day three

May 29, 2009

If you count the day I arrived in Entebbe as day one, I'm currently on day three here in Uganda. I'm still hanging out in Mbale and staying at the CURE hospital guesthouse, which is really nice and comfortable. I'm definitely not roughing it... yet. When I'm living in Iganga and need a hot shower, I now know where to run to.

I've gotten a good idea of what they do here at the hospital, which specifically targets children with neurological issues (hydocephalus and spina bifida etc.). They've pioneered a fairly new surgical technique for hydrocephalus which is minimally invasive; this is an incredible technology as post-operative infections are especially an issue here. The procedure is called endoscopic third ventriculostomy. Basically, guided by a tiny camera, they punch a hole in the third ventricle to alleviate the pressure. I've gotten into the OR a bit to watch some surguries, including a myelomeningocele repair and an intended ETV that turned into a shunt placement because of scar tissue. Everyone has been very accomodating and I've learned so much about the health care system here.

Today I went to visit the regional hospital in Mbale, which was incredibly sad. The nurses were amazed when I told them that the typical patient load for a nurse in the United States is 6-7. At that regional hospital, which is in much better shape than the district hospitals, I have my doubts that the nurses even know how many patients they take care of every day, particularly considering there are often 3+ sick kids sharing one bed, not to mention all of the families that stay with them as they are responsible for providing bedding, food, saline, any medications, etc. I'll soon be putting up photos of the hospital but you get the picture. Its dirty and crowded and difficult to see; my heart was aching. Even on the private wing of the hospital, the care is not good, but at least they provide food, I mean, since the patients' families are paying and all.

I think the best part of my time here thus far was a conversation I had with the physcial therapist at the CURE hospital this morning. This man, only slightly older than myself, grew up in the northern part of Uganda and spent the majority of his childhood and teenage years fleeing from rebel activity. Nearly all of this friends and classmates were killed, along with his parents. His mother died when he was five. Despite the obstacles, he eventually made it out of the north and moved to Kampala at the age of 17. He finished primary and secondary school and is now a physical therapist, but not without years and years of setbacks due to mostly to finances, not grades. Now, at 31, he would love to go back to university (he only has a certificate now) and eventually get a masters degree in public health. However, at the moment, he does not see how this will happen as he must put his sister through university.

This is simply what you do for family here.

What must it be like to live in a culture where truly, family comes first? And its not just family.

One of the most striking differences between Uganda and Haiti, for me, has been the fact that Ugandans don't appear hungry. This certainly is a poor country but food does not seem to be an issue. This had been a silent observation of mine upon arrival but my new physical therapist friend (or "physio" as they term it here), unprompted, began to tell me that Ugandans do not die for lack of food. If you see that your neighbor needs something to eat, you give them something to eat.

This is simply what you do for fellow humans here.

He brought up the fact that as Christians, we are commanded in the Bible to bear one another's burdens and so if someone is hungry, it is your responsibility to feed them. Incredible. While he was speaking, it literally brought tears to my eyes because this truly, is how we should all live our lives, taking care of one another. The last sermon I heard before I left the States, one which I thorougly enjoyed at my parents' church, also included the scripture my friend was referring too. (I think I'm supposed to learn this.) I wrote it down because it was kind of a wake up call for me and served to somewhat renew my passion for the work that I want to be doing.

Galatians 6:2-3 "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself."

This is how we love.

I'm already falling in love with this country. The culture, the beautiful green land, the Ugandans, all of it, has proven to be lovely beyond my expectations, which were high as usual. It has been my tendency, upon arrival in new places, to try to keep some walls up because I tend to get attached too easily and then it breaks my heart to leave. Anyone that knows me, however, can tell you that my walls don't last long. This time.... two days.

New photos!

Once again I'm completely exhausted so this is going to be a lame entry. However, I just wanted to alert you to the fact that there are new photos up on my picasa site: http://picasaweb.google.com/jnomides22/. Today was a little rough because my body does not want to be in this time zone yet. I took a two hour nap earlier and it really did nothing. Hopefully my brain will soon figure out that its going to have to deal with being here for a little while and I'll feel like myself again.

