Gaby's Treck Through Uganda

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My travels in Uganda thus far have been a very eye-opening, whirlwind of experiences. From being in Ruhija, doing our community work, where I got to witness the most gratifying experience, which was educating and giving out the Afripads that were donated by St. Luke’s Elementary School in Saskatoon to being in the hospital wards here in Mbarara.

Upon arriving in Mbarara, there was a definite challenge of adapting to the hussle and bussle of the city life compared to the quiet, comfortable environment and pace of Ruhija. The people in Ruhija were so welcoming and by the end of the first week, everyone knew us! Here in Mbarara, we aren’t anonymous (our muzunguness is quite the attraction) but we aren’t as well known for what we do in Mbarara-we look like the average Joe type tourist. At night, the sound of the traffic on the speed bumps paired with the music from the club down the street definitely takes a toll on the amount of sleep a person will get. Some of us are still balancing the noise with the vivid dreams we are having every night, it’s always fun in the morning to swap stories about what we dreamt about the previous night. With all this city noise, it will make me a pro sleeper!

In our first week back in Mbarara, we got used to buying our fruit from the local market-the avocados, mangos and pineapples are the best I have EVER had, they are a staple in my diet and very affordable- 30 cents Canadian, it’s incredible. We toured the city some more, found some pools and some great places to eat. We found Café Havanna that serves the best mango and coconut ice cream, it is even offered in deep fried form, which I have yet to try but it has quite the reputation amongst group members. After all this binge eating of Western food (since all we had was African food i.e., beans, rice, matooke and posho in Ruhija), we got to business once Sarah came to Mbarara. We toured the hospital, visited Bright Future (Orphanage) and set up contacts to educate girls on their menstrual cycle and to give out Afripads. We all started work on Wednesday in the hospital. My first ward was medical and surgical emergency and I was absolutely baffled by the cases I saw during my time there. On the first day, I saw many subdural hematomas either from boda-boda accidents or due to assault. I saw burn victims due to domestic abuse and inmates receiving less than adequate care. Infections are a common thing due to the humidity and the lack of sterile technique. I had a hard time my first day on the ward, I think it was a bit of culture shock, mixed with the heat and the different smells on the floor. I almost passed out four times, it was definitely a big change from the Canadian health care system and it became blatantly obvious on this day. The days became easier following this but I will always look back on those first days as the most eye opening experience (we’re not in Kansas anymore).

When the second week came, I was excited for the change of wards being that I was in Maternity for the next two weeks. On my first day in maternity, I was very eager to see my first birth ever! I was excited for some positivity after seeing the cases in the emergency ward. My first birth however was a stillborn, this was a very educational moment that I will cherish forever. It made me understand the maternal risks associated with stillborn births and it made me witness the grieving process of mothers in Uganda, which is very different than Canada. The mother was very stoic and did the job she needed to; it was very surprising. Fret not, I know you’re thinking “wow this is kind of depressing” but the reminder of my week went well. I didn’t get to see another birth (bad timing) but I did get to shadow midwives, nurses and doctors as they performed their assessments in the post-natal ward. I also got to see so many cute babies-it was a good week! I also got to go to the Mobile Hospice Program on Thursday for the day. I accompanied a nurse on a home visit for a patient with severe arthritis and got to sit in as she saw patients at the clinic. It was such a great day learning about the program. It is a program that is mainly run by nurses who have extra education and are able to prescribe medications for palliative reasons i.e. morphine, laxatives and antibiotics. Most of their patients are cancer patients and HIV patients. They offer services such as check ups, medications, testing and cancer treatments for women with stage 1-3 cervical cancer. The patients only have to pay 10 000 schillings which is about $3.50 Canadian when they come in but it will cover a week of care, including morphine, which is hard to come across in Uganda. Fun little tid bit of information, this hospice program has three bases, one here in Mbarara, one in Kampala and one somewhere else that I don’t know how to spell, the base in Kampala makes all of the morphine for all of Uganda, the government pays them to provide this valuable medicine to all hospitals in the country (now that’s a tall order). This program is so well established and organized; it felt very close to a Canadian program that one would see for palliative care. It was a breath of fresh air seeing the organization and things being done in order that makes it more efficient to provide the best care possible. It’s really neat that it’s a team of nurses and social workers that do all this work for the patients who can’t afford the hospital costs.

