard, not more than a few yards from my room. I wasn’t actually here when the “disciplinary action” was taking place, but from what my co-workers tell me several men shoved a tire over his upper half so he couldn’t move and then he was repeatedly beaten with a stick (cained). One of the senior staff informed me that the culprit was about to have his ear cut off until the national director of YWAM stepped in.

On a lighter note, I was invited to the other side of town to have dinner with a group of volunteers. It’s always interesting eating with groups of people here due to the diversity of nationalities. The table felt a bit like the UN, considering that I was the only American and the rest of the table was made up of Australian, English, German, Swiss, and Ugandan. The picture above displays two of my hosts for the evening; Andrew, an Australian (who absolutely loves south park) staying at the St. Moses boarding school working with children and Barbara, a German with a background in social work. Their driver’s name is Joseph, he’s actually one of three guys that I use to get around since many Boda drivers don’t speak very good English and may try and overcharge you. Incidentally, I took that picture while riding on another while we were flying down a dirt road.

This week had been letting me see a few more aspects of our partner organizations around Jinja. Yesterday I had the opportunity to help out at the school of administration teaching Microsoft word. I realized after class that most people in the west really take for granted the skill required to simply operate computers. I was also impressed with the speed at which the members of the class learned in the course of only an hour and a half. Tomorrow I am going to spend some more time in the clinic, probably in the laboratory. Friday I’ll be going to visit another branch organization called Women At Risk (WAR), which specializes in pulling women out of the prostitution business.

Thief

So last night one of the YWAM volunteers reported that nearly five hundred dollars of hers was missing. The staff went searching for the suspect last night, but didn't find anything. I'm currently in town at an internet cafe, I just got the following text from a co-worker, "Hey. Thought you might like to know they caught the guy who stole Kristens money. They've just been caining him in our front garden!".

Island times

This weekend I had the chance to visit one of the islands in lake Victoria, Lingira. YWAM has a small base in the main village and it is also home to the couple that will be playing host to the We International team that is coming in August. The small boat anchors far enough off shore that you cannot cannot reach it without getting wet. Because this is the case, there are several people on the shore whose business is to pick you up and carry you to the boat (as seen above).

The island itself is incredibly small, I was able to walk around the exterior in about 2 hours with a group of volunteers. I also had a chance to run up to the top and take some really good photos at sunset. My stay on the island was fairly short, we got there at noon and then left the following morning. Upon my return, a bunch of us decided to cook what the locals would call a muzungu breakfast (eggs, pancakes, French toast). Other than that the weekend was uneventful, spent the rest of the time relaxing at a friend’s house and at the local pool.

Today I was back at the clinic working in the laboratory, I spent about 6 hours straight (minus a 5 min lunch) pricking fingers and drawing blood. My current plan for the week includes teaching a first aid course tomorrow, working at a vaccination outreach station on Wednesday, going back to the clinic on Thursday, and rounding out the week with a visit to an organization called Women at Risk (WAR). The main purpose of this group has been to rescue girls from a life of prostitution.

I’m hoping to submit my med school applications in the next two days, as it is I plan to use half of tomorrow to finalize them. Hope all is well with everyone else

First day of outreach

Today was my first day working with the people from the antenatal outreach group. It was a pretty slow start to the day; I've found that life here is a lot more laid back than in the US. Once I got to the clinic in the morning, I was informed that I was going to be the one carrying the testing kit for what is called RCT or Routine Counseling Testing. Essentially, it was my job to test for HIV in some of the patients that we saw. I only ended up performing the test one this afternoon, which thankfully was negative. The ladies working with me were nice enough to train me on the various vaccines that all of the children were getting. It was interesting to finally get some hands on experience in a non-clinical setting, the outreach post was just a set of benches about a fifteen minutes ride from the clinic.

Its interesting to note that to get to this site, I had to ride on a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) along with another member of the team. So that actually makes three people if you include the guy driving the thing, in addition we had to strap two boxes of supplies to the back. I feel like I've gotten used to doing this after being here for a week; after all, 3 people is usually the norm and I've seen as many as five at once. Not to mention the drivers usually don't go very fast due to the weight.

I'll be heading back to the clinic tomorrow to do more of the same work and I'm tentatively scheduled to visit our base on one of the outlying islands this Friday. I assumed that once I got here I would have no shortage of things to do, and I was right. I mentioned over lunch the other day that I was a first aid/CPR instructor and now I have three separate requests to teach courses. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to design my own course, since the traditional version of the red cross isn't exactly compatible here. So far I know I'll be teaching a group of women in July, the staff of another organization in September, and a new friend of mine here at the compound also wishes to learn on his own.

I also heard back from my US based boss, David with We international. It looks like I'll be leaving this post sometime in the first or second week in August, with a promise to return in the first week in September.

