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THE HEALTH CLINIC OPENING DAY
We have finally opened our health clinic! We worked many
hours alongside the village people to put the finishing touches on the
structure and the decorating of this clinic. The closest clinic is about 3
hours away and the only transportation for many of these people is by foot. So
all you mothers out there, can you imagine going into labor and then having to
walk 3 hours to the nearest hospital. Or having malaria, which has all the
symptoms of the worst stomach flu, and trying to put one foot ahead of the
other to get treatment. Yeah, that would be terrible. So we are thrilled to
have this clinic for the people in the village. We had a remarkable turnout
with government leaders, press and many villagers coming to support this
clinic. It was a huge success and many patients were able to receive proper
care.
I work in skirts now.
These are the wood posts for our urinal behind the clinic.
They decorated for opening day.
My little friend. Isn't she adorable.
A camera from the 90's. Awesome.
HIV/AIDS AWEARENESS FUTBOL TOURNAMENT
Some of the girls in our group have been working tirelessly
to get a soccer tournament put together for the people in the Namatala area.
This area is absolutely plagued with HIV with about 10% of people affected. One
town over has only about 6% so this is an area in great need of HIV awareness. We
had TASO come and test individuals for HIV with a simple finger prick test. As
I went around to encourage people to get tested one man was especially
frightened to get tested. In my mind I thought it was ridiculous because it was
just a prick on the finger. But when he said to me “How would you feel if you
got tested and it came out positive?” Somehow, that really affected me as to
the reality that these people face. Just a simple prick on the finger could
change someone’s whole outlook on life and it is so common here that it is a
total reality to them.
I was told that the invention of seedless watermelon cost
millions of dollars. If that millions of dollars was spent on creating
awareness for diseases such as HIV/AIDS just think of the GENERATIONS of people
that could have had an opportunity at living life to the fullest. That really
put things into perspective for me.
That's me testing for HIV. He was negative!
The TASO tent
ST STEPHENS SECONDARY SCHOOL
School started so I finally started teaching secondary
school! I have never seen kids more thrilled to learn. It’s absolutely
incredible. They laugh at everything too, which can either be a self-esteem
boost or depressor. Haha. So I will be teaching Biology and some guidance and
counseling classes.
Market day outside St. Stephens.
RAFTING!
After all of the hustle and bustle of the big activities
that we have done, we all decided to take a little vacation. So we went to
Jinja and went rafting down the Nile River. It was INCREDIBLE. We went through
8 rapids (ranging from grade 3 to grade 6) and we may or may not have capsized
oh about 3 times. The first time we went under was an absolutely terrifying
experience. I have gone rafting before but never tipped the raft, so this was a
first for me. I swear I was stuck under the water for at least 5 minutes being tossed
around by the waves and hit in the head by the raft. Ok maybe it wasn’t 5
minutes but it felt like forever. My sense of direction was totally thrown off
and I had no clue where I was but finally I came up and a safety Kayak saved my
life. Phew, I made it! The next time we flipped I was a lot more prepared and
knew how to get the raft off my head and swim out of the rapid. But the third
time we flipped was worse than the first. Wave after wave after wave crashed
down on me and I was trying to keep my shorts on as well as my helmet. It was
intense. But again I made it out alive. It was so AWEOMSE but absolutely
terrifying and totally worth the parasite that I am sure to get from all the
water I swallowed in the Nile.
Yes, i found the cameraman and smiled. That was the first time we flipped. I didn't look for the cameraman after that.
That's my friend/guide Hydro in the back. He's awesome.
Coming to Africa I thought I would see a ton of wildlife.
That hasn’t been the case. We just see cows, chickens and goats roaming around
outside and toads in our toilets and cockroaches in our beds. But going to
Jinja was great because we saw MONKEYS!
Our house has not had power for 3 days, my feet are completely blistered I haven't had a hot shower in 6 weeks and as much as I try I can't seem to get all the dirt out of my hair but I am having a BLAST in Uganda and loving life!