November 2011
10 posts
True patriot love
Back in Canada for a couple of days at this point and upon reflection of our time in the UK, Sarah and I both regretted not doing our graduate work there. The sights are wonderful and one cannot help but be caught up in the history that permeates everything. It’s an incredible contrast considering that most Canadian institutions are less than 200 years old.
After leaving Beccles, we headed...
a rather pleasant day
This is our second day in England, staying with my aunt Serena at her marvellous home in Beccles, the quaintest town I’ve ever seen. Yesterday we arrived at Heathrow early in the morning, bought a winter jacket for Casey, and drove back to Beccles. Casey offered to make spaghetti with minced beef. The three of us ate dinner with wine and when we were finished, we headed off to a local pub...
Later days, Uganda
There’ll be a lengthier wrap-up later on but in less than 24 hours, we’ll be on our way to the UK!
Oh. The bus ride from Gulu was quite sad. :(
Hypothetically speaking...
You live in northern Uganda. You may have HIV or you suspect that you have it. You will more than likely make your way to TASO Gulu for Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT), the Community Drug Dispersal Point (CDDP) to refill your anti-retrovirals, attending group counselling, receiving medical or psychosocial support and receiving some of the best overall HIV/AIDS care in all of east Africa.
...
impromptu cycling
Casey and I have run out of internet on our dongle, so I apologize for the lack of posts recently. Today is our last day at TASO, and I can honestly say that I am incredibly sad to leave. It has been an amazing, eye opening experience that I will carry with me my whole life. I came here looking for a research idea, but I am leaving with more questions. I’ve realized that life here is not...
A chicken just laid an egg on our doorstep.
Happy Easter! love Sarah
#OccupyUganda
For the past two days, Sarah and I have followed TASO’s medical staff into Gulu Regional Referral Hospital for follow-up care for any of TASO’s clients that have been referred into the public health care system due to an emergency or worsening chronic conditions.
Our first day at Gulu Referral was spent on the Internal Medicine (IM) and Tuberculosis (TB) Wards. The first thing I noticed upon...
legitimate fear
This weekend was the most exhilarating and terrifying experience of my life. Casey and I along with 7 other expats from Gulu travelled to the beautiful city of Jinja to do some extreme grade 5 rafting at the source of the Nile. Friday, we caught the Post Bus to Kampala and stayed over night in a guest house directly beside one of the most popular clubs in the area. Early the next morning the Nile...
If you need us this weekend... →
What we eat.
Most of the conversations I’ve been having with people back home have gravitated towards:
How we’re doing.
How work is.
If we have malaria.
What we’ve been eating.
As soon as I get some better pictures of inside TASO during a clinic day, I’ll write-up a post about a day in the life of a TASO client/patient which would somewhat answer question two. However, this is all...
October 2011
14 posts
Happy Birthday Mom!! (And Happy Halloween)
My father complained that we’ve been slacking on updating the blog lately, so we’ll try to update it at least twice a week, opposed to our once a week trend. Today is All Hallow’s Eve, and, more importantly, it is my wonderful mother’s birthday! So, Happy Birthday to the most amazing mother in the world. I would not be where I am today without your love, guidance and...
Murchison Falls
Having been to African Lion Safari (a zoo just north of Hamilton, Ontario for our non-Ontarian readers) only once as a toddler, I have little-to-no experience observing equatorial wildlife. With that in mind, I wasn’t prepared for the sensory overload provided by Uganda’s flora and fauna this weekend.
The weekend started on early Saturday morning when Jeoffrey, our driver for the weekend, picked...
Waragi
Nothing out of the ordinary at TASO this week, aside from a sports gala on Wednesday that Ellie and I attended. Ellie, along with other TASO employees had tried to plan this event for two weeks, but due to the stupidly overwhelming amount of bureaucracy at TASO we were still running around the day of the event getting organized. We ended up being 5 hours late, without a PA system, without prizes,...
"Slugs" and Inflation
Friday was a ho-hum day for me at TASO. I was in the lab going through the routine of checking blood for HIV, Malaria and Syphilis markers. Sarah, however, had the more adventurous job of volunteering in the Child Care Centre. If a child comes into TASO HIV+, they’re placed into the centre where they can receive pediatric counseling and have a safe place to stay while their parents are getting...
doing what mzungus do best
This week was filled with doing what mzungus do best, meeting other mzungus and, with these other mzungus, eating anything but the local food. Tuesday, Casey and I played Ultimate Frisbee with 15 other American guys (plus Ellie, one german, one dutch, one Ugandan and one japanese). It was a serious workout and I am still aching. Imagine me, running around like a mad-woman with 12 guys throwing a...