I'm still trying to iron out the kinks in my medical school applications, my goal is to submit them by the end of the weekend. Then the waiting begins....

Old post - I didn't get a chance to throw this one up till now

6-13-09

Arrived on site at the Youth with a mission (YWAM) offices today, spent the morning getting some last minute supplies in Kampala. Drive from Kampala to Jinja was quite delayed by some minor road construction, kinda made me feel like I was back in Madison. The actual office/residence of the YWAM is a lot larger than I expected; the dormitory hosts seven people including me, apparently the offices attached hold many more workers during the weekdays. It is a mix of internationals and Ugandans, there is another American here, which makes it seem a little less foreign. According to the staff, I am the first muzungu boy to come to stay at this residence.
The shower that I had in Kampala did not work very well, so I ended up keeping my self clean with just a sink and a few wet wipes (thanks Jessica). First thing I did after eating this evening was step into the shower; although the water is not heated it was still a much needed and welcoming sensation. Since I’m still in the mere process of moving my stuff in, I haven’t had a chance to get specifics about my activities over the next few months. I did however have a brief chat with the organization’s administrative head, Sandra, about some of the programs that she’d like me to try out this week.
First off, I got some corrections on the nature of the Kangulumira clinic. It is a purely outpatient facility, so it is not geared towards major surgeries, extended care, etc. It is apparently hard to find, Sandra recommended someone taking me there a few times. I’ll be working under the clinic officer for a little while as I figure out exactly what I should be doing.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays see the maternal health teams meet in different villages, they do stuff like antenatal care, vaccinations, and various testing. During the next two weeks I’ll following a UK trained midwife around figuring out where I’m going to fit in there.
Finally, at dinner tonight I met a nice lady named Teresa who has been in the country a number of years and runs an organization that specializes in disabled children in Uganda. She actually already handed me my first assignment, she wants me to learn as much as I can about malnourishment over the next month or so. The purpose being that I will be her “nutritionist” for an event planned for July 10th.
The date just mentioned is actually less than four weeks away, which puts into perspective of how fast time is probably going to travel while I’m here. Before I know it, it’ll be August and time to change over to some projects off site for a few weeks. By the time that’s over it’ll be September and I expect that time to go even faster. Bottom line, I’m trying to document everything I do with as much detail as I can.

Well, time to crawl back under the mosquito net and get some sleep.

First Day at Kangulumira

I just got back into town from my first day at the clinic in Kangulumira. I had a productive day of making lot of kids cry; they put me in the laboratory and I spent most of the day drawing blood from small children. This week sees me trying out a lot of different programs in YWAM, I'm trying to see where I fit best.

First Day in Jinja

So I wrote a long summary last night but unfortunately, its on my laptop and I didn't bring it to town. Went to church this morning, a lot of the congregation was foreign. Afterward I spent the afternoon with a mix of locals and international workers. We ended up eating a pretty big lunch and then of all things, went mini golfing. I wound up winning the nine hole course; one of the last things that I would expect in Uganda

Hey all, I'll be heading to Jinja tomorrow afternoon. I've spent the
last two hours at a coffee house working on med school apps and other
business stuff. Hope all is going well for everyone

First Days Summary

6/09/09 CARIO, EGYPT – I arrived in Cairo at about eight in the evening after flying out of Frankfurt, It was really cool to look out of the window and see the pyramids of giza in the late evening light. It hadn’t even occurred to me that with the whole swine flu mess, my travels may get a bit more difficult. I was put on a bus with all of the passengers on my flight and taken to a “quarantine area”, Egyptian health care workers wearing gloves and N95 respirators handed us cards to fill out and had us walk in front of a thermal camera to try and pinpoint those who were spiking a fever. I was only a transition passenger so I didn’t seem to fit into any of the lines that people were forming, the coordinators just kept bouncing me around. Finally after about a half an hour of standing shoulder to shoulder with confused people someone finally pulled me out of the line and into the gate area. To put a top on all of that, the aircraft that EgyptAir chose for my last flight was older than I am and sounded rickety the whole way to Uganda.

6/10/09 Entebbe – 4 AM, As I step through the doorway of the decades old 737, the hot humid air of the tropics hits me in the face. Walking down the set of stairs rolled up to the plane, I recognize the front of Entebbe’s terminal building from my previous visit. The customs area has undergone a complete makeover, colorful art adorns the walls and new offices have been installed along the back wall. Thankfully this time all of my luggage showed up with in a few minutes and I head to the parking lot. A gentleman holding a sign written in highlighter says “Jonathan Wong”, he introduces himself as Matti and shows me to a car close by. After throwing my bags in the trunk the gravity of my situation hits, I start thinking, “well you wanted to come back…you’re back…now what?”. My feeling of uneasiness continues until Matti starts the car and the song “bye, bye, bye” blasts through the speaker system, I couldn’t contain my laughter.

