new town, new ppl, new experiences!

Dont make me leave this place!! I have totally fallen in love with this country and the people. I’m already warning you to expect a nice email from me requesting donations next year so that I can come back. Haha.
Well I began my practicum this week and have moved to a town in western Uganda called Mbale. It is right next to a mountain and waterfalls so it’s just a beautiful area. Its def much smaller than Kampala but nice. At first I was missing Kampala and all the things they have to do, but shoot it’s nice to be able to get to work in 5 minutes now rather than the hour commute I used to have, and now after only being here for just one week everywhere I go, someone that I’ve met always sees me when I’m out.
Work has been good. Can’t believe that I’ve only been there a week, well not even and its so comfortable. The hospital specializes in pediatric neurosurgery and mostly cases of hydrocephalus and fewer cases of spinal bifida and brain tumors. I can’t believe how many cases of hydrocephalus there are in this region. These little babies have these ridiculously large heads that are often bigger than the heads of their moms. It’s quite sad but the hospital is extraordinary. Its so nice because its donor funded so the treatment there is better than most hospitals here and then the families get spiritual counseling and support also which is awesome. Last week I was able to go into the OR to see a few surgeries where they drain the fluid from the heads, and that was cool. I worked with the phys ther and then spent time in the outpatient clinic too. Then most of the time I was in the ward just chatting with the mothers and helping them with their kids. These moms are so amazing because they are up against so much. Their babies require so much attn and help then on top of that they face so many challenges from their communities because of course when you have a baby with such an obvious disability you are ostracized and rejected so not only are most poor peasants but now shunned because they have these children. I cant imagine such a life. Then on top of that, most are younger girls who married and started having children young. Even today I went by the hospital after church and I was speaking to one of the moms. She’s 24 with 5 kids and was married with her first child by 15. Most of the mothers that ive met are younger and married with children and of course poor. Like I said, most of the day I just spend hanging with the moms. Of course most don’t speak English but its amazing how we’ve overcome that barrier. I’ve learned greetings in at least 6 languages this week just from speaking to them. Uganda is just ridiculous with how many tribes they have for such a small country and each tribe has a language so in the ward alone of maybe 50 beds there are at least 10 languages. This sucks for doctors and stuff to treat them because they don’t always speak their language but somehow they always manage and there’s always someone who speaks somewhat of the language. Some are even refugees from N. Uganda and Sudan and thankfully one knew English so I was able to speak to her for a while too. Their stories are always so crazy, you wouldn’t believe what they’ve been through. So all in all, I’ve been enjoying working at the hospital. The staff and doctors are so nice and welcoming I feel like I’ve know them for such a longer time. Right now I’m staying with one of the doctors and will be moving in with a family this week for another homestay. I’ve gotten comfy where I am now but I’m sure my new home will be good too so ill let ya know how that is.
Anyways, today I went to the local hospital after church with another doctor who lives next door. Of course this hospital was a world away from the hospital that ive been working at. Most hospitals here are government hospitals while CURE (the neurosurgery place) is private and donor funded. Good news is that medical care is free, bad news is that you have to pay for EVERYTHING other than medical services. This means that you have to provide your own gloves for the drs to use, bring your own medications, gauze, bandages, syringes, etc. so if you don’t have money to buy the things that they need 2 treat u, you aren’t treated. Its sad that so many die from treatable problems just because they may not have money to buy the surgical gloves so then the drs cannot operate on them. So is it truly free health care....
Anyhow, so today I saw 2 C-sections in like 1.5 hours. It was so cool because I had never seen much ob/ gyn and then of course there was no extra red tape crap like in the US. The drs did what they had to use using the very basics. The patient was gassed with ether 2 be put under, there weren’t enough gowns so not everyone could wear one and then everything was washable rather than disposable. But hey, you use what you have to get the job done and this was exactly what was done. Too ice the cake I was splashed with blood when the baby was pulled out and then when I went to CURE afterwards to visit and hang out, a baby peed on me. So all in all, it was a good day! Haha. to survive and enjoy being In a 3rd world country you must not mind “inconveniences”, getting dirty and doing things that ppl in the states would freak out about, like being splashed by blood from some woman’s uterus. Haha. I mean I figure she wasn’t HIV positive b/c the other drs weren’t freaking out about it and then he was splashed too and wasn’t buggin out so I followed suit.
I do things here that id never do in the states. Let’s see to just give you a brief picture…. so there’s the OR today, going home and staying with some guys (the dr) that I never met but have been totally amazing and welcoming that I feel like I’ve known them forever (and no worries they aren’t going to gang rape me!), and then there was the time that I went to the children’s home with the other random guys that I met at the slum outreach. I mean these are things that would lead me to a grave in the states but here its just a whole new world. Of course, I can’t be stupid about it and just go anywhere with anyone, yall raised me well enough to have common sense, but here having a rec about people from the right person usually means it’s pretty safe. So all in all, life is still great, im sad to think that ill be leaving to go next month but excited to see what else comes in the next 6 weeks and begin planning my trip to come back! :-)