Monday, October 21, 2024

Happy Monday!

Friday morning, the midwives wrapped up the lectures with a written exam. I wrote the exam to focus on clinical cases and relevancy, ultrasound image identification, and just enough physics to be useful. I do not time my exams, which eliminates a lot of unnecessary anxiety, and everyone was done within the hour. The lowest score was 87%, each of them doing very well, although they are all still struggling with critical thinking and problem-solving skills. I graded the exams during the lunch break, we reviewed the exam after lunch, and they were able to take off early for the weekend. Three of the midwives went back to their homes in Gulu for the weekend, one of them is a midwife here at the birth center and lives here with her children when she is scheduled to work. 

Rachel arrived mid-afternoon, which made everyone happy at the birth center. She flew into Gulu on a very small plane, and sent her luggage by bus, which arrived on Saturday. For those of you new to the party, Rachel is a Registered Midwife, PhD and Executive Director and founder of Mother Health International. Friday evening, we got caught up before the time change and travel hit her like a brick and she headed for bed. 

Saturday morning felt wonderfully relaxing for me, having finished 2 weeks of very long days. I will continue to rearrange the curriculum and make small changes while I'm here, hoping to "perfect" the curriculum for future use, but the time pressure is off. The next two weeks will be strictly scanning and reviewing images taken by the trainees. 

I finished up another knitted baby hat and spent some time at the birth center, where I met the two latest members of the world and gifted them some hats. Prepare yourselves for cuteness overload...

We've had quite a few babies born since I arrived, but I have been busy teaching, so I have missed seeing them. For my wonderful knitting and crochet buddies, thank you and keep the hats coming! They are flying out the door on these precious little heads, so they will always be in need of them. 

Rachel's luggage arrived, but had diesel spilled on a bag full of supplies, so we dumped everything out and sorted through it all. Luckily most of the goods were fine, thanks to a large stack of very absorbant blankets that needed a serious washing, along with her bag. 

Sunday morning, Rachel and I headed into Gulu for supplies and as we left the birth center a boda passed by with a LEG strapped to the back! The conversation in the van went as follows...

Me: ...What the hell!!

Rach: Is that a ...

Both: LEG?!?

😂😂😂😂

Rach: Is it REAL??

Me: What is happening!?

We caught up and realized it was a prosthetic leg, but it was sticking out of a plastic garbage bag full of other stuff and there was a passing thought that someone was transporting a body! It was a pretty hilarious way to start the day.

One of the reasons for going to Gulu, was for more printing. In Gulu there are print shops EVERYWHERE, so we picked a shop that wasn't the last place we used and started the odyssey. The first step was asking if I could use their computer and print my own stuff, much easier than trying to explain what I needed, which was fine by the print guy. There were multiple printers, which is very common, some printing color, some only black & white, some able to print double sided, some single only, etc... Some of my printing needed double sided, a few needed color, we needed some of the papers laminated, and we needed color printing with thick paper for certificates. The printer we needed for double sided copies barely had any ink, so we moved on. Print shop number two had trouble understanding us, because as soon as we walked in, a man with a tile cutter started working and it was deafening! We made a run for it and found Print shop #3. Rachel went to find coffee and I started printing. The copier ran out of paper and the shop guy had to go buy more! He also had to go somewhere else to laminate my pages and left again to buy cardstock for the certificates. 😂 With all of this, we still had our printing finished before lunch. We had lunch at a very cute cafe, then went to the Gulu market for produce and fun stuff, then to the grocery store, gassed up the van, picked up Christine and got back on the road by 3pm. Oh yea...I also bought a new mattress for about $75 USD. Every mattress I have slept on in Uganda has been very dense, hard foam, which is not great for my chronic pain, but the mattress I have been sleeping on has been especially rough. It was wearing thin enough that I could feel the wooden slats of the bed frame. We managed to pack the new mattress into the van, along with Christine and all of our groceries. We beat the incoming storm, and Rachel maneuvered the massive potholes like a champ, arriving back at the birth center shortly after 4pm.

One of the trainee midwives from the prior group was Sister Georgina. At the time of training, she was living at the sister's compound next door to the birth center, but was transferred to the Refugee Camp in Adjumani immediately after training was complete. This was a great advantage for Adjumani, but far enough away and so busy that Georgina has not been able to return for any mentoring. She managed to schedule a week to come back and continue working with me and arrived while Rachel and I were in Gulu. Having her back, with Rachel and Susan and Diannah, was like a wonderful mini reunion. Frankie was also very excited to see her and followed her to class this morning, keeping an eye on her for the first few hours, before he wandered back to his place.

Georgina and Susan and Dinnah were able to join me in class today, helping the current trainees and also getting a chance to scan patients with my assistance. They have been a huge help, and it has also given them the chance to solidify some of their own skills. See one, do one, teach one! 

Today we had a lot of patients come for a scan, but three of them really stood out, making me so grateful for the chance to come back and work with these wonderful women. In all three cases, one being a mother pregnant with twins, we were able to not only able to make a correct diagnosis, but also treat the women here at the birth center. This ensures immediate, accurate treatment with excellent care and also follow-up ultrasounds. Referring these women to the nearest hospital (and hour away in Gulu) would mean additional costs for the patients and no guarantee that they would receive correct care in a timely manner. It's a good feeling. 

On that note, I will sign off. It's getting late and I have a few more things to do before heading to bed. Wishing you all a good week!

Much love, Jo/MB