Wanale and Down Days

This past week has been one of the slower ones, but moving forward! I was down for a few days with a typical African bug that made food absolutely repulsive. I had no energy so I couldn’t really leave the house, which was frustrating. Before Josh and the other girls left on Wednesday, they went up to the village to say goodbye and see the progress on the clinic one last time. It was the first time that I wasn’t up at the village with everyone else and I really missed the people up there. I knew that after a couple rough nights of little sleep and not keeping any food down, I was better off staying at home. They were happy to report back that the walls were half way up! Josh left and I am completely on my own to head up our projects. Now, the hardest part will be having to rope other team members into going to my projects with me because I can’t go anywhere alone. I feel bad especially since everyone has their own projects to work on and I have to pull them away to travel with me to do all my health work. Although feeling under the weather, I was able to spend the week focusing on the health camps that we are hoping to begin as soon as the clinic is open. Such camps will include a day of HIV and malaria testing and possibly a dental camp later on in the summer. Most of the testing is free if we can get enough (about 100) people from the village to commit to being tested.

Unfortunately, due to terrible rain lately, the construction has been slowed up a bit, but clinic should be complete by the end of the weekend! The walls are complete and roof and floor are all that's left. I'll go up on Thursday to meet with the board of directors for the clinic that we've appointed to run everything once we leave. The rest of the team will meet me up there on Friday morning so that we can complete cementing the floors! I am really looking forward to finishing the clinic so that we can actually begin treating people. We are looking at opening in two weeks because we still need to invite government officials, local media sources and potential pharmaceutical partners. Sustainability is key for this clinic, so I'm taking every measure possible to work with the local people so that the functioning of the clinic remains smooth and long-lasting.

Two weekends ago, Josh, Kelsey, Kara and our guard David all went up to Wanale again for Josh's last weekend. I threw some pictures together of Wanale and the past 6 weeks--mostly of the scenery and the beautiful hikes that I've taken here. I'm still in shock that I live here!

Moment for Reflection

 
Here it is. I'm half way through my time here in Uganda and it's absolutely FLOWN by. Within the past few days, I've become far more introspective as I look back on the past six weeks and how I've been touched, inspired and enlightened by my experience thus far.

Life here for us is still relatively normal. We have a nice house, kitchen, beds, showers, a toilet and overall, have been able to maintain a typical American-ish life. It has been hard to go out in the community or into villages juxtaposed with this life we live at home. I'm so humbled by the saddening circumstances that just ARE and will be until change comes. The hardest realization for me is that I can't change everything, nor will I be able to while I'm here. We can spark that change but true change will have to come within the community itself and sometimes that can be discouraging. Call it cultural insensitivity but sometimes I just want the people here to wake up from this trance and start initiating change. They don't realize what they could have. All they have is what they know, so initiating change is not nearly as feasible as I thought prior to my arrival.

One item that has been on my mind lately is the cultural treatment of women. I've spent time talking to my friend and fellow volunteer, Samantha, who is teaching women's empowerment at a local high school, and how women are viewed and treated here. It's probably better than it once was but it is still far from what I'm used to. Women are still objectified and treated as laborers rather than equal partners, because they're not. Women are not equal. THAT is a hard one to swallow being in the 21st Century and knowing that women can be part of the fortune 500 and can be equally, if not more, successful than men. Here in Uganda, most people are Christian and loving as they can can be, women are still treated poorly. I have asked a few African men what they look for in a wife or what makes a good wife and the answers are all pretty consistent--she works hard, she makes good food and cleans the house. These women are expected to do a lot, which would seem fair IF the men were working equally as hard. Again I use the word "equal." It shocks me how lazy some men can be, just sitting on the streets, or laying out in the fields while the women farm and cook. This was made apparent to me as we worked up in the village doing construction. Here we are, eight white women, hauling loads of heavy cement, sand, bricks and stones for hours in the hot sun and all but one or two African men stood there watching us work, never interjecting to help. Us girls talked about this after the fact and it was a bit frustrating in comparison to life in the states. Most men would be chivalrous enough to at least offer help, if not do it themselves. I do not say this to speak poorly of the men here because I know it is COMPLETELY cultural. Not all men are intentionally unkind, but I would say the majority are apathetic to their wives. This mentality is so ingrained in the culture that the women have willingly accepted it and the men have allowed it to continue. I want these women to know that they have more options than just getting married at 16, bearing children and being an indentured servant to her husband. Although my focus has been on health care, women's empowerment is something I really care about and want to push for while I am here. Receiving an education is so important and can help lead to the change this country needs! There are some women who I've met that are amazing, that have sought an education and are making change one small step at a time. I want all the young girls we meet to be influenced by these women. Perhaps we can help change the mindset of these women and encourage a future that is not so bleak. My education has molded my goals, desires and confidence to achieve what I set out to do. I am so grateful for the blessing to be born in a society that allowed me to do so. Education has been my primary focus for the past 15 years, and even more so in the past five years. I am the woman I am because of what I have learned and studied; I know that the women in Uganda have the same potential. With time and activism, I know that they can be empowered to set high standards for themselves and reach them.

