The adventure begins…
March 13th, 2011 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »February 29, 2011
Yesterday I was fortunate to have a day to sleep in and try to recover from jet-lag before starting work at The Surgery. I would’ve slept in longer, but I realized that once you are awake here it’s not easy to go back to sleep. From my room I can hear the sounds of a variety of birds flying around and singing their choruses. I met the owner of the guesthouse, Claire, who showed me around as well as some other guests staying at the house. Nick is a middle-aged Englishman who works setting up new orphanages but for the time being is staying in Kampala until it is safe for him to go to the Sudan. Holly is a very straightforward Kenyan who I would’ve guessed as a Brit if she hadn’t told me. She works for an animal conservation company. Mona is another medical student from the UK (though she is Iranian by heritage) who has a 2 month rotation with a plastic surgeon. There will be more guests coming over the next few weeks, but it already seems like a very diverse group. Claire and some of the other guests were heading to the America Club to play some tennis as they do each Sunday morning. Having no clothes but the t-shirt, hoodie and sweatpants that I wore to fly, I declined the offer to play but went along to see what the club was like. The club is a guarded facility with a wall all the way around, but once you are inside it is very nice. The main building has a large patio with tables and sofas for lounging as you watch tennis, grab a bite to eat or just enjoy the landscaping. There are two clay tennis courts that I was surprised to find have lights, since many of the courts back home don’t have them. The club also has a swimming pool, squash courts and a small but reasonably well-equipped weight room. I was wondering if I would be able to workout here, but it looks like that won’t be a problem if I join the club. Visting the club is an interesting feeling. On one hand I never expected to come to Africa and have these amenities at my disposal. On the other, I am glad to have them, and it still seems like a far cry from the massive gym that I go to back home. After watching tennis and meeting several ex-pats from Europe and the U.S. We headed back to the house to relax. I took the opportunity to snap some pictures of the views from the balcony. Everyone here is saying that the rain season should be coming anytime and that it’s much too hot. For me, coming from Phoenix, AZ, the temperature is fine and the plant life appears so lush and green.
After a short nap, we took off for a gathering at the home of one of Claire’s colleagues who is also a teacher at the International School of Uganda. The atmosphere was nice as the kitchen is outdoors and there is a large outdoor living area with couches and chairs. It reminded me of recent trends in the U.S. toward outdoor living areas and made me wonder why it took us so long to appreciate that sort of lifestlye. The party was a special gathering of friends to view Tingatinga paintings by four brothers from Tanzania. Tingatinga is a style of painting named after it’s originator that involves the use of bicycle paint to create vibrant colors and motifs that fill the entire space of a canvas. There will be an exhibition later on in March at the school. Last year there was a similar show exhibiting the works of the father of these 4 brothers, who taught them before he died. It turns out that only two of the brothers have come to Kampala so far; the others will arrive before the exhibition. There were several of the artists’ recent works for sale and everyone was abuzz about them. It didn’t take long before guests started snatching them up and the wave of purchases continued. I debated making such a big purchase the first day of my trip, but there was a particular painting that caught my eye, and I knew it would be the perfect souvenir along with the wall hangings I have collected from my trips in Europe. My painting will be in the exhibit, so I can’t show you a picture yet. I will post one as soon as I have it.
Today I woke up early to get a ride with Jimmy to the airport to pick up my luggage and then to The Surgery for the first day of work. On the way back from Entebbe, I snapped plenty of photos of the shops and houses along the road. Of the places I’ve been, it reminded me most of Iraq though more vibrant in color and without the stench of garbage. Instead there is the aroma of burning charcoal and leaves. It seems that in Uganda there are many buildings that house a number of smaller shops. A mile down the road there are seemingly the same type of businesses. Even though this is a main road from the country’s capital to the only major international airport in Uganda it is 2 lanes and there was plenty of traffic. I have learned that the motorbikes darting in and out of traffic are called boda boda. Original boda boda were a sort of bicycle taxi but modernity has called for an upgrade to motorbikes. Most of these drivers and nearly all of the passengers don’t wear helmets. Jimmy tells me that there have been several bad accidents that he has seen, but for the most part people are used to driving around bodas and they are used to maneuvering through traffic. It’s not the safest form of transportation, but for the locals it is often a necessity.
Walking into the surgery my first impression is how modern the waiting and reception area is. I meet Dr. Stockley, the tropical medicine specialist that I will be working with, coming up the stairs. He appears very busy and doesn’t notice me there. When he is done talking to a nurse I introduce myself and he gives me a mini-tour of the clinic before grabbing the next patient. Much like back home, there is a room full of patients waiting to be seen. Over the afternoon we see somewhere between 30 and 40 patients. There is not time to do a full SOAP note, but I quickly learn the basics: Where are you from? Where are you staying? Where have you traveled? Have you been in the lake or Nile River? What medications are you taking (including anti-malarials)? It’s not long before I am running patients to X-Ray, the nurse’s station for lab draw or the cashier. This first day is a crash course in getting to know the clinic and how patients are managed. There is not really time to meet the staff, but I am sure we will get to know each other over the next few weeks. I had heard that Dr. Stockley had an interesting bedside manner and sense of humor. My first impression is that we will get along great. While sometimes a little crass, he is very dry and sarcastic. I get the sense that after 31 years of working in Uganda he has developed this humor to cope with the differences in culture and frustrations with communication differences that often result in questions or comments being lost in translation.
