a day in the life

So. Typical day in Uganda.

We wake up around 7:30 and get ready for the day. Usually the power is on in the morning, but sometimes it isn't, and that's always an adventure. We don't wear any makeup or anything, and we usually wear nice shirts with nice pants. I would describe the dress as business casual, heavy emphasis on the casual.

We eat breakfast anywhere from 8-9 a.m. Usually breakfast consists of some hot cocoa, chapati with peanut butter and jam, a banana, and some eggs. After breakfast we generally walk down to one of the clinics. There is an HIV, maternal, or general clinic. Depending on the day, I might go to the maternal clinic because they're doing immunizations, or I might go to the general clinic and go to the lab because I want to help with some of the recent lab work. We can also shadow the Ultrasound tech and watch her do some ultrasounds for people who have lower abdominal pain for unknown reasons. At the clinic we shadow the PAs there and get to see what health care looks like. We will see some patients for various reasons and talk to the PAs about what the diagnosis and planned treatment is.

At around 1:30 p.m. we head back to the apartments to get lunch. Lunch is often some fresh beans, plantains, pineapple, maybe some vegetables or chicken.

In the afternoon, we can head back to the clinics for more shadowing, or really do whatever we need to. The maternal clinic is usually slower in the afternoon, so often I don't go there after lunch. I might go to the general clinic, stay and help clean up in the kitchen, or ask one of the staff members to teach me how to better do laundry. There is a lot of autonomy here in the day-to-day workings. There are a couple of kids at the general clinic (their moms work as nurses), and when it's slow, we get to play with them. They are precious! The whole staff loves them, and the kids call the staff "auntie" and "uncle." They love to play with our phones, and they love it when we dance with them or chase them around the clinic.

Curfew is at 7:30, which is when it gets dark. We eat dinner around 7:30 or 8. Dinner is usually some vegetable sauce, beef, potatoes, and maybe rice with some fruit as dessert. We play Matatu (a Ugandan card game) with some of the KIHEFO staff until maybe 11 or 11:30, and then we go to bed! Some days are special where we go to see a coffee plantation, or see a traditional healer, or go to a village outreach, but this describes a typical day for us. I love to see the patients and to hear about how the PAs treat them. There is so much individual counseling that the PAs offer because often people don't trust the healthcare practices prescribed or don't understand them. It's also interesting to see how many people come in for HIV testing or for STD's.

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