Hello Friends, 

I hope everyone is doing well and survived the holiday season. :) Here we all are at the end of January and LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN! In 3 weeks, I will be flying back to Uganda. 3 WEEKS! A few days ago, I was able to have a long phone call with Kristen (ITW Director), who had just returned from a trip to Uganda. As is often the case with these trips, I have a vague idea of what I will be doing and then suddenly I have a much bigger and more specific idea of what I will be doing. And let me tell you, I will be doing A LOT. 

On my first trip to Uganda in 2018, I spent some time in the Gulu District, training nurses and midwives at 3 clinics. Since that training, the staff has changed, with some of the nurses moving to different clinics, and our machines and equipment are sitting unused in storage. There is no funding to train the new staff and the government clinic will not pay for training, so I have decided to cover the cost from my volunteer donations and personal funds if need be. A specific budget is being drawn up, and they will find us rooms at the clinic sites, but I have been told it will cost around $2000 for myself and Picho (food, transportation, translating, etc...). Typically, Allan and Renny would also go, in order to train the nurses on the systems used to record patients, send images, and so on. In order to cut costs, and because they are needed in Kampala to work on a new system, I will spend my first week in Kampala being trained on the IT and record systems, as well as create a training manual to leave with the clinics. In the 2 days since discussing this plan, another birthing center about an hour north of Gulu has reached out to Kristen about training, so there is the potential that I will extend my trip to add another clinic. 

I have been told that there are also midwives who have signed up for training through the school in Kampala, that I will be working with when I return from the North, but I do not have specifics yet. 

My supply list has also grown and I will soon turn my dining room into the staging area for creative packing. Thanks to an incredible donation from one of my dearest friends, I was able to purchase 30 inflatable solar lamps from LUMINAID, that we will distribute to the clinics. These lamps will be able to charge cell phones and especially the iPads used for the portable ultrasound machines that the clinics use. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I was able to register with LUMINAID to receive an NGO discount. They are a wonderful company, so give them a look if you need a great solar lamp.

As always, I will bring the famous blue towels, which are rapidly taking over my garage!

Additional items needed including pens, thumb drives and mini printers that can be used with the portable ultrasound machines. It would be a natural thought to assume the printers are for giving baby photos to the patients, however the real reason is humbling and distressing. The women who manage to make it to our clinics have to bring home proof to their husbands that they were there. If they do not, they are often beaten. Another stark and ghastly reminder of what these women have to do just to survive. The mini printers that are compatible with our machines are around $55 each and I plan to bring as many as possible to distribute to the as many clinics as we can. 

I have also been given a considerable list of lectures to create and bring along. The thumb drives will be loaded with lectures and instruction manuals, given to trainees and trainers. 

Needless to say, the monkeys in my brain have been woken up and I am now surrounded by lists and notes to remind myself of what needs to be accomplished in the next three weeks. I am happy to say that I have gotten better at this part, proof that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks, and after this week I will be picking up very few shifts in order to get as much done as possible. WHEW. 😁

I have received a number of donations over the past months, and I am so grateful! I gave a lecture on my volunteer work in December, which was very well received, and I hope to give another when I return from this trip. I will dedicate a blog to the financial breakdown of this trip, both for the sake of transparency and also because people are often curious about the cost of doing this work as an unpaid volunteer, but for now I am going to get back to work. 

My first trip to Uganda, taking photos of Hippos
in the river between Uganda and Congo. 

Please consider making a donation, no amount is too small to help! 💗 My GoFundme

Much love and thanks for joining me on this adventure!

Jo/MB