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!