 Another item that has been on my mind is health care, children specifically. Volunteering at the sick beds and clinics have made me incredibly aware of typical health concerns and the lack of medical care. Malaria is of course a great concern for individuals here and is a mass killer when it could easily be remedied by mosquito nets and prophylaxis such as doxycycline (the antimalarial we take and is relatively inexpensive). A really humbling experience has been volunteering at the local health clinic and sick bed at Child of Hope primary school in the Namatala slum. When I help at the clinic, it is usually to help administer injections, fill prescriptions or take blood samples to then run HIV, syphilis and malaria tests. Typically, they hand out amoxicillin and antimalarial medication until they run out, and wait for another shipment to arrive from the government 2 months later. Once they run out, they're out and this leaves the community dry and without medicine for as long as it takes to receive the new shipment. In the states, many of us have the option of private insurance and this is definitely NOT an option here. There is simply not enough money in savings for individuals, nor is there enough awareness of insurance for them to actually utilize it, even if they had the funds. It's easier to go without health care or do with minimal care based on money alone. I have seen this issue firsthand in Uganda, although I know it is a problem in the U.S. as well. There are pharmacies in town but the costs of medicines are high and many will not purchase their own. 

Giving an injection to a little boy with malaria at the sick bed

Josh and I at the Kamonkoli Clinic

The bed and dirty walls of the clinic

The clinic pharmacy where I help fill prescriptions, if the medicine is in stock.

In congruence with health care I have noticed that the treatment of children, like the treatment of women, is poor in comparison to the United States. Children are nurtured, cared for and loved in the U.S. and if they are treated poorly by their guardians, there is usually someone whether foster care, child protective services or social worker who is willing to find help for these children. It breaks my heart to see how some children live and are treated here in Uganda. There are some wonderful people that take in additional children and care for them the best they can, but most people struggle to care for themselves let alone additional children. Resources are extremely limited, which means that children have few items of clothing, no shoes, and little food. Last week I had the heart wrenching experience of having a little boy come into the sick bed at the school limping. I was under the impression that he had scraped up his knee but he motioned to his foot with a grimace on his face. We turned his foot over to look at the bottom and we were shocked to find bite marks from rats who had been eating away at his skin at night. Surveying the rest of his body, we also came to find out that it is also occurring on both feet and hands. According to the nurse, this is a common occurrence in the slums in households where the parents are negligent (or ignorant) to the health of their children. Most cases originate from extremely dirty living situations where the children sleep on the dirt floors and trash, food, etc attract rodents into the children's sleeping area. It was even harder not to be able to treat the wounds adequately other than applying gentian violet, a common antiseptic. Who knows what kind of bacteria these rodents carry, and we could not treat this boy because we do not have adequate testing supplies, nor bandages. All we could do was clean it and send him on his way. If parents were better educated and sympathetic to their children, the fate of these children might be a bit more optimistic. As I've mentioned in previous posts, the mentality is very individualized here and parents still have a "every man for himself" mindset and expect the same of their children. Such situations strike me constantly to want to take care of each child as though they were my own, but due to lack of resources, time and medical expertise, I cannot help every child.

You can see the bite marks from the rats on the right side of the foot

We could only apply gentian violet as a treatment for the bites

The stock of medication at the sick bed

My experience has motivated me to want to go into the medical field even more so than when I arrived. If I were more apt in training and supplies, I could begin to alleviate the physical suffering of the Ugandan people. Unfortunately, this is something that will have to wait a few years. I will return to Mbale and I'm sure of that. But, there are a few things I need to accomplish back in the states before so that I can be the most prepared to come back and REALLY help. The saddest part is that yes, I can and will come back, but I wish that this whole country could help each other--so that maybe everyone could receive the same care that I would in the United States. I know that Uganda has the great potential to change and improve the lives of its people but it will take time and commitment by the people themselves. I love the Ugandan people so much and am eager to have as many intelligent conversations with them before I leave and help them understand a different way of life. If anything, I can plant the seed of knowledge that will slowly help them realize what could be. 

