Kampala News

KAMPALA CONTINUED…

Well, I truly owe you all an apology for my lack of communication! I am posting about my time here in Kampala as I am on the verge of my departure from Uganda.

The time has flown by and I can’t believe I leave in a few days. It has been a busy time and I am looking at my remaining days and hoping I can get at least all the necessities done before I travel.

I would say that overall my time here in Kampala has been positive, although not as productive maybe as I would have hoped. It has been good to be exposed to two more settings where OTs are involved and see the way things work and the impact that can be made. I feel like my contribution has really not been that significant, but I hope that in some way I have had a positive influence. The OT I work with at Mukisa has been wonderful and we have enjoyed working together and seeing clients. The set-up and structure of Mukisa appears to work remarkably well and I have been so impressed with the work that is carried out through this Foundation. The dedication and commitment the staff have to the mothers and children is so inspiring and admirable.

For me personally, I would say the highlight of my time client wise has been working with a toddler who has various OT related issues, one of which was a lack of independence in feeding. Eating independently had been a goal they had for her for several months prior to my arrival. When I arrived the goal had not been reached. After several long lunch- time “battles” and nearly giving up hope of any progress… she suddenly decided to co-operate. She has been very stubborn, but being that she was up against my stubbornness I eventually won the battle;) We have made progress to the point that she is able to pick up the spoon (not yet able to scoop food onto the spoon) and bring it to her mouth to eat. Unfortunately, at times the food does spill off before it reaches her mouth which usually elicits a rather exaggerated frustrated reaction from her. Recently she even managed to achieve placing the spoon down properly on the plate after taking a bite instead of dropping it or waiting for us to take it from her. She also is now able to hold her cup to drink independently! Still not quite fully independent but in time anticipate she will get there.

Things at Mengo have been a bit more challenging to handle. Many of the children there have rather difficult behavioral issues to manage. Also, the resources to work with are lacking for this client population. However, I was asked mainly to provide suggestions and input more from an organizational perspective there. I think I have been able to provide at least some helpful ideas as far as changes that could be made both from the therapy scheduling to the modification of the physical environment. Again, I knew going into this last part of my time in Uganda that the amount I would be able to accomplish in both places in this short space of time would obviously be limited. This has also been further limited by being sick for several days as well as moving my Uganda departure up due to medical insurance coverage logistics. I think from a personal perspective though, it has given me more respect for the work of the OTs in these areas as it is definitely not an easy clientele to work with in many regards. I think I also have realized that for myself I don’t see that pediatric work is where I would want to be long-term. It has been good to gain this insight here though, as in Canada often pediatric work is hard to obtain.

KUMI RETURN- FINAL FAREWELL

I made a trip to Kumi on the 17th to fulfill my promise to say a final farewell before leaving Uganda. I was disappointed that I was not able to connect with everyone I had hoped to see and visit with, but overall it was good to be back to have closure to my time there. It was sad though to see that the hospital is still declining and looking more dilapidated than when I left less than 2 months ago. Staff are also still struggling while they wait for salaries to be paid. I had a mixture of emotions both while I was there and as I re-hashed not only this past visit but my 7 months spent at Kumi Hospital. I know it is only natural to have some regrets and wish I had done some things differently. Unfortunately, it appears the Friday prayer times for the hospital situation has not continued. However, from comments made when I initially left Kumi it was something that people did seem to value and appreciate at least for the time we did meet. It is hard to explain to people why I am leaving before my intended departure date, but I also think that the people who comment on me not having completed my one year yet are able to see the logic behind my leaving.

