I've just got back from spending two weeks in Uganda with the charity Empower A Child. Since I've got back a question I've been asked many times is "how was your trip?". I really struggle to find an appropriate word to answer this question with. On the one hand it was amazing and wonderful and full of so many moments of joy. However on the other hand I saw and experienced some things which were truly awful and heartbreaking and so in this respect wonderful doesn't seem the right word to use. As I've said to most people I've spoken to so far, no amount of words and photos can come close to giving justice to the experience I had in Uganda but I wanted to do this final blog post to try my best!
I fell in love with Uganda pretty much as soon as I arrived (which came as no real surprise to me) and every time I visit Africa I think I leave a little more of my heart there. Uganda is a such a beautiful and colourful country - bright red dusty roads, lush green trees and landscapes, bright blue skies (most of the time). Kampala is a real city of contrasts. On one side of the street there may be a reasonably western looking shop and on the other side piles of rubbish and people living in slums. Along most streets there are small shacks with people selling things like drinks and mobile phone credit. Children seem to be absolutely everywhere and it's hard to be out for more than a couple of minutes without hearing 'mzungu!' shouted at you.
I spent more time in the orphanage during my second week in Uganda. I loved being able to give my time to help with some of the everyday jobs at the orphanage such as hanging out washing, changing beds, and sorting through buckets of beans to separate the good ones from the bad ones. They may sound boring and not particularly glamorous but they are so essential to enable this place to carry on functioning, and you didn't have to spend long there to see just how overwhelmed they are. Again during my second visit there I spent some time with the children in the nursery and yet again I was overwhelmed by how desperate they were to be loved and held by you. Many of them would cry and as soon as you gave them any physical contact they would settle. It was almost as if they knew even at the age of 2 years old that they don't have their own family. Don't get me wrong, the orphanage is doing an incredible job at giving these children a safe and happy start in life but it's not quite the same as them having their own individual family. I had to hold myself back from physically picking these children up from the ground because I knew this probably wouldn't be good in the long term for that child or for any of the others. It was wonderful though to sit on the floor with them and give them a little bit of love and individual attention that they may not have had for long time, but so heartbreaking to then have to walk away.
One of the most challenging days of my trip was a day I spent during the second week visiting the paediatric department of
Mulago Hospital in Kampala, which is a government-run hospital and the biggest hospital in Uganda. The word 'shocking' was one of the first that sprung to mind when I got back and was asked what it was like. I counted 48 cots/beds in one of
the paediatric wards all crammed into the space where about 12 beds would probably be in a paediatric ward in the UK. The beds were rusty with ripped plastic covers on them for sheets and the floor was just simple concrete. It was evident as I walked around the ward that many of the children had been brought to the hospital at quite a late stage in their illness and were really sick. I think almost every child I saw was probably sicker than most of the children I have encountered during my time working in the paediatrics in the UK. I saw one boy with severe malnutrition, definitely the worst I have ever seen in all my trips to Africa. I estimated him to be about 7 years old. He was actually 13. He literally did fit the definition of 'skin and bone'. On top of this he had severe pneumonia and epilepsy. All the time mothers were bringing in their children limp and lifeless in their arms. I don't want to try and deliberately paint a really bleak picture, I just still can't quite comprehend that this is the reality of healthcare for many people in Uganda and for some people they don't even have access to this. I left Mulago feeling incredibly guilty but also pretty powerless and I'm still thinking through the best way to try and deal with this because it feels so wrong to just put it behind me.
I spent more time in the village of Zirobwe during the second half of my trip. Much of my time in the village was spent sat on the floor either in the middle of a field or amongst the mud huts, laying out my medical equipment and waiting for children needing medical attention to arrive (which never took long). Lots of the work involved dressing dirty and infected wounds
and removing splinters and jiggers from children's feet. I lost count of how many wounds I dressed but despite the many hours I spent doing this I never got bored of it. I guess this is partly because it's so easy to see how much of the need there is for a service like this and to be able to provide it for a short time was incredible. Experiencing the thankfulness of the people there was also really amazing and it was a real privilege to spend time in their community.
The sense of community in the village is amazing and something we really seem to have lost in the UK. The people of Uganda are so incredibly strong. In spite of often challenging circumstances I rarely failed to see beautiful smiling faces and hear happy voices and laughter. Every time I've been to Africa I've been overwhelmed by how incredibly friendly and
welcoming everyone is and this was certainly no different in Uganda. I lost count of the number of people I shook hands with or hugged and how many people wanted to find out about me and my life at home. As I've mentioned before the love of the children was one of the most joyful aspects of this trip. Despite being seen by the world as 'poor' these people are far richer than us in so many ways.
