Incomplete thoughts 3a: Introduction to a health crisis

There is nothing like a health crisis to highlight that you are out of your comfort zone and highlight the discrepancies that exist in health care around the world.  

My husband was a history major.  Then he went to a conference where he heard the statistics of doctors vs. people in the U.S. compared to doctors vs. people in Africa.  He thought, “I would love to be a doctor in an underserved area.”   Well, it was quite a path.  Two years post college English teaching in Hungary (fortunately, we met in the second year), two years of pre-med to make up for the history major, four years of medical school and then three more years of residency.   After residency, we would spend three more years  waiting for details of the next step before spending a semester of tropical medicine training in England.  Meanwhile, for our whole married life, we wanted to live and serve where there were few medical resources.  We had short term experiences in Haiti, Kenya and Ecuador.  We finally got our wish upon moving to Uganda with my college roommate and her family.  They invited us to be on their team as they remembered there was a hospital near the university where our friend Travis would work.

There are many things I could share and comment on and many things that have already been written about health services in rural Africa.  I would like to focus on a small story that we experienced.

This is the hospital where he served.  Rugarama, it was founded by British Anglican missionaries, but is now run all locally.  

The front.

The eye center sponsored by the Lions who are so spot on!

This is the back campus where caretakers gather and cook and wash.  You bring all of you own supplies.

Although there was a government hospital in town,  people often said how they liked to come to Rugarama because the doctors don't ask for bribes and really care about you.

In year two of our stay in Uganda, we implemented a mental health plan.  How to get rest and refreshment while serving in an underserved place where the work is endless, plus the needing of relief from stress of cross cultural living.  There is a gorgeous lake called Lake Bunynonyi and in particular an island camp called Bushara.  Ugandans who can, love to come here and certainly westerners from the region love it. The tree covered island in the middle is Bushara.

This particular week-end we had such a good time.  We stayed in a cabin and had so much fun as a family.  I was getting a brochure on prices for other cabins on the island and just patting myself on the back for being so clever.  We sat down at these very chairs (this picture is of another visit, I actually took zero pictures that week-end).  My son comes up very pale faced to my husband and I and said, "I think I hurt my arm."  In fact, he had fallen from this very beam where my husband's boss in leaning in this picture.  You can see a very nice concrete base where my son fell on his arm. 

to be continued...