A NOT SO NICE FAREWELL TO KAMPALA

Well, yesterday afternoon was a bit of a downer of a way to leave Kampala. I was heading home and about to get to my taxi to leave town when I remembered I wanted to take a picture of the taxi park. It is quite an incredible scene to look down on the maze of taxi vans (matatus) from the street level! Unfortunately, as I stood above it on the street just finishing taking a few pictures a boy (maybe 12) ran in front of me and grabbed it right out of my hand. I reacted and tried to grab him and yelled thief making a commotion but no one seemed to care or try to catch him! It is also more frustrating to think that he will probably just sell it to someone for maybe the equivalent of $5 or something! I was rather stunned and shocked really at the complacency of people. After talking to some Ugandans though they did say that is how most people are here in the sense that if it isn’t their property or problem they don’t bother getting involved. I was obviously really upset and kicking myself for taking the risk to take a picture in that part of town as it is not the safest place. Normally I am very careful to put my wrist strap on as well and for some reason though I thought to put it on I didn’t. I also shouldn’t have taken so long standing there as I don’t exactly blend in! I have taken several pictures along that road before though so I guess thought I would get away with it once again. It is a bit unnerving and leaves a somewhat of a sour taste in my mouth as I leave the relatively “safe” Uganda heading for the not so “safe” Nairobi in a couple of days. I thankfully had downloaded most of my pictures to my computer already so did not lose too many. There were still some significant ones on it that I did lose. I also thankfully was not physically hurt by the person except hurting myself (not seriously) as I tried to grab him and tripped over a chair that was in the way! I also had brought my old camera from Canada as a back up (though was not expecting to need it—at least not while in Uganda) so hope it lasts for the rest of my travels and doesn’t get stolen, lost or broken. I also was thinking about it after the fact and realizing that I probably would have preferred to lose my camera than to have them catch the boy and beat him mercilessly. At times thieves here can be beaten to death and I would have felt even more sick if he had been beaten. Ideally it would have been great for him to get caught and get my camera back without the severe beating repercussions. I guess it is a good reality check that I am not immune to these things happening and I need to stay vigilant in my street smarts. It is also a good reminder not to hold on too tightly (although literally this time I guess I wasn’t holding on too tightly) to my possessions and place too much value on them.

THE WHIRLWIND TRAVEL BEGINS…

Well, I don’t think I have mentioned anything on my blog about my plans for the next few months… I had hoped, but not known, if it would be feasible to do much, if any, travel outside of Uganda while here in East Africa. Those of you who know me better know that it is difficult for me to pass up opportunities to see more of this diverse world we live in. Thanks to an unexpected good tax return this year and also my parent’s generous offer to help fly me to see them in Ghana, I am going to be able to do some travelling before returning to Canada. I know some friends are interested in keeping up with my travel adventures and instead of starting a separate blog I will just continue on this one. I plan to leave on Wednesday morning for Kenya. I will stay likely at a hostel in Nairobi and check out that area and hopefully a game park. Then I will take a train to Mombasa where thankfully my parents have friends living so I can crash at their place if I want. It is working out well also that my American missionary friends from Kampala are currently doing language study in Tanzania and are coming to Mombasa to renew their visas so will be connecting with me from July 11-13. I will then catch a ride with them to Tanzania, which not only is much more comfortable and fun than a bus but likely faster or at least definitely safer! I plan to visit Zanzibar where I am hoping a couple Dutch friends I met in Kumi are still going to be, and then fly out of Dar es Salaam to Ghana to visit my parents. I still don’t have my flight booked for that yet!! I know my parents are eagerly awaiting news on my arrival date. It will be good to see Ghana again as it has been 4 years I think since I was there and I’m sure things have changed a lot. I will be leaving Accra then on August 15th for the UK where I hope to visit friends and make a quick trip to Scotland and France where I have more good friends to see (hoping my budget calculations aren’t too far out so I will be able to fit this in still). I will then head to Atlanta on August 27th to stay with my sister and her family there till the end of September to help out as she has her 5th baby-- due on September 5th!:)

So I hope that gives people at least a glimpse of what the next 3 months holds for me. I am looking forward to it, but also am somewhat apprehensive as I really don’t know how things will go and traveling alone in Africa with a fairly heavy luggage load is not always the most enjoyable way to go. I really am grateful that at least in many places I will have connections with other people. I really would appreciate prayer for my safety, especially as theft as well as dangerous road travel are ever present realities in these countries. I am praying that God would place some good Samarians and angels in my path as I’m sure there will be times I will need it!