Happy belated Independence Day
Confusing? Well, too bad. Uganda celebrated its 49th year apart from the British this weekend. Congrats!
Sarah and I headed to the Golden Peace Hotel with Callie & Tristan (check them out at www.bongamedia.org) and Anna (a music therapist from Spain) for a traditional acholi and west african (unexpected) dance show. Amaaaazing hip gyrations.
Getting Indian food afterwards was an ordeal....
Bop, a bug spray
This week seemed incredibly short. It’s funny, the longer we live in Uganda, the faster the time goes by. One month in Uganda has taught and humbled me beyond my expectations. So far, it’s been an extraordinary ride, working with the amazing people at TASO and just experiencing what it really means to live and appreciate life. This week I decided to work with the counseling department...
Beef beef beef
Currently sitting in the middle of a TASO Gulu general meeting for their strategic plan review. At the beginning of most staff meetings, there are usually a couple of hymns and a prayer sang. This might seem a bit peculiar given that TASO isn’t a religiously affiliated organization, but keep in mind that Uganda is 80%+ Christian.
Anyways, after the hymns and the prayer, one of the staff...
Proof of Purchase
During our travels within Uganda, Casey and I have had instances where we were given a receipt for our purchases. Some have been handwritten so they have asked who to write the receipt out to. We always say “Casey Park.” These are a few receipts we’ve gotten back: Makerere University Guest House “Mr. and Mrs. Park” Uganda National Museum “Kesi” City...
On the road again.
Following up on the last post, the Black and White party was fun fun fun regardless of a copious amount of Kampala rain. For the sake of full disclosure, though, we were amongst the very few who actually dressed up in black and/or white. OH! Hahaha. There was a hip-hop artist from Kampala who performed and basically just rap-synced over his own song. They didn’t even take the vocal track...
our first real visit to Kampala.
We haven’t posted anything in a few days, mostly just because we’ve been lazy. After Tuesday, TASO was pretty mellow this week. Casey and I spent Wednesday in the pharmacy counting drugs for the pharmacist. The TASO Gulu pharmacy is a pretty laid-back place. One of the pharmacists, Andrew had his laptop out on shuffle where we heard the most incredible playlist. Everything from Avril...
September 2011
32 posts
WatchWe leave Canada for two months and this happens. Congrats!
danielle-elizabeth:
A guy just proposed to his girlfriend mid Arkells show. Crying!
Ran over a chicken today
Now that I have your attention, you can find out how precarious home visits with TASO can be.
The day started off with nothing out of the ordinary. Went to a clinic out in Awach where we did 18 month CD4 count check-ups and refilled ARTs. The pathologist in the lab out there found out I was from McMaster, got excited and showed off all the rapid tests they do out in rural Uganda. If the WHO and...
Heyyy Africa!
Today is Monday, and Mondays at TASO mean meetings. Since Casey and I didn’t have any meetings to be at we left by 1pm, got something to eat and went home. Between leaving TASO and arriving at the restaurant I had the unlucky experience of being bitten by something in my pants. Ellie, our coworker, suggested that it might be an ant, so yes, I had ants in my pants. I’ve since relieved...
The Shortest Weekend Ever
The TASO Annual General Meeting (AGM) is in Kampala this weekend and all the regional offices are sending at least over 50 delegates each. Sarah and I were supposed to be two of 63 headed from the Gulu Branch to hear about the successes, failures and future direction planning of this organization. We were gonna meet at TASO Gulu HQ at 5:30 AM and be on our merry way. We even brought a dozen...
bugs.
On Wednesday one of our rooster friends was sadly eaten. Casey and I came home to find him boiling in a pot. Though I was slightly heartbroken, it did smell delicious. Now I am eyeing a cockroach on our wall (too high for me to reach) to make sure that it doesn’t fall onto my clothes. Don’t picture New York style cockroaches. These Ugandan ones that seem to have infested our compound...
Everyone has a UTI...
