Fellows Blog: Day 45+

After over 30 hours of travel time, we have all made it back home! While we have no more stories of our adventures in Mukono, we all have some brief reflections on our experience we want to share.

Before that, if you’ve enjoyed this blog and want to help fund future projects, please consider donating on this page. Everyone on our team would greatly appreciate any amount!

Without further ado, our last Mukono blog post:

Haleigh

Hi all! First I want to thank everyone that has been reading this blog. Our first two weeks here it was definitely the main thing keeping us sane with finding humor in our occasionally trying adventures, and for the past four weeks it’s been a great way to record our activities, thoughts and developing friendships. I know I’ll probably reread all our blog entries at least every couple months and I hope everyone enjoyed the glimpse into our experience and the LFR model. Not going to lie, sometimes it was very annoying to write the blog late at night or have to keep uploading the pictures over and over cause they wouldn’t save. But we’re very glad we did it and please reach out to me at haleigh@lfrinternational.org if you liked it or have any questions about our experience! And now to summarize a transformative six weeks in a brief reflection:

When Amber and I got to our airport hotel on the first night here we spent at least five minutes just in shock, repeating “oh my god we’re in Uganda.” While that shock faded over time once we integrated ourselves, the sentiment persisted with each new experience and cultural revelation we had. It’s a difficult emotion to explain, but it was fairly easy to forget we were in a completely different part of the world once we established a routine here since it was just our new normal. Every so often we were reminded that we were in fact in Uganda - whether discussing differing cultural traditions and beliefs with our colleagues or having to check our privileges (especially with access to food and comfortable living facilities). Yet, as Hannington said our first night in Mukono, we all have the same blood and that bonds us together.

It’s weird to think back on when we were strangers to all the people we met; it feels like years ago at this point. At dinner the first night, we were introduced to probably 15 different people, not knowing that we would become good friends with the majority of them. One thing I liked the most was that each of them had a different place in our experience - some we would ask to take us to restaurants, some to transport us around, some to take us shopping - but we were able to connect with them nonetheless. I was always struck by how happy everyone was in Mukono, despite having limited resources. It really made me slow down and think about the deficits in westernized lifestyle. I will admit, we never fully accepted the lack of punctuality and will definitely appreciate its return back in the states. But I think I will miss taking time in the middle of the day to just hang out, to sit down and enjoy a meal for sometimes two hours, and to be present in the moment.

Here’s some other things I’ll miss (in no particular order, except maybe chronological as I scrolled through my pictures to remember):

African coffee and doughnuts

Ugandan music (almost every song that came on we had to ask the title to add to our playlist)

The trainings of course! Particularly Amber and I nailing the airway management slides every time

Sugarcane

Good morning chicken!

Seeing some of Hannington’s patients and how they modify some treatments here

Beans and chapati

Dance parties with everyone!

Amber’s baby for the birthing model

Our protein oat peanut butter balls

Teaching at the advanced trainings and doing the practical scenarios

Answering questions about the US

Sour punch straws

Spending 24/7 with Amber and Kyrillos

Here’s some things I probably won’t miss:

Dead geckos (neutral on live geckos, tbh we kind of got attached to them)

The drive to and from Kampala (ranges from an hour to 3.5 hours for a 15 mile drive)

The conversion rate of 3700 shillings to $1 making for some not fun mental math

Microwave mac and cheese with chia seeds (at least for a little bit)

The restaurant where we brought the boda boda drivers every day, sensitization at its finest (we did stop by to take a picture there on our last day)

Unperforated chili sauce packets

Strawberry electrolyte packages combined with either raspberry or normal lemonade powder

Buying wifi way too often

Along with all this, there were definitely personal and professional challenges we encountered that we didn’t detail in the blog. Spending six weeks in a third world country was very foreign to me and uncomfortable at times. The culture shock was strong, both in our physical environment and in interacting with others, and we had to adjust quickly in order to get our project done. On a work note, by the time we left there were already 12 incident report forms filled out and dropped off, which was very exciting to see our trainees actually helping people. It was frustrating to see boda riders driving around Mukono without their first aid kits, however we politely reminded them why they needed those materials and hopefully they’ll abide.

