Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
18 May Monday
Home in Boulder
Guess this is my last entry for this trip. Home and enjoying springtime in Boulder: green, but chilly. Am having a bit of that disorientation that comes with leaving Africa and re-entering the land of overconsumption. Going to the grocery store yesterday just about put me over the edge. My next 3 weeks will be spent in a mixture of soaking up the mountains, preparing to go to Haiti for June/July, and practicing my cello to play for a friend’s wedding in mid-August. I am eager, too, for quiet, quality time with my good friends in Boulder. Each moment I am filled with appreciation for the connections with good people all around this globe. Why am I so fortunate? Thanks to you all for caring ~ Beverly
Guess this is my last entry for this trip. Home and enjoying springtime in Boulder: green, but chilly. Am having a bit of that disorientation that comes with leaving Africa and re-entering the land of overconsumption. Going to the grocery store yesterday just about put me over the edge. My next 3 weeks will be spent in a mixture of soaking up the mountains, preparing to go to Haiti for June/July, and practicing my cello to play for a friend’s wedding in mid-August. I am eager, too, for quiet, quality time with my good friends in Boulder. Each moment I am filled with appreciation for the connections with good people all around this globe. Why am I so fortunate? Thanks to you all for caring ~ Beverly
15 May Saturday
San Francisco International Airport
Am waiting to board my 7:20 pm flight to Denver. Just a few words about my return flights. It began in a Nairobi downpour with the taxi driver coming at 6:30 pm to get me to the airport for an 11:30 pm flight. Seem excessive? It actually wasn’t! What should have taken 20 minutes to get to the airport took over 1 ½ hours due to HUGE traffic jams! I checked in and entertained myself in the airport gift shops. Boarded, sat next to a quiet man who slept almost the whole 4.5 hours to Dubai. In Dubai I had an exquisite cappuccino during my 3 hour layover. Flight to San Francisco was 16 hours and went over the North Pole! Emirates Airlines has cameras that provide real-time “TV” viewing of the ground from one’s seat. I loved it! My aisle seat was next to 2 Indian women – very compatible seat-mates, though one had a pretty awful cough. I slept maybe a total of 2 hours. My attention is definitely shifting from Africa and I hope I don't fall asleep and miss my flight to Denver.
Am waiting to board my 7:20 pm flight to Denver. Just a few words about my return flights. It began in a Nairobi downpour with the taxi driver coming at 6:30 pm to get me to the airport for an 11:30 pm flight. Seem excessive? It actually wasn’t! What should have taken 20 minutes to get to the airport took over 1 ½ hours due to HUGE traffic jams! I checked in and entertained myself in the airport gift shops. Boarded, sat next to a quiet man who slept almost the whole 4.5 hours to Dubai. In Dubai I had an exquisite cappuccino during my 3 hour layover. Flight to San Francisco was 16 hours and went over the North Pole! Emirates Airlines has cameras that provide real-time “TV” viewing of the ground from one’s seat. I loved it! My aisle seat was next to 2 Indian women – very compatible seat-mates, though one had a pretty awful cough. I slept maybe a total of 2 hours. My attention is definitely shifting from Africa and I hope I don't fall asleep and miss my flight to Denver.
14 May Friday
Going to Nairobi
Our early morning rising was rewarded with a fleeting, but total view of Mt. Kenya! We were thrilled. We had scheduled for our driver to pick us up at 7:30 to drive to Nairobi (2.5 – 3 hours). He showed up late and somehow the half-filled fuel tank that we had left him with was empty. And he reported no fuel available in the local town. Meaning: he had blown a half a tank of fuel and we lost 1 ½ hours because we had to drive north to the nearest available fuel. But Nairobi was south east of our location. I was not happy. Also meant that we wouldn't make it to the 11 am viewing at an elephant and hippo orphan rehab facility at the Nairobi Game Reserve. I was more than disappointed. Then, with heavy rains, road construction and our driver’s ignorance of Nairobi, what should have taken at MOST 3 hours took 5! My friend had booked a hotel room for Saturday night, so we went there and sent the driver on his way. We regrouped and basically gave up any idea of getting out in Nairobi. As the locals said, “the jam is bad!”