6/10/09 – 6:20 AM: So here’s a real kicker, I’ve gotten a collective two hours of sleep on three different planes since I left Wisconsin on Monday morning. I finally get a bed to sleep in at 5 o’clock in the morning and for some reason I’m still awake. So…why not pull out the laptop and write my post for today. I am currently typing in the dark with my headlamp since the room doesn’t have a light blub (that’s my fault, I tried to move it from another socket when I got here and I dropped it). My guess is that I’m gonna crash at some point today given what my sleep schedule has been like, I guess I’m just a little high strung after my last two flights.
6/10/09 Got up at 4:30 today, I missed my 2 o’clock meeting with Susan because I slept through the alarm I had set for one. Susan was nice enough to give me a home cooked meal for dinner, the vegetable stir fry was just what I needed. I’ve been downing water like crazy since about 6. I hadn’t had anything to drink for about 12 hours and the humidity was starting to get to me. I was originally going to venture out to get some myself but I figured it wouldn’t be good since I still don’t have a phone or even know where I am. I made sure that I had some just in case by using one of my handy purification tablets in my nalgene. Funny story, I was sitting in Susan’s apartment for a bit while she was out and I kept hearing a noise while reading the paper. It wasn’t until I finally put it down that I noticed that I rooster has found his way in and was sitting at my feet staring at me.

6-11-09 Had my first full day in Kampala today, went to Mulago to meet up with some of the friends of the course. One of the medical students, Joe, was nice enough to take me around the city to pick up a few things. The main things I acquired today were a cell phone and some personal items. I got to experience riding in mutatus again and I got my first shot at brushing the dust off of my Lugandan.

Frankfurt

So I'm not really sure how long I've been up, I did not sleep at all on the plane and I only slept for four hours the night before I left. As I sip my coffee in the airfield viewing lounge at Frankfurt's airport, I recall several theories I have on international travel.

1) If you need a burst of American influence, you can almost always find a McDonalds
2) If you don't specify a seat at check-in you will DEFINATELY be put in the center of a five seat row in the literal center of the aircraft (I know that from my previous evening)
3) It doesn't matter what language you speak; screaming children all sound the same!!!!

All kidding aside, I should arrive at my friend's place in Uganda roughly 18-20 hours from now. Met an interesting guy on the flight over from Chicago, wanted to be a doctor while in undergrad but then shifted to healthcare technology with GE. I was happy to find that each seat was equipped with a video screen, so I did have some choices. Although the two movies that I ended up watching were New in Town and Bride Wars….

I figured that since I have such a long layover here it would be a good time to explain exactly what it is I’m traveling 8,000 miles for. Once I reach the capital city I have arranged to take several personal days to get over jet lag, shop for some country specific items, and get reacquainted with some colleagues. On Sunday June 14^th I will be traveling approximately two hours to the west of the capitol, Kampala, to a smaller city called Jinja. One of the partner organizations that I am affiliated with, ToRCH, has their national offices located somewhere within the city. From what I’ve been told by my soon to be boss, I’ll be living in near the offices with about six other people in what can be described as an international co-op, for lack of a better term. ToRCH is an international non-governmental organization or NGO, their programs range from individual financial planning to community health. From my correspondence so far it appears that my work will be more focused towards AIDS education and working at a level 4 hospital that is about 20 minutes north of where I’m living (For those reading this that were not with me in Uganda last time, Level 4 is the highest given to care facilities, the only higher designation is assigned to Mulago, the national referral hospital in Kampala). My time in Uganda is pretty loosely planned at this point but there’s a distinct project that seems to divide it in half.

My main affiliate organization, We International, will be sending a large team in mid-august to do a healthcare overhaul of one of the island clinics in Lake Victoria. I was told to make up to three weeks available to take off from my duties at ToRCH, the two months following this project will see me back in Jinja. During that time however, I will be assisting the UW student group called EDGE with anything that they are unable to continue once they leave the country in late August. Since my Mom’s school is studying Uganda next year I will probably be preparing some presentations to be given both while I am still in country and after I return to Wisconsin in mid-November.

I have been told that internet access will be readily available so I expect to be able to make posts on a regular basis. My next post may not be till I am on site…though for all I know I may get really bored during my next layover in Cairo and write some more.

Departure

After months of planning, I fly out of O'hare at 2:30 this afternoon. I can only hope that I have packed everything I need and that my journey goes smoothly.

After five years at UW I graduated on May 17th with a B.S. degree in Medical Microbiology & Immunology/History of Science, Medicine, & Technology. I want to thank everyone for their unending support throughout my undergraduate career. Nothing I have accomplished so far would have been possible without the encouragement of my friends and family. Now my attentions turn to the task at hand....Uganda.