Blogs from Mbarara, Western Region, Uganda, Africa - page 2

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Africa » Uganda » Western Region » Mbarara June 28th 2018

I have been in Uganda now for 2 days and I already feel settled - it does feel like a home away from home. I have also already settled into my lovely soda addiction! Once I arrived from Entebbe to Mbarara I felt a rush of relief as I thought "okay this I know". The sights, the sounds and that very distinct Mbarara smell flooded me with memories. This town can be unforgiving but it can also bring you amazing opportunities to see the good in people. I am excited to continue our collaboration with MUST and I myself (along with the new students this year) had a formal tour of the hospital. Many things have changed since 2 years ago and I am happy to see they received more funding to expand certain wards like ... read more
My morning coffee views
Drinking all the Mirinda my body can handle
Gates to a house in the Jehovah witness section

Africa » Uganda » Western Region » Mbarara June 28th 2018

I am coming yo my last hours in Mbarara (yes my last blog was just minutes ago but I could not get good enough internet to post it until now). I have set the students up as best as I can but am mostly feeling sad to be leaving this town. There are so many friends and experiences I want to have the chance to see and do but sadly I will not. I have made contact with a friend of mine from before named Shaay. He will be taking the students to do Afripads around Mbarara and other projects. He is a super interesting character as he is trained to talk to young women about safe and healthy sex. This is virtually unheard of here. Especially the idea that women can have a healthy sexual ... read more

Africa » Uganda » Western Region » Mbarara August 4th 2016

Our time in Mbarara went by quicker than any of us had really expected. It feels like we have only just begun to figure out our way around the multiple challenges faced in the hospital here. This week Carrie and I worked on the Male Surgical ward with patients recovering from or awaiting surgery. Britany spent her time in the Emergency department, Brooklyn was working in theatre and Joline was splitting her time between labour and delivery and pediatrics. Our final week was a short one as we left for Safari on Friday morning and many of us took Thursday off in order to pack and run errands. This week was a challenge for some of us as many began to feel burnt out and ready to head out on safari. It is difficult to explain ... read more
Prenatal Wing
Postnatal
Hospital walkway

Africa » Uganda » Western Region » Mbarara August 3rd 2016

Two weeks have passed since my last entry, and exactly two remain until I hop on the plane back home. I have felt unwell as of late, and my energy is at an all time low, hence the neglect in keeping my writing updated… I spent the last couple weeks between the hospital and doing community projects. The community work included first aid training, which Dayna and I taught to a group of “paravets” – community workers who are trained in veterinary services to assist the goat keepers. The Vets Without Borders had organized an education day for the paravets, to refresh their skills on vaccinations, deworming, spraying for tics, etc., and asked if we could organize a component for human health as well. It was well received, the paravets had many questions and the presentation ... read more
Goat Giveaway!
School Girls
Joseph and His Wife

Africa » Uganda » Western Region » Mbarara July 31st 2016

Time has flown by this week! And so much to write about but I will be highlighting the big three for this week. On Monday we held our second pads training day in a village close to Kihwa called Nyamuyanja (spelling may be wrong on that one). This was a brand new group that we scoped out and we were all a bit nervous of how it would go down but it was FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC! The girls and women were so receptive to our messages and asked us so many questions. They were all so eager to learn how to sew liners and care for their shields and liners so they would last them a long time. Our spunky little Vivian took the cake on getting everyone riled up again by getting all the girls and women ... read more
The pads!!!
All of the women and girls who participated! 71 in total
Sewing our liners

Africa » Uganda » Western Region » Mbarara July 29th 2016

What a week! I have to say, this has probably been one of the busiest weeks that I personally have gone through thus far in the Uganda trip. Let’s start at the beginning! Sunday was our last day at beautiful Lake Bunyonyi. This lake was easily one of the most gorgeous views I have seen in the trip, although it’s a tough comparison against the mountains in Ruhija. We were very sad to pack up all of our belongings from our canvas tents (which were SO cool), but we ended up begging Silas and David for more time at the lake. Luckily we were able to squeeze in some extra time to try canoeing and another dip in the crater lake. We then packed ourselves into two vans, stopped for some juicy pineapple and gooseberries, and ... read more
Dip in the Crater Lake
Cervical Cancer Screening Day!
Scalpel, please?

Africa » Uganda » Western Region » Mbarara July 19th 2016

It’s been over 10 days since we left Rugazi and returned to Mbarara to work in the hospital. Saying goodbye to our friends in Rugazi was hard. Everyone teared up at least a little bit. Two hours in the public taxi later, we arrived back in Mbarara. Our homes were waiting for us in what is known as the Expat Village. We scrambled to get supplies and stay organized because we had a weekend trip planned starting Thursday afternoon. Our weekend trip included 2 nights at Lake Bunyoni and for some of us, a safari and night of camping at Lake Mburo. Silas is our contact (and now friend) that organized the safari for us. He picked me, Carrie, Dayna, Jill and Joline up on Thursday and we headed for Lake Mburo. Lake Mburo National Park ... read more
Zebra
Dayna and Jill
Local food

Africa » Uganda » Western Region » Mbarara July 19th 2016

You know when you get to be a part of something special but then as you carry the activity out it really hits you how special it is? I had that feeling doing our first pads training day at Kihwa. I always was excited about this project, spearheaded by none other than Zed, but I don't think I really got how amazing I would feel being on this side of the project. So this project started last year when Zed started up a billion sewing machines back in Canada (mine included) with a plea for us to make as many reusable pads as we could to send and donate to the women at Kihwa school. The sad story here is a lot of women do not have the resources to deal with the monthly visit of ... read more
Beautiful Rose and her husband
Kihwa greeting
Sewing their own reusable liners

Africa » Uganda » Western Region » Mbarara July 18th 2016

Hello again, and welcome to this little snapshot our life in Mbarara, Uganda! This week brought us nurses another week of working at the Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH)- it’s a huge hospital that supplies a large portion of the country’s referral needs. Britany and Carrie are on maternity, I (Brooklyn) am on surgical emergency/paediatric surgery, and Joline and Dayna are on paediatric ward. For some (Carrie, Dayna, and Joline), this was their first week back in the city hospital because they stayed behind in Rugazi, so it was a week for them to get used to this new environment! Working at this hospital has been such a joy for me, as I have been able to really get to know the health care system and the challenges associated with living here and accessing care. This ... read more

Africa » Uganda » Western Region » Mbarara July 17th 2016

The first week of work in Mbarara passed relatively quickly. After the excitement of the weekend in the southern part of the country, Monday morning seemed a little daunting. Yet since it was the first day of work here in the city, the usual dread of Monday was intertwined with excitement of the new and unknown. I spent my first week on labor and delivery; originally, I was meant to be there for three weeks, but my extra two weeks in the community detracted from that time. The delivery ward consists of antenatal, delivery, and postnatal wards; we spent the majority of our time in delivery, as that of course is the most exciting. In actuality, I only spent a day and a half total on the ward, the other days taken up with community activities ... read more
Wrangling!
My First Animal Blood Draw
Tagging Cows




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