'Just keep swimming, just keeping swimming'...

Well, there's not really much to add from last week's entry, I'm afraid. My duties haven't really changed a whole lot, and so my days have been filled with most of the same things. And so I've been trudging along. Jenny is coming to visit in a few days, and she'll stay for a couple of days here, after which we're going to Kampala to spend the week together. Following that time I'm planning on joining her at her project for a couple of days before returning here. I spoke with her briefly on the phone this morning, and we're both looking forward to spending time together and catching up after these few weeks. Things are challenging. I love these kids and wish I could somehow guarantee each and every one a happy and successful future, or at the very least a loving home, but I am only one small person...Ugh. I get discouraged sometimes.

Yesterday, the big event of the evening was hair-cutting for many of the kids. There are certain standards at many of the schools, and if your hair is even a few millimeters too long, the headmaster chases you away and refuses for you to attend. This has occurred a number of times over the past three weeks (I find it rather ridiculous) and so I thought it would be wise to purchase a clipper for the childrens' home to keep and use, rather than spend money each time for the kids to get their heads shaved. This afternoon, once school was out for the primary kids, the hair-cutting has resumed.

This afternoon I am going to try to complete a lesson plan for a health & hygiene talk I want to do with the kids tomorrow morning (basics, such as covering one's mouth when coughing, etc). Getting the message across might be a challenge, but I'm hoping a few visual aids I'm going to draw up will help a bit.

Well, not much else in terms of exciting news, I guess. I'll post again, perhaps next week. By the way, how is it the end of October already? Crazy, how the time flies!

Hello.
I thought maybe I should update again, seeing as a few days have passed since I posted last. Things here are busy, and fairly exhausting, but being surrounded by children nearly every moment of the day helps to distract me from this fact :)

I continue to divide my time between the clinic and the childrens' home. Having had no previous experience in tropical medicine, the learning curve has been steep, but I'm grateful for it. I've seen several cases of malaria (some really serious...scary. Here, people get it so frequently they don't make a big deal about it. Most adults I've spoken to have had malaria at least twice). The conditions at the clinic are certainly nowhere near sterile, but we're doing our best to provide appropriate medical care to these people who need it so desperately (and most of whom cannot afford to seek such services at the nearby hospitals or larger clinics).

Although it's rainy season, it seems to pour every couple of days and then be ridiculously hot the next (today is another scorcher). Although the rains produce ridiculous amounts of mud, I enjoy it, probably because listening the the sounds of the raindrops bouncing off the tin roof at night is somehow soothing.

Well, not too much news to report, really. Just keeping busy, mostly (sometimes too much so. I'm so tired!). I'll update if I think of anything noteworthy :D

Here in Mafubira (Uganda)

Hey everyone.
Thanks to all who've sent emails - great to hear from everyone! (Alas, I don't have the time to respond to them all). I'm now in Uganda, in a small community outside of Jinja, at STAO (standing from Save the Aids Orphans). I am constantly surrounded by children, which ensures there is never a dull moment :D I'm further outside of the city centre than I had initially expected, but it's turning out to be an ongoing adventure (in virtually every sense of the word). Things I had been spoiled with even a couple of weeks ago while traveling are no longer available (such as showers, flushable toilets...etc). Also, I ran out of shampoo some time ago, so I've resorted to using bar soap on the mane...which has produced mediocre results. Meh. It's all good. I am reminded, daily, of all that I have been blessed with and all that I still take for granted. These orphans have nothing in terms of possessions, but they teach me every day what it means to be happy, truly happy. I am certain they will end up helping me more than I would even hope to help them.

Every day is a little different here, and there's no strict routine, so mostly I jump from this to that (time spent in the clinic treating kids or members from the community) and play A LOT in between. The good news is that I've been tired enough to sleep fairly soundly (only waking up two or three times per night, which is an improvement), due to being tuckered out from playing so hard. Haha. The language barrier is an issue, and one that frustrates me a lot (hopefully enough to pick up a bit of Lugandan in the next few weeks) but luckily smiles and laughter are universal...and frequent here :) Being here, living with the kids and spending so much time with them makes me wish I had more to offer (funds, mostly. There is SO much need!!), other than just time and some medical knowledge. But I hope that, in some small way, I will be helpful to some along the way.

I should keep my time online brief, as there are others waiting to use this computer. I will update again when I can. Hope you're all doing well (and to those in Canada...Happy Thanksgiving!)