Day 23 - July 28

After a long day, sometimes all you want to do is relax! Too bad we don’t really get that luxury because we have an early morning tomorrow. I think every day from here on out is going to be this busy, but we will hopefully get a great experience.

I woke up around 7:30 as usual and used the quite time to get my thoughts in order and plan for the rest of the day. Lately I’ve been having strange dreams that make me wake up thinking about odd things. I think last night there was some sort of serial killer out to get us and we were hiding out trying to stay alive. The medication we take for anti-malarials called Malarone is what a lot of people blame their strange dreams on while they are in foreign places. I’m still not sure if it’s the medicine or perhaps just the strange environment. In addition, those silly movies may have just found too much room to camp out in my brain! I’m not going to get sucked into another one and hopefully the dreams will be a little less bizarre!

Angella called and said she would be going to the clinic and we could meet her for Evelyn’s appointment around eleven. We weren’t at all ready by then. I think I was the only one that was up before 9:30 and everyone else still wanted to shower before we left the house. We decided to just meet at Mulago around noon.

Once we finally got ready, we called Jozeph to pick us up. Unfortunately, he was busy taking somebody to the airport so we had to call the other Jozeph, who charges more. I understand that his car is bigger, but seriously, he charges way too much! I think the only fair rate that he gave us was for the airport. This time we tried to get him to go for 15,000, but he said that wasn’t enough and that 20,000 was the fare. We finally settled on 17,000. It’s the first time I feel like he actually gave us a somewhat decent negotiation on price.

We stopped by Susan’s office to drop of the crayons, coloring book, and beanie baby we brought for her niece, Clarissa. She really appreciated loved them and I’m sure Clarissa will too! When she found out that Pamela and Nick were here and that we weren’t going to see the hospital, she insisted on setting up a couple of days for them to work in Mulago. I thought Troy had said he talked to this Susan about it and was told we couldn’t, but Susan said she never talked to Troy. Who knows if it was a different Susan or if she didn’t remember him. We’ve met so many Susans that I wouldn’t be surprised if there was another one working in a similar place in the hospital that Troy talked to and thought it was the same person.

We didn’t know exactly where to find Evelyn but luckily Angella knows every area of the hospital so she acted as our person guide. We got to the outpatient surgical ward to find that it had moved to a whole other building for the day. Go figure. I don’t know how people know where to show up for work in the morning and I’m even more baffled at how patients are able to arrive, find their charts, and then head to the proper building to see their doctor. We found the ward but when we got there, behind the desk there were three nurses and a man in white that did not want us to be there. We tried to explain to him the situation from both Angella’s and my own perspective, but they weren’t having it. It’s frustrating because when Troy is back in the states, Deo contacts him about Evelyn’s condition but Deo doesn’t know the exact medical procedures so there isn’t anything Troy can do. All we wanted was to talk to a doctor about what the plan was for her case. In the middle of our discussion with the four gatekeepers of the ward, Deo showed up to tell us where to find Evelyn. We decided that just one of us needed to go in and it wouldn’t be a good idea to try to have all of us inside, especially with the way the nurses were annoyed with the group.

While we waited, Deo brought Evelyn over to see us. She’s such a happy little girl as long as you aren’t messing with her belly! Poor thing has been through so much and she’s just 3 ½! I honestly don’t know how her mother does it! She takes care of Evelyn and her other children along with some of the orphaned kids in Mubende. Evelyn needs to be constantly watched and her bandages need to stay clean all day long. It’s hard enough to do it in a sterile environment with running water but to do the same out in the village with no running water and so much outside work with dirt and garbage all over the place, she must be working non-stop. Evelyn had fun with us for a while and we talked a bit with Deo. After nearly an hour, the nurse called Evelyn, and I was chosen to go with. I entered with Fiona and Evelyn to a patient room with four other patient/mother pairs already in it. Apparently privacy and patient confidentiality don’t really matter. Fiona doesn’t speak English and I’m pretty sure that nobody else in the room did. I did understand that Fiona was telling one of the mothers about Evelyn and then explaining to her that I was Mukwano, which means friend. I wish there was more I could do for them, but unfortunately I don’t have the skills of surgeon and I don’t know anybody else who does.

