Team Uganda: Safe Arrival and Sunday Fun Day

After 25+ hours of traveling, everyone has safely made it into the beautiful country of Uganda. We arrived at the Central Inn around midnight, ate food that the staff graciously had ready for us and then finally crawled into bed for a short night’s sleep.

The following morning, we hopped in a van for a 4-hour ride to our home base for the week in Masindi. The journey was a sight to see since this is most of our first time going on a medical mission trip, as well as most of our first time being in Uganda. Upon arrival at the Masindi Hotel, we ate a fantastic lunch and then walked the short distance to the Masindi-Kitara Medical Center (MKMC). There, we met the Regional Administrator, Patrick, and he spoke to us about MKMC and what they do for their community. He greatly emphasized that the need to care for people comes above any profit. After listening to him, we took a tour around MKMC and got to see what they do and how they operate. We also got to see newborn babies, which was definitely a highlight of the tour for me.

After returning to the hotel, we got started on prepping for the first day of clinic tomorrow. Everyone jumped in and got to organizing all the medications for tomorrow. There were many full bins that we went through. We put medications in bags, labeled them and put all the medicines in alphabetical order. We eventually had to take a break to eat dinner, but then we got right back to it and finished strong. We also learned more about our roles for the week and what to expect at clinic.

After finishing prep, the next thing to do is get a good night’s sleep under our mosquito nets, so that we can be ready for our first full day of clinic, which I’m sure will be long, but so worth it at the end of the day.

+ Haley Phillips, Certified Nursing Assistant, South Carolina