Team Uganda: Clinic Day 2

Today we traveled to the village of Kahara, a rural and agriculturally driven district. The drive took 1.5 hours, the longest of the week. Along the way we saw the most beautiful African sunrise. It was a cold morning. Yes cold…in Africa… Nevertheless, we kept the windows down in our unconditioned vans knowing that we would soon be missing the cooler temps.

The first half of the drive was on paved concrete and the second on dirt, rutted roads. The roads seemed to have been cut into corn (maze) fields. It was a tight, slow, rather bumpy, but peaceful drive through the dry Ugandan countryside. Upon arrival to the school (our clinic for the day), we were greeted by the applause of the awaiting patients and families.

Given the remoteness of the village there was a great sense of gratitude from the patients. We saw a lot of families today with many crying babies, but for good reason. Our doctors caught several cases of malaria, which if not caught early enough, is deadly.

At the end of the day, several team members played games with the kids such as “Simon Says”, “Duck, Duck, Goose” and penalty kicks on the soccer field. By the end of Duck Duck Goose, nearly 200 hundred people were hysterically laughing as team members tried to escape the kids or “the goose”.

Today was an extraordinary day. We treated 282 patients, which was 3 more patients than yesterday. This was a huge accomplishment due to the fact that we had two less hours than yesterday with the long drive. With all of our different identities, we came together and “gave enough” to make a big difference in the lives of these Ugandans.

Our team is getting in our groove. We are ready to conquer the rest of the week.

Much love from Uganda,

+ Mary Helen Maskill, Community Engagement, Texas
+ Graham Worsham, Sales & Marketing, South Carolina