How time flies!

Jess and I enjoying a relaxing afternoon

We have already been here 4 weeks.  In that time we have become accustomed to cold showers, washing our clothes by hand and going to the market every other day for our fresh food.  Whilst initially it took a lot of getting used to and we could see a lot of the negatives, time has now allowed us to see the many positives.  It makes a massive difference having food which you know has been picked that day and the price is remarkable!  A weekly vegetable shop for £3- every little helps!  Having restaurants that cater for the western diet (pizza, burgers and chips) has also helped us to have a small taste of home. The extremely friendly attitude of our hosts and the pleasant house in which we are staying has also helped. 

Getting used to the hospital was a challenge. Whilst we were aware of the high childhood mortality, seeing it first hand is something very different. Since starting work properly in Jinja on Monday 4^th March we have worked for many, many days in a row!  At least we don’t have to work nights!  Working has allowed us to understand how the hospital works and how patients are seen and treated.  The special care baby unit is placed at the main hospital and all other paediatric services are at the Children’s Hospital 15 mins walk away. This means that there is limited access to paediatric staff for the special care unit, due to the geographical area the doctors cover.

 Whilst working, we have identified areas which we feel we could help to improve and, following a meeting with Dr Namasopo Sophie (Lead Paediatric Consultant in Jinja), we have agreed on 8 areas we will try to address during our placement.  This has given us a clear plan for the next six months encompassing developing guidelines for common conditions, staff training and audit work, firstly, targeting the Emergency Department and Special Care Unit.

We have also been lucky enough to meet with Sarah Nalule (Project Manager of Health Child) to discuss a possible role we could undertake within their organisation.  We hope to further develop this link, in the hope that we could take the training we are planning for staff at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital and tailor it to other health workers who are working in Community Health Centres in and around Uganda.

White water rafting in Jinja

We have met several people who are working in Uganda for PONT, a project also funded by THET (the same organisation that funds Global Links Scheme).  We hope to meet up to see the work they are doing in Mbale, in the hope it may help us to avoid common pit falls, sharing knowledge and give us inspiration.

All of this has led to us having a very busy first month in Jinja.  In order to relax following our hectic introduction to Uganda, we went rafting this weekend.  Jinja has some of the best white water rafting in the world and it certainly did not disappoint.  It was a full day activity on a beautiful day which left us exhilarated, exhausted and unfortunately a little bit sunburnt! 

We have enjoyed our first month in Uganda, although it hasn’t always been plain sailing.  We are now looking forward to continuing our learning and working toward the goals we have agreed with Dr Sophie...

And of course to discovering all the beauty Uganda has to offer!

The River Nile at night

Colin and Jess.