Saturday 2/17/2024
Hey friends!
“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” – Michael Altshule
I have lost count of how many times I have sat down in an attempt to write...and here we are. Only 3 days away from my departure! The past week has been a flurry of emails and phone calls between the ITW team in Uganda and the ITW director (KKD) in Vermont, along with an everchanging itinerary.
The current itinerary looks something like this:
week 1 - (1 day to unpack/repack) Assisting a surgical camp in Bulamu
week 2 - back to Kampala (HQ) for IT training, create a manual, etc...
week 3-5 - Training at 3 clinics in Gulu District
week 6 - back to HQ, work on training materials, admin projects, etc...
week 7-9 - Training in Atiak
week 10 - debriefing, training materials, etc...
Head home.
The biggest complication with this latest itinerary is that the ITWA team has made these plans for me without the mandatory signed MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding) along with the potential income that comes with. The ITWA team is also trying to get me a practitioner license, which is absolutely mandatory whenever I am training without a Ugandan practitioner.
The surgical camp is organized by Bulamu Healthcare, an NGO, and allows the community to gather for treatment and triage for potential surgery. I will assist with triage by scanning patients and as of this moment, I have no idea how many patients I will see, what I will be scanning (Abdomen? OBGYN?), or where I will be staying.
The training in Atiak is for MHI, Mother Health International. MHI is another NGO based in the Gulu District using the midwifery model of care to improve maternal healthcare. They currently have very limited ultrasound options and reached out to ITW for training.
So, Tuesday I will board the plane to Istanbul, spend 5 days there (my dime, not yours!) and arrive in Kampala curious to see what has been resolved and if the current itinerary is still the plan. In the meantime, I have maxed out the weight of my luggage and I am trying not to think too hard about how I will manage said luggage on my own in the apparently huge Istanbul airport. 😁
I cannot end this post without mentioning again how incredibly grateful I am for the support and generosity of my friends and family. I am only $300 short of my GoFundMe goal, which is incredible, and I have been able to buy needed supplies, pay for the extra luggage, fund additional training programs, and continue to offer an invaluable resource, improving the health of countless women and their unborn children. Thank you all, so very much.❤️
I'll check in from Istanbul and Wi-Fi willing, will post as much as possible from Uganda!
Much Love, Jo/MB
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