Our early morning rising was rewarded with a fleeting, but total view of Mt. Kenya! We were thrilled. We had scheduled for our driver to pick us up at 7:30 to drive to Nairobi (2.5 – 3 hours). He showed up late and somehow the half-filled fuel tank that we had left him with was empty. And he reported no fuel available in the local town. Meaning: he had blown a half a tank of fuel and we lost 1 ½ hours because we had to drive north to the nearest available fuel. But Nairobi was south east of our location. I was not happy. Also meant that we wouldn't make it to the 11 am viewing at an elephant and hippo orphan rehab facility at the Nairobi Game Reserve. I was more than disappointed. Then, with heavy rains, road construction and our driver’s ignorance of Nairobi, what should have taken at MOST 3 hours took 5! My friend had booked a hotel room for Saturday night, so we went there and sent the driver on his way. We regrouped and basically gave up any idea of getting out in Nairobi. As the locals said, “the jam is bad!”
13 May Thursday
Naro Moru River Lodge
There is no doubt of why this lodge is named “River” lodge. Last night, after heavy rains here and torrential rains on Mt. Kenya, about 9 miles upstream, the river just outside our door rose at least 5 feet. As we left dinner to return to our cabin, the night guard walked with us, leading us along higher walks, over a fence and past the rising river – already it had covered part of the sidewalk that we normally would have used.
So, here you have 2 public health nurses, both mountaineers and used to “being prepared”. We launched into securing the things we would want to have with us in case we had to evacuate in the middle of the night. Passport, money, clean undies, toothbrush, sunglasses and hat. We laid out the clothes we would jump into (just like firemen) and decided to go with tennies rather than hiking boots, as the boots would make swimming harder!! We set the alarm for 1 am to check the status. Up we got, raincoats over nighties, headlamps and sandals. River was holding just a few inches above a spot on a tree that normally stood on the river bank. Now it was in about 4 feet of water.
We repeated our alarm-rising river-checking at 3 am and were exceedingly relieved to find that the water had begun to recede – at least it was going in the right direction! Slept in till almost 7! The pay-off for the heavy rains Wednesday was almost 24 hours without rain on Thursday.
There is no doubt of why this lodge is named “River” lodge. Last night, after heavy rains here and torrential rains on Mt. Kenya, about 9 miles upstream, the river just outside our door rose at least 5 feet. As we left dinner to return to our cabin, the night guard walked with us, leading us along higher walks, over a fence and past the rising river – already it had covered part of the sidewalk that we normally would have used.
So, here you have 2 public health nurses, both mountaineers and used to “being prepared”. We launched into securing the things we would want to have with us in case we had to evacuate in the middle of the night. Passport, money, clean undies, toothbrush, sunglasses and hat. We laid out the clothes we would jump into (just like firemen) and decided to go with tennies rather than hiking boots, as the boots would make swimming harder!! We set the alarm for 1 am to check the status. Up we got, raincoats over nighties, headlamps and sandals. River was holding just a few inches above a spot on a tree that normally stood on the river bank. Now it was in about 4 feet of water.
We repeated our alarm-rising river-checking at 3 am and were exceedingly relieved to find that the water had begun to recede – at least it was going in the right direction! Slept in till almost 7! The pay-off for the heavy rains Wednesday was almost 24 hours without rain on Thursday.
8 May Saturday
Soroti to Eldoret, Kenya
Leaving Soroti at 5 am (really!) in Martin’s (the clinic’s finance officer) friend Herbert’s van. Herbert’s family is from the area of Kenya where we are headed. Martin has never been out of Uganda. We are all excited! Crossing the border only took a little more than an hour. All of us were amazed at the large farms – much larger than the commonly seen farms in Uganda. The weather held for us, with little rain along the way. We arrived in Eldoret around noon, welcomed by my friend who is a volunteer professor at the School of Nursing at Moi University. She has been here since January and we are her first house guests.
Kerio View
Sunday morning we drove about 30 minutes away to have breakfast at Kerio View, a luxurious restaurant and lodge perched on the edge of the western ridge of the Rift Valley! We totally enjoyed the food, views and company. Well, except for the 3 bugs in Herbert’s coffee that I thought were cardamom seeds…oh well. Martin and Herbert had to return to Uganda in the afternoon. My friend took me around Eldoret and we even did a little shopping. Monday I was treated to an informal morning meeting with most of the Nursing School faculty. I was humbled to hear of their various interests – HIV was a theme, with intimate partner violence, community assessment and women’s health all important. Our afternoon was spent packing in preparation for the next four days.
