Sunday October 5,2025

Good morning from Atiak! 

Last night we had a very loud thunderstorm, along with a great deal of rain, so the frogs behind my hut were my alarm clock this morning. The change in my entry way has solved the problem of my hut flooding, so I was able to enjoy the storm while staying dry in my bed.

As you all know by now, it's always an adventure when I travel. 😁 After my extended stay in Amsterdam, I arrived in Entebbe late Thursday night, along with all of my luggage. The travel gods threw me a bone and security did not even look in my direction, so I made it to my guest house around midnight. My monkey brain was both exhausted and anxious that I would sleep through my alarm, so I was wide awake at 3am. My driver was almost 30 minutes late picking me up and I'm pretty sure we broke some kind of land speed record getting me to the landing strip for my flight to Gulu.

There was some initial concern about landing in Gulu, because of weather, but the flight went smoothly, and we landed with no trouble. Simon picked me up in the ambulance van, and by the time we picked up supplies and groceries, the van was packed. Allan organized the printing of my training manuals and teaching supplies, sending them to Jalon, who is my Lyca sim card contact in Gulu. We loaded up my sim card with data, picked up my printing and headed north to Atiak. 

I am happy to say that the government is finally starting to fill in some of the treacherous potholes (pot-caverns?), we arrived at the birth center in the late afternoon, and I was met with many hugs and "Welcome home!" greetings. 

My hut was as I left it on the outside, the mud coating will be added during dry season, but there was a new coat of paint on the inside. The concrete slab is settling in, but still sweats a bit, so I bought some extra plastic side tables and stacking baskets, to keep everything off of the floor. I brought some solar lights for the dining area and also for my hut. 

I bought some heavy buckets in Gulu, to store the towels and yarn I brought, as we had some problems with rodents getting into the other containers. 

The second hut is being built next to me, but the remaining 2 huts will have to wait until dry season. I believe I mentioned on my last trip that new huts are usually built in the dry season, because dry grass is need for the roof construction. Hopefully, this hut will be completed in the next week, because it turns out that we are about to have a full house! My 6 midwife students will arrive Sunday evening, Max (the mentor Sonographer) will arrive Monday evening, and they will all stay here until the end of October. Rachel will be arriving on the 15th and will be bringing a group of midwives from the US, as well as a film crew. I don't have all the details on what the filming will be about, but I will certainly share when I find out. 

I started the herculean task of unpacking on Friday evening, until exhaustion took over, and I took a long nap and got back to work. I woke up at 5am and finished the unpacking, excited to get the hats and blankets up to the birth center and organize the scarves for the staff.  I have a kettle in my room now, so when I wake up early, I can make myself tea and oatmeal for breakfast. 

Baby hats and blankets

The scarves were a huge hit, and it was so fun to see these incredibly hard-working women laughing and teasing each other about their "fashion". 

Usually, I would be setting up the classroom by now, but there have been a large number of Malaria patients lately, and the Malaria ward is also my classroom! I may need to delay the start time tomorrow, so I can get everything set up in the morning. When I am finished here, I will wander up to the birth center and check in. Setting up the classroom means getting the overhead projector going, setting up the ultrasound machines, bringing in chairs and rearranging the beds.

For some unknown reason, my router is not working, so I am dependent on my Google Fi. I do have coverage in Uganda, but it's spotty this far north. Jalon will come from Gulu sometime today and hopefully get it sorted. The rest of my day will consist of writing up the teaching schedule, I was just made aware of a holiday on the 9th, and I may need to push back our start time. If the Malaria ward empties out, I will start putting the machines together. I also need to spend some time resting with my knee up! The travel has taken a toll along with a lot of time on my feet while I settle in, and it's not too bad, but I do have some extra swelling and pain. This was expected, as my PT and surgeon warned me, but manageable. 

I have just received a message that Jalon will arrive this afternoon to figure out my router, in the meantime I am hoping I can get this posted so you all have proof of life. 😆 

More photos and updates to come, thanks for riding along on another Ugandan adventure. 💗

Much love, Jo/MB