Fellows Blog: Day 10

Haleigh and Amber both woke up today to Devir knocking on the door. Jacob had said we were going to leave at 9, but Devir showed up at 8am!

After fighting through waves of nausea on Haleigh’s case and congestion and coughing in Amber’s (or as they call it here, “the flu,” which more resembles a cold or dust allergy), we made it out the door and walked to Mukono Access Clinic.

We chilled for about an hour, talking to one of our VTCA colleagues, Freya*, about our failed dinner attempts and asking if she had any suggestions. She was very concerned about our diet and was able to offer us some advice. Knowing us though, we’ll see how it goes, and we’ll be sure to keep you updated!

Haleigh finally managed to stomach a protein bar for breakfast before we headed off to buy even more towels. We then had a quick snack of Rolex and African Tea, which was quite good! The tea was made with steamed milk and spices, similar to Indian chai. It was the type of comfort meal Haleigh and Amber had been craving for a while, especially since we’ve been feeling a little under the weather. We also found out that the restaurant “Bell” is actually called “Bredo” and that Bell is a brand of beer.

Remember how we said Haleigh spent last night dealing with the logistics of first aid packaging? Well, the result of that conversation was another trip to Kampala.

On our hour and a half car ride, Freya asked us about marriage and couldn’t believe Haleigh didn’t want to get married for another 8-10 years. This conversation lasted a solid forty-five minutes and included Freya telling us how to manifest a good partner and be optimistic about our love lives… Amber especially appreciated the input despite the fact that she clearly enjoyed watching Haleigh squirm.

We then went to KFC again for a late lunch and headed over to get the packages for the first aid kits. This process took about four hours- negotiating was tough today! Even though Jacob (jokingly) mocked Amber for the way she negotiates, she was able to get the bags from 20,000 UGX per bag down to 10,000 UGX. We also picked up the vests we ordered a few days ago, which seem to be a big hit with all our VTCA colleagues so far.

On another note, we officially became partners in crime today! Well, Haleigh spectated and took pictures while Amber completed the mission, but let’s set the scene first: We had gotten back the van with the vests after the sun had already set, only to discover it was locked and that the driver was nowhere be found.

Amber had the brilliant idea to unlock our locked van from the inside through the wide open window. She then crawled from the front seat to the backseat in order to unlock the back doors. Is it concerning that her idea worked?

We safely made it back our place by 10pm after swinging by VTCA to drop off the stuff. Sammy was kind enough to order us dinner, so we had Eunie’s Kitchen’s version of pizza and wings. We have a lot of work to do before we start training the trainers of trainers tomorrow (say that five times fast), so wish us luck!

*Names have been changed to protect privacy

All images posted with permission of the included parties

Vibing in Kiko Market

Our Rolex and African tea! We also had some cake to share.

Send us your guesses for how many towels are stuffed into this bag. Winner gets a free dinner cooked by Haleigh and Amber :)

Selfie with Freya! We’ve noticed that people here really like posing with peace signs.

Haleigh and Amber posing with the bags we plan to use as first aid kit packaging! We were looking for something waterproof, cheap, and as compact as possible while still being able to fit everything.

Kampala in the evening! This is a side street- definitely not as crowded as the main road.

The start of Amber’s career as a criminal??? #figuringherlifeout