Mt. Kenya
Tuesday morning our driver arrived (late) to take us to Nakura National Park and then on to Mt. Kenya. Nakura gave me my first views of African animals in Africa! We saw flamingos, zebras, impalas, gazelles, waterbucks, baboons, monkeys, rhinos, giraffes and a COBRA!! Luckily we were in the car. The roads deteriorated horrendously after that and our driver was visibly anxious as we entered terrain populated by a tribe that was made notorious by their violence after the most recent Kenya elections. We didn’t arrive at our destination til 8 pm! But it was well worth it. Understated elegance – we even had a fireplace in our room. We were disappointed to learn that the fee for doing a day-hike on Mt. Kenya was $345 per PERSON. That, plus the weather was AWFUL, made us agree that we were going to have to face a forced time of relaxation. Something that neither of us is very accustomed to doing. I went swimming in the lodge’s swimming pool and had a sauna.
Leaving Soroti at 5 am (really!) in Martin’s (the clinic’s finance officer) friend Herbert’s van. Herbert’s family is from the area of Kenya where we are headed. Martin has never been out of Uganda. We are all excited! Crossing the border only took a little more than an hour. All of us were amazed at the large farms – much larger than the commonly seen farms in Uganda. The weather held for us, with little rain along the way. We arrived in Eldoret around noon, welcomed by my friend who is a volunteer professor at the School of Nursing at Moi University. She has been here since January and we are her first house guests.
Kerio View
Sunday morning we drove about 30 minutes away to have breakfast at Kerio View, a luxurious restaurant and lodge perched on the edge of the western ridge of the Rift Valley! We totally enjoyed the food, views and company. Well, except for the 3 bugs in Herbert’s coffee that I thought were cardamom seeds…oh well. Martin and Herbert had to return to Uganda in the afternoon. My friend took me around Eldoret and we even did a little shopping. Monday I was treated to an informal morning meeting with most of the Nursing School faculty. I was humbled to hear of their various interests – HIV was a theme, with intimate partner violence, community assessment and women’s health all important. Our afternoon was spent packing in preparation for the next four days.
Mt. Kenya
Tuesday morning our driver arrived (late) to take us to Nakura National Park and then on to Mt. Kenya. Nakura gave me my first views of African animals in Africa! We saw flamingos, zebras, impalas, gazelles, waterbucks, baboons, monkeys, rhinos, giraffes and a COBRA!! Luckily we were in the car. The roads deteriorated horrendously after that and our driver was visibly anxious as we entered terrain populated by a tribe that was made notorious by their violence after the most recent Kenya elections. We didn’t arrive at our destination til 8 pm! But it was well worth it. Understated elegance – we even had a fireplace in our room. We were disappointed to learn that the fee for doing a day-hike on Mt. Kenya was $345 per PERSON. That, plus the weather was AWFUL, made us agree that we were going to have to face a forced time of relaxation. Something that neither of us is very accustomed to doing. I went swimming in the lodge’s swimming pool and had a sauna.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
7 May Friday
4 May evening
No Power.
Tuesday evening. No power in my guest house for over 24 hours. Rest of town has power – nobody really know why we don’t. The generator is “spoiled” which meads not even minimal lights…and I won’t be able to boil water for my coffee in the morning. Will have to wait til I get to breakfast for my first cup.
Julius – Surgery
The young man who came to us with a worsening 2-month old leg wound arrived at TSMP clinic early on Monday. He, the driver (Richard) and I went to the private clinic where he had gotten a wound culture done on Saturday. At 9:30 we were rthe first to sign in to see the orthopedic surgeon (who is only here 3 days/week) Julius saw the doc at 11 – not a bad wait (though I was eager to be back to our clinic)! Xray showed no bone involvement, but the tissue needed debridement. About 300,000 shillings ($150) later and at 5 pm, he was waking up. Somehow, Richard had located Julius’s wife and year-old daughter (the 4 orphans of Julius’s brother were left at “home” in the hut in the camp.) Here, a patient’s family has to provide food, water, help with the bathroom…since Julius and his wife actually have NOTHING, we arranged for meals to be brought to them in the evening and tea and donuts to be brought in the morning.. The wife was prepared to spend the night – she had a sheet to sleep on the cement floor.