Thanks to all of you who keep up with my blog and I really do feel badly I have not been more consistent with posts. I was expecting that I would have better internet access and connections here in Kampala but that hasn’t turned out to quite be the case. I hope to get somewhere today where I can upload some pics without it taking 30 min a picture.

Pictures soon!!

KAMPALA!

May 17, 2010

Greetings from Kampala Uganda! An update on my life is long overdue now… but there has been a lot on my mind and I have been rather drained from transitions recently so I hope you can extend some grace!

I know some of you have been aware of decisions that I was facing regarding whether to remain in Kumi or to move elsewhere, and if elsewhere, then where! There have been numerous factors contributing to the crisis situation at Kumi Hospital, which has been having rather negative ramifications since around December 2009. The Leprosy Mission a while ago had asked me whether I would consider being re-located for the remainder of my time or even if I should possibly return to Canada. Since I have already spent a good period of time in Uganda and adapted at least somewhat to culture and places here, it seemed to make more sense for me to look within Uganda at organizations that could utilize my Occupational Therapy skills. Through networking and prayer regarding what to do, the doors were open for me to volunteer at Mukisa Foundation and also at Mengo Hospital (both are in Kampala and within walking distance of each other). I still was trusting God to lead me to a suitable place to stay. This prayer was answered through a referral to the ICU Guesthouse which I received from two Dutch girls who I met briefly at Kumi Hospital. I was a little concerned I would be moving to a mini Holland surrounded by Dutch speaking people I wouldn’t understand! However, God even addressed this concern with an added blessing. A couple of Canadian girls (from Victoria) whom I had gotten to know during our overlapping time in Kumi, also had an unexpected change in their living arrangements in Kampala and through my recommendation also ended up moving to the ICU guesthouse a couple of days after me;) The other bonus is that the guesthouse is also situated within about 20-30 minute walk to both places of work.

So it would appear that the way was being paved for me to re-locate to Kampala. Making this decision was incredibly challenging for me though, in part because it was difficult to leave friends and colleagues behind in a crisis situation. Also, because I did not want others to feel like I was “giving up” and “abandoning” Kumi Hospital. I personally had to deal with my disappointment of not being able to complete more of my intended commitment to Kumi. However, I also felt like God had encouraged me with Isaiah 55:8… “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Sometimes God surprises us with an unexpected turn in the road and it can be hard to venture around that bend when you can’t really see what will meet you around the corner… but have to step out in faith.

On my last assembly on Friday May 7th one of the staff also quoted in Ecclesiastes about there being a time and a season for everything and the time for me to be in Kumi was now at an end. So with very mixed feelings I packed up my life there and tried to say at least some of my goodbyes—knowing I would be back before my Uganda departure to say my final goodbyes! I left Kumi on Sunday May 9th and arrived in Kampala that night to my new home for the next 2 months.

I know some of you may be wondering why only for 2 months. Well, I had requested some time back to leave before my year was up so I could help out my sister with their “surprise” baby #5 due in September! I guess various other factors have also contributed to the timing of my departure from Uganda. I still do not have my travel itinerary set and confirmed at this point, but for those in Canada I do not plan to be back in Vancouver until October sometime.

As far as my volunteer work is concerned, I started working at Mukisa Foundation last week and will begin my work at Mengo Hospital next week. I hope to work 3 days at Mukisa and 2 days at Mengo. At Mukisa there is a local OT currently working there so I am joining him to assist him with his workload and hopefully be able to share our knowledge and learn from each other. Our client population is mainly younger kids with disabilities both physical and mental and a few teenage/young adults. If you want to see more information and pictures of the foundation you are welcome to check it out at this link (http://www.mikwano.org/#/mukisa-foundation/4520569512). At Mengo I will likely be doing more administrative work to assist with organizing and improving the functionality of their early stimulation center. Here as well there is a Ugandan OT whom I will be collaborating with to improve the centre for the kids they work with there.

