First Week

Omuzeti?!


My first week in Uganda has not disappointed. I arrived in Entebbe airport, and was picked up by Dr. Michael’s cousin, Nicholas, who drove me to Kampala which is Uganda’s capital, where I would spend one night before traveling to Kisoro. The Namirembi Guest House, where I stayed, was lovely. I watched the sun set over Kampala, got drenched in my first Ugandan downpour, devoured my first taste of barbecue goat, and awoke to the early morning Islamic prayer calls, as I braced myself for the long bus ride to Kisoro.



The road to Kisoro from Kampala is considered one of the best roads in Uganda, yet it took 11 hours to travel 180 km, with only one stop long enough to use the bathroom. The woman I sat next to on the bus, Gertrude, was a Ugandan nursing student, coming to Kisoro for a community health research project on sanitation. She was very sweet and kept trying to feed me roasted maize on a stick. The long bus ride really gave me a sense of how breathtakingly beautiful the very southern Kigezi region is, from the tall, pointy volcanic mountains, and the thick bamboo forests, to the treacherous roads that looked down on bright green terraced hillsides.

When I first arrived in Kisoro on Saturday I was accosted by the boda boda’s, all wanting to give me a ride on their motorcycle to my final destination. Fortunately, a nice man on the bus let me use his cell phone to call Dr. Michael to come pick me up. When I gave him the number he said, “Oh, its Dr. Michael’s number, he is my doctor and is already in my phone. Tell him I said hello!”

Dr. Michael Baganizi, came promptly, and gave me a brief tour of the town Kisoro, before taking me to the compound where I would be staying. The compound is where many local health care workers and volunteers live, and it is a 5 minute walk from Kisoro District Hospital, (KDH) where I have been spending most of my time this week. I have made myself quite at home in the 2 bedroom concrete abode. My bedroom is well equipped with a bed and a mosquito net. The kitchen has a two burner propane stove, and an electric kettle to boil water. The living room consists of the typical couch, chairs and coffee table, but it is also where the refrigerator is. I am happy to report that although there is no hot water for showers, the toilet is a sit down one, which isn’t the norm in Uganda.

Since the time difference is 11 hours ahead, last night was the first night I was able to sleep 8 hours and not start my day at 4 am. Today I woke up at the normal time of 6:15 am, which is exactly when the millions of birds begin to sing me awake. I have already identified several birds. The Gray Crowned Crane and the Hadada are beautiful birds that are unique to this area. For those of you that are into birds you should look up the Marabou, it is a VERY scary looking bird that is as tall as a child. My backyard is a lush and hilly thoroughfare of people traveling up, up, and up the steep trails to their villages, always carrying something VERY heavy on their heads, and often with a baby bump tightly wrapped in colorful cloth on their backs. My favorite is when the goats and cows with GIANT horns mingle right outside my window.

A few characters in my daily life include my neighbor, Phillip, who is a medical student, essentially acting as the pediatrician and maternity ward doctor at the hospital. He is working at KDH on his holiday, and will be leaving in one week. Not only has he shown me around town, but he has given me a great orientation on Ugandan culture and customs. Since men are not taught to cook in Uganda, (apparently women fear men who can cook?) if we are cooking at home, Phillip often will come knocking on our door.

Peggy is a public health nurse and my partner in crime. She is a vivacious nurse practitioner in her 60’s, and is spending one month in Kisoro, volunteering as a public health nurse. Peggy is the director for a nurse run community health clinic in Pennsylvania, which she started from the ground up in the19 80’s, serving mainly the Latino population. I have learned so much from her in just 1 week, she is also a great dinner companion, and surprisingly enjoys cocktail hour here in Kisoro.


Signa, my housemate, is spending her last day of a 4 week stay in Kisoro today. She is a 4th year resident from the Bronx and has been so much fun to cook dinners with, swap crazy stories of our day, and just decompress from the general culture shock of traveling. She has been doing amazing work as the ONLY doctor on the male ward of the hospital. When she leaves, there will be no doctor for a week until the next resident comes from New York. Dr. Michael will be there, but there is only so much one doctor can do for an entire hospital!

I should explain that Doctors for Global Health (DGH) has a working relationship with Montfiore Hospital and Einstein College in New York, which assists Kisoro District Hospital, (KDH) where there is need. Not only do they fundraise for the hospital, but it is arranged that almost every month, 1-2 Residents come to cover a ward at the hospital. Also, a few times a year, a small group of medical students fill in where they can. Their professor on these trips is the famous Dr. Paccione, who has been coming to Kisoro for several years now. He and his students assess the needs of the community, gather data, and implement and evaluate programs, not only in the hospital, but out in the villages as well. Programs such as cervical cancer screenings and evaluation of services for children with disabilities have been implemented by the medical students.

In addition, the most successful community health program they have been working on is the Village Health Worker (VHW) program. The VHW program is run by Jason and Morgen, the amazing duo, who are in their 4th month of a 10 month stay in Kisoro. They have been an invaluable resource in adjusting to life in Kisoro. I am now a proud owner of a Ugandan cell phone, which is a must have in this community. Every store in town you can buy airtime, (minutes) for your phone, which go quickly. After the first week I already have 10 contacts programmed into my phone! Morgan and Jason also took me to my first market day, and pointed me to the local fast food restaurant or “bean place.” Yesterday was my first time there, and I was the only non-African in the joint. The bean place is convenient, because anywhere else you go to eat takes a minimum of one hour for your food to arrive. The typical fare is beans and a choice of starch, which I am still learning about. My meal yesterday cost just a little over 50 cents or 700 shillings, and it was quite filling.

The dozens of Ugandans I have been introduced have all be VERY gracious, and always tell me that I am welcome here. Everywhere I go there are shouts of jubilant children yelling out, “mazungu! mazungu! (white person)” or “hello! how are you?!” These greetings are nothing short of adorable.

That is all I have for now. I will post pictures when I can figure out how to download them without it taking all day. Read the next posting for what I did as a volunteer in the community last week. Please keep in touch everyone. Little stories of your daily life REALLY help stave off homesickness!