The third week in hospital, second in maternity was interesting to say the least. On the second day, it was a day full of emergencies in the labor ward. I got to witness my first birth; it was a beautiful moment, kind of a rough birth since it was a large baby. The baby didn’t feel like crying for about ten minutes after being born but he was breathing and was active, he was just taking his time to get used to his new surroundings, this was nerve-wracking for everyone in the labor ward. After the birth, mom wasn’t feeling to good and ended up hemorrhaging which was scary to witness but the doctor was able to stop the bleeding (thankfully!). While this was happening, a second mother was giving birth in the bed next to the other mother and another mother was standing in the corner waiting for the bed to give birth (it is a VERY busy ward). I heard a bustle of noise, looked over and saw a woman coming into the ward breathing very frantically and yelling with pain. It turns out she was suffering from an unsafe abortion since abortions in Uganda are illegal, women often have to do it at home with unsafe tools or by people who claim to be qualified and are not. Therefore, there were leftover products in her uterus and she was going into septic shock. As I mentioned before, it is a very busy ward! That was a lot to process in one day and I almost passed out again (I should start a tally), but thankfully the senior nurse is very caring and helped me out and is now like a mother hen and asks me if I drink water and if I need to sit (even though I am 30 years younger than her). Her caring nature however is not rare since the people of Uganda are the nicest, most welcoming people and are always looking out for everyone else.

Now I don’t just pass out all the time at the hospital, sometimes I do fun things too! The first weekend in Mbarara was spent at Lakeview Hotel. We met Susan, a nurse from the University of Saskatchewan and a member of the QES Program, who very graciously gave us her and her friend Arleen’s hotel rooms for Friday and Saturday night since they had to go to Goulu on Friday morning. We all enjoyed the hot showers, the pool and the wifi, which we took advantage of and called home. Some of us burnt to a crisp since the only thing that sees the sun are our arms; the 100 sunscreen was no match for the African sun. The second weekend was Canada day, which meant making KD which Sarah brought from Canada and brownies with red icing (best treat ever) we then had an afternoon of playing a few traditional Canadian games. This weekend, which is the third weekend, we’ve created an event for Saturday called Africrave-an ode to Craven, which is happening this weekend in Canada. We will once again play our traditional Canadian games. However, my absolute favorite pastimes include going to the two orphanages, which are called Bright Futures and Divine Mercy.

Bright Futures is called a transition home since they try to find the family of the orphans and try to integrate them back into the family if possible whereas Divine Mercy is an orphanage where the children will live there till adulthood. Bright Futures has thirteen beautiful children who are the most playful and happy children. Divine Mercy has ninety children who are all very excited to see us every time we go. We go to these orphanages to teach the children English, to play with them and especially to give them a million big hugs. Sometimes, the toddlers will fall asleep on me and it melts my heart into butter. It is such a rewarding experience and I always look forward to seeing the little munchkers. We go to the orphanages once a week each since it is quite a hike to get there and we are often busy with the hospital, afripads, or vets without borders.

This trip so far has been very eye opening and rewarding in so many different ways. If I could recommend one thing to someone travelling to Uganda or Africa in general would be to go to the orphanages. Spend some time with the kids; a smile goes a very long way for them. Well folks, that’s it for me for right now. I am excited to see what the next 3 weeks of hospital work holds in store for me and the rest of the group. With that being said, keep posted since Shania will take you guys through her experiences next week!



Xoxo,



Fainty Gaby (funny yet?)

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Photos

Hauling wood for lunch
*Right before I fell down the mountain*