The remainder of my time I am sure will fly by, but I pray that although it is short, that I will be able to make some useful contribution to both organizations and that I will be able to be a blessing and a light to those around me. I also pray that God would use the weeks ahead to develop a clearer sense of future direction for me and where He is calling me to serve/work on my return.

Thanks so much for your prayers and encouragement.

Hope to post pictures soon of my workplaces here.

My House!

This is our place in Kumi. Well my two roommates prefer to sleep in the hut although there is room in the house for them if they want. I sleep in the main house and they spend most of their day in the main house as well. That is the pit latrine you can see across from the hut.

These are the fields by our place that recently were rather active with people planting their crops now that the rainy season has truly started.



Just to show the distance from the house to the pit latrine. Far enough that you think twice before having a cup of coffee or drinking too much of any liquid in the evening;)

Our back porch with some furniture which is nice for using when we have visitors or just having breakfast outside sometimes etc.

My roommate Mareike and a guy from their mission that was visiting and he was a huge blessing as he helped us get our generator going so we could actually pump water for the first time in about 2 months I think! We basically just use it to pump water so we can have running water inside the house. However, it only worked a couple times I think then broke down again. We got it "fixed" and then it broke again and now we have to buy another part to fix it properly! The majority of my time since I moved to this place we have had no running water... but it's amazing how you just adapt and get by. He also fixed other things in our place which was wonderful!

Pictures continued

These were the little roommates my housemates found in one of their cupboards in their hut!

Our oven door has some difficulties so this is our contraption to enable us to use it still:) This is the bread my roommates make. All the bread you can get here pretty much is all sweet bread so it's not our favorite.

The coal iron---especially with no electricity this is all that can be used. I attempted to use it and couldn't believe how heavy they are.

The attempt at rat elimination from our attic. It was quite the combined effort to get the tomatoes up there as you can see.

A lady who comes out every year from the UK had wanted to get a cow for this woman and her child with CP. I was sent along to be the photographer so I could send pics back to her in the UK of the successful delivery. I was sitting in the seat in front of the cows head on the bumpy journey and was anticipating any moment I could butt heads with the cow as it thrashed about in the back of the pick-up!

We took a trip up to the Karamajong area to return a patient with leprosy who has been at the hospital for 30 years and her son and two grandchildren. It was quite the cultural experience as the Karamoja people are still mainly into cattle raising and live a very different lifestyle than most of the Ugandans. Their attire is very unique as well and apparently it has only been a couple years since they have started to wear clothing. The boys I noticed don't usually wear more than a shirt. Many of the men just wear a cloth over their shoulder and most carry a shepherds stick and a small stool (you can see them in the pictures) that they use to sit on and also to rest their heads on when lying on the ground. Unfortunately, there is also a significant amount of cattle raiding in this area that at times can be quite violent. The patient was having her feet mapped by the community worker for special shoes to protect her feet as she is susceptible to ulcers. We had quite the greeting as we entered the compound with water splashed on our faces and front as we ducked under the entry. The second time I at least knew enough to close my eyes! The kids especially the grand daughter refused to stay so we returned back with them. The lady's son has also come back.

Helen our social worker and the community rehab worker.
The community rehab worker was making a pattern so they could have special protective shoes made for her to protect her feet from ulcers.

The girls wear these cute little skirts but most of the boys only wear shirts.

The boy in the green shirt is the lady's grandson.

We were "talking" about the necklaces...

If you zoom in the picture you'll notice he has impressive earrings.

People crossing the field to meet us. I almost felt I was in some movie scene!