On a very up note, the people here keep taking me out to these amazing places to eat- all Indian restaurants. Tonight we had REAL Indian food, as in, the stuff they cook in their homes not the typical restaurant dishes. I can't even begin to describe how incredible it was. So now I'm going to bed with my belly full and content. :)

Miss you all!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

It has been 56 hours since I laid down in a bed to go to sleep. I've gotten an hour or so at a time of massively interrupted sleep here and there throughout the trip but I am COMPLETELY deliriously exhausted. I'm here though, lying in bed, ready to pass out and pretty content. I'm safe and sound and everything went very smoothly so thank you to everyone who has been praying for me. Arrived at the airport in Entebbe, got my visa very quickly with no issues whatsoever, my bags were the first out and my driver eventually made it to the airport to pick me up, only slightly late.

I will hopefully post some photos tomorrow that I took on the ride from Entebbe to Mbale. I have already met some incredibly nice people, including the regional director (of finance?) for the CURE hospitals and projects in Africa. We actually just got back from eating dinner at an amazing Indian restaurant with some other people (Americans) visiting and working with CURE. I will write more about the hospital later but for now... SLEEP!

An e-mail from UVP

Hi everyone:

Just wanted to bring your attention to 2 fantastic articles in the New York Times today that are relevant to this summer:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/travel/24uganda.html
- This rafting spot is less than an hour from Iganga.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/health/24birth.html
- The situation detailed here is unfortunately, the fate shared by the mothers of Iganga.

For team leaders journeying to Uganda: safe travels, and tusangire - welcome!
For those traveling soon, a reminder on one reasonable place to stay in Entebbe if you arrive the night before: Frank's Backpackers. Here is the link: http://www.traveluganda.co.ug/frankstouristshostel/

- The UVP Board

12 hour layovers...

...are boring when you're traveling alone...

Map of Uganda

Click on the map above to see a larger image.

london layover

I'm going to preface this entry with the following: I am sleep deprived and cold and in serious need of more coffee. I was hungry too but I took care of that with a severely over-priced chicken and avocado sandwich and some sea salt and vinegar chips. Be glad that my tummy is now full or else I'd say you might wanna stop reading now.

You've been warned.

I'm going to officially kick off the Uganda 2009 blogging with this post. I'm in the middle of my journey to the first stop in Uganda, Mbale. The first leg of my trip was from Philadelphia to the London Heathrow airport, an approximately six hour long overnight flight on British Airways. I received a pink pillow and blanket and toothbrush and sat next to a girl who only took up her allotted amount of seat so all in all, not a bad flight. London is cold and foggy and, no offense to my dear friends who have spent a good proportion of their lives here, I definitely feel called to live much closer to the equator. Wait! I think I see the sun trying to shine through the clouds. I take it back. We have a partly sunny day folks.

I arrived here at 9:30am UK time, which is 5 hours ahead of you east coasters. My next flight doesn't take off until 9:15pm tonight so I've got some time to kill, which is why you get something to read. This is only made possible, however, because I spent a good chunk of time punching some peoples' lights out to get access to an outlet. (Just kidding... I'm not THAT violent.) Next stop is Entebbe, Uganda and hopefully someone will be there holding up a sign with my name on it or else I'll be hitchhiking to Mbale. (Daddy don't you worry, I'll be very careful.) In case you were wondering, I'll be 7 hours ahead of EST once I get to Uganda.

Mbale is where the CURE hospital is located and where I'll be staying my first few days in the country. You can click here to learn more about CURE international, which an organization that was influential in my decision to go to medical school and help out in developing countries and low-resource areas. This sidetrip is completely unrelated to the work I'll be doing with Uganda Village Project throughout the remainder of the summer; I will be visiting some friends that my mom and sister met when they were in Uganda a few weeks ago.

Not too much else to report at the moment except that I am feeling incredibly unfashionable sitting amongst these trendy Europeans with my flipflops. :)