I know that they have already changed me and helped me to see life in a completely different way. I am humbled and know that one reason I was meant to come here was to understand my own potential and the opportunities I have to affect change wherever I go. There is still yet so much to learn and gain from being in Uganda and I hope the next five weeks will broaden my understanding even more. It is a blessing to be here and I thank my Heavenly Father for this amazing opportunity to help love and serve his children in ways that they could not do for themselves. I think he placed me here so that they could do the same for me. I have been blessed by these wonderful people in ways that no one in the U.S. could have. Their unconditional gratitude and loving countenances have taught me about who I can be if I allow myself to be enveloped in service to my Heavenly Father. It is an experience I will never forget. I say it often but after what I have seen, I cannot forget it nor will I allow myself to.

Here's to another amazing five weeks to go!

Happy Father's Day!

I would like to take a moment to wish all the Fathers out there a wonderful Father's Day! Most importantly, I want to thank my wonderful Dad for being the amazing father that he is! You'll never find a more loving, warm-hearted father who has always been there to encourage me and support me my whole life. Some dads might have discouraged their daughter from traveling to a remote location across the world, but not my dad! He has encouraged me to broaden my horizons and see the world--not just once but twice!(European Study Abroad, 2010)  He has made it possible for me to come to Africa and have this amazing, life-changing experience that I will always cherish.

Thank you for being a great example to me of love and support. Thank you for keeping me updated on the Giants and Les Miserables trailers while I am away--you truly know your daughter! You have helped shaped me into the woman I am today and I am deeply grateful for it. Love you Dad!

(Don't be alarmed--we ARE Giants Fans but this happened to be at a Elementary School field trip to a cheap A's game)

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

A Quick Update!

A quick update on our progress in the village this week!

We spent another 3 successful days up in the village Monday through Wednesday and it was filled with more long hours of hauling sand, cement, stones and bricks BUT the walls are going up! It seems that we are a bit behind and may not meet our goal of opening on Monday but we're moving in the right direction! The villagers will be working away over the weekend and we will return on Monday and help finish the walls so the roof can be completed!

Last night, we had a fundraiser with CFA to raise money for the clinic supplies. They called it Sokoshamba, meaning village night. We were able to buy trinkets, food and listen to African music. We even got to try on African dresses! It was a blast :)

This post is a little shorter than normal but enjoy the pictures from this week!

Playing with some of the school children on the way to Bunabuyoka

They all came running!

All the bricks they completed while we were gone last weekend!!

My nemesis--the cement.

Winnie, 6, is my favorite little girl in the village. She has 3 younger siblings an they are so darling! Cyrus is the most beautiful little boy that she carries everywhere

The men pouring cement over the foundation

Hauling cement in a skirt. Sometimes I forget what it feels like to wear pants, it's been so long!

Carrying bricks in an assembly line

"Surfs Up!" from Winnie and her cousin Brenda

Damalie is Winnie's little sister. She is so beautiful!!

Damalie loves eskimo kisses!

We love to play!

Such a cute little girl!!

My favorite family! Winnie, 6, (right), Damalie, 3, (on my lap) and my crazy little Joseph, 4, (hugging me from behind).

Joseph loves to dance while jumping on my back!

Winnie and baby Cyrus

The walls going up!

Josh and I in the midst of construction! He leaves next week and I'll sorely miss my partner.

Men hard at work stacking bricks!

After 3 days of hard work, my feet looked a bit rough. Sadly, it wasn't all dirt. The tan lines were still there after a long scrubbing!

At Sokoshamba Thursday night trying on customary African garb and attempting to balance baskets on our heads. A bit difficult!

Nile Rafting and Clinic Constructing!

It's been a while since the last post--I apologize! It's been incredibly busy this week but very exciting.

Let's rewind a week.

