Blogs from Mbarara, Western Region, Uganda, Africa

Hi All, I have spent the last two weeks in Mbarara volunteering in the emergency department at the government-run Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital. I was fortunate enough to experience such a breadth of cases in such a short time. I saw all kinds of emergencies and realized that, although tropical diseases can be so different from western ones, the types of cases that present in the emergency department are very similar. There was a lot of trauma (mostly from boda boda accidents or mob justice), overdose, burns, stroke, hypertensive crisis, and the like. I felt comfortable and useful in surgical emergency because it was highly procedure-based. While speaking very minimal Runyankole, I am able to perform procedures but taking a history or constructing a differential diagnosis with physicians proved difficult due to the language barrier. I ... read more

Agandi! Warning: extra long post ahead, to make up for the ever-growing gaps between posts. And Happy National Ice Cream Day! Technically it's an American thing, but I'm going to unofficially declare it as an international holiday as additional justification for my ice cream intake. ;) We've been all over the place these past couple of weeks--first to Kampala, then Gulu, then back to Kampala, and coming "home" to Mbarara last Monday. We got scooped up into some of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into our supervisors' research with adolescent nutrition and sexual/reproductive health and rights (SRHR). We sat in on some meetings with representatives from BRAC international (an organization that actively promotes and provides opportunities for the empowerment of women), and various universities and hospitals. It was very interesting to talk to the public health ... read more

Good morning! I am writing from the road between Mbarara and Kampala. These past weeks have been filled with adventures, and I’ve done a poor job at keeping up with my blog. However, in the spirit of keeping a faithful recollection of my trip, I will make a blog post for every week I’ve missed. Since I will be on the road these next few days as we travel between Kampala, Gulu, and Mbarara, I will have plenty of time and no excuse to avoid blogging. The funny thing is that I enjoy writing and I am always so satisfied when I post a blog. But I always want to add so much detail to my posts, making the writing process quite time-consuming. And so I stop writing because I’d rather be doing other things. Last ... read more

Greetings from Mbarara! What’s new? After six days in this new city, we managed to flood our bathroom, subsequently run out of water, and get invited to a Ugandan wedding! But first things first: Mbarara is a busy and bustling city. My first impression: wow, there are so many boda bodas! These Ugandan taxis on motorcycles are as numerous as cars and are way more reckless on the road (which is saying something since vehicle drivers are notoriously reckless). They also can carry up to three passengers behind the driver or transport large bunches of bananas, parcels, or even goats on occasion. Mbarara has held nothing but surprises so far. While some things may seem similar, in reality, almost everything is different. For example, the toilets in our house: we didn’t know that the toilet handle ... read more

Hello again, Ki kati! Time seems to pass slowly as we meander through the days in Uganda. And yet, looking back on these past couple of weeks, it amazes me how the days have blurred and flown past faster than a reckless boda boda driver (motorcycle taxis that we are strongly discouraged to take rides from). So here we are now, third post of the trip, and already approaching the end of May! We spent the weekend on the Ssese Islands, where we did typical "island/resort" things like sunbathe, swim, and eat delicious food. Since it is the end of the rainy season we had to wait out quite a bit of rain, but we were still able to soak up some rays (and vitamin D!) during our time there. We even went for a run, ... read more