I spent my last day in Uganda back at the primary school in one of the slums that I had visited near the start of my trip, New Brainstorm School. Despite having no background in teaching myself, something about this place really touched my heart. I guess it really hit home how much we take education for granted in the UK (having gone through 19 years of education myself from starting school to graduating from university, admittedly I would include myself in this). As I mentioned before these children want to learn so badly and I can't think of a better word to describe them other than amazing. They are just
so full of joy. I took out to Uganda a large pile of colouring books, packets of crayons, soaps, toothbrushes, toothpaste and a few other things and on this last visit to Brainstorm I decided to give them out to the children at the school. I can't describe the look on the faces of these children after giving these gifts. I had more cuddles on that day than I think I've ever had in a single day before. This day alone would have made the whole trip worthwhile.
As I've explained to many people this trip was harder than I anticipated and also harder than the other trips I have been on. Being the only medic was difficult and overwhelming at times and I think I felt even more than ever before that what I was doing was just a drop in the ocean. I think working as part of a short term team who arrive and leave with you and experience everything with you shelters you a little bit and whilst I had a lovely group of girls from the US to work alongside for some of the projects I guess I felt a little more exposed to everything travelling to Uganda alone. I loved being able to make a deeper connection with people but I think this made the coming home process more difficult.
I genuinely feel like I was blessed far more than the people of Uganda that I was fortunate enough to connect with during my time there. I want to give all the glory of this trip to God. The message which came to me repeatedly during my time in Uganda is that I can do nothing incredible by myself but as I follow God into sometimes overwhelming situations he can
accomplish much through me.
I think I've finally managed to wash the red dust off my feet and clothes but Uganda is still very much in my thoughts. I've
been back home for a week now and even as I've gone back to work in the NHS and my life has gone back to 'normal' I think it will remain in my thoughts for some time. This week has been emotionally very up and down and the impact that this
trip has had on me emotionally has been far greater than I anticipated. I think I was so engrossed in everything when I was in Uganda that it's only now that everything is slowly sinking in and I'm accepting now that this will take some time.
I know I will go back to Africa at some point and I look to God to point out when the right time for this is. Thank you once again to everybody who supported this trip financially, through donating things for me to take, in prayer, and in words of encouragement. Thank you to those people who have spent time with me this week talking things through and listening to me. And I apologise to all of you now who will be on the receiving end of me recalling stories from Africa for weeks to come :)
I fell in love with Uganda pretty much as soon as I arrived (which came as no real surprise to me) and every time I visit Africa I think I leave a little more of my heart there. Uganda is a such a beautiful and colourful country - bright red dusty roads, lush green trees and landscapes, bright blue skies (most of the time). Kampala is a real city of contrasts. On one side of the street there may be a reasonably western looking shop and on the other side piles of rubbish and people living in slums. Along most streets there are small shacks with people selling things like drinks and mobile phone credit. Children seem to be absolutely everywhere and it's hard to be out for more than a couple of minutes without hearing 'mzungu!' shouted at you.
I spent more time in the orphanage during my second week in Uganda. I loved being able to give my time to help with some of the everyday jobs at the orphanage such as hanging out washing, changing beds, and sorting through buckets of beans to separate the good ones from the bad ones. They may sound boring and not particularly glamorous but they are so essential to enable this place to carry on functioning, and you didn't have to spend long there to see just how overwhelmed they are. Again during my second visit there I spent some time with the children in the nursery and yet again I was overwhelmed by how desperate they were to be loved and held by you. Many of them would cry and as soon as you gave them any physical contact they would settle. It was almost as if they knew even at the age of 2 years old that they don't have their own family. Don't get me wrong, the orphanage is doing an incredible job at giving these children a safe and happy start in life but it's not quite the same as them having their own individual family. I had to hold myself back from physically picking these children up from the ground because I knew this probably wouldn't be good in the long term for that child or for any of the others. It was wonderful though to sit on the floor with them and give them a little bit of love and individual attention that they may not have had for long time, but so heartbreaking to then have to walk away.
