The Clinic, America's Birthday, & African Safari!

Wow! It's been quite the eventful few weeks and I apologize for the lack of details. Here goes at an attempt to cover it all. Be prepared for lots of pictures!

First, let me address the clinic. I went up a week ago Friday to help pour cement for the floor and the ring beam. I feel so well-versed in construction terms now! I'm not even sure if "ring beam" is a common term in American construction but I now know that in Africa, it is the concrete layer of cement that is poured on top of all the bricks to ensure the stability of the structure. The four of us girls only stayed for the afternoon to help build morale in the community and help with what little construction we could. We had a long meeting regarding the sustainability of the clinic and it's still something we are working to ensure. I've been meeting with government officials and partner organizations looking for someone to provide supplies and funding long-term seeing as the community is far too poor to pay for it all themselves. We're hoping to eventually hand the whole clinic over to the government but in the mean time, we will have to find donors to cover the pharmaceuticals and some type of compensation for doctors, nurses and health workers. Unfortunately, the government has put a few road blocks in our way of opening the clinic, but it WILL happen in the next two weeks. I have to see the clinic open before I leave! The next two weeks will be focused on developing a 10 year plan for the clinic prior to opening the clinic. I'll also be working with the clinics and sick beds until I go trying to get as much patient exposure I can before my African adventure concludes. I can't believe I only have 2 weeks left. I don't even want to think about it yet. Let's pretend I'm not leaving and talk about my exciting adventures here!

The clinic almost done! We've since heard that the roof has been completed and the floor has been cemented! Pictures to verify coming next week!

The men mixing cement

What a beautiful place! All of our hard work coming to completion.

Two weekends ago, Samantha and Mallory and I took a weekend trip to Jinja, a city about 2.5 hours away from Mbale just to get a change of scenery. We spent Saturday walking around the downtown eating AMAZING Indian food and walking around the shops. Sunday we went to the local LDS Branch where we saw part of the Lugazi team, which was a great surprise! I even saw Elder Chauya (my favorite elder that was transferred the week before from Mbale to Jinja!) An amazing story here-- We all took bodas to our hostel Saturday night and Mallory invited her boda driver, Julius, to come to church with us the next day. Not only did he come, but came dressed incredibly well and gravitated towards the members immediately. We heard from Elder Chauya today that Julius has agreed to be baptized on July 29! We are ecstatic! It's only been a week but the spirit works in marvelous ways to bring souls unto our Heavenly Father. I'm so excited for him!

The LDS billboard just next to the chapel in Jinja

Mallory and I on the other side of the billboard!

Our group has been talking about the Fourth of July for about a month now and what we would do to celebrate. Our cook, Sam, told us that he could make burgers which is quite the rarity around here considering that meat is not cheap nor do we trust its origin and preparations. We knew that we would have burgers but then the menu began to significantly increase. We all called dibs on who would prepare each dish and next thing we knew we had about 10 dishes and had invited about 15 additional people--the local LDS missionaries, neighbors, partner organizations, and other Americans in the area. I, of course, called the potato salad, my favorite 4th of July dish! It turned out surprisingly well considering that I took a gamble on African mayo. Tasted just like the real deal!! We set up a volleyball net and the missionaries played with some of our other friends as we finished preparations on the food. In total, we had burgers, potato salad, corn on the cob, sweet potato fries, watermelon, pineapple, pasta salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, coleslaw-- and amazingly it tasted REALLY American! We had to make a few adjustments, but it was by far the best American food I've ever had. That may be because I hadn't had red meat in 2 months or maybe I was just feeling incredibly patriotic being my first Independence Day away form the states... Either way, it was an amazing celebration of the fourth of July!

Sam, our cook, and David, our guard, making sweet potato fries!

The meat patties! I could not wait for my first red meat in months :)

Elder Briggs playing beach volleyball (with beach ball) with our neighbor girl in our front yard

Roasting corn on the cob

Our beautiful volleyball net and party-goers.

