Week One in Uganda
Just wanted to send a quick update about my trip thus far. I arrived in Uganda on Wedneday Morning (Tuesday night in America). The journey was safe and quite easy. My body was a bit jet lagged on Wednesday, but I have since recovered!
For those of you who don't know I am volunteering with an NGO for the next 5 weeks that serves children with disabilities in rural villages in Uganda as an occupational therapist. Here is the website if you are interested: http://www.springofhope.org.uk/.
I took it easy on Wednesday, and began working on Thursday. I took a "boda boda" which a is a motor bike taxi into town, and then got on a taxibus to go to the village where the Spring of Hope office is. I worked with a Ugandan occupational therapist all day on Thursday. SOOO INTERESTING. I can't believe how different our jobs can be just due to the cultural differences. We saw several kids in the clinic there. One had quite severe Cerebral Palsy and the other had hydrocephalus (water in the brain). The grandmother of the child with cerebral palsy asked me if I thought her son will ever walk. WOW... hard to tell... in the US, he would be getting therapy since birth and would have accommodations like crutches, etc.. In Uganda, they don't have those resources. All the kids I've been seeing have been under the age of 3, which is new for me! I am used to the school aged kids, but the children are SOOO precious! I want to keep all of them. Teresha (the project manager) told me that Uganda is 200 years behind the West in terms of people with disabilities. Many parents reject their children and have no idea what to do with them. It's very sad, but this organization is doing a good job at trying to change the attitudes of people and advocating to get them into schools. On Friday, we had a clinic in another village. There 80 kids came with their moms! Moses (the Ugandan OT and I saw kids for about 4 hours straight). I had to work alongside him, so he could translate for me. Many children have epilepsy here which is caused by untreated Malaria. The clinic was partly to provide medication and education for them on epilepsy. Many parents of children with disabilities take their children to a witch doctor first to cure their child, and when they realize they are not being cured they come to us. It's very sad that these very poor people waste their money on a witch doctor- but that is the culture here.
Sorry it's getting a bit long.. so much to say! But I've been surrounded by Ugandans and Brits.. so that's been funny! Another medical student from Wisconsin arrived today, and a missionary from Oregon has been helping us, so it's been refreshing to have some fellow "Muzingas" (White foreigners) around! Although, I am really trying to dive into the culture and learn as much as I am while I am here. I have been eating good food.. lots of beans, rice, chiapatti (pita bread), fruit, etc. I was oriented on the town of Jinja yesterday morning, and spent the afternoon at the pool with Teresha and Marvey (an british girl staying at the base with me). That has been nice. Today (Sunday) I went for a run in the morning.. I had to wear pants (culturally here women aren't supposed to show their knees). It was hot! I also went to an international church, out to lunch, and played mini golf! I met an Austrailian at church that was so happy to meet an American Christian who voted for Obama.. I assured him that there are many of us! Ha!
Pictures included are: my two housemates, Marvee (from the UK) and Jonathan (Wisconsin) and I at the Barazza resort on the Nile River one night, two pictures of the therapy room at the Spring of Hope Office in Kangulumira, and a picture of some of us Muzungu's playing mini golf (or crazy golf).
For those of you who don't know I am volunteering with an NGO for the next 5 weeks that serves children with disabilities in rural villages in Uganda as an occupational therapist. Here is the website if you are interested: http://www.springofhope.org.uk/.
I took it easy on Wednesday, and began working on Thursday. I took a "boda boda" which a is a motor bike taxi into town, and then got on a taxibus to go to the village where the Spring of Hope office is. I worked with a Ugandan occupational therapist all day on Thursday. SOOO INTERESTING. I can't believe how different our jobs can be just due to the cultural differences. We saw several kids in the clinic there. One had quite severe Cerebral Palsy and the other had hydrocephalus (water in the brain). The grandmother of the child with cerebral palsy asked me if I thought her son will ever walk. WOW... hard to tell... in the US, he would be getting therapy since birth and would have accommodations like crutches, etc.. In Uganda, they don't have those resources. All the kids I've been seeing have been under the age of 3, which is new for me! I am used to the school aged kids, but the children are SOOO precious! I want to keep all of them. Teresha (the project manager) told me that Uganda is 200 years behind the West in terms of people with disabilities. Many parents reject their children and have no idea what to do with them. It's very sad, but this organization is doing a good job at trying to change the attitudes of people and advocating to get them into schools. On Friday, we had a clinic in another village. There 80 kids came with their moms! Moses (the Ugandan OT and I saw kids for about 4 hours straight). I had to work alongside him, so he could translate for me. Many children have epilepsy here which is caused by untreated Malaria. The clinic was partly to provide medication and education for them on epilepsy. Many parents of children with disabilities take their children to a witch doctor first to cure their child, and when they realize they are not being cured they come to us. It's very sad that these very poor people waste their money on a witch doctor- but that is the culture here.
Sorry it's getting a bit long.. so much to say! But I've been surrounded by Ugandans and Brits.. so that's been funny! Another medical student from Wisconsin arrived today, and a missionary from Oregon has been helping us, so it's been refreshing to have some fellow "Muzingas" (White foreigners) around! Although, I am really trying to dive into the culture and learn as much as I am while I am here. I have been eating good food.. lots of beans, rice, chiapatti (pita bread), fruit, etc. I was oriented on the town of Jinja yesterday morning, and spent the afternoon at the pool with Teresha and Marvey (an british girl staying at the base with me). That has been nice. Today (Sunday) I went for a run in the morning.. I had to wear pants (culturally here women aren't supposed to show their knees). It was hot! I also went to an international church, out to lunch, and played mini golf! I met an Austrailian at church that was so happy to meet an American Christian who voted for Obama.. I assured him that there are many of us! Ha!
Pictures included are: my two housemates, Marvee (from the UK) and Jonathan (Wisconsin) and I at the Barazza resort on the Nile River one night, two pictures of the therapy room at the Spring of Hope Office in Kangulumira, and a picture of some of us Muzungu's playing mini golf (or crazy golf).
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