uganda in december

is quite warm and probably unlike the weather any of you are experiencing at the moment. we have had a cool stretch, but cool is around 25 or 26 degrees celcius (77-79 degrees F). we are just finishing our 3rd week here and things are going okay. we are both trying to piece together what exactly we are doing at KCCC and how our skills can actually be put to use here. the pace of life in africa is very different from that in the US. every interaction has to start with several minutes of pleasantries. i even met a woman the other night who is british and has been in kampala volunteering at the main public hospital as a midwife. the hospital is called mulago hospital and it provides care for "free": that is, if you cannot afford to go anywhere else you go there and you will get services, eventually. if you need any supplies, like iv fluids or even the cannula to put the iv into your vein, or antibiotics or hardware for a bone fracture or supplies to deliver a baby or diapers for the baby, whatever you need--you buy it and have it brought. if you cannot afford, you don't get it. it is of course, woefully underfunded and understaffed and the docs and nurses are underpaid and family members of the patients wait in the hallways on straw mats, bring in food for the patients and everyone generally looks miserable. anyways, the point of the story was that this woman, this midwife, was telling me that she came upon a woman on the labor and delivery ward who was hemorrhaging and laying on the floor unconscious. she ran down the hallway to get a doctor and told him he needed to come with her that moment. because she did not take 5 minutes to ask how he was, how he was doing, how he was finding his morning, he was offended and she had to backpedal to get him just to come help resuscitate this woman.
its nice to be greeted so often and to really take the time to ask how you are, but it definitely gets in the way of the more western attitude of getting things done. you do not just walk into someone's office and ask for something. you stop, you chat, you pause, and then you ask. guy is better at it than me, if you can guess.
people also love to stop and take tea. the office comes to a screeching halt at about 10:30 or 11 am when tea is served with a little snack. even the docs leave their patients in the hallway, waiting, in order to take their tea. there are two different phrases we have learned here: kati and kati kati--"now" and "now now." now basically means some time in the next few hours, or maybe next few days. now now means it might get done today.
anyways, we are getting some things done and i am learning patience. its good for me and you need it because you wait for a lot of things and you realize that we are pretty spoiled with everything instantaneous, at our fingertips. we are headed to jinja this weekend which is the head of the nile river. there is supposed to be amazing white water rafting there which we will do at some point, but not this weekend. we are going to camp and chill out and get out of the smog and noise and craziness that is kampala for a few days...to rejuvinate. so far we are still alive, have not contracted malaria or gotten hit by a car or fallen into the many holes that are built into the sidewalks and which you have to watch the ground for or else you would definitely break a leg if you weren't paying attention. rather, we are doing great and are happy and enjoying the experience.
i hope this finds you all well and staying warm. more news and pics soon.

pictures

hello fellow followers.
how many Pts and MDs does it take to embed pictures into a blog? 2 i guess, cause it took us 2 weeks to figure this out.

but here we go, some slide shows of the pictures we have taken so far:




4 days in London, where we got to see the queen, a session of parliament and yummy indian food




our first week in Kampala, Uganda, a hectic place, where the learning curve is steep.






Our first excursion out of the city, to mabira forest, for a taste of jack and passion fruit, a bike ride and a water fall. the last few shots are of Subi (our landlord's kid) with Rusha





Touring Bwaise slum with andrew, our first bike ride and pictures of sausage, the puppy we were babysitting.



enjoy, we will post more as things come up, and send out further blogs with details and stories.



love



Kyagulanye Guy and Nassoro Rusha (pronounced Chowgoolanee and nasoro)