After a holiday in Kenya I took the bus up the Rift Valley from Nairobi to Kampala. The people seemed more friendly and relaxed less out to exploit me. They were more interested in who I was and why I had come.
Kiwoko Hospital is decidely Christian. Many other hospitals are crippled by corruption and it was so refreshing to see the staff with different motivations even though they were quite poor themselves - one doctor hadn't been paid by the government for a year. The ward round started at 7am and we stopped for prayers at 8.15. It was so good to have that structured time with God each morning. It prepared you for the days' work. I clerked patients and started their treatment - my work was checked by a doctor. I was able to perform procedures - it was good to feel useful. - as a student you often feel in the way.
I remember seeing a man dying of AIDS, with his mother crying over him. Many people died from preventable or treatable conditions. I was so impressed with the peoples' response to their adverse conditions. They remained cheerful. 'In the West we have God and things, in the developing world they just have God'. That a good place to be and I was privileged to meet people whose only possession is their faith.
I was interested in the community health programme. One of the doctors asked me to help him. We designed a questionnaire to assess their health education and drove the jeep into the bush. I felt I had experienced the real Uganda when someone invited me into their hut for lunch. One afternoon there were three very ill children to be clerked before the trip. In the end I arranged for someone else to see them. It made me realise how easy it is to ignore preventive medicine.
The approach of the hospital was refreshingly holistic. Patients were prayed for on the operating table - this simple faith was encouraging to me. One of the best parts of my stay was attempting to learn Lugandan. The nurses were very patient and by the end of my two months I could just about ask the relevant questions but needed the answers to be translated. It was really hard to leave. I had been inspired by their devotion to their work and their dedication to Christ.
Kiwoko Hospital is decidely Christian. Many other hospitals are crippled by corruption and it was so refreshing to see the staff with different motivations even though they were quite poor themselves - one doctor hadn't been paid by the government for a year. The ward round started at 7am and we stopped for prayers at 8.15. It was so good to have that structured time with God each morning. It prepared you for the days' work. I clerked patients and started their treatment - my work was checked by a doctor. I was able to perform procedures - it was good to feel useful. - as a student you often feel in the way.
I remember seeing a man dying of AIDS, with his mother crying over him. Many people died from preventable or treatable conditions. I was so impressed with the peoples' response to their adverse conditions. They remained cheerful. 'In the West we have God and things, in the developing world they just have God'. That a good place to be and I was privileged to meet people whose only possession is their faith.
I was interested in the community health programme. One of the doctors asked me to help him. We designed a questionnaire to assess their health education and drove the jeep into the bush. I felt I had experienced the real Uganda when someone invited me into their hut for lunch. One afternoon there were three very ill children to be clerked before the trip. In the end I arranged for someone else to see them. It made me realise how easy it is to ignore preventive medicine.
The approach of the hospital was refreshingly holistic. Patients were prayed for on the operating table - this simple faith was encouraging to me. One of the best parts of my stay was attempting to learn Lugandan. The nurses were very patient and by the end of my two months I could just about ask the relevant questions but needed the answers to be translated. It was really hard to leave. I had been inspired by their devotion to their work and their dedication to Christ.
