Ki Kati (Hello) from Uganda

Steve and I left Logan at 7:10pm on July 29th and flew to Amsterdam. We then had a three hour layover in wee hours of the morning. During our lay over in Amsterdam we met a woman named Carol and a man named Thomas who work for a small NGO, called the Harambee Centre, based out of Portland, OR. From what they told us the Harambee Centre facilitates partnerships between high schools in the U.S. and high schools in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. They then chaperon the trips of students that consist of students who participate in a pen pal program. They were both very positive about Uganda, the people who live here, and the foreign volunteers who come over here. Thomas is Ugandan and he caught me practicing my Luganda on the plane. He said that it would be easy to pick up once we hang out with young children who speak more slowly. I am skeptical, it has been very hard to learn :-/. Anyways, we got on our flight from Amsterdam to Entebbe at 11:00 am and arrived in Entebbe at 8:10pm on July 30th. The flights were long and had terrible food, but we made it.

Once we arrived in Entebbe we went through Passport Control. Despite the fact that I have a nine month visa, the passport control woman only validated my passport for one month. I have no idea why this is, and she would not explain. However, she said that after the next thirty days, there is some sort of government office in Masaka that will validate it for the remainder of the time. After going through Passport Control we were able to pick up our bags. Luckily everything arrived at the same time we did.

After getting our bags we thought we would have to go through customs, but when we followed the signs that said customs it led us to pick up and the shuttle driver from the Backpackers Hostel was already waiting for us. The ride back was quite interesting. First, they drive on the left in Uganda. While I have seen this before, I have not seen it since I learned how to drive. It is a little unnerving. Second, they drive much more aggressively then I am used to. For example, when we were on a two lane road, our driver did not hesitate to squeeze between the car in front of us and the car traveling the other direction to pass the car in front of us. But after about 45 minutes of this we arrived safely at the Backpackers Hostel, got our room, and got on the internet :).

Once at the hostel we meet two more interesting people. One was an American girl who is getting her masters in Dublin, Ireland. She is at the end of her three to four week trip here. She is studying the effect of eco-tourism on local populations. She spent most of her time in Bwindi National Park. The second person we meet was a guy from California who was here working in micro-finance for four months. He is currently starting his fourth month. He lives about 35km from Masaka which is somewhat close to where we will be. He told us about a group of about 20 Irish volunteers who are working at various clinics in the same area.

Lastly, I would like to thank all of those people who have posted comments. It is so great to hear all your positive comments and supportive thoughts. I am both very excited and very nervous and it is nice to know that you are all flowing me through this journey.

Getting Ready To Go

I have recently graduated from Union College and received the Minerva Fellowship sponsoring me to work in a clinic in rural Uganda. This is the first year this fellowship is being implemented. This blog will be documenting my experiences working in the Engeye Clinic in Ddgeya, Uganda. I will be working in Uganda for nine months from July 29, 2008 to April 10 2009. I am being sent with one other 2008 Union graduate, Steve. We will be working at the clinic helping create a record keeping system, developing a protocol system to help diagnose diseases more accurately, working at the clinic as general staff members, and teaching in the local schools. We will be living in the volunteer housing behind the clinic. Steve and I will be the first volunteers to stay for such a long period of time because of this we are in completely new territory.

I graduated from Union on June 15^th. Since then I have been spending the majority of my time visiting friends, spending “quality time” with my family, and most importantly preparing for my time in Uganda.

I guess my preparation actually began toward the end of my spring term when Dean McEvoy (The dean responsible for this program), Steve, and I went down to Boston where we meet up with John Kalule. John is a native Ugandan from the village of Ddgeya. He is in charge of the day to day running of the clinic. He normally lives at the clinic; however, he is currently living in Boston accompanying a young woman named Susan. Susan was severely burned as a child. These burns have severely inhibited her ability to walk and work. Shiners Hospital in Boston is currently sponsoring her treatment and reconstructive surgeries. So we went down to Boston to meet John and Susan. John was unbelievably nice, knowledgeable, and capable. Meeting him was very comforting and he helped answer some of Steve and my questions.

Since our trip to Boston Steve and I have been in pretty frequent contact with John, Stephanie (one of the clinic’s founders and a third year med student at Albany Medical School), and Misty (one of the clinic’s key administrators and another third year med student at Albany Medical School). They have been helping us get our visas, make our travel arrangements, figure out our budget, and answered general questions. All three of them have been unbelievably helpful, well informed, and excited.

John has been especially helpful in hiring a cook. While this seems ridiculous we have decided to hire a cook for at least the first month or so. She will teach us how to cook with what ever cooking apparatus is available to us and how to wash our clothes. She will also be living with me at the clinic. I think this is a great opportunity for both Steve, the girl, and I because not only will she teach us how to cook and clean, but we will be able to practice our Lugandan (the language spoken where we will be) with her and she will be able to practice her English with us.

I leave in about ten days from now and I am about ready. Including purchasing every over the counter medicine you can imagine, I have bought books on administering healthcare in rural area, downloaded language software (found by Steve), and set up my blog J. Now I am getting nervous. Today was the first goodbye I had to say and I was very sad. It was the first time it hit me that I will be cut off from my friends and family for such a long time. However, despite my anxiety (which I think is pretty normal) I am also getting really excited. I have been preparing for so long that I am now anxious to actually get over there and start working.

While the clinic only has four solar panels and no running water, they have just installed internet. Therefore I will be keeping up this blog on a fairly regular basis over the next nine months.