On our way we stopped at this little health centre to meet up with the community worker who knew where to find this patient's family.

I think I accidentally deleted some of the pics. But... I just wanted to share a bit of a different cultural experience. Many Ugandans have not had the opportunity to experience this unique part of their country. It was interesting showing some of my co-workers the pictures from this trip.

It has taken me awhile to post these pictures and since starting to do this blog the leprosy patient has since returned to the hospital. I guess life there is too difficult as there is little food and as you can tell the land is not the most fertile place to plant crops! This is a major issue with trying to re-settle many leprosy patients as they don't have the means to support themselves and often become a burden to the family who often are already stretched and struggling to feed those already there.

Will try to post some more pics at some point... and provide more life updates.

Pictures!

These two ladies and their babies were in the nutrition unit at the hospital and their kids have cerebral palsy. I was showing them a movie of a family who had a boy with athetoid cerebral palsy. I was hoping it would be encouraging and inspiring or at least show them that others even in western cultures have struggles with children with the same problems. It was neat that these two both had relatively good English. The picture below is of a cutting board I had the workshop guy make for one of my young stroke patients so that she can independently peal and chop produce. It's a simple concept (you can buy them in Canada similar to this) but it seemed to work well:) This lady is grinding peanuts to make "gnut" groundnut paste or as we might call it peanut butter.

This was my dining room in the guesthouse that I also ended up using as my kitchen. That was the little electric coil I cooked on for awhile:)

Above I am enjoying a coke in Kenya. I went to Kenya in January in order to get another Uganda visa stamped in my passport. I was accompanied by one of the hospital drivers who is half Kenyan:) I must admit not only does the coke bottle look different but it tastes really sweet compared to Ugandan coke:( I wasn't too impressed. I now can say I've been to Kenya and have a stamp in my passport to prove it although I only spent about 2 hrs there! Below is the bus I took from Kampala to Kumi after Christmas break. It was not the most enjoyable experience. Yesterday, I took the bus for the second time and again it was not fun! God was good though and the stranger in the crowd (who I asked for directions) on my walk to the bus station happened to also be getting a bus going the same direction as me. Her English was really good, she is a Christian and she was so helpful. We got seats together and finally left, stopping in a petrol (gas) station after about 5 minutes of driving. After sitting for about 45 minutes at the petrol station we realized there was some mechanical fault they were trying to fix. We decided to try going back to the bus park to get another bus. My friend went to check and then came to call me to go get the other bus... and of course it was full by the time we got there. We waited and waited and then got news that the mechanically faulty bus was now working so we went back to the petrol station. Got our seats and finally left. The bus I think stopped about 15 times at least before reaching Mbale which was my destination. The trip which should have taken about 3-4 hours ended up taking about 5 1/2 hrs! The passengers were getting fed up with it, especially after having been delayed so long already. I found out that the girl who helped me actually knows the German nurse at Kumi Hospital whose room I have taken over in my new place. Apparently my new Ugandan friend's sister used to be a Dr. at Kumi Hospital. Small world.

The sound of the "repaired" bus still unnerved me with it's loud clunking noises as we drove. The wild swerving and speeding of the driver also was not too reassuring! This would be why I do my utmost to avoid taking public transport here. But I was relieved to finally arrive at the guesthouse with my two backpacks likely weighing at least 50 lbs combined hanging off me! I can't believe I still haven't learned the art of packing light:(

Sorry I didn't manage to upload more pics in Kampala. I ended up getting food poisoning or something so was feeling pretty rough for a couple days there this weekend! I was soooo glad to not be in my home with only an outdoor pit latrine!

Will see if I can post more pics soon and have to take more pics of my new home.

Paperwork!

I just wanted to post a quick update while I am in Kampala. I went to immigration today and received advice from the lady I spoke to last time to wait on the work permit and just get a special pass at this point and request an extension on the pass if necessary. I guess considering how long I have left here and the cost of a work permit and the time it takes to process it she didn't think it made sense to pursue this avenue---I agree, but it's nice when it is the immigration officer advising this.

