Saturday, August 7, 2010
Rafting the nile!
Today we wnet on a rafting trip down the Nile river....up to a grade 5!!! and we only flipped on the last one (we kinda wanted to). We are going to watch the video of it tonight then buy it tomorrow along with a picture CD. SOOOO excited. Then off to Jinja to go shopping tomorrow afternoon and on to Entebbe in the evening. We fly out at 5:15 local time on Monday. In so many different ways I wish I could stay here for another month. But I have bills to pay and need to keep the way I pay them (my job). By tuesday night I will be in Detroit, MI. Such a long way for Uganda in miles, culture, pace, and a whole bunch of other ways. Can't wait to see everyone and show them all the awesome pictures we took. I have even been keeping a journal for people to read. This may be the last post I make before I am back in the States. Thanks for all the prayers!!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Last days in Africa
We went to a local villagers house last night for dinner again. His wife makes the best food! Then his sons made us all get up and tried to teach us how to dance. So I had a personal dance lesson from african locals!!! I did pretty good, I think. Carla, Lindsay and I (volunteers from Chicago) danced for quite a while. Nikia moved her feet for a couple minutes. We had sooooo much fun and Nikia has video to prove it, though I think it will prove that I am not a good dancer. Then we rode a boda home, Rashid stayed for dinner then took us home 2 at a time. It was dark with no artificial light. Lindsay and I sat out and watched the stars while waiting for everyone to get home.
Today, we went to the clinic for the last time, and again I was asked why I am not married. Then we got on a matatu and drove to Jinja (it took almost 4 hours). Now we are getting ready to go back to the dorm we are staying at because we are going rafting on the nile tomorrow. I hope I don't die or get eaten by a hippo!!!
Today, we went to the clinic for the last time, and again I was asked why I am not married. Then we got on a matatu and drove to Jinja (it took almost 4 hours). Now we are getting ready to go back to the dorm we are staying at because we are going rafting on the nile tomorrow. I hope I don't die or get eaten by a hippo!!!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Coffee tour
On sunday we went with a local villager to his house to watch how coffee is produced. We helped shell the beans (yes, I mean shell them). Then watched as he showed us how to roast them. The whole process took 30 minutes for one small bag. The good stuff is that we get to take the coffee we roasted home. And it cost me 5.50!!!!
My room smells soooooo good right now. Then we got rained on and had to stay at his house for a while til it stopped. We had Cheese its with us and shared them. They really liked it too. That was our sunday.
We also went down to the local village and asked for 4 corn on the cobs....it cost $2. Tjey gave us 19. Apparently we asked for 4 kg. oops. Still only two dollars.
My room smells soooooo good right now. Then we got rained on and had to stay at his house for a while til it stopped. We had Cheese its with us and shared them. They really liked it too. That was our sunday.
We also went down to the local village and asked for 4 corn on the cobs....it cost $2. Tjey gave us 19. Apparently we asked for 4 kg. oops. Still only two dollars.
The local District Hospital
Walking into the ward, it is a totally different experience. I followed around a med student and started IV's. When doing rounds with the dr, we were looking at a pt and I found out the diagnosis was TB......lucky me.
Hand washing does not exist. Gloves are in short supply. The patients buy their supplies, including meds and needles, and then we use them if they have them. If they can't afford it....they don't get it.
I also did a lot of HIV testing. That was an interesting process. There is a lot of counseling before and after. It was really nice.
Hand washing does not exist. Gloves are in short supply. The patients buy their supplies, including meds and needles, and then we use them if they have them. If they can't afford it....they don't get it.
I also did a lot of HIV testing. That was an interesting process. There is a lot of counseling before and after. It was really nice.
Music Competition
We went to a music competition for elementary kids that started at 1200 noon and ended at 0530 am. I consider that way too long, but....
The school we went with is now going to Nationals!!!! I am so excited for them. We left at 8 am and got back at about 8 am the next day. These were 4-5th graders.
They competed on 9 different activites. The dance and folk songs were fantastic. We got to see 12 different schools. The culture is super cool to see. Lots of videos to show when I get home.
The school we went with is now going to Nationals!!!! I am so excited for them. We left at 8 am and got back at about 8 am the next day. These were 4-5th graders.
They competed on 9 different activites. The dance and folk songs were fantastic. We got to see 12 different schools. The culture is super cool to see. Lots of videos to show when I get home.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
IDP camp!!!