The nurse called the patients one by one to the room next door where the doctor was waiting. I tried to sheepishly explain why I was there, but the doctor really didn’t seem to mind that I was there nor did she care why I was there. She explained that Evelyn’s case was not the only one and that they just need to get their act together in order to do the procedure. Deo has always made it seem like nobody is able to do the surgery, but after talking with the surgeon, it seems they know what to do, it’s just a matter of getting the resources together. The surgeon said that a doctor from the U.S. was welcome to take over the case if they felt like it, but it seemed to me that she would rather continue the process they are working on, even though it is slow-going. I made the mistake of leaving without asking for contact information. When I got back to the group, I explained the situation but it didn’t seem Deo was totally satisfied. I don’t know who mentioned it, but somebody suggested I get the email or phone number for the surgeon directly. I really didn’t want to and I didn’t think it was necessary, but my mom started to insist that I do it. I tried to walk back to the room again, but the nurse was mean this time and said the doctor was very busy and I could wait until she sees the rest of the patients. There were at least 25 more waiting in main area so I knew it would probably be hours. I walked back the hallway without the number and feeling insignificant after the way the nurse brushed me off. When I got back, my mom said I should ask her new friend, the nurse at the desk who had been cranky earlier. My mom has always had a way of making friends wherever she goes. My mom had asked her if she could take her picture to show her friend Shirley back home because her outfit was similar to the outfits that nurses used to wear in the states. When I learned he name, all I could do was laugh. Margaret Susan! Some day we might find a variety of names for the people that we know, but for now we’re just going to have to settle with know multiples of every name. Needless to say, Margaret Susan was not able to help us. I honestly didn’t think it was an appropriate situation in the first place. I get really frustrated that people expect us to solve every problem just because we are from outside of Uganda. It’s somewhat disrespectful to the nurses and doctors that work here. Many of them are very good at what they do and are competent in their skills, but people in the country tend to not trust the system to work and fix their problems. Part of me doesn’t blame them because the number of people that don’t get what they need in hospital is very high. However, most times it is because the organization is so poor and the resources are so limited. There is a lack of understanding that needs to be worked through so that people will learn to trust the people that are there to help them.

I was frustrated when we left, but I know that Evelyn is in good hands and I am glad to know that we can trust them to take care of her. I followed through on my promise to go to the appointment and figure out what is going on, but I think that’s as far as we should get involved. It’s hard to tell people you can’t really help them more, but truthfully, we can’t and we really shouldn’t in the interest of letting the Ugandan doctor do her job. Angella worked under the surgeon and she said she was one of the best that she worked with at her entire time at Mulago. I trust what Angella has to say and I’m glad that she was able to reassure us about the situation.

After the appointment we stopped by Susan’s office to inform her that we would like to see infectious disease and possibly pediatric or OB/GYN rounds in the next two days. She informed us to come at 8:45 in the morning and she’s have it set up.

We also had to stop down at Katanga to make sure JaJa would be around with the kids when we come tomorrow. I am always a little skeptical when we go down in that area. The people watch everything that we do and it’s so crowded and noisy that it’s easy to get distracted. With the group of us, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Now that we have found an easy way to find it, there doesn’t seem to be any uncertainty about safety. It was probably good for everybody to see where we were going so they could be prepared for tomorrow.

Apparently the morning had gotten away from us because by the time we decided to get lunch it was nearly 4:00. We took Mtatu’s to Taste Budz in Bukoto. I probably should branch out more, but I stuck to the pizza and a chocolate milkshake. They just taste better than most things here! We still had to get our medicine cabinet’s to bring to the Bukoto orphanage. Since we didn’t want to pay for a taxi, Pamela and I took Boda’s back to the house to pick up what we needed. Pamela had asked about safety on them and I assumed she meant physical safety. I said they should be safe, especially since the roads aren’t too bad. Then she informed me that she was more worried about being taken some place she didn’t want to go. Apparently in Vietnam it was a big concern when you took scooters. I’ve never heard of that being a problem, but once we started riding, I was very careful to watch for Pamela, just in case something happened. We got home and grabbed the stuff. When we came back out of the gates, the drivers were pointing up the hill and laughing. I think they were overwhelmed by how steep and bumpy it is. They were strategizing on how to get up it. This hill has caused more headaches than anything else this trip! My driver got on and when as fast as he could the whole way up the hill. We both cheered when we made it. Pamela and her driver were another story. They started slow and weren’t ever able to pick up momentum. We laughed as they struggled to make it! Thankfully, they arrived at the top without too much trouble, but clearly it was a strain on the bike! I decided I wouldn’t mind giving an extra 1,000 for the ride because of the unexpected hill!

We had to walk to the orphanage in Bukoto. We started walking just as the rain started. There weren’t really any taxis out and none of the Mtatus go where we needed to from that point. We just continued in the rain. By the time we arrived, all of us were drenched. At least the water wasn’t too cold and the weather was still pretty warm so we weren’t miserable.

The mother, Hilda, was super excited to see us again. And the children were jumping up and down in happiness! We got to work filling out information on each child and asking the questionnaire to the two main caregivers and two secondary caregivers. The oldest of the women didn’t speak English, so translating was fun. Hilda speaks English, but some things are lost in translation. There is one question about dehydration that asks what it means when a child cries with no tears or drool. She thought it was hysterical and couldn’t stop laughing about such an absurd idea. It took longer than it should have, and it was pretty dark by the time we finished. Pamela, Nick, and my mom handed out beanie babies that Pamela’s dad had given for the trip. The kids loved them and immediately started running in to show them to us.

Once we finally got all the work done, we were blessed with a song and prayer for the rest of our travels. I’m so happy that we have found this orphanage. I think it could be a really great place to visit in the future and they seem to really try to understand exactly how to use all of the medicine. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, with a visit to the hospital and another orphanage!