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Mzungu Circles posted on March 25, 2009 - 3:46pm

Liz's boyfriend Nathan here. I am at the tail end of my visit to Uganda, and having seen Kampala, Mulago and toured a fair bit of the countryside, Liz has invited me to write a post to her blog. I will do my best to do justice to it.We have just returned from Lake Bunyonyi, a lake in the southwest corner of Uganda formed by volcanic eruption only 10,000 years ago. Free from crocodiles, hippos, and schistosomiasis, it’s safe for swimming, both for us and for the otters that hunt crayfish. Along the shores live a variety of birds, including weavers and the crested crane, Uganda’s national bird. Over twenty islands dot the lake, and in the early morning they are interspersed with clouds of mist rising from the water. Because of its high altitude, the area is cooler than Kampala.

Lacor Hospital posted on March 19, 2009 - 9:14pm

For the past two weeks I worked in the medicine department of Lacor Hospital in Gulu, northern Uganda (pronounced Lah-chore). I also spent a day in the outpatient HIV clinic and was able to travel to an internally-displaced persons camp with a physician who provides HIV care there.

Small Prayers posted on March 12, 2009 - 9:28pm

Prayers I have prayed while in Uganda:Lord, please don’t let this bus tip over.Please don’t let that lady with the live chicken in her hands sit next to me for the four hour taxi ride. Please don’t let the car get stuck in this 3-foot deep mud hole.Please don’t let me get schistosomiasis while swimming in the Nile. Please don’t let me get aspiration pneumonia from Nile River water. Thank You for hot water.Thank You for food.Thank You for bringing me here. I pray that I might be of use to You and serve You today.Please help me to be kind, compassionate, humble and patient today.Please have mercy and don’t let this patient die.I pray for those who have lost loved ones, that they might be surrounded by Your comfort and love, and filled with Your peace.

Kasensero, Part II posted on March 10, 2009 - 8:26am

A few weeks have passed since I traveled to Kasensero and I have a few more thoughts I’d like to share. There is a level of indignation I failed to express in the previous blog post which has been smoldering, waiting to catch fire. Also, I've posted some pictures of Kasensero on Facebook - just click on the link to view them.

Kasensero posted on February 28, 2009 - 2:51pm

Last Thursday through Sunday I traveled to a small fishing village on Lake Victoria called Kasensero. It’s taken me a while to finish writing this blog post, maybe because I’m still mentally and emotionally processing. This is by no means a complete account, but I’ll try to share some of my thoughts and observations.

“You are welcome” posted on February 18, 2009 - 5:34pm

This past weekend Sara, Coeurlida and I took a four-hour taxi ride (minibuses with 14 people plus the driver stuffed into them) to Mbale in eastern Uganda near the Kenyan border. From there we got a private taxi, aka “special hire”, for the 45 minute drive north to Sipi falls, which are reportedly the most beautiful waterfalls in Uganda. The road wound through gently rolling countryside with rural villages, then sharply began to gain elevation into formerly volcanic mountains. As we rounded a bend, we were met suddenly by a large crowd of ululating people who were waving leaves and cloth in the air, running down the mountain. Puzzled, I asked the taxi driver what was going on. He said they were celebrating a circumcision ceremony, which is a tradition the Bagisu people perform for males between the ages of 15-26, but typically at age 15-16. It is a coming-of-age ceremony marking the transition to manhood and is performed publicly, in front of men and women.

“When is independence ending?” posted on February 17, 2009 - 10:05am

Each Tuesday afternoon we have classes on the history, culture and politics of Uganda with Professor Simba, who is the acting Dean of the Political Science Department at Makerere University. Makerere historically was, and still is, a very prestigious university in East Africa. Many heads of state (former and current), including Jomo Kenyatta and Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, as well as Julius Nyerere of Tanzania earned degrees here. Last week Professor Simba lectured on highlights of Uganda’s political history since its independence from Great Britain in 1962. Following is a summary of the lecture, which I found very interesting, with not many of my own original thoughts included.

Rafting on the Nile River posted on February 8, 2009 - 7:23pm

Yesterday Esi, Sara and I all went on an all-day white water rafting trip on the Nile River, near Jinja, Uganda. Though I have been rafting many many times on rivers in Colorado, this experience was hands down the most intense and fun trip I've ever done. The sheer amount of water flowing through the Nile is daunting and there are actually class VI rapids (though we only went through class V). We met up with some medical students from other medical schools in the U.S. and shared a raft with them, which was fun. For the first three rapids all or most of us fell out of the boat just because the rapids were so huge and crazy. On the first dump one guy got a pretty deep gash in his shin on a rock, but I guess if that's going to happen it's better to happen in a boat full of fourth year medical students. So we all patched him up as best we could.

Rwanda posted on February 2, 2009 - 6:49pm

Last week, on Thursday night (1/22/09), we were informed that the following Monday was a public holiday (Heroes’ Day) to honor the date that Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni took over the government. Meaning we didn’t have to go the hospital. So we decided to go on the weekend trip we wanted to take that had the longest traveling time, which was to Rwanda.

“Blanket sign is poor” posted on January 30, 2009 - 4:43pm

Today is the last day of our two-week rotation on the Pulmonology Ward, which marks our first glimpse as Yale-trained medical students into the world of health care provision in a tropical setting. The senior residents with whom we’ve worked – Charles and Michael – have been superb at making us feel a part of the team; several times our input (and that of our Oxford Handbook of Tropical Medicine) has influenced decision-making for a patient’s care. Yet, as part of the team, I’ve also empathized with the other side of care provision in Uganda: the stark limitations of poverty. The knowledge and skill of a physician trained at the best medical school in the world is rendered impotent in the face of a lack of medical resources and a patient’s inability to pay for treatment.