8am Tuesday 11/20
Good morning! I have been up for a few hours, as we should have been on the road at 7am. We are waiting on a team member, which is often the case, and I am reminded that "Uganda Time" is very similar to "Caribbean Time". Most of the ITWA (Imaging The World Africa) team is an exception and are sticklers for schedules, but that is not the norm here. Picho tells me that this is common throughout Africa, "If you want to meet someone at 9, tell them you want to see them at 8." Usually people will start to travel at the time they are supposed to be meeting with you. It's also good to remember that most people here do not have their own vehicles and are dependent on taxi buses and Bodas (motorcycle taxis) to get where they need to go. So I wait. And write. :)
Yesterday afternoon was as close to a rest day as I have had on this trip. After a busy afternoon of meetings and drop in visitors, we loaded into the van (yet again) and drove to Entebbe. We had a leisurely lunch at the Marriott, situated on the shore of Lake Victoria, while we followed up on the Rotary meetings, future ITWA goals and plans, and my itinerary for the next 3 weeks. Spoiler Alert: not a lot of down time for me! Lake Victoria is beautiful and the Marriott takes advantage of this with expansive patios and walkways. Weaver birds are everywhere, making their nests in the surrounding palm trees, and there are bright lizards, tricolored orange, black and white, that lounge on the rocks near the water. I will be sure to share the photos, once they've been downloaded from my Nikon, for now the photos from my phone will have to suffice. Dr. Alphons met us in the early evening, for yet another meeting, then we took Kristen to the airport and headed back to Kampala.
I have been made co-administrator for the ITWA Instagram account, which means I will able to post photographs to their page, share details of life in Uganda, and talk about the work we are doing here. Renny is going to supply me with data on each of the clinic sites I am assessing and I will share that information here, as well. There is so much to talk about, the individual team members, the midwives and RNs I am working with, the people I am meeting, but little time to do so. By the end of the day I am exhausted, and usually packing for the next day! Even as I write this, with a full day ahead of me, I am thinking of how nice a nap would be. I am truly loving the work that I am doing here, which is why it is hard to turn down any opportunity to do just a little bit more, meet with one more person, add one more clinic into the itinerary. It's exhausting and fulfilling.
We have lost power...again...so I will attempt to post this rambling and write again soon!
oxox MB
Good morning! I have been up for a few hours, as we should have been on the road at 7am. We are waiting on a team member, which is often the case, and I am reminded that "Uganda Time" is very similar to "Caribbean Time". Most of the ITWA (Imaging The World Africa) team is an exception and are sticklers for schedules, but that is not the norm here. Picho tells me that this is common throughout Africa, "If you want to meet someone at 9, tell them you want to see them at 8." Usually people will start to travel at the time they are supposed to be meeting with you. It's also good to remember that most people here do not have their own vehicles and are dependent on taxi buses and Bodas (motorcycle taxis) to get where they need to go. So I wait. And write. :)
Yesterday afternoon was as close to a rest day as I have had on this trip. After a busy afternoon of meetings and drop in visitors, we loaded into the van (yet again) and drove to Entebbe. We had a leisurely lunch at the Marriott, situated on the shore of Lake Victoria, while we followed up on the Rotary meetings, future ITWA goals and plans, and my itinerary for the next 3 weeks. Spoiler Alert: not a lot of down time for me! Lake Victoria is beautiful and the Marriott takes advantage of this with expansive patios and walkways. Weaver birds are everywhere, making their nests in the surrounding palm trees, and there are bright lizards, tricolored orange, black and white, that lounge on the rocks near the water. I will be sure to share the photos, once they've been downloaded from my Nikon, for now the photos from my phone will have to suffice. Dr. Alphons met us in the early evening, for yet another meeting, then we took Kristen to the airport and headed back to Kampala.
I have been made co-administrator for the ITWA Instagram account, which means I will able to post photographs to their page, share details of life in Uganda, and talk about the work we are doing here. Renny is going to supply me with data on each of the clinic sites I am assessing and I will share that information here, as well. There is so much to talk about, the individual team members, the midwives and RNs I am working with, the people I am meeting, but little time to do so. By the end of the day I am exhausted, and usually packing for the next day! Even as I write this, with a full day ahead of me, I am thinking of how nice a nap would be. I am truly loving the work that I am doing here, which is why it is hard to turn down any opportunity to do just a little bit more, meet with one more person, add one more clinic into the itinerary. It's exhausting and fulfilling.
We have lost power...again...so I will attempt to post this rambling and write again soon!
oxox MB
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