More Pictures

Reflection

I was going to write a blog reflecting on my project and my experiences, but because I have to do a write-up for my project as part of my Advanced Study Grant, I think I will wait and post that.

For now, here are some pictures (not the ones I originally said I was going to post).

Home Sweet Home

I am going to keep this brief as it is 4:45 in the morning my body time and my bed is calling to me. I have made it home safely. A reflection blog post with pictures will be coming soon.

Final Post Before My Return

Today was my last day at the clinic. Now, I am officially done with my project for the summer. I met with Lucy today, something I needed to do before I leave. The Weston teachers and students donated their extra first aid supplies, sanitary napkins, hand sanitizer, soap, and medicine, which I brought over to the clinic. Some of the supplies will stay at the clinic and some will be distributed amongst the schools. I also brought Lucy all my project supplies that I have left: documents, posters with information, folders, coloring sheets, word searches, word scrambles, scissors, tape, crayons, and blank poster board. I hope that Lucy can use all the supplies to carry out a successful health education program in the schools on her outreach days. I also left her with first aid sheets and activities for the teachers and administrators. We both thought it would be good for her to do basic first aid training with them, so that they know how to use the supplies that I supplied each school with. After we went through all the supplies, Lucy and I went through the folder I put together for her that contains a bunch of important documents. We also discussed what Lucy needs to do next. I had talked to Alice, who is working with the peer education project here, about whether or not she thought it would be good for Denis, the male nurse, to discuss sex and respecting woman with the boys, since Lucy and the peer educators will be working with the girls. I also ran this by Lucy, who thought it was a great idea.

Just as we were ending our meeting, a little girl arrived. She had little skin bumps (almost like warts) all over her feet and ankles. I asked Lucy if she thought they were gejjers, which are a type of insect that lay their eggs under a person’s skin. Apparently two of them were. They had already been removed, but improperly, so they had gotten infected. Lucy sent me to get a safety pin from the supplies the teachers donated and I disinfected it with an alcohol wipe. The poor girl, who was only three years old, was so terrified she was shaking and then when she saw the safety pin she started screaming bloody murder. I tried comforting her, but it was hard because of the language barrier. Lucy stuck the tip of the safety pin into the two bumps and pus was released. The girl’s father had to hold her down. I was so sad for her because she was so upset, but then she saw the needle for the other bumps, which was a bacterial skin infection, and her reaction was even worse. Her dad really had to hold her down. All I could think was that if that had been me I would have been screaming just as loud. The needles here are remarkably long and appear to be quite thick. She was given the injection on her back side, right above her right butt cheek. I wouldn’t be surprised if the needle went through to the bone. Lucy said that she has to come for five days for injections and take an oral antibiotic for five days as well and the skin injection will clear up. As sad as it was, I thought it was a good experience to end with.

Tomorrow, we are going on a small hike around a bunch of crater lakes and on a tour of a vanilla plantation. We end the day with dinner at Ndali Lodge, a wonderful lodge that overlooks the lakes. Sunday, we leave for Entebbe at about 9. The plan is to spend the afternoon at the Lake Victoria Hotel, where we will also eat an early dinner. We head to the airport at around 6:30 and our flight leaves at 10:20. I will be home Monday morning. We are set to land at Logan at 10:20 AM. As sad as I am to be leaving, I am really looking forward to finally being home.

I have plans to make my health education project a more sustainable project. Lucy will be carrying out the health education in the schools, and although I plan on collecting supplies over the next year to ship here, my ultimate goal is to hand the project over to the locals. Alice helped me come up with the idea of a soap making club. The idea would be that the school children make soap with local products. They could try to sell the soap to locals or they could use it. Either way, it would be something the children could really benefit from. When I get back to the States, I need to look into different soap making methods. I hope that the materials are accessible and relatively cheap (if not free).

Please feel free to contact me via email with any questions about my project or future plans in regards to Uganda. I would be happy to discuss it.

Final Week

I cannot believe that in less than a week I will be back in the States. I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited. I actually can't wait. This does not mean my time here has not been good, but with being sick (I am still suffering some problems), I am looking forward to being home. I have officially gotten everything I wanted to get done done. I have visited three different levels of medical centers. Yesterday was the trip to the hospital. It was incredible to see what a hospital looks like in a third world country, since I had expected more at the clinics. The hospital, however, was what I expected. I will post pictures of two different medical clinics and the hospital when I am back in the states. I will also post the information I typed up on each.

Right now, looking at everything I accomplished, I feel as though I got the most out of the health education and donating of supplies to the schools. This is mainly because I felt the children benefited extremely from it. Beatrice, a P1 (kindergarten) teacher, said her students have been practicing the coughing into the sleeve rather than the mouth. Another teacher told me that she and her students learned something new. They didn't know before that you should rub your hands together with soap for 20 seconds. She said that before my lesson she would just wipe her hands on the bar of soap and then rinse it off. I had a wonderful moment the other day when I went to the schools with the first aid supplies and soap. The headmaster at Kikko ran and came back with a locked box that read first aid. He said, "This has been empty for years and now it will be filled." It really touched me.

Before I leave, I have a meeting with Lucy the nurse. I am leaving her with my materials and health education project so that she can carry it out in the other schools. We have also arranged for her to go to all five schools and show the teachers and administrators how to use the first aid supplies I provided.

Once again, thank you to everyone who helped make this happen.

Update on Project

Hi All. So this week was quite busy, but also started off slowly. I got sick on Monday and was still not feeling well Tuesday. We decided I have jardia and I have started on medication, which seems to be working other than some minor symptoms from time to time and the side effects of the medication. Wednesday was a welcoming ceremony that lasted a full day. It was quite exciting. My plan for Thursday was to begin dividing up the medical supplies and soap for each school and create a folder with important paper work for each school. I was then going to deliver one set in the afternoon to one of the schools which is in walking distance. However, I ended up being even more productive and was able to put together all packages for each school and get to four out of the five schools, where I met with the headmaster/mistress and handed over the supplies. It was such a great feeling to have gotten so much done. Yesterday, I visited another clinic. The Kiko clinic is one level up from from the clinic I work at. They do bloodwork, admit people, and have a maternity ward. I then went into Fort Portal. Because I have been sick, half a day wipes me out and I had to take the afternoon to just relax. Monday I go to the Fort Portal hospital and nursing school.

I feel as though I have accomplished everything I planned to accomplish and even some extra. My plan for next week, besides the trip into Fort Portal, will be to spend some time in clinic and just reflect on my trip. I have begun to reflect on what I have seen and what I have done. I might begin my write-up.

Thank you to Boston College and to everyone at home for helping to make my trip a success.