Rafting the Nile--only a flesh wound. 
Last Friday nine of us made an impromptu decision to go white water rafting down the Nile. The source of the Nile is in Jinja, a 2-hour drive from Mbale, so we rushed into town, caught the last bus and were in Jinja by dinner! We stayed in (surprisingly) REALLY nice dorms provided by the rafting company. It had a beautiful cabana bar overlooking the Nile and they had hot showers with soft beds--it doesn't take much to impress us these days. We were up early Saturday morning and head to the river to meet our guide Duncan, an English-man turned New Zealander and absolutely hysterical. We had a blast getting soaked by rapids and lazing in the sun during the calm smooth water between rapids. I volunteered to take the brunt of the rapids by sitting in the front of the raft with Josh as my fellow row-captain. We all remained safely in the raft until the last rapid. Duncan warned us that one of three things could happen on our final rapid:
1) If we hit it straight on, we could glide right over it.
2) We could let air out of the raft and IF we hit it straight on, we could surf the rapid before we get knocked out or have to jump out.
3) We don't hit it straight on and we flip the raft.

Our intention was to achieve option #2, but we got #3. I got thrown and tossed under the rapids. It was all fun but when we popped out of the water I looked over to see Samantha, my partner-in-crime, bobbing next to me with blood pouring down half of her face. Being the medical enthusiast, fought upstream as fast as I could to get to her. We got her into the raft and minor clean up with the first aid kit on hand. Turns out that in the chaos of that last rapid with limbs flailing and oars flying, Sam bonked helmets with a fellow rafter (we think it possibly me) and the strap in her own helmet made a pretty little slice into her forehead just above her right eye. Thank goodness it was the last rapid. We got back to the dorms and I had a better chance to look at the wound. It was deep but didn't look like it needed additional medical attention, based on my own opinion. I bandaged it up the best could and hoped we could find someone to take a look at it soon.

The next morning, the LDS District Conference was in the same city that we were staying. We met our fellow branch members and missionaries there and even got to meet the Mission President afterwards. One of our branch missionaries directed Sam and I to the mission nurse so that she could take a look at my clean and wrap job. She said I'd mended it perfectly and that the wound will heal on its own. Sam will probably have a small scar but what a cool story--battle wound from rafting the Nile! After the district conference, we got to watch 3 weddings from members in our branch and a mission call opening! It was so eventful! Overall, minus the head wound, it was an awesome weekend away from Mbale.


Constructing a Clinic--How do you do this??
Tuesday morning we set off for the village to begin construction and I was so excited to see what we could accomplish, hoping to stay on schedule the best we could. We went to the hardware store to purchase all the materials and place them on a truck to be transported as far as automobiles can go up the mountain. The materials would need to be transported by foot the remainder of the way. The brick machine was due to head up Monday morning and we'd meet it up there Tuesday and begin our brick making. We did meet the brick machine on Tuesday, but only half way up the mountain. Throughout the planning process, no one seemed to ask just HOW big this machine would be. As I've mentioned before, the village is only accessible via a narrow footpath along the mountainside and it was not sufficient to push a 1100 lb. machine. By the time we'd gotten to the machine, about 50 men from the village had torn up the road with hoes, constructed two bridges out of trees along the way and were heave-hoeing the machine with ropes and man power from behind. I was AMAZED at their determination and willingness to put in two days worth of intense hard labor to get the machine up the mountain just to begin construction, not having begun construction itself. By Tuesday evening, the machine reached the village and we had carried all the materials by foot except for the cement bags.

It wasn't until Wednesday morning that we began our brick-making. It took awhile to get going, encouraging the men to help us carry 110 lb. bags of cement up the mountain when they wanted to look at the big, shiny, machine. It was one of the most physically taxing days for me, ever. Carrying these bags in our arms was NOT an option so we ended up taking turns carrying these bags on our backs or our heads. It was quite frustrating because you can't walk too fast and you're walking up a straight slope. It was my least favorite portion of the construction. Eventually, we motivated the men to help carry enough bags to start producing bricks. We spent the remainder of the day mixing mud and cement to make the bricks and carrying them to dry inside the church. While we all were making the bricks, the roof technicians finished the school roof. We have since heard that they've finished cementing the floor so, the school is DONE!

I ended up going home on Wednesday due to a sickness I'd been battling since the night before but three girls stayed behind to help make more bricks and by the end of the second day, they'd made about 1000 bricks. All the bricks have been completed now and this next week, we'll be heading back to build the walls from the bricks so that they can roof and cement the floors before our deadline on June 18th. We're still hopeful but it will be a stretch! We've been having meetings with local health care providers about getting enough supplies to open up the clinic and have a grand opening. We are hoping to find some donors who are willing to donate supplies or funds for the medicines and supplies to get it started up. They'll have a board in place to run the clinic and ensure that the community is providing a cost share to keep the clinic staffed and supplied. (Please let me know if you are willing to help contribute to these start-up supplies!)

