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.