Happy Thanksgiving

I hope that you and your families had a Wonderful Thanksgiving Day! We really have so much to be Thankful for and I feel so Blessed.

It has been 5 weeks at my site and I am finally settling in, at least my bags are unpacked and the furniture that I had them make is in my room! Boy, that was an accomplishment! Furniture is made when you order it, there is no furniture store to go and buy furniture, everything is made when you pay for it. Once it is made in Lira, it needs to be transported back to Iceme (64 kms). Well, my kitchen cabinet was the first to be transported, it was put on the back of a pick up truck on top of jerry cans, rice and other things along with about 20 people and all there belongings from shopping in Lira and traveling. Going to Iceme over the bad roads, with mud and rain.....well you can imagine what shape it was in when I got it to my place. But, it is still functional and that is all that matters. I also had a dresser made and Father transported that in his pick up on another day. It was well kept, but it was rained on. Ugandans say that when it rains on you, an event or things it is a blessing. So now all my furniture has been blessed.

On another note, I have now been to 4 weddings, 1 funeral and have been out into the village a number of times. I will try to post some of the pictures. If not when I go to Kampala over Christmas, I will be able to post pictures on facebook. I have also been working in the health center (HC). You would not believe the condition of the HC and patient population. The medical practice is so different, which I had expected. However, some of the cases we see I just cannot believe that people are still living. We have lightening alot here before a thunderstorm and a women and her 3 month old child was brought into the HC after being struck by lightening. Actually, they were sitting under a tree, the mother was making brooms and the 10 year old girl was playing around the tree. It is typical to find a young girl (7 and above) with an infant strapped to her back (they carry babies on there backs here). Anyway, she was playing and the 10 year old girl got struck by lightening and was killed immediately. The blot went right though her body, the infant was thrown off her back and burned across the face. The mother got the current, since she was so close to the incident. They brought the mother and the infant into the HC, but only after they did what they believe to be the treatment of choice. They believe that when you are struck by lightening, you must be carried to the well and submerged, because if not a frog will grow inside you. Also, the baby was rubbed down with all these herbs, weeds and grass before bring them to the HC.

Another incident worth mentioning that occurred was a patient that had come in with active TB. He had been to the hospital where they opened his chest to drain-what they believed to be the pocket of TB. Well, now it was infected and after urging them to go back to the hospital for aggressive treated, they elected not to go. Why, because no transportation and they said that if God wants to take him, then he will die; otherwise he will get better. Either way they were fine with the outcome. He died the next morning. But it was hard, when you know he could be alive today.

Talk about different methods of medical practice for treatment; we had a 20 year old boy come to the HC intoxicated. He was started on IV’s and given antibiotics, much different than we would have treated him in the States. He died that night. However, the week before a 35 year old came in after the wedding in the same condition and he got better and went home.

I was fortunate to go with the Health Inspector the other day to complete a HC survey for the World Health Organization (WHO) to find out the needs, medical practice, data, supplies, medical equipment and drugs. It was a 20 page survey and took us 3 hours to complete. This was a HC II and I was surprised at what they are doing with nothing. I really had to question the answers that were put down, sometimes the answers were different than what was said. Women in the North are still intimated by men and when a question was asked and the answer was given (even though it was not the wanted answer), it was asked again in a different way until the answer was what was expected i.e. Do you have written policies and guidelines? Clearly the answer was no, until a few posters on the wall met the criteria. Drugs were not readily available, but that is not what you want to put on paper. No wonder the staff have challenges to meet the medical needs of the people. It also was heartbreaking to find out that needles, syringes and soiled dressings were just thrown in a pit in the ground, the assistances were instructed to burn it daily during the survey. There was suppose to be 9 staff members at the HC II, however only 5 were on staff, so they were functioning without 4 staff members. They were lacking a midwife and many women were pregnant. They told me that the Government has to recruit, they do not recruit and hire.

On a lighter note, we will be going out to the villages and doing HIV testing. My PCT presentation was on recruiting Village Health Team males, train them to do HIV testing and then go to the villages and talk with the men in hopes to increase the number of males tested for HIV. Presently it is very low, so it was good to be able to start mobilizing this idea.

Also, Sr. Gertrude is very interested in learning Healing Touch and wants the staff to learn! So I will set up a weekend to teach them.

Other projects that I am working on is to get more livestock to the North and to see if some of the Bore hole (water supply) can be fixed. Alot of Bore holes were put in throughout Uganda by NGO’s for water supply. At Iceme HC III we had sparks coming out of one of the outlets in the children’s ward so all the electricity had to be turned off until Gulu Electricians come to fix the problem. So since a week before Thanksgiving the HC has not had electricity or water and we still don’t. The rain water tanks are pump driven so when the electricity is out then there is no water pumped. A bore hole sits right next to the HC, however it is not functional. So hopefully, that project will move fast and the HC can have a contingency water supply.

