Wrapping up & Nearing the end...

Wow. It’s finally reached my one week mark. Yes, one week from today I will embarking on an airplane back to the states. I can't believe it's already happening. I'd rather just talk about what's been going on rather than what the next 7 days will mean. Here goes!

With what little time remaining, I am trying to be as productive as possible. So, the health clinic is complete! Well, as complete as we intended it to be when we began construction. There are definitely more setbacks than we were expecting. Unfortunately, I will not be able to see the clinic open. Working in Africa yields a lot of communication issues with the community and our partner organization. Also, African time plays into promptness of accomplishing our goals. EVERYTHING is ALWAYS late. I have yet to attend a meeting that our African counterpart was on time to. That's just some of the setbacks we continue to face. Essentially, the community is not able to afford the doors and windows and our partner organization has been very, very slow to connect us with the necessary government officials. What has been incredibly difficult is having to deal with formalities. We can't just set up meetings with those we need to talk with, but have to meet with everyone in the district and set good graces with them all before we can discuss our needs. It's just the way we HAVE to do it. Our original financial plan has also needed reconstruction. I will need to go back to the states and find foreign donors to help subsidize the cost of drugs and medical personnel seeing as the community will not be able to pay for these costs with user fees. I have also been working to establish partnerships with other local NGOs to see if they can continue this work after the departure of HELP International. It's sad that I was not able to complete all that I hoped to before leaving, but that's all part of international development--having to work with a developing country and their flawed procedures. I still love them, but it's difficult when we're under time constraints. My team will continue to work while I'm in the U.S. to ensure that the clinic opens before they leave at the end of August.

Our finished clinic!!

The view from our clinic window

Digging our disposal pit

Me teaching a women's health class from within the clinic!!

Answering lots and lots of questions about women's health--even questions from the men!

Aside from the clinic, I have been volunteering at my normal clinics and CURE Pediatric Neurosurgerical Hospital. I love it. Building a clinic was great, but ACTUALLY administering health care to specific, individual people is where I find gratification in my day. Even when I have to take a blood sample from a screaming child in the clinic or assist a doctor restrain a child to extract cerebrospinal fluid from the skull of a hydrocephalus patient, I love it. I look forward to preparing for my career in medicine as soon as I get home. This has been one of the most rewarding experiences because it has been reaffirmed to me over and over again that health care is my passion. These are the opportunities I know will continue to motivate me throughout my career and within my family. The need for health care is an indispensable privilege that we are given in the United States and I only hope I can continue to ensure that those in developing communities are given the same human right. 

Doing HIV testing in the Naboa Clinic by taking blood samples from all the women in the community

All the women came for vaccinations and HIV testing-- I did the HIV testing

Last weekend I spent at the St. Steven's Secondary School teaching a teacher training to for about 50 teachers in the district. I was not part of the group who organized the training but I volunteered to help teach the parents while the other members of the team taught the teachers. It was great to speak with the parents about being actively involved and supportive of their children's education. I gave specific examples about how my parents were supportive of my education and encouraging me to do my best and I am finishing my last year at the university and look to further my education. Parents really are the backbone to a child's education and helping them reach their potential. Unfortunately, this is lacking in Uganda and we are working to help them understand the significance of their involvement. They were all really responsive and eager to take what we had proposed to them and put it into practice. Sam did a great job in organizing the whole day!

One of our parent training demonstrations of setting up an obstacle course and having someone do it alone and then having someone assist them the whole way. This can be compared to how parents need to assist children all along the way of their education.

Sam and Cami doing a great job teaching the teachers on how to teach!

It's been a crazy, yet amazing week here in Uganda and I'm sure I'll get one last blog post written before I head home. I only have five actual days of work left and I'm booked until the end. I'll go to the school and hospital one last time, do a day of HIV testing and finish up clinic assignments before I pack up and head out. I'm not ready but I have to come to terms with it all. I love Uganda. I love the people. And I know that this experience will be one I'll always remember. Stay tuned for my last post in the next couple days. Tugende!