Danny & Annie @ VSO: July 2008

One of our friends is a volunteer who works as a physician and professor at the local hospital and university. Danny and I visited the hospital for the first time today and it was difficult not to cry.

I expected the hospital to be of extremely low standards compared to western hospitals but what I saw shocked me. Tragically there are many, many hospitals in Uganda and all over Africa which would make this hospital look modern in comparison. We discovered:

There are often 3 or 4 babies/toddlers in one bed.
The neo-natal ward (which was recently set up by the volunteer) has no incubators but is a small room with heaters. The nurses refuse to work in there so all care is provided by the mothers, attendants and the doctors.
Babies are dying all the time.
There aren't nearly enough nurses so most of the care is given by family members. They bring mattresses to sleep outdoors on the hospital grounds. They also bring basins for doing the laundry and lay them on the grass or fences to dry.
Meals are not provided, therefore, the family of the patient brings food and cooking utensils to prepare their meals.
Families are being taught about nutrition because most children are suffering from malnutrition - not because of lack of good food but because of ignorance about nutrition and the importance of continuing breast-feeding.
Usually there are no drugs/anaesthesia available at the hospital so the patient's family is sent with a prescription into the town to purchase them from the pharmacy.
Severe lack of equipment
More than half of the patients admitted are children and a large percentage of those are babies.
The paediatric ward has mosquito nets but many of the beds have none and there are no screens on the windows (which are often broken). Therefore, patients contract malaria easily.

Grim, very grim.

Not all hospitals are like this one – some are worse, some are better. The International Hospital of Kampala is a very good, modern and clean hospital. All VSO volunteers are sent there for care if the problem is not minor enough to be treated adequately locally.

When volunteers, staff or college students are ill we are taken to the private hospital in town. It is more expensive but far superior care.

.....an updated summary of our day-to-day life here for future volunteers or anyone else who may be curious.
Since we are spoiled rotten mzungus our life here does not reflect that of the typical Ugandan, most certainly not in this or any area outside of Kampala. Kampala is a very modern city with all the conveniences of any big city, but it is also surrounded by slums.

Our college is located near Mbarara, the second largest town in Uganda after the capitol of Kampala. We are 17kms away from the town and our area is called Kibingo (Chi-bingo).

Campus

Hill behind our house

The campus

All volunteers do not have the same type of accommodation we have. Some have much more modern, and others have no electricity, no running water and limited access to transportation. Therefore, the description of our lifestyle in no way typifies the life of every volunteer here.

Our accommodation is in semi-detached staff housing on the college campus which is in the countryside. There are large hills surrounding the campus which is 3 km off the main road on a dirt track which has more potholes than road. Matooke trees are absolutely everywhere.

The house has a tiny living room, tiny kitchen, 2 bedrooms – 1 fairly large, 1 small, bathroom, shower room, front and back porch. There is also a building behind the house which houses a ‘kitchen’ – a large empty concrete room – everyone else on campus uses their outdoor kitchens for cooking with charcoal or wood. We use this room for storage and gardening tools. There is also a long-drop (toilet) located behind the kitchen which we don’t use.

Pics of our house:

http://flickr.com/photos/anniedanny/sets/72157603269365364/

Electricity:
We had a long period of only having power in the evenings, but currently we have power nearly 24 hours a day.

Water:
The majority of the time we have running water indoors, however, sometimes the pump for the well doesn’t work or hasn’t been switched on. The well supplies the campus and the many nearby villagers who fill up their jerry cans with water from the campus.

We don’t have hot water unless we boil it so showers are cold but there are the options of using the camping shower by sitting it in the sun filled with water, or using heated water to wash with using a large basin and jug. We have an indoor flushing toilet for which I am very, very grateful.

All water must be boiled before drinking, even if staying in a nice hotel.

Laundry:
Laundry is done by hand. I have a hose which I hook up through the window to the shower room faucet and fill 3 very large basins on our back porch. I now use a washboard I recently purchased on a trip the US. Detergents here are quite harsh and rough on clothing, but a milder detergent would result in dirty clothes. Laundry is hung on the clothesline to dry and on a breezy, sunny day can dry in less than an hour. Clothes need to be hung inside out to prevent too much fading.

All items must be ironed, even towels, socks, underwear and sheets due to the possibility of mango flies laying eggs on them and becoming embedded in our skin when the item is worn or used. We have an electric iron although the majority of Ugandans use a charcoal iron. I don’t mind ironing as I enjoy listening to audiobooks during this task.

Rubbish:
We have to burn or bury all our rubbish and compost all food scraps.

Grass:
…..has to be cut with a slasher – a long-handled blade which you swing back and forth, a bit like a golf club except in both directions. I look on this activity as exercise, otherwise I’d pay someone to do it.

