Monkey Brain Musings

 Tuesday, April 16, 2024 Well...the only thing constant is change. My trip to the island was postponed, so I spent Monday being crabby 🦀 and ran a few errands with Picho, stocking up on groceries for the week. I found some storage options for the massive number of blue towels that I brought, something to keep them from accumulating the red Kampala dust and worked on some projects for printing. I created some scanning guides for trainees, diagraming the landmarks for specific fetal biometry, and I plan on getting them laminated. I will have them sent to the trainees, where they can use them as a resource for continuing their scanning.   I connected with Samalie and made plans to go to CHI today to help her with patients and give her a much-needed break. CHI is the for-profit ultrasound school affiliated with ITWA and designed to create income to keep the non-profit side going. CHI is located in a wing of a new hospital in Kampala, where they pay rent and operate an ultrasound outpatien

 Sunday, April 14, 2024 Good afternoon, from Kampala! This past week passed so quickly! On most days, the group started scanning around 10am and did not stop until 3pm or later, returning in the evening to review images they had saved from that morning. I am not sure if I previously mentioned, but every mother that we scan in the classroom, has to be "back scanned" by me. What that means is that I have to perform an official ultrasound on every mother (somewhere between 12 and 18 patients a day) and write up an official report. Unlike at my work, I do not have to label or save images, which saves me some time but is still a lot of work!  I think we all started to feel a sense of the impending end to our time together. It made for some lovely meals together, all of us gathered around the table, telling stories and enjoying each other's company. I spent quite a few evenings sitting out in front of my hut until late hours, admiring the stars and listening to the sounds of th

 Monday 4/7/2024 Good morning! I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I have been here in Atiak for 3 weeks and training will finish up this Friday! It feels like I've been here for ages and also that the time went fast. Training is going very well, and I have met the local sonographer that will act as the mentor for the local trainees after I leave. I have no control over the next 2 phases of training, so I'm just hopeful that everyone has the opportunity to practice and improve before I return next year.  Saturday morning, Picho and I hit the road at 8am, taking one of the trainees (Geoffrey) with us. We dropped off Geoffrey in Gulu then drove to Murchison Falls National Park. Rachel recommended the Red Chili Rest Camp, which was affordable and fun, kind of like a hostel, offering large tents, 1 room Bandas, Bandas with bathrooms and a few larger buildings for families and groups. The camp is located just up the hill from the Nile and hippos are know