First Day!

Hi everyone!

We're happy and settled here in beautiful Bukato, Kampala, Uganda. We've been here for two days, but since internet is sporadic, we're writing our blog posts offline and posting them whenever we get a chance. Here's our post from yesterday, Sunday, our first full day in Kampala. Look out for a post about Monday, our first day in a healthcare/lab setting, coming soon!

We welcome personal comments and requests for more information. Hopefully we'll be posting pictures too.

Warm wishes,
PIGH

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January 6, 2013

What’s your favorite thing that happened in your first day?

I loved that the group works perfectly in any group, big or small. When we ventured out all of us together, it was really fun to explore, but we also could split up into smaller groups and everything flowed really easily. I’m so excited to get to know this wonderful country with such an open group of people.

Taryn Valley

Pineapple yumminess.

Mira Hager

I didn’t expect to see goats. All the other animals, for sure.

Elena Tonc

I thought it was interesting that they open the drink bottles in front of you, hand it to you and then open it right there. I saw a lizard, that was pretty. I thought that it was interesting that the African Cup Qualifying Game was only $20 US Dollars, and that was considered expensive. Maybe they make sporting events more accessible to people. That was cool. I thought it was cool that Selam and Waru saw the volleyball game and went to church.

Anna Trier

There’s Coke everywhere. Everywhere you go, it says “Enjoy an Ice Cold Coke.” And the Coke is really good. And the beer I drank was from the Nile, that was pretty cool.

Linnea Swanson

I met kids on my way after church, and we said hi to them and they said hi, and one of them was wondering where I came from but didn’t say anything. I like kids, so it was good to see them. People are nice everywhere. You can always trust that people will be nice to you, and that’s really wonderful.

Selam Gebremariam

I had a really fun time at Blue Ginger Café with everyone. There was a soccer football game on TV and free WiFi. Learning words in Luganda (“way-ball-ey” means Thank you!)

Yuris Martinez

I loved grocery shopping with Becky and Paul. That was great.

Mollie Hudson

I liked finding out we’re called Mzungus, and Bzungu when we’re a group (means white person/white people). It’s funny when the kids call it out when we walk by.

Allison Gottwalt

 I guess the excitement of being here with you guys, hearing the plantain eaters (my favorite birds in Uganda), and drinking the cold Stoney (ginger soda).

Devavani Chatterjea

Another cool thing that happened today involved the work we’ve been doing on TB. Anna, Taryn, Mira, Yuris, and Demi (a friend from the guest house) went on a walk to a grocery store, and we passed through a set of stores that had a clinic in it, and Demi was friends with the doctor, Charles. We saw a sign that said “TB is Curable, Test Here, Treat Here.” Anna had the idea of talking to Charles about testing and treatment protocols in children – the topic of the TB group presentation! On our way back, we stopped, and Dr. Charles treated us all to Cokes (yum!) as we asked him about treatment in his clinic. He was educated at Makerere, the university we’ll be visiting. He had to run and go see patients, but we’re hoping to go back to talk to him some more. It was wonderful to hear about the medicine, and it was also awesome to see how friendly and generous people are here. This conversation was a good sign of things to come!