Today was a general clinic day at TASO Gulu. This means that HIV+ individuals from around the region flock to HQ for a refill on their ART regimens and Septrin as well as come in for counselling and a check-up if an opportunistic infection is just a bit too much to handle.
Sarah and I were attached to the medical coordinator, Rebecca, who also happens to be a staff clinician for the entire day....
come one come all.
I am sitting on our thin foam couch after a long day at work with my feet up on a small wooden table that we previously used as a cutting board until we bought something better. Today was our first outreach day into the surrounding communities around Gulu and even though Casey and I sat at a desk under a tree and did next to nothing physically, I. am. exhausted. I’ll blame my exhaustion on...
Forms, forms, forms (aka. Our first day at work)
The day finally arrived where Sarah and I could begin our 1.6 million shilling placement with TASO.
If you’re expecting a grandiose story involving going out into the surrounding area, counselling those afflicted with this terrible disease and handing out life-extending medications, look elsewhere.
We sat in a room from 8:30am to 12:30pm and discussed the various forms that counsellors...
wandering.
There is a cat stealthy walking along the railing of the building across from the coffee shop. Stella would not do well here. She is obese compared to the skin and bones here. Stella is my cat, just to be clear, and far from as agile as the matted, skinny ones I’ve seen around Gulu. Obesity is a product of her cushy, pampered life back home. She never has to pick through garbage as the cats...
#firstworldproblems
sarah and i decided to bite the bullet and buy a mobile internet usb stick for 99,000 ugandan shillings (roughly around $35 canadian dollars). the internet around town has been spotty and apparently this is the best way to keep connected regardless of temperamental technology. this also explains why there aren’t that many pictures being uploaded. we have 1 GB of internet on the mobile...
a placement
This morning I woke up feeling horrible… but now that I’m sitting here drinking cold mineral water and eating a banana and watermelon I am feeling increasingly better. Casey and I are sitting in our favourite cafe, which is currently blasting christian rock, a far cry from the Lil’ Wayne last night. As already mentioned, Casey and I have a placement with TASO (The AIDS Support...
The TASO Gulu branch →
Good news.
After being declined a volunteer opportunity from the Canada-based NGO, CARE, we were able to get a placement with Ugandan-based TASO (The AIDS Support Organization). We don’t know exactly what we’ll be doing with this organization yet, but all is good to go as soon as we write an application letter and pay a “small” international placement fee of $300USD each. It seems to...
Ethiopian New Years
Sarah and I decided to hit up a blogger favourite last night at Classic Ethiopian here in Gulu. What we didn’t realize was that September 11th is Ethiopian New Years.
Did Sarah and I think there was a birthday party happening that we weren’t invited to? Yes.
Regardless, the (prepare your Google/Wikipedia skills) injera that we used to mop up all of our various wat was beyond...
life.
Tomorrow we head to a few NGOs and see about volunteering. Fingers crossed we’ll have something to do by the end of the week. We’ve only been in Gulu for less than three full days, but we are slowly settling in to our new life and routine. Power outages are frequent and our compound’s generator isn’t always on, so I’ve taken a few showers in complete darkness. As of...
Arrived.
After a seven hour bus ride and an eleven hour sleep, Sarah and I have arrived in Gulu Town in northern Uganda.
We hopped on our bus at 11:30 AM and due to unfinished tiles being loaded to the bottom of the bus for transport, we didn’t leave until around 1:30 PM. While on the bus, merchant upon merchant lept on and tried to sell us newspapers, chicken, watches, wallets, purses, loaves of...
Landed.
So, it is 8:30pm and Casey is already sleeping. Travelling for over 24 hours will do that to you. I took one for the team and decided to update and share my thoughts and first impressions of this country. The very first thing I noticed when stepping off the plane was the weather. A far cry from London’s chilly drizzle. It isn’t as hot as I’d imagined and right now as I write this...
Addis A-blahblah
I kid. The city is beautiful from the air!
Sarah and I have to hop on one more hour and some-odd flight to Entebbe International and we’re finally in Uganda. Once we’re there, we’re gonna get some sleep at Makerere University guesthouse, find some cheap SIM cards to put in our phones (fingers crossed for BBM in Uganda) and get some cheap generic anti-malarials.
Speaking of...
Heathrow (from Casey's perspective)
I’ve never thought I’d get tired of cockney accents. Well, I’ve reached my breaking point.