Since I am now doing my own, cleaning, washing and cooking I have realized how long everything takes. Just to do laundry, you have to have 3 buckets of water, so you have to go get water and then wash each piece of cloths, towels, sheets etc. So washing can take up to 2 hours. You have to cook from scratch so that takes time. If you have not soaked beans/peas for 12 hours, then it takes a good hour or more for them to cook! No fast food microwaves here! However, I made brownies from scratch the other day (no brownie box mix either) and it was really good! You really appreciate everything you have in the States, things we take for granted take so long to do here and so much more effort to do them! You have to clean and sweep everyday because of the dust in the air.

One funny note....one day just nothing was going right. We all have those days, but after a rough morning. By rough morning I mean that 4 cows camped in front of my door all night...so you can imagine what was left for me in the morning! Actually, I had to step around them to get out of my door. Also, at 5 am the roaster crowed right next to my window and you know that they crow for a good hour and pretty much stay in one place! Anyway, later in the morning I went to the latrine, as my pants came down so did all my keys and ALL my keys dropped smack dab down the latrine! You can imagine I just stood there.....thinking, “Oh my Gosh! Now what am I going to do....I can not get into my home...etc. etc.” Anyway, I had to try and get the spare keys from my window...you should have seen me! I learned very fast that you do not leave anything out in your room if your windows are opened that you don’t want to get taken even though the windows have bars on them! It reminded me of WLA when I always heard of staff dropping their beepers into the toilet, only my keys are not retrievable.

Hopefully, I will meet up with another PCV and go to Gulu to get my bike next weekend. I have also been given permission to go visit another nurse that is doing outreach in Southwest Uganda. She already has sacks of educational material made up. So I hope that I can use some of her ideas in the villages! I hope to do that maybe a week before Christmas, because they say that travel during the middle of December to January 4th, all transportation is double the price. So it may be hard to travel during that time. So December sounds like it is getting busy!

Well, I think that I have filled you in on what has occurred within the last 3 weeks so that is all for now, stay healthy and stay safe!

Love & Light,

Mari

Swearing In Ceremony

Well, Finally after 2 years and 2 months, I have been sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer!

Anyway, the week before swearing in was very busy and we were moving from place to place. Our Site supervisors and counterparts met us in Seeta where we had a 2 day workshop. Thursday we were sworn in at the Ambassador’s home (which by the way is hugh!) That Friday we traveled up North. Our Supervisors rode public transportation and did not come with a vehicle so the 3 of us going to the North rented a private hire because we had so much stuff! It took us 6 hours non stop. My 2 suitcases turned into 4, we all had buckets, books and other stuff as well as the backpacks that were full! You would not believe it. Most of this stuff I will leave here when I come home. The private hire was expensive, however it was worth the piece of mind. Things get stolen in the taxi park and the bus park at Kampala (it is mass hysteria) and there was no way we could have carried all our luggage. In fact, one of the PVC’s that was going to his site with his counterpart got carjacked and lost everything! He is safe and alive, however since his life was threatened he was very upset. PC Office and the US Embassy is helping him emotionally and helping him financially to get his life back in order. That was 2 weeks ago and I have heard he is back at his site and adjusting well. Keep him in your prayers.
It has rained in the North alot, great thunderstorms! But the rain has made the roads are really bad! Many trucks get stuck in the mud. We had to use a 4 wheel drive to get to my new home in Iceme. The drivers here are very good! Actually, unbelievable! Even in snow, I have never seen anyone drive as good as these guys.
I arrived on Friday the 22nd and on the 23rd the 3 of us were taken to Lira to buy some of the things we will need. I brought a mattress, plates, groceries etc. but was unable to buy a bike and some other important things. So we will maybe go to Gulu to get a bike, hopefully soon. I have a 1 room place, so I brought some paint in Lira, cleaned the walls and floor with bleach and used bug spray. I would like to get the carpenter in town to make me a cabinet to put things in like dishes and food etc. I just have 4 walls now. Most people here put nails in the walls and hang there cloths. So I am not sure yet, what will happen with my cloths. I am hoping that they will let me get settled in first before I start working. However, when I arrived Friday, they said, “Well tomorrow (meaning Saturday) we will work on an action plan.” But as you know now, I went to Lira to shop. So I think things can be flexible.
I went to mass on the 24th and was introduced to the community by Sr. Gertrude. She told the community in Lango that they were to protect me and if they saw anything that may cause me harm that they were to report it immediately. She is a voice of authority to them. So I really feel safe were I am.
The churches in Uganda are also used for all communication to the public community. So a mass can last 3 hours. They don’t have much radio, because there is no electricity. The church which is very large was packed and people were outside on all three sides. It is tradition here in Uganda to go though all the local councils in order to do anything here, so being announced and accepted today was a hugh step. If you are not accepted by the people here in Uganda...you can not accomplish anything because they will not listen to you or come to any training even in the villages. The following two weeks I was introduced to some of the Local Council and District leaders and the Chief Health Inspector and the Health Inspector. I will be traveling some with the Health Inspector, so it was good to finally meet him. I have been to Lira a couple of times to pick up items. when I brought my mattress back it was put on the back of a truck and it poured down rain...but a mattress in Uganda is not the same as a mattress in the States. It dried and all is well. I wish I had a picture, but when I was bringing my kitchen table back, I was in a pick up truck that was filled with cement, and people in the back and my table was hanging of the back of the truck on jerry cans! It was a site. My table will never be the same, but it is usable and that is all that counts!
I paid 150,000 shillings for my mattress, which is only foam with a cover. In american dollars that is around 75-80 dollars. Bikes here cost around 300,000 shillings to 350,000, which is about 160 to 190 dollars depending on the exchange rate. So bikes in Uganda are expensive! My counterpart was upset that I did not get a bike because he said that I can not go to the villages unless I have a bike. I think that I will be doing alot of traveling on the bike, so I have borrowed Sister’s bike until I get mine. I have lost 12 lbs already since I left the US; so after all that bike riding....maybe another 12? Who knows, but I am fine and happy....so don’t worry.
PC gave us settling in money, that will not last me to get everything I need, but it is a start. Everything I have is still packed and I don’t know what is in what bag, so when I finally get settled I will send some pictures.