The surgeon was highly suspicious of the tissue and sent a biopsy to Kampala ($15). He thinks it may be TB. The results will be back when Julius sees the doc on the 14th. Meanwhile, we transported him to TSMP, where he spent one more night in a bed and in a clean environment, with food and clean water. His wife arrived on Wednesday morning and was there fro the first dressing change. The wound looked good – it was dry and the tissue is pink. But it is really big and the tissue around it is extremely fragile. The gellow has at least a month of healing ahead of him. I decided to give money to Richard to pick up beans, posho (like polenta), cooking oil and charcoal for them as he drove them home. Richard is one of those amazing angels – he know the people, is really spiritually connected and is incredibly dedicated to the poor people who were displaced by the civil war and who now have been pushed out of the camps by the government, but still are somewhat homeless. It is not a good scene here.
A bit more about this situation with Julius. Generally, my approach is to focus on community level needs. There is so much need here that helping one person feels a bit like a drop in a very huge bucket. And how does one decide who is meritous and who is not? I crossed over that line with Julius and am feeling quite conflicted. He’s only 21 and lost his ability to earn money with this leg injury. He most surely would have lost his leg, even though he had been to our clinic right after the accident and was treated. At our all-staff meeting on Wednesday morning, I talked about this with the staff. I acknowledged that I had made a mistake and should have consulted with Martin and Dr. Nathan before launching into the wound culture and all that ensued. One of the problems that this could lead to is people in the community expecting that the clinic will be able to provide this for everyone. And of course, we cannot. I both wanted to let the staff know that I had made this mistake and was totally owning it. AND I wanted to demonstrate that making mistakes is quite human. In talking with one of the staff about this later (Esther), she said “when you don’t have open communication with people and they can point out your mistakes, how can you ever learn and avoid doing something wrong?” I totally love these guys and am constantly inspired by their wisdom.
Outreach Day – Thursday
Thursday we packed into a van and drove about 40 minutes north and east of Soroti where we did an outreach clinic. Four doctors saw medical patients (155); a midwife saw antenatal women (30?), a midwife did childhood vaccinations (I have no idea how many) and the lab did some malaria tests (we ran out of test strips) and the dispensary nurses counted out tablets and gave injections! WOW! I helped with registration and was very popular with the docs when I showed them how to change the new thermometers to Centigrade! I also helped with the vaccinations – filling out the cards and escorting sick Moms to the medical docs, when needed. Then I helped in the dispensary, something that is always needed, but not my favorite thing to do.
Friday
How can it be my last day in Soroti? I woke at 4:30, the power is off, again. (It had been on for about 24 hours.) I plan to be at the clinic this morning, will see Julius and change his dressing. I am hoping it will be busy enough that I won’t have time to cry. I am so full of many emotions – gratitude for Charles Steinberg’s invitation to come here 6 years ago, for the “Gails”, for these strong and dedicated staff who provide such loving care for people who have suffered so much and for Jennifer Braun and her willingness to partner with us and then take over the clinic. Without her dedication, none of this would be as it is today.
As I sign off, I will be heading to Kenya tomorrow. I’ll be meeting with a friend there who is teaching at a school of nursing. I’ll try my best to report in about that road trip and the possibility of a job interview! And then actually having some fun.
HOME ON the 15th. I am actually going to be home on May 15, not the 5th. I made a type-o. Sorry for that!
No Power.
Tuesday evening. No power in my guest house for over 24 hours. Rest of town has power – nobody really know why we don’t. The generator is “spoiled” which meads not even minimal lights…and I won’t be able to boil water for my coffee in the morning. Will have to wait til I get to breakfast for my first cup.
Julius – Surgery
The young man who came to us with a worsening 2-month old leg wound arrived at TSMP clinic early on Monday. He, the driver (Richard) and I went to the private clinic where he had gotten a wound culture done on Saturday. At 9:30 we were rthe first to sign in to see the orthopedic surgeon (who is only here 3 days/week) Julius saw the doc at 11 – not a bad wait (though I was eager to be back to our clinic)! Xray showed no bone involvement, but the tissue needed debridement. About 300,000 shillings ($150) later and at 5 pm, he was waking up. Somehow, Richard had located Julius’s wife and year-old daughter (the 4 orphans of Julius’s brother were left at “home” in the hut in the camp.) Here, a patient’s family has to provide food, water, help with the bathroom…since Julius and his wife actually have NOTHING, we arranged for meals to be brought to them in the evening and tea and donuts to be brought in the morning.. The wife was prepared to spend the night – she had a sheet to sleep on the cement floor.