Within the next few weeks we WILL have a clinic and I can't be more excited. I am eager to begin providing health care instead of just constructing the building. I love these people and they are so grateful for us and all the work we are willing to put in for them. They've taught me such great humility and gratitude and I'm amazed every time I return at their determination to build this clinic!


Wait, there's more?
A side note, my other projects such as working in the clinics and writing health curricula is going well. I've been volunteering at a health clinic on Thursdays and this week they had us doing lab work by testing for HIV, syphilis, and malaria. I took the blood samples from the patients and then ran the tests. Luckily, we had no HIV positives but a good number of malaria-ridden patients. Good thing there are antimalarial medications that we could give them and send them on their way. Instead of heading to the school sick-bed on Friday as usual, I went to CURE Hospital to meet the head hospital administrator. CURE is an American-based hospital but specializes in pediatric neurosurgery--mostly cases of Hydrocephalus (excess fluid in the brain) or Spinabifida (a spinal protrusion in the lower back). Derek, the American hospital administrator, gave me a tour and showed me all the AMAZING work that they are doing. They perform about 5,000 neurosurgeries a year working on placing shunts into the brain or tending to neurological deformities. All the medical personnel are Ugandan and are the best surgeons in eastern Africa. This hospital is one of the best in all of Africa because of the specialization and care. Derek told me that no child is turned away but the families are required to pay for a portion of the services. I'm shocked that they are able to perform such a high volume of surgeries and have such little money from each family. Although the hospital is owned by an American corporation, the majority of the funds to run the hospital are provided by private donors in Uganda itself. It's awesome to hear that wealthier Ugandans are giving back to their communities to provide them with health care that is a necessity for some children to live. These surgeries are very specialized and would not be attempted at any other hospital. The grounds are beautifully kept and there are two more buildings being constructed to begin adult neurosurgery. I love to see that the country is learning to become self-sustainable without much outside support.

I've been diligent to work on writing the health care curricula for those who will be teaching in local schools. Lately, I've been writing based on questions submitted from high school students on maturation. It's pretty funny to hear some of their questions and dispel certain rumors, but also saddening to know that they cannot ask their parents. Unfortunately, they live in society that teaches them to fear their parents so typical questions that we'd all asked our parents growing up, are taboo. Luckily, HELP volunteers are willing and excited to answer these questions. My job is just to write a curriculum that best teaches them and answers questions about their own bodies. Josh and I have been teaming up on pretty much all of our projects but he will be leaving next week to go home. I will be the head for most of these projects so it will require a bit more planning and organizing on my part!

Saturday, I decided to take a break and stay home instead of heading to Kampala with the rest of the team for Uganda's first soccer game. They had a great time, but I had an even BETTER day relaxing, doing laundry by hand, and writing my Young Women's lesson for Sunday. I love getting to teach the teenage girls--it's probably my dream calling! They are much quieter than American girls so you have to draw participation out of them a bit more than you would at home. They're so sweet and all gave me hugs after my lesson! I am going to miss this place when I leave...good thing I still have 7 weeks!

Sorry for the epistle of a blog post, but there is SO much going on and not very much time to write. Unfortunately, you have to read about it all at once haha! Thank you for the support and encouraging comments. I love it here and am grateful for every moment. Love you all!

Ash

 Some rafting pictures--I'm in the front right in the raft:

The big, last rapid!

WIPE OUT!

Our group getting ready to head to the village in our packed taxis. Imagine another 8 Africans in the van, and that's a typical taxi ride!

Stopping at the hardware store for our building supplies

The new road widened to fit the brick machine

The village men fastened a new bridge out of trees to get the machine over the water

The men using hoes to widen the path

They even cut a tree down to fit the machine

The progress on the foundation for the clinic!

The men pulling the machine up the path

Carrying cement from the truck to the village

Josh carrying a 110 lb bag on his back, which is INCREDIBLY heavy.

One of my best buds, Joseph, and I at the village!

The men pulling the machine the last bit of the way into the village. It was a long 2 days for these men!

Playing the African version of tug-o-war with the African children. I LOVE these kids SO much!!

The beginning of constructing the roof of the school

The massive brick machine!

The finished school!!

Carrying one of hundreds of bricks form the machine to the church where they were stored and dried.

HOW cool is that landscape?? I catch myself staring in awe of the mountains as I carried bricks.

Josh and I dirty and exhausted from a long day of cement-carrying and brick making. It was a success though!!