Today we worked with the Red Cross to distribute food to people affected by the mud slide back in February. I now have a blister on my hand and I don’t think I have ever been so dirty. We gave them beans and posho (finely ground corn). Each person got 1 kg of beans and 4 kg of posho. We counted it out per family (sometimes up to 44 scoops per family). We estimated about 400-500 families today with over twice that to go. Now time to relax and of course no power tonight!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The flight over
The trip to Uganda was definantely interesting. We checked in in St Louis without any difficulty (they even waived to overage charge for one of the medical boxes). Then we went in and sat at the gait. We boarded a little later than expected, but that went smoothly too. Until….we heard the overhead announce that due to severe weather in Washington we were going to deboard and wait until it cleared. About an hour later, it was announced that we would be boarding shortly, then again announced that the delay would be longer. Needless to say it was eating up our layover time in Washington. We were scheduled to take off at 2pm but in reality, we took off at about 430pm. We landed in Washington at 7:15pm and headed to terminal B (where the stewardess informed us was the international terminal). We later discovered it was the D terminal that was connected to the original terminal we had landed in. We got to the gait for Ethiopian Air at 7:50 (we still had to check in to our international flight). After quickly checking in we boarded immediately because we were scheduled to take off at 8:30.
The plane was fairly empty so we had extra room to spread out on the long haul flight. After 3 meals and lots of sleeping, we touched down in Rome, Italy to refuel then took back off and landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at 8:45 pm (1245 pm eastern standard time.) It was about a 16 hour flight, not fun. After landing in Addis we checked into our flight to Uganda, scoped the airport and decided what to do. We fought through all of the smokers to see if we could get food to eat. We ended up in an internet café that cost $5 for 1 hour of dial up internet (see face book post).
At 10 pm we headed to the gait only to find a long line to get our bags checked again (boarding time was at 10:30. We stood in line and finally got to the front about 20 after only to find out we were in the wrong line. So we went to the other line only to find 2 lines (not well defined). One was for Dubai and one for Entebbe. Long story shorter, we eventually ended up through the line at about 11pm. Not to worry though, apparently time isn’t an issue there. So both the Dubai and Entebbe flights were sitting there waiting. Finally they call the other flight passengers and took them down an escalator. About 4-5 minutes later they called our flight and took us down the same escalator only to find that the other flight was still sitting there and we were having a pile up at the bottom. We then filed into a line (no one seemed to know what a line was though and everyone was just pushing to get to the front). We then boarded a bus to take us to the flight which was completely full and smelly.
After an uneventful 1.5 hour flight (and dinner served during) we landed in Entebbe, Uganda. Only to find out that we landed at 1:30 am instead of 3:10. So we went through customs (again lots of shoving to be first) got our visas and waited for the driver, who took us to a hostel to sleep until he picked us up at 8:30 am.
We then drove an hour to Kampala, Uganda and exchanged our money (20,000 shillings = 1 USD). Three hours later we entered Mbale and took a restroom stop (the driving is insane and dangerous). Then 1 more hour of swerving to miss potholes (and I mean back and forth across the road the whole time) to the foundation guest house.
Now we are settled in and chilling out until we help the American Red cross tomorrow. So far, definitely an adventure.
The plane was fairly empty so we had extra room to spread out on the long haul flight. After 3 meals and lots of sleeping, we touched down in Rome, Italy to refuel then took back off and landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at 8:45 pm (1245 pm eastern standard time.) It was about a 16 hour flight, not fun. After landing in Addis we checked into our flight to Uganda, scoped the airport and decided what to do. We fought through all of the smokers to see if we could get food to eat. We ended up in an internet café that cost $5 for 1 hour of dial up internet (see face book post).
At 10 pm we headed to the gait only to find a long line to get our bags checked again (boarding time was at 10:30. We stood in line and finally got to the front about 20 after only to find out we were in the wrong line. So we went to the other line only to find 2 lines (not well defined). One was for Dubai and one for Entebbe. Long story shorter, we eventually ended up through the line at about 11pm. Not to worry though, apparently time isn’t an issue there. So both the Dubai and Entebbe flights were sitting there waiting. Finally they call the other flight passengers and took them down an escalator. About 4-5 minutes later they called our flight and took us down the same escalator only to find that the other flight was still sitting there and we were having a pile up at the bottom. We then filed into a line (no one seemed to know what a line was though and everyone was just pushing to get to the front). We then boarded a bus to take us to the flight which was completely full and smelly.
After an uneventful 1.5 hour flight (and dinner served during) we landed in Entebbe, Uganda. Only to find out that we landed at 1:30 am instead of 3:10. So we went through customs (again lots of shoving to be first) got our visas and waited for the driver, who took us to a hostel to sleep until he picked us up at 8:30 am.
We then drove an hour to Kampala, Uganda and exchanged our money (20,000 shillings = 1 USD). Three hours later we entered Mbale and took a restroom stop (the driving is insane and dangerous). Then 1 more hour of swerving to miss potholes (and I mean back and forth across the road the whole time) to the foundation guest house.
Now we are settled in and chilling out until we help the American Red cross tomorrow. So far, definitely an adventure.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Getting Ready
Nikia and I are getting ready to go. We have our vaccinations and passports in hand. I am starting this blog so I can let everyone know what is going on while we are in Uganda. I hope to be able to update this blog every couple days once we land in Uganda. We land July 25, 2010 and hit the States again on August 9, 2010. Hopefully we will be able to add pictures too. Check back when we leave for updates!!!
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