The surgeon was highly suspicious of the tissue and sent a biopsy to Kampala ($15). He thinks it may be TB. The results will be back when Julius sees the doc on the 14th. Meanwhile, we transported him to TSMP, where he spent one more night in a bed and in a clean environment, with food and clean water. His wife arrived on Wednesday morning and was there fro the first dressing change. The wound looked good – it was dry and the tissue is pink. But it is really big and the tissue around it is extremely fragile. The gellow has at least a month of healing ahead of him. I decided to give money to Richard to pick up beans, posho (like polenta), cooking oil and charcoal for them as he drove them home. Richard is one of those amazing angels – he know the people, is really spiritually connected and is incredibly dedicated to the poor people who were displaced by the civil war and who now have been pushed out of the camps by the government, but still are somewhat homeless. It is not a good scene here.
A bit more about this situation with Julius. Generally, my approach is to focus on community level needs. There is so much need here that helping one person feels a bit like a drop in a very huge bucket. And how does one decide who is meritous and who is not? I crossed over that line with Julius and am feeling quite conflicted. He’s only 21 and lost his ability to earn money with this leg injury. He most surely would have lost his leg, even though he had been to our clinic right after the accident and was treated. At our all-staff meeting on Wednesday morning, I talked about this with the staff. I acknowledged that I had made a mistake and should have consulted with Martin and Dr. Nathan before launching into the wound culture and all that ensued. One of the problems that this could lead to is people in the community expecting that the clinic will be able to provide this for everyone. And of course, we cannot. I both wanted to let the staff know that I had made this mistake and was totally owning it. AND I wanted to demonstrate that making mistakes is quite human. In talking with one of the staff about this later (Esther), she said “when you don’t have open communication with people and they can point out your mistakes, how can you ever learn and avoid doing something wrong?” I totally love these guys and am constantly inspired by their wisdom.
Outreach Day – Thursday
Thursday we packed into a van and drove about 40 minutes north and east of Soroti where we did an outreach clinic. Four doctors saw medical patients (155); a midwife saw antenatal women (30?), a midwife did childhood vaccinations (I have no idea how many) and the lab did some malaria tests (we ran out of test strips) and the dispensary nurses counted out tablets and gave injections! WOW! I helped with registration and was very popular with the docs when I showed them how to change the new thermometers to Centigrade! I also helped with the vaccinations – filling out the cards and escorting sick Moms to the medical docs, when needed. Then I helped in the dispensary, something that is always needed, but not my favorite thing to do.
Friday
How can it be my last day in Soroti? I woke at 4:30, the power is off, again. (It had been on for about 24 hours.) I plan to be at the clinic this morning, will see Julius and change his dressing. I am hoping it will be busy enough that I won’t have time to cry. I am so full of many emotions – gratitude for Charles Steinberg’s invitation to come here 6 years ago, for the “Gails”, for these strong and dedicated staff who provide such loving care for people who have suffered so much and for Jennifer Braun and her willingness to partner with us and then take over the clinic. Without her dedication, none of this would be as it is today.
As I sign off, I will be heading to Kenya tomorrow. I’ll be meeting with a friend there who is teaching at a school of nursing. I’ll try my best to report in about that road trip and the possibility of a job interview! And then actually having some fun.
HOME ON the 15th. I am actually going to be home on May 15, not the 5th. I made a type-o. Sorry for that!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Uganda Kenya Spring 2010
2 May 2010
Greetings from Soroti, Uganda! It is Sunday morning as I write, realizing I left Boulder just a week ago. Seems like a lifetime.
