Back at Iceme Health Center

Lake Victoria Nile River

Artwork from Jinja

I was at IST from the 11th though the 22nd. Training was great and those 11 days spoiled me again. We had plenty of food, warm showers, laundry service, a pool and the hotel had entertainment. So it was pretty nice to say the least! Plus, it was a bonus to be able to see all 45 of us again. Everyone really looks great with alittle weight loss and they are happy! IST was very productive, everyone worked on a project for implementation at their sites. Sr. Gertrude, my supervisor and I worked on Staff Morale as our project. I found out that Sr. will be reassigned from Iceme Health Center to another HC about 3 hours away. So my 3 month plan, my secondary projects and the new project will all have to be reviewed again. However, we will be able to implement a large part of the plans and projects before she leave in March.

We heard that there is another set of Peace Corps Trainees coming in February and that class is 45 as well. They are Educators this time.

After training 35 of us went White water rafting in the Nile River and it was really FUN! We all had a great time. I am sure you have seen some of the pictures on everyone’s facebook and blogs. I put some on facebook as well. We had a dinner cruise down the Nile and into Lake Victoria. It was really relaxing and fun! I am sure that you have heard and seen pictures that were posted as the “booze cruise,” but really was a dinner cruise. No one really overindulged because the next morning we were out on the Class 2,3,4, and 5 rapids. It was great with 12 rapids. Yes, my boat flipped 2 times, both with a class 4. We really were safe with all the kayakers watching each boat and with the life vest we knew if we waited a while our heads would pop up when we went under! Until one rapid, when my head tried to pop up, I realized that I was trapped under a rock! Yes, you are right, I was down for a while and not sure if I could hold my breathe any longer .... when I walked my hands out from under the rock and then realized I was under the flipped boat! Just needed to hold my breathe alittle longer. When I did come up my guide was frantic looking for me. Rafting is really much more FUN when you are able to stay in the boat! But we really had a great time.

Peace Corps Uganda is gearing up for the upcoming elections! PCV will be on Stand-fast as of 2/11 and remain on stand-fast until 2/23. That way if any riots start or they need to evacuate us they know where we are. The Ugandan government has also hire a ton of extra police to parole and show force in numbers during the elections. We will have no problems up here in the North...I am sure. Kampala is off limits the whole month of February except for Medical problems and that has to be approved before travel. Elections are February 18th. The new group of PCT’s coming in will not be staying with Homestay families and will not be in Kampala or Wakiso. We have 5 PCV’s from Uganda that were vacationing in Egypt, they are all at the airport in Cairo waiting to be air lifted with all the other Americans. They are safe.

The bus ride back to Aboke is 5 1/2 hours, then I have another 45 minutes to Iceme. Now, that I am back at Iceme, I can regroup and start focusing on my work here. It will be at least 6 months until we all get together again for training...so by then I will be ready for another mini vacation. In a way, I feel so blessed to be able to have a break and time away. The people here are in the community to stay. I have realized since I have been back that even though I have no water or electricity, I have everything else I need and more. Yes, it is challenging at times, but nothing like the people here. They face those challenges everyday with no breaks. Let me just give an example of one day’s daily routine at life here. For instance, my neighbor gets up around 6:30 am and I hear the ax chopping the tree for wood to start a fire just to cook breakfast. The dirt around the house needs to be swept next. After her family eats breakfast, she goes to the water tanks or borehole to fetch a 20 liter jerry can of water (which she carries on her head while walking anywhere from a block to 1/2 mile). Then she would wash dishes and start on washing cloths to hang out to dry for the day. Now she can get really for work, which entails a cold bucket bath! She would then need to leave work around 11-11:30 am to start the fire for lunch, goes back to work while the food is cooking and returns to eat around 1 pm. Back to work until about 5 pm when she returns home again to start the fire to cook dinner, she puts dinner on and goes back to work. She will leave to eat around 6:30 pm before it gets dark. Dishes are washed outside with cool water over the trash pit. She returns to work until around 8 pm when her replacement comes in. Because she has children to feed, she does this day in and day out. Her days off, she will prepare the garden and food that requires, peeling, drying, soaking etc. It seems to be endless and it is not even planting season yet! You have to sweep the yard and homes twice a day because of all the dust. You are continuously cleaning.

Then when you have a family member admitted to the Health Center, it consumes all of your time. You have to make their food for them for all their meals, and sanitize their water, just like you would at home. Patients have to bring there own food, cooking equipment, jerry cans, water, sheets and wash basins. If the patient is there for a while they wash the cloths and sheets and hang them on the line. The Health Center is filled to capacity with mainly children, but with adults as well. It is impossible to keep the Health Centers clean with all the dust.

We have 5 burn patients and I mean 30-50% of their bodies; they are in so much pain and keeping the dust off their wounds is extremely hard. The pain they endure and conditions these people live in all the time is unbelievable to me. When I look at them, I think of all the pain medication that could be given to them in the states and here they get Ibuprofen maybe twice a day. Since we have 5 patients needing pain meds, we will run out soon and it really does not even touch their pain levels. There is alot of epigastric pain here, it would not be a surprised if they didn’t have gastric ulcers as well. Not much in the way of antacids here. So this is just a snap shot of some of the challenges that the people in a third world country endure.

Raining season here is suppose to start in March and April, so they plant in February. Well, no one has planted yet and the rainy season may be coming early this year. It rained last night and it rained today. Hopefully, this is just a few rain storms because of the heat, otherwise hungry season will come early. Normally, hungry season is in June and July, no crops or food to vest.

I may have mentioned some of my projects that I will be working on for the next 3 months, but here they are again: Set up weekly support groups for war torn victims and a weekly support group for HIV/AIDS patients; Community Outreach teaching 3 x/week and home visits; outreach immunizations and HIV testing; teach HTI Level I class to the HC staff; work with the water committee for Bolehole repair; teach Life Skills at the secondary girls school; write grants for funding for a new ambulance (the HC does not have a functioning ambulance); write proposal to the Bishop to see if Father or Sister could come to the US for Catholic relief funds; meet with the farming committee to complete proposal to request for livestock; continue to study Lango language; teach computer skills to staff at Iceme; continue with Health Center patient assessment/observation and staff morale project. Also, I hope to plant a my permagarden next month, if I can get fencing....animals eat everything and walk though everything here!

I will keep you posted on what gets accomplished! This will keep me busy I think!

I worked for the government before, so I know the paperwork...but I just finished the PCV Trimester Report. It is computerized and extremely extensive...Boy Washington wants to know when, where, who, what and why everyday as well as how many people were along the way!

Well, I think I have updated you all on everything!

Until next time, Stay safe!

Love & Light,

Mari