One of the most challenging days of my trip was a day I spent during the second week visiting the paediatric department of
Mulago Hospital in Kampala, which is a government-run hospital and the biggest hospital in Uganda. The word 'shocking' was one of the first that sprung to mind when I got back and was asked what it was like. I counted 48 cots/beds in one of
the paediatric wards all crammed into the space where about 12 beds would probably be in a paediatric ward in the UK. The beds were rusty with ripped plastic covers on them for sheets and the floor was just simple concrete. It was evident as I walked around the ward that many of the children had been brought to the hospital at quite a late stage in their illness and were really sick. I think almost every child I saw was probably sicker than most of the children I have encountered during my time working in the paediatrics in the UK. I saw one boy with severe malnutrition, definitely the worst I have ever seen in all my trips to Africa. I estimated him to be about 7 years old. He was actually 13. He literally did fit the definition of 'skin and bone'. On top of this he had severe pneumonia and epilepsy. All the time mothers were bringing in their children limp and lifeless in their arms. I don't want to try and deliberately paint a really bleak picture, I just still can't quite comprehend that this is the reality of healthcare for many people in Uganda and for some people they don't even have access to this. I left Mulago feeling incredibly guilty but also pretty powerless and I'm still thinking through the best way to try and deal with this because it feels so wrong to just put it behind me.
I spent more time in the village of Zirobwe during the second half of my trip. Much of my time in the village was spent sat on the floor either in the middle of a field or amongst the mud huts, laying out my medical equipment and waiting for children needing medical attention to arrive (which never took long). Lots of the work involved dressing dirty and infected wounds
and removing splinters and jiggers from children's feet. I lost count of how many wounds I dressed but despite the many hours I spent doing this I never got bored of it. I guess this is partly because it's so easy to see how much of the need there is for a service like this and to be able to provide it for a short time was incredible. Experiencing the thankfulness of the people there was also really amazing and it was a real privilege to spend time in their community.
The sense of community in the village is amazing and something we really seem to have lost in the UK. The people of Uganda are so incredibly strong. In spite of often challenging circumstances I rarely failed to see beautiful smiling faces and hear happy voices and laughter. Every time I've been to Africa I've been overwhelmed by how incredibly friendly and
welcoming everyone is and this was certainly no different in Uganda. I lost count of the number of people I shook hands with or hugged and how many people wanted to find out about me and my life at home. As I've mentioned before the love of the children was one of the most joyful aspects of this trip. Despite being seen by the world as 'poor' these people are far richer than us in so many ways.
I spent my last day in Uganda back at the primary school in one of the slums that I had visited near the start of my trip, New Brainstorm School. Despite having no background in teaching myself, something about this place really touched my heart. I guess it really hit home how much we take education for granted in the UK (having gone through 19 years of education myself from starting school to graduating from university, admittedly I would include myself in this). As I mentioned before these children want to learn so badly and I can't think of a better word to describe them other than amazing. They are just
so full of joy. I took out to Uganda a large pile of colouring books, packets of crayons, soaps, toothbrushes, toothpaste and a few other things and on this last visit to Brainstorm I decided to give them out to the children at the school. I can't describe the look on the faces of these children after giving these gifts. I had more cuddles on that day than I think I've ever had in a single day before. This day alone would have made the whole trip worthwhile.
As I've explained to many people this trip was harder than I anticipated and also harder than the other trips I have been on. Being the only medic was difficult and overwhelming at times and I think I felt even more than ever before that what I was doing was just a drop in the ocean. I think working as part of a short term team who arrive and leave with you and experience everything with you shelters you a little bit and whilst I had a lovely group of girls from the US to work alongside for some of the projects I guess I felt a little more exposed to everything travelling to Uganda alone. I loved being able to make a deeper connection with people but I think this made the coming home process more difficult.
I genuinely feel like I was blessed far more than the people of Uganda that I was fortunate enough to connect with during my time there. I want to give all the glory of this trip to God. The message which came to me repeatedly during my time in Uganda is that I can do nothing incredible by myself but as I follow God into sometimes overwhelming situations he can
accomplish much through me.
I think I've finally managed to wash the red dust off my feet and clothes but Uganda is still very much in my thoughts. I've
been back home for a week now and even as I've gone back to work in the NHS and my life has gone back to 'normal' I think it will remain in my thoughts for some time. This week has been emotionally very up and down and the impact that this
trip has had on me emotionally has been far greater than I anticipated. I think I was so engrossed in everything when I was in Uganda that it's only now that everything is slowly sinking in and I'm accepting now that this will take some time.
I know I will go back to Africa at some point and I look to God to point out when the right time for this is. Thank you once again to everybody who supported this trip financially, through donating things for me to take, in prayer, and in words of encouragement. Thank you to those people who have spent time with me this week talking things through and listening to me. And I apologise to all of you now who will be on the receiving end of me recalling stories from Africa for weeks to come :)
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