Brief History: In 2005, 3 Canadian nurses and I founded a primary health clinic in eastern Uganda to serve the “Internally Displaced Persons” who were sheltering in camps around Soroti. There were about 20,000 people in the camps then and little health care available. Since those lean days, we have gratefully turned over the funding and the oversight to the International Midwife Assistance (IMA) and our clinic has organized themselves as an Uganda Non-governmental organization Teso Safe Motherhood Project(see their website: www.TesoSMP.org )
It’s been 2 years since I was in Uganda. I was thrilled to combine several projects in this trip. First, though, a bit about the trip here. I had been scheduled to fly through London, but a miraculous travel agent helped me land a reservation on Emirates – Denver-Houston-Dubai (13 hours)-Addis Ababa-Entebbe (42 hours!) My flights all went incredibly smoothly – no hassle from Emirates Airline for big bags AND all bags arrived in Entebbe with me. This was my first time to fly through Dubai and I spent the night in the Arab Courtyard hotel in a historic section of this incredibly friendly and modern (and clean) city. The flight from Houston to Dubai was 15 hours and it turned out that we flew over Britain, Belgium, the Black Sea, Turkey, Iraq to get there (guess the ash had dispersed). I sneaked peaks out the window as we moved into daylight – I loved seeing the differences in agriculture, the city layouts and the mountains turning to desert.
As part of the clinic program planning, we had conducted a Community Needs/Resource Assessment in the camps and community in 2006. My first order of business in Kampala was to give a presentation to the International Health Sciences University class. One of our very first employees at the clinic is now enrolled in a Health Administration degree program there and I was invited to speak at his Health Research Class. I presented to about 100 students and faculty, including the Dean of the Public Health School. It was thrilling, to say the least! Martin (the clinic’s Finance Officer and also an original employee) was also able to be there for the talk. How far we have come from those early days! Martin and Patrick and I found it very emotional, remembering what we have all been through, especially in those early years.
Now, after a 6-hour car ride with Martin and the 2-month supply of medications for the clinic and the driver, I am back in Soroti, a quiet town of about 15,000 people. I feel like I’m coming home. This trip, 5 years after we first opened the doors of the clinic to serve IDPs around Soroti, has been so full! I’m so taken with the maturing of the staff, their dedication and great attitudes. Arriving Thursday evening, we found that 2 babies had been born at the clinic that very day! The TSMP is in full operation, providing primary health care, antenatal, births (for low-risk moms), family planning (including IUDs!), vaccinations and HIV/AIDS counseling and testing. One day a week, they do an outreach clinic. Most of the IDPs have been sent away from the camps and are in a bit of “limbo”. I’ll be going with them on Thursday and am extremely eager to observe the conditions.
Friday, the clinic began with everyone gathering and Dr. Nathan greeting me warmly on behalf of the staff. He talked about their appreciation for the original nurses who came to Soroti to open, of all things – a clinic for IDPs! I felt so lucky to be here and I sooooo wished that Gail, Thea and Marie could have been sitting there with me (The 4 of us basically co-founded the clinic in 2005, but there were others – Adam & Shawna!). All the staff talked about how much they love being able to work at the clinic and how grateful they are for the original 4 nurses, as well as International Midwife Assistance to now support and fund the work. These 5 years have seen some drama and we are all so incredibly amazed that we weathered it and continue! (We need to keep the funding rolling into IMA!!)
I spent Friday putting away the drugs that we had brought back from Kampala. Martin and Esther and I had a great time thinking about the early days when the drug order was 2 boxes! This time it filled an 8-passenger van! The clinicians were also seeing patients – plenty of chaos with the boxes filling the main entrance room, Dr. Nathan on the front porch checking in the drugs in the proper notebook as Martin and Leonard opened and counted box after box after box! Yikes!
We had a young man come who had a leg wound from being hit by a rock while making gravel. People make money by chipping big rocks by hand into gravel. His wound had been treated a couple of months ago, got better, but now was really having a problem. He has an open wound, about the size of a quarter and about a centimeter deep. The leg is swollen around it and down to his foot. I sent him with an interpreter to a private clinic for a culture and when he returned, I had him lay with the foot elevated (on a comfortable bed in the clinic) for about an hour. He said it gave the pain some relief. Then we soaked it in warm water for about 20 minutes. I dressed it and sent him back to his camp on a boda (bicycle taxi). He went back to the doctor Saturday morning and Martin and I found that they actually did the culture then and will have the results back on Tuesday morning. Martin and I are going to try to find him this afternoon and do another dressing change and give him some vitamin C. The clinic gave him some emergency food, as he has no way to make any money now and there is NO way that wound will heal without some protein getting into him. This guy would be in the hospital with IVs, high protein diet and maybe a wound vac or eventually skin graft. And he’d be dry, well rested and not stressed. The overlay of malaria is always hovering and his immune system does not need any more stressing. I pray he does not get malaria.