I also ask that prayers continue for Kumi Hospital as the situation does not seem to be improving at this point and many people are feeling very discouraged and hopeless. Please pray that God would intervene and that somehow we would see God working good through this situation that seems so bleak right now. Please pray for wisdom for the hospital leadership and donors, and especially for the staff as many are struggling to get by and especially to pay school fees for their children who started school last month. The staff have not received their salaries for 2 months now which means, for some, their children have not been able to attend school or have been sent home from school.

Please pray for wisdom for me as well as I want to be able to be used by God in whatever way He chooses and yet it is so hard to know what to do and how to respond to various needs and requests. I also am not always sure how best to be supportive and also struggle with my attitude and how to "work" under these conditions currently. Pray that I would really hear from God clearly and that I would have the courage to act and have the faith to be obedient.

On a positive note I was really encouraged yesterday to see one of my patients, a 7 year old girl who had severe burns, walking almost "normally" with a walker. This was a big improvement!

I also have a new challenge of working with a 5 year old boy who has some fine motor delays. He is an outpatient so I hope I can work with him for awhile.

I will leave it at that for now. I still don't have pictures of my new place to post yet...:( But the girls I live with found a few new roommates in the hut they sleep in. I heard screams on Monday and then was told I needed to come see something. Apparently a rat (of which there were known to be few running around in the hut) had decided that the clothes cupboard made a good nest for her little ones. There were 3 tiny mice/rats crawling around in her clothes! We decided since none of us could outright kill them--they were after all rather cute-- that they would be disposed of in the field by our house to let nature take its course. A few minutes after this a bigger one, possibly the mother, emerged from a box on top of the cupboard while my roommate was cleaning up the mess, which evoked another scream! We have yet to find an effective rat eradicator---if you have any suggestions please pass them our way;)

More to come,

Thanks for the prayers and emails of encouragement. I'm not sure if anyone else heard of the land slide here, but since we heard about it first through family/friends overseas who were worried about our safety, I just wanted to say that where we are is fine. We live in a very flat area but the place affected I think is only a couple hrs away from us. They are estimating over 300 people have died, so please pray for those working to bring relief and aid to the victims of this natural disaster and the families affected as they grieve the loss of their loved ones.

Work Permit

Well, I am about to head back to Kumi after being in Kampala for several days. I came down mainly to get started on the task of trying to get my work permit. I was a bit discouraged on Thursday after speaking with a lady at immigration and seeing that the requirements included a criminal record check from Canada which I do not have and was not aware was needed! Anyhow, I did some research and contacted the RCMP in Canada who reported that if the specific requirements for fingerprinting are possible to do here in Uganda then I should be able to get a criminal record check done without being in Canada in person. The site, however, that they referred me to reports a waiting time of 120 days on average and possibly more for the criminal record check to be processed! Considering that the Uganda paper processing I think can take anywhere from 2-4 months to complete and then the snail mail time to get the fingerprints to Canada and criminal record check back to Uganda etc... I would likely be ready to leave the country by the time my work permit was processed. Anyhow, today I went back to immigration and spoke to a different lady and when I shared with her what I found out from Canada regarding the criminal record check and fingerprinting and processing time etc she just said not to worry about it and to just fulfill the rest of the requirements for my work permit:)!

Unfortunately, although I have a letter from the hospital it doesn't have the specific details that are required by immigration so I still have to go back to Kumi before I am able to submit my papers for my work permit.

Please pray for this whole process as it is just beginning and from the stories of others it can be a long, tedious process that requires numerous trips to immigration. I don't look forward to it. I especially feel anxious as I have some potential travel plans that take me out of the country in which case I will need my passport. I know I have to submit my passport to them at 2 different points in the process so hopefully the timing doesn't conflict!

Will keep you posted on the progress...