June 8: Today I woke up to the sound of children heading to the elementary school that is located across the street from the guesthouse. In the afternoon, there is a group of men who station their boda bodas right outside of my window, and they play Ugandan pop music on their portable boom boxes. I must say that the music sounds like any American pop song (surprise, surprise), but it is humorous to see these fully grown men listening to thirteen year-old girl singers who's voices are not much lower than chipmunks.
After a quick breakfast, Noortje came over to the guesthouse and took us to the Mbarara Hospital. The hospital is situated near the heart of Mbarara and is adjacent to MUST (Mbarara University of Science and Technology). Patients travel as far as 500 kilometers to visit the hospital. There are entire families of four to eight people who have stationed up "camp" on the hospital's lawns. These families travel far distances with their sick family member to keep them company; however, the hospital lacks the space to house these extra people. The buildings are rudimentary, but they are ever-evolving. We first visited the oncology ward, which consists of three rooms. There is a "check-in room," where patients meet with Dr. Becky. Dr. Becky is a young Ugandan woman who has bestowed upon herself to run the oncology ward, without an actual degree in oncology. The second room is for the adults, and the third and final room is for the children. Currently, the oncology ward has no place for overnight patients; however, the children are offered places in the general pediatric ward. The next project for the oncology department is to transform an abandoned shed, which is attached to the ward, into a place for oncology patients to stay overnight. The construction for this will take place in the next month.
Everyday the oncology ward receives around 20-50 patients, and most patients come once or twice a week to receive chemotherapy and another time for a check-in. This will affect the schedule in which I run the therapy program, and I am leaning towards creating more individual-based projects. After talking to some of the nurses and a couple of the patients, I realized how excited I am and how excited they are to have this new therapy program for the hospital. I then gave a giant (physically enormous, thanks to Noortje) check to the Oncology Ward that consisted of the money I have raised.
We continued on to the malnutrition ward, where we met the children and learned how the hospital deals with malnourished patients: 1. Stabilization (the children are medically stabilized and other illnesses are addressed in the Pediatric Ward). 2. Malnourished Ward (the children are then moved to the Malnourished Ward, where they are given food numerous times a day with a given amount of calories). 3. Home (the children are released from the hospital when they have gained back 20% of their original weight and are sent home with their mothers, who have learned how to cook accessible food packed with vitamins and nutrients). I learned that the main reasons behind malnourished, Ugandan children is 1. Lack of mother's knowledge on how to prepare food for children 2. The man of the household is given his choice of food, and the children eat whatever is left, which means sometimes they receive no food.
I took part in a cooking class in the Malnourished Ward, where the nurses show mothers how to take local foods and cook them into a nutrient rich meal for their children. The lesson today was a porridge. I guess I was standing too close to the fire because I quickly became over-heated, then had to leave the room in fear of passing out...I learned my "drinking a sufficient amount of water" lesson!
After lunch, Noortje took me into the Mbarara Central Market to buy cleaning supplies for the Malnourished Ward. The market was far from what we, Americans, consider a traditional farmers' market. A blue tarp hung from the stands' rods to protect the venders from the sun, and a water way (I assume and hope the liquid was water) ran through the rows of the numerous stalls. There were vegetable, fruit, hardware, meat, home supplies, and basket stands. Bargaining is how prices are decided upon (I need to become more aggressive in my negotiating skills!). There was also a street that was cluttered with people sitting at sewing machines. I soon learned that you can ask anyone of the seamstresses to make anything you might want (clothes, bags, lanyards, etc.). The market excursion was exciting, but the crowded streets sure do zap the energy right out of your body.
For dinner, my dad and I went over to the American and European ex-pat cluster of houses, and ate dinner (pizza and brownies) with people who are working on projects that are affiliated with MGH. Everyone here is so kind and dedicated to their projects and work!
After a quick breakfast, Noortje came over to the guesthouse and took us to the Mbarara Hospital. The hospital is situated near the heart of Mbarara and is adjacent to MUST (Mbarara University of Science and Technology). Patients travel as far as 500 kilometers to visit the hospital. There are entire families of four to eight people who have stationed up "camp" on the hospital's lawns. These families travel far distances with their sick family member to keep them company; however, the hospital lacks the space to house these extra people. The buildings are rudimentary, but they are ever-evolving. We first visited the oncology ward, which consists of three rooms. There is a "check-in room," where patients meet with Dr. Becky. Dr. Becky is a young Ugandan woman who has bestowed upon herself to run the oncology ward, without an actual degree in oncology. The second room is for the adults, and the third and final room is for the children. Currently, the oncology ward has no place for overnight patients; however, the children are offered places in the general pediatric ward. The next project for the oncology department is to transform an abandoned shed, which is attached to the ward, into a place for oncology patients to stay overnight. The construction for this will take place in the next month.
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| Giant Check of Money Raised |
We continued on to the malnutrition ward, where we met the children and learned how the hospital deals with malnourished patients: 1. Stabilization (the children are medically stabilized and other illnesses are addressed in the Pediatric Ward). 2. Malnourished Ward (the children are then moved to the Malnourished Ward, where they are given food numerous times a day with a given amount of calories). 3. Home (the children are released from the hospital when they have gained back 20% of their original weight and are sent home with their mothers, who have learned how to cook accessible food packed with vitamins and nutrients). I learned that the main reasons behind malnourished, Ugandan children is 1. Lack of mother's knowledge on how to prepare food for children 2. The man of the household is given his choice of food, and the children eat whatever is left, which means sometimes they receive no food.
After lunch, Noortje took me into the Mbarara Central Market to buy cleaning supplies for the Malnourished Ward. The market was far from what we, Americans, consider a traditional farmers' market. A blue tarp hung from the stands' rods to protect the venders from the sun, and a water way (I assume and hope the liquid was water) ran through the rows of the numerous stalls. There were vegetable, fruit, hardware, meat, home supplies, and basket stands. Bargaining is how prices are decided upon (I need to become more aggressive in my negotiating skills!). There was also a street that was cluttered with people sitting at sewing machines. I soon learned that you can ask anyone of the seamstresses to make anything you might want (clothes, bags, lanyards, etc.). The market excursion was exciting, but the crowded streets sure do zap the energy right out of your body.
For dinner, my dad and I went over to the American and European ex-pat cluster of houses, and ate dinner (pizza and brownies) with people who are working on projects that are affiliated with MGH. Everyone here is so kind and dedicated to their projects and work!
So interesting, Maggie: I love learning about the day-to-day details, challenges, victories of your journey. Thank you for your thoughtful posts.
ReplyDeleteDear Dear Maggie!! So excited about this spectacular adventure you're on --- and thanks to your comprehensive and fascinating posts, we're all on it together!! ---Rooting for the success of your program there with both fists in the air!
ReplyDeletewith gobs of admiration,
the whole Albright/Sampliner clan, Boulder Colorado, USA