My time in Soroti is short (10 days), and I am scurrying about to greet old friends and catch up on life, even for just a small bit of time. Our Lab Tech, Leo Odiit and his wife Helen have a 2-week old baby boy and a son that is just about 2 years old. Yesterday we spent about 3 hours together and I got to give her hand-me-downs from by good friends in Boulder, Marie and Chris, whose twin boys turn 3 in August! It was so much fun! Helen put the baby in a white “onesy” and white sox and he looked like he was going out for soccer! I read a sweet book to Helen and the baby that Marie gave me – “I love you this much”. It was soooo sweet!
This week will be spent at the clinic, finishing putting the drug order away and then working with the nurses in the dispensary. They are moving into the electronic age and I will work with them on using a spread sheet to keep records of their daily, weekly and monthly drug usage. You can take a look at their web site: www.tesosmp.org.
The 3rd leg of my journey will take me to Kenya. For the first time (this is my 7th trip to Uganda), I’m going to take an incredible opportunity to do some hiking and relaxing (I hope)! I will be meeting up with a friend who is teaching at a School of Nursing in Eldoret. She’s helping them move to PhD quality curriculum. She and I will spend some days exploring the area around Eldoret and I’ll get to meet the faculty with whom she’s been working. We plan to spend a few days hiking around Mt. Kenya before I have to come home! Probably won’t attempt to summit this trip as it’s the rainy season.
Well, Martin is coming back soon and he tells me there are 2 women in labor in the clinic and we still need to look for our patient with the leg wound!
I look forward to hearing from you! Take care & asodo ber (bye for now)!
Beverly
Greetings from Soroti, Uganda! It is Sunday morning as I write, realizing I left Boulder just a week ago. Seems like a lifetime.
Brief History: In 2005, 3 Canadian nurses and I founded a primary health clinic in eastern Uganda to serve the “Internally Displaced Persons” who were sheltering in camps around Soroti. There were about 20,000 people in the camps then and little health care available. Since those lean days, we have gratefully turned over the funding and the oversight to the International Midwife Assistance (IMA) and our clinic has organized themselves as an Uganda Non-governmental organization Teso Safe Motherhood Project(see their website: www.TesoSMP.org )
It’s been 2 years since I was in Uganda. I was thrilled to combine several projects in this trip. First, though, a bit about the trip here. I had been scheduled to fly through London, but a miraculous travel agent helped me land a reservation on Emirates – Denver-Houston-Dubai (13 hours)-Addis Ababa-Entebbe (42 hours!) My flights all went incredibly smoothly – no hassle from Emirates Airline for big bags AND all bags arrived in Entebbe with me. This was my first time to fly through Dubai and I spent the night in the Arab Courtyard hotel in a historic section of this incredibly friendly and modern (and clean) city. The flight from Houston to Dubai was 15 hours and it turned out that we flew over Britain, Belgium, the Black Sea, Turkey, Iraq to get there (guess the ash had dispersed). I sneaked peaks out the window as we moved into daylight – I loved seeing the differences in agriculture, the city layouts and the mountains turning to desert.
As part of the clinic program planning, we had conducted a Community Needs/Resource Assessment in the camps and community in 2006. My first order of business in Kampala was to give a presentation to the International Health Sciences University class. One of our very first employees at the clinic is now enrolled in a Health Administration degree program there and I was invited to speak at his Health Research Class. I presented to about 100 students and faculty, including the Dean of the Public Health School. It was thrilling, to say the least! Martin (the clinic’s Finance Officer and also an original employee) was also able to be there for the talk. How far we have come from those early days! Martin and Patrick and I found it very emotional, remembering what we have all been through, especially in those early years.