I can try to describe how rewarding it is to be able to help this community and know how our impact will spread, but a better representation is from how many times our VTCA colleagues would tell us “thank you for choosing Mukono, out of all places you could have gone.” It makes you feel very small, but simultaneously significant in the world, as a reminder of how many people live similarly to our friends and could benefit from our work. It really just alters my world perception, as I contend with missing these people I didn’t even know existed seven weeks ago. As we all return to our normal lives with only our work as tangible proof of our time in Mukono, I hope to remember their kindness, friendship and dedication. At the risk of being slightly sappy, as I told our VTCA colleagues at our going away party, a piece of all our hearts will always be in Uganda with them. :)

Thanks for indulging this reflection that turned into a stream of consciousness and I’m already looking forward to my next trip.

Amber

Well, we did it! The three of us made it home safe and sound. I don’t know where the time went, but I do know how incredibly grateful I am for the six weeks we got to spend in Uganda.

First and foremost, I will miss my built in roommates: Haleigh and Kyrillos, the two of you were my rock and my biggest support system. Thank you for always being there. Next, I need to thank our amazing host, Sammie, for providing a comfortable and safe place for us to call home. Finally, our VTCA colleagues and friends: Devir, for spending every day by our side and helping us navigate a new country; Hannington, with whom our work would not be possible without; and our wonderful TOTs, for the countless hours they put in learning the curriculum, implementing the feedback we gave them, and, more importantly, for being our friends. Thank you all.

Like we’ve alluded to, there have been many personal and professional challenges that we have omitted from the blog. However, I have learned so much from them that I hope to carry with me wherever I go. I hope to always be patient and kind with people even when their opinions and thought process may significantly differ from mine, and take their background, culture, and collective sum of experiences into account when considering new perspectives. I hope to be a little more relaxed and calm in the way I handle stressful situations, and when things don’t go according to the plan, to take everything in stride. I hope to remember to always be grateful and appreciate the little things (and big things!) that we often take for granted, like clean food and warm water, toilet paper in public restrooms, the privilege to continue my education, and gecko-free living quarters (although not going to lie I was kind of start to like the little man!)

Before we left, Hannington asked us to describe our time in Uganda with one word. I said what first came to mind: “Ineffable.” Too great to be expressed in words, so powerful or emotional that it’s incapable of being described. As great as the blog is, it doesn’t do the experience justice and barely cuts through surface of what living there for six weeks was like.

I can’t imagine having spent my summer anywhere else. The friends I’ve gained, adventures I’ve had, and memories I’ve made have impacted my life in so many ways and will forever be a part of me.

Here’s to you, Mukono—

Amber

Kyrillos

When Winston Churchill said “Uganda is the pearl of Africa,” he may have forgotten about Egypt but besides that, he was right. The last four weeks in Uganda was a blessing and an opportunity of a lifetime complicated by many emotions and unexpected occurrences. Reflecting on the experience and finding the words to describe it doesn’t come easy for me but truly, it was life changing. Here are some of my thoughts:

I will miss fist pumping (common greeting) officials and lay people. I will miss the laissez faire and free personalities of many. I will miss the roosters crowing in the early mornings and the goats bleating. I will miss the team.  I’ll even miss brushing my teeth with bottled water and hand washing my clothes. But truthfully, I won’t miss African time. When you agree to meet a Ugandan friend at noon, expect to see them any time between noon, 2 pm, and the twelfth of never. It’s not rude; it’s just the way things are done in many parts of Africa (thus the term “Africa time”). Above all though, staying in Uganda has truly taught me to live life freely and to view everyday as a blessing and a new beginning. Everyday, I saw locals defying the odds stacked against them. Having returned back home, I hope to carry that resilience in all that I do. I’m quite speechless about my time in Uganda but with confidence I’ll say that I’ve never been happier. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who has come on this journey with me and supported me through it all. Cheers!