Keeping busy!

Hello from Uganda! I'm loving life here so far...and things are going better than I expected as I plan for the medical clinic! There is a very strong desire from the church to get this clinic going, and they already have a lot of the groundwork done. And today I can actually upload pictures, as the internet seems to be cooperating!



On Tuesday I had the opportunity to meet with the women of Mpigi to talk about health...there were about 40 of them, and we had a very lively discussion! I was impressed with the level of knowledge that the women had about the prevention of various diseases...it seems that they have the knowledge (ie. they know to use a mosquito net to prevent malaria), but they are lacking some of the resources necessary to actually do this (most of the women don't have mosquito nets, and can't really afford them). It was a really beneficial time, though, and I feel like I have a much better picture of how life is for the women!

On Wednesday I went to the Mpigi Health District offices with Michael...we met with the public health inspector, and dropped a letter off with the director of health services. We are trying to keep the district informed about what we are doing, so that potentially in the future they can use our facility.

Here is a picture of my room (which is going to be the medical clinic)!


This is a picture of my room with the newly constructed wall, dividing the doctor's area from the pharmacy/nurses area.

This is Wasswa, playing. Wasswa and Kato are a little bit bigger now, and they talk a little more than they did last year! (wasswa means older one, kato means younger one...all the twin boys in Uganda go by wasswa and kato!)

Kennedy and Cissy are getting water from the tap near the water tank.

The kids are sorting beans in preparation for dinner.


Today I took a taxi into Kampala with Pastor Alice and Alice Masambe. I was definitely the only mzungu (white person) on the taxi...fortunately, the taxis I took today only had 17-18 people in them, and no animals! (you can see up to 24 people crammed into one taxi). Once we got to Kampala, we took a boda boda (motorcycle) through the city, which was a little crazy...Kampala traffic is very unpredictable, and the bodas just zip in and out. By the time I got off, my eyes were stinging from all the diesel exhaust and dust in the air!! We then visited a few of the pharmacies to get their price lists for medications. After this, we made our way back to the taxi park, which is where pretty much every taxi in the city leaves from...again, I'm pretty sure I was the only mzungu in there. Alice and Alice stayed with me, and none of us got run over by any taxis, and we all made it home in one piece with all of our belongings!!

So that's a little bit about what I have been up to! Uganda is a beautiful country, and the people here are very welcoming! I have been impressed with their integrity as well...two of the men that we hired to do the construction on the medical clinic have come back to us to either return extra money that we gave them for supplies or lower the price...incredible!! The next couple of days will likely involve a trip or two back to Kampala, and getting an order ready for all of the medical supplies.

Hope things are well with all of you, and I will be in touch! Take care!

Here are Wasswa and Kato, drinking from the water tap! (You can see the medical clinic in the background...)