Now, after a 6-hour car ride with Martin and the 2-month supply of medications for the clinic and the driver, I am back in Soroti, a quiet town of about 15,000 people. I feel like I’m coming home. This trip, 5 years after we first opened the doors of the clinic to serve IDPs around Soroti, has been so full! I’m so taken with the maturing of the staff, their dedication and great attitudes. Arriving Thursday evening, we found that 2 babies had been born at the clinic that very day! The TSMP is in full operation, providing primary health care, antenatal, births (for low-risk moms), family planning (including IUDs!), vaccinations and HIV/AIDS counseling and testing. One day a week, they do an outreach clinic. Most of the IDPs have been sent away from the camps and are in a bit of “limbo”. I’ll be going with them on Thursday and am extremely eager to observe the conditions.
Friday, the clinic began with everyone gathering and Dr. Nathan greeting me warmly on behalf of the staff. He talked about their appreciation for the original nurses who came to Soroti to open, of all things – a clinic for IDPs! I felt so lucky to be here and I sooooo wished that Gail, Thea and Marie could have been sitting there with me (The 4 of us basically co-founded the clinic in 2005, but there were others – Adam & Shawna!). All the staff talked about how much they love being able to work at the clinic and how grateful they are for the original 4 nurses, as well as International Midwife Assistance to now support and fund the work. These 5 years have seen some drama and we are all so incredibly amazed that we weathered it and continue! (We need to keep the funding rolling into IMA!!)
I spent Friday putting away the drugs that we had brought back from Kampala. Martin and Esther and I had a great time thinking about the early days when the drug order was 2 boxes! This time it filled an 8-passenger van! The clinicians were also seeing patients – plenty of chaos with the boxes filling the main entrance room, Dr. Nathan on the front porch checking in the drugs in the proper notebook as Martin and Leonard opened and counted box after box after box! Yikes!
We had a young man come who had a leg wound from being hit by a rock while making gravel. People make money by chipping big rocks by hand into gravel. His wound had been treated a couple of months ago, got better, but now was really having a problem. He has an open wound, about the size of a quarter and about a centimeter deep. The leg is swollen around it and down to his foot. I sent him with an interpreter to a private clinic for a culture and when he returned, I had him lay with the foot elevated (on a comfortable bed in the clinic) for about an hour. He said it gave the pain some relief. Then we soaked it in warm water for about 20 minutes. I dressed it and sent him back to his camp on a boda (bicycle taxi). He went back to the doctor Saturday morning and Martin and I found that they actually did the culture then and will have the results back on Tuesday morning. Martin and I are going to try to find him this afternoon and do another dressing change and give him some vitamin C. The clinic gave him some emergency food, as he has no way to make any money now and there is NO way that wound will heal without some protein getting into him. This guy would be in the hospital with IVs, high protein diet and maybe a wound vac or eventually skin graft. And he’d be dry, well rested and not stressed. The overlay of malaria is always hovering and his immune system does not need any more stressing. I pray he does not get malaria.
My time in Soroti is short (10 days), and I am scurrying about to greet old friends and catch up on life, even for just a small bit of time. Our Lab Tech, Leo Odiit and his wife Helen have a 2-week old baby boy and a son that is just about 2 years old. Yesterday we spent about 3 hours together and I got to give her hand-me-downs from by good friends in Boulder, Marie and Chris, whose twin boys turn 3 in August! It was so much fun! Helen put the baby in a white “onesy” and white sox and he looked like he was going out for soccer! I read a sweet book to Helen and the baby that Marie gave me – “I love you this much”. It was soooo sweet!
This week will be spent at the clinic, finishing putting the drug order away and then working with the nurses in the dispensary. They are moving into the electronic age and I will work with them on using a spread sheet to keep records of their daily, weekly and monthly drug usage. You can take a look at their web site: www.tesosmp.org.
The 3rd leg of my journey will take me to Kenya. For the first time (this is my 7th trip to Uganda), I’m going to take an incredible opportunity to do some hiking and relaxing (I hope)! I will be meeting up with a friend who is teaching at a School of Nursing in Eldoret. She’s helping them move to PhD quality curriculum. She and I will spend some days exploring the area around Eldoret and I’ll get to meet the faculty with whom she’s been working. We plan to spend a few days hiking around Mt. Kenya before I have to come home! Probably won’t attempt to summit this trip as it’s the rainy season.
Well, Martin is coming back soon and he tells me there are 2 women in labor in the clinic and we still need to look for our patient with the leg wound!
I look forward to hearing from you! Take care & asodo ber (bye for now)!
Beverly
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