Well, I guess you have noticed that the internet access is not good up here in the North. Also, I have no electricity, so I can only charge my battery every so often. So I will try to update my blog every chance I get.
I was so touched by the women in the community because I was busy working on an action plan inside and found out that the women in the community were waiting outside in the sun to see me. They waited for over an hour, which I did not know. Then when I came out they welcomed me with smiles, greetings, song, beans, eggs, lentil, potatoes, and cassava. I was so touched at the generosity of people that had no money giving me food to eat. They knew that I was going to start to cook and wanted me to have a welcome gift. My heart was so touched with these people that were sick, malnourished and tired taking their time and food to welcome me...it brought tears to my eyes. That experience will live with me forever.
Another, powerful moment that I experienced was when Father drove me into Lira and told me about his life path. He also told me about the experience he witnessed during the LRA invasion, and what he has noticed with the people since to war. The emotional trauma and how they see life today. What a remarkable man, he is a Doctor and a Priest. He talked about the time he spent in the slams in Kampala as a missionary. Throughout his career he has alternated between Doctor and Priest, he stated that it is too hard to do both. When he came back to Uganda he wanted to work as a Doctor, however the only opening in the Diocese was as a Priest. So we are blessed to have him at the Mission of the Shine of Mary.
The other day, we were visited by a group of American’s that were here for 10 days in Uganda. They were from a Unitarian Church that were visiting the North to explore many things as well as some of the war experiences. It was good to see them and talk English without repeating myself and talking very slowly!

Last Sunday, I got to go to a Wedding. My counterpart was a best man in the wedding. It was good! There was actually 2 weddings and they were held during Mass...which was 3 hours long with the weddings. After the weddings we drove to the village for the reception. Wow! So different than a reception in the states. These are poor people, yet really make the most out of what they have. Everyone sat on the ground under a tent. They had an narrator announce the family and the wedding party, where people got up and said words to the bride and groom, as well as to the family and friends. I would say that there were about 170 people there are a little more. People were given water. They had food brought out: chicken, rice, beans, cassava, and other Uganda food I don’t know names of. Anyway, it was the first time I had to eat with my fingers, just like everyone else!
The food was good. Then they gave gifts. Gifts consisted of a basin for washing, goats, lantern, jerry cans, dishes and some money. I was told that people usually give about 500 (about $ .25), 1000 (about $ .50) or 5000 schillings (about $2.50). When we left that wedding, we had to make another appearance and the next wedding. People have been so welcoming, understanding and accepting of me.

Yesterday, we had a women who was young with 4 children at home. She had just given birth to her 5th child one week ago. She was admitted to the hospital with typhoid, she went to the latrine and collapse and was unable to be recovered. She did not die of typhoid but maybe of postnatal complications or electrolyte imbalance. Please, also keep her in your prayers and her children. The family is not sure what will happen to them.

Well, I think that I have filled you in on all that I can remember since last time I had an entry!

If you want to write or send anything, my new address for the next two years will be:
Iceme Health Center III
Mari Kelley, PCV Uganda
Community Health Division
Box 43
Lira, Uganda

If you are sending any packages that you do not want stolen, then send them DHL or Fed Ex. However, they can be expensive so only send things you really want me to get that way, otherwise send things regular mail.
Well, that is all for now, stay healthy and stay safe!

Love & Light,
Mari