Look at all of our AMAZING American food. The best food I've had in years

 Immediately after our massive BBQ, four of us girls set out on our African safari for the following four days. We planned this trip a few weeks ago and had been eagerly anticipating it! Our friend Freddie scheduled a taxi to take us from Mbale to Kampala leaving at 10pm. After two incredibly angry chickens tied together beneath our seats, one large woman reclined fast asleep into our row and 4 hours of bumpy roads, we reached Kampala! We stayed at the hostel provided by the safari company. We got up a few short hours later to set out on our long day of driving to western Uganda ahead of us. Our safari group consisted of our adorable driver, Ronald, and three other American women who were here for research and studies for a couple months. We spent the majority of the day sleeping (after a sleepless night) all the way to Murchison Falls. It was a short hike to the falls and it was absolutely beautiful! My third set of water falls in Uganda and they get more and more beautiful each time. Ronald drove us over to our campsite where we would be sleeping for the next two days. Upon arrival, we were immediately welcomed with the shock of a warthog sleeping right in the middle of the campsite fast asleep. I screamed, "Pumba!" They told us that the warthogs were nothing to worry about. It was the hippos that should taken with utmost caution. In the states I have had my fair share of campsite stories warning campers not to leave food in the tent in fear of bears. Well, here in Africa, getting trampled by hippos in the night if you leave food in your tent is the greatest concern. That was enough information to persuade me to empty my backpack.

Us girls getting ready to leave for Kampala!

Top of the gorgeous Murchison Falls!

Third set of falls in 2 months!

The four of us with our driver, Ronald.

The next morning, we set out on our African safari! We had to take a ferry across the Nile to get to the wildlife preserve. There are pods of hippos all along the river and we passed them on our first of many crossings. In the Murchison Falls area, Baboons are EVERYWHERE. They're like the squirrels of Uganda--eating random food or sitting in the road. Again referencing Lion King I exclaimed, "Rafiki!" They are quite hilarious and adorably mischievous getting into trash cans and the backs of trucks. We drove along the grasslands for the remainder of the morning getting to see giraffes, elephants, hyenas, a lion, jackal, water buffalo, antelope, waterbucks, more warthogs, just to name a few!

The warthog in our camp!

The elephant that almost charged car!

The giraffes are my favorite!!

A hyena in the bush! Sorry for the poor quality here.

A jackal

Us with a pod of hippos behind us!

It's hard to see, but there are baboons all over the road just up ahead.

A baboon just chilling on the road!

We love safaris!

Going across the river

Water buffalo in the mud!

After a morning of safari driving, we set out on an afternoon river cruise. I kept saying, "This is definitely NOT the Disneyland Jungle Cruise! This is the REAL deal!" We spent a few more hours enjoying some of the most breathtaking natural beauty I've ever seen. I've visited quite a few National Parks in the U.S. and I'm sorry dad, none of those places even begin to compare to the beauty of the Nile at Sunset with Murchison Falls in the distance. Unfortunately, these pictures just don't do it justice. I took TONS of pictures and I'll spare you the frustration of loading them but I'll try and create a slideshow and post it. We saw plenty more hippos in and out of the water, crocodiles, monkeys and hundreds of gorgeous birds. I'm not much of a bird-watcher but they are so exotically beautiful. Our guide kept pointing out different species but I was just in awe of their beauty. The boat got us up to the base of the falls where we got to take some gorgeous pictures from the water in comparison to the pictures we took from up high the day before. Here are just a few pictures of our beautiful afternoon on the river.

A croc along the Nile!

Hippos are everywhere, in and out of the water!

Murchison falls in the background

My fellow travelers and I at Murchison falls!

From atop the boat watching the sunset. So gorgeous!

We left our campsite on Saturday morning and stopped at another falls along the way back to Kampala. We unfortunately got attacked by spiders and fire ants along the hike to the falls. It never ceases to be an adventure here in Africa! One night while in camp, I got to treat Sam for a hairy caterpillar sting. Apparently they sting leaving venom and prickly hairs in the skin. I got to spend the remainder of that night tweezing little caterpillar hairs from Sam's hand. Yet again, I'm meant to go into medicine!! I keep telling her that she's lucky she brought her walking first aid attendant with her to Africa otherwise she'd have one nasty gash on her forehead (which has now healed!) and a hand full of itchy, rashy caterpillar hairs. What a fun pair we are! Here are pictures from Karimu falls:

It was such an amazing weekend and we are back to our work here in Mbale! With nearly no time left, I'm trying to make the most of everyday. Uganda amazes me with its beauty and the amazing people here. I'll never want to leave, but unfortunately life needs to continue back in the U.S. I will return someday. SO, anyone who is interested, I'm already planning my trip back after PA school. Let me know if you're free for summer 2016!

Sorry for the incredibly long post, yet again. I have SO many pictures from the safari. For those who are interested, I'll have a video completed eventually so you can see more of the beauty here in Uganda. I can't say it enough, I LOVE this country!!