September 2011
32 posts
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.
Heathrow
Casey and I have landed in Heathrow and are bracing for our 11 hour stopover. It’s not so bad. We bought a multigrain bagel with jam and apple juice, paid for Wi-fi (What century is this?) and are now sitting down in a pleasant bagel shop. Our next flight for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia boards at 8:30pm. What to dooooo… Oh, so I’ve been telling everyone for days that Casey and I have a...
About to board our first flight headed to Heathrow International Airport!
4 tags
Charity president says aid groups are misleading... →
fyeahafrica:
The head of an international medical charity has called on aid agencies to stop presenting a misleading picture of the famine in Somalia and admit that helping the worst-affected people is almost impossible.
The international president of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Dr Unni Karunakara, returned from Somalia last week and said that, even though there was chronic malnutrition...
Pre-flight thoughts ~ Sarah
This tumblr account has introduced me to the world of blogging. I can’t speak for Casey but a huge reason I wanted to start a travel blog was because while in Korea I found myself telling people the same stories over and over again through numerous forms of social media and telecommunications. Not that I hate talking about myself or of hilariously memorable events that happened around me. I...
August 2011
3 posts
“I don’t want audio on this blog!”
– Sarah O’Sullivan (co-author)