Garden:
Danny is growing cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, butternut squash, pumpkin, onions, watermelon, pineapple, and a variety of other veg and fruit.

Shopping:
We can get much of what we need in Mbarara. Fresh fruit and veg are very cheap. On any trip to Kampala I always bring an extensive list for shopping for the items we can’t get here or are significantly cheaper, or of better quality, or can be bought in bulk.

Appliances/luxury:
4 WD car (purchased after 5 months here)
Small TV but no satellite so viewing choices are very limited
Toaster (after we tired of frying the bread in a pan)
Electric kettle
Electric iron
Short wave radio for BBC World Service
Laptop – with mobile phone modem for excruciatingly slow internet
Refrigerator (the only one on campus)
2 burner gas cooker – no oven
Fan

Mosquitoes:
The anopheles and other types of mosquitoes are plentiful here, except during the dry season. The anopheles can be the source of malaria. All volunteers take an anti-malarial pill. We also use a mosquito net on the bed which we keep tucked in all the time. Our windows don’t have any screens so we shut the windows before dusk and open them well after dawn. This doesn’t totally prevent them from getting into the house though.

Climate:
Temps in our area of Uganda vary from an occasional nighttime low of 55F/12C to a daytime high of 85F/30C. There are dry and rainy seasons, but otherwise weather is about the same all year. The humidity is very low so we never have that sticky, muggy feeling. Most of the time it feels quite pleasant and we enjoy wearing short sleeves, shorts or capris, sandals or just barefoot.
Food:
Free lunches are provided at the college for staff and volunteers. It doesn’t vary much – rice, beans, matooke, sometimes posho, cabbage and occasionally doodo – a type of spinach. This is a very high carb meal and although Danny will eat it 5 days a week, I choose to eat it 2-3 times a week.

We have no trouble eating what we like in the evenings – soup, curry or stir-fry made mainly with veg from our garden. Also in our diet – eggs, avocado, pineapple, watermelon, porridge, bread, pasta, occasional cheese, tuna, peanut butter. And then, of course, on weekends it might be steak and chips, burger, Indian, pasta, Ugandan beer or imported Heineken, or South African wine.

Foods we miss:
Danny misses McEwans beer
We both miss tofu and Quorn for our curry
I miss haddock and chips (well, we can get good chips here, but not haddock)
Scones
Bacon rolls
Good bread

Work:
Danny teaches physics or general science one or two days a week and spends a couple of days doing lesson planning. He has fixed and networked the old computers in the college computer room and is trying to find funding for new computers and an internet connection. All computer-related repairs or problems are directed to him

I am often asked how I am able to fill my time here and people seem to be worried I’ll be bored and want to leave. This is not a problem.

I sometimes do typing for staff and the principal and have tutored on beginning computer skills.

I attend private language tutoring (from the college nurse), and am working on a language manual for any current or future volunteer in the area where Runyankole is spoken. Resources for learning this language are nearly non-existent.

Of course, I can always fill my time by doing laundry, ironing, sweeping all the dirt which never goes away, mopping, doing dishes, cleaning, cleaning…..

Then there is reading, writing my blog, the internet, taking pics and learning how to take better ones.

Ugandans:
Are sooooo very friendly. The children always wave at us when we drive or walk past, and the adults will as well if we wave or speak first. We know quite a bit of the local language and all the greetings, so we get a very happy reception.

Entertainment:
We have DVD’s, music, books, the internet. Movies can now be watched on a big screen with a projector hooked to a laptop. The TV is generally on only during the day, but occasionally we watch Ugandan news at night. During the day we get CNN International, but can also keep up with the news on the radio with BBC World Service or on the internet..

In the town of Mbarara there are three restaurants we frequent which serve Western and African food –
Agip: http://www.agipmotelmbarara.com/
Hotel Classic: http://www.hotelclassicafrica.com/
Lakeview: http://www.hotelsinuganda.com/lakeviewregency.html
http://www.africapoint.com/HOTELS/hotel.asp?hotelid=367

We like the Agip for the food (especially the steak and chips), Hotel Classic has good food but what we enjoy most is sitting on the balcony watching the town go by. We like Lakeview for its Sunday buffets which have a mix of African and a few Western foods. This has become our new Sunday routine – swimming pool and buffet. Occasionally we treat ourselves by spending the night there or elsewhere.

Tourism:
Thus far we have been to Lake Mburo National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Fort Portal/Kibale Forest, Lake Bunyoni, and many trips to Kampala. Future trips are return trips to all of the above, Murchison Falls Nat’l Park, possibly Rwanda, Bwindi Nat’l Park.

Our photo album:
http://flickr.com/photos/anniedanny/collections/72157602736722927/