I drove up to Wetumpka, Al to meet half of my team (that's me, second from the right!)
The other half had already flown in the day before because that's the way the airlines booked our tickets. Anyways, our team leader attends church in Wetumpka (first on the left, above) and a church member had volunteered to drive us to the ATL airport (a two hour drive from Wetumpka) and pick us up upon returning.
We had to weigh each and every bag because we were only allowed 50 lbs per bag and we were taking several things over to the missionaries that live permanently in Uganda (seeds, supplies, medical stuff, etc). There was a lot of sorting and switching things around to get every bag under the max weight limit.
My poor bag had finally worn itself out and is the one with the duck tape around the top corner. Needless to say, that one didn't come home with me- hopefully someone in Uganda has made good use of it :)
So, the flights were unlike any I've ever been on. I've flown quite a bit in my lifetime, but never have I been on flights anywhere that long! The flight from ATL to Amsterdam was about 8 hours, then we had a couple hour layover there before we boarded our second 8 hour flight to Entebbe, Africa. We actually had to stop in Kigali, Rwanda to let some passengers off there first and then finished out trip to Entebbe. From there we had about an hour bus drive to Kampala, Uganda, which is the capital city of Uganda. It was nighttime at this point, so it was interesting to see sooo many people out walking about at midnight, or later (I can't quite remember what time it was exactly). Apparently they do a lot of stuff late at night when it's much cooler. There were barber shops open and people getting their hair trimmed, people just hanging out, eating dinner, etc. Our hotel was actually quite nice and I got a very good nights rest after the long back to back flights.
The next morning we loaded up on a bus and headed to the Old Kampala Slums. Imagine the most poverty laden situation/area/people group you've seen and then multiply that by about 10 fold. I've been to Haiti and the not so great areas of Brazil and this is by far some of the worst poverty I've seen. Obviously the slums are likely going to be the worst area in town, but I'm not quite sure what I expected. I worked alongside 2 local Ugandan physicians who were wonderful.
They were very bright and knew their stuff. I, ofcourse, had to work with an interpreter, which is difficult in its own right, but toss in medical stuff/jargon and it was even more difficult. We saw probably between 300-400 people that day.
A few people had to be started on quinine drips as they were suffering with malaria, which we undoubtedly saw a ton of.
There were lots of cute attention-seeking children that we got to play with that afternoon after we finished clinic. They totally loved cameras and loved to both take pictures and have their picture taken!
Bus rides (well, really rides in any type of vehicle) are quite different from those here in the US. Roads are a wee bit bumpier (ok, there was a hint of sarcasm there- they're WAY bumpier) and travel is slow because of all the people and other cars in the way. This is the type of bus we were on most of the time:
Anyways, the following day we made our way to Gulu, which was about an 8 hour drive away. This is where we stayed with the missionaries, Matt and Jamie East and their 3 children. Through an awesome only-God-could-do kinda deal did they acquire the house that they currently live in. This is a shot of the whole team, along with the missionaries live-in maid and her daughter.
They were super sweet and actually host lots of interns and various mission teams that come throughout the year, so they're awesome hosts and have it down to a tee. While in Gulu we first held a medical clinic within walking distance of their house at some of the locals mud and thatch homes.
The local leader graciously gave up her home for the day for me and the two other Ugandan physicians to hold a make-shift clinic and see patients. That was easily another 300-500 patient day between the 3 of us.
We also held eye clinics, where we tested their eyes to approximately determine what strength of glasses was most appropriate for them. We had hundreds of pairs of glasses donated to us by The Lions Club.
The next few days we actually drove out into the 'bush' each day (about 1 hour each way) and held a clinic in what will soon be Abaana's Hope (check out what Four Corners Ministries is doing here: http://www.fourcorners.org/abaanas-hope/ ) It was under construction while we were there, so we used benches and had plenty of cool air wafting through the wide open windows in the cement walls. Both days we were out there we saw hundreds of people and each day was utterly exhausting and rewarding at the same time.
Wondering how they hand make every single one of these bricks to build everything? Here's your answer: a brick-maker. Maybe this is common knowledge for some people, but I had never seen one before and had never really given it much thought, so I was just a tiny bit fascinated by it! They work very hard for absolutely everything they have- most things we take for granted and don't give any thought to (like, how are bricks made?).
Gathering jerry cans to head out to the well to get fresh water:
They also have a large garden where they grow everything they eat- if they don't grow it, they don't eat it. These are some awesome looking carrots that were just freshly pulled and will probably make for a yummy dinner :)
Our last day in Africa we got to go on a real African safari (through Murchison Falls National Park), which was pretty awesome (understatement of the year, right there).
We saw wild giraffes, water buffalo, elephants, gazelle, etc. We had to cross the Nile River along our tour and actually stopped and took a riverboat ride up the Nile and saw TONS of hippos and TONS of beautiful African birds (they live in those holes).
We were told before going that something invariably happens on every safari ride, and we were certainly no exception. No Iess than 5 minutes into our safari our bus got stuck in one of the largest potholes I had seen up to that point. Thankfully it did happen so close to the entrance that one of the park rangers came to our rescue in a range rover and surprisingly pulled the entire bus out with seemingly little effort.
We were all grateful that there were no more mishaps throughout the rest of the tour. Our tour guide had his trusty AK-47 on his shoulder to be sure of that!
This made me more than a little nervous when he stepped on the bus with it- although, I'm pretty sure he told us he's never had to use it! It was mainly for safety against any large cats that may threaten a safari tour. Although, speaking of cats, they are unfortunately nocturnal and don't typically come out too much during the day, so we didn't get to see any of those. I took more pictures on this one day than I did on the rest of the trip combined (mainly because I was so busy each day seeing patients I didn't get many opportunities to take pics). It was absolutely beautiful- everything about it.
The ride home was super long, and I was definitely pretty homesick by the time the trip was over. I called my hubby as soon as our plane landed on American soil. We texted back and forth since I still had about a 2 hour bus drive from the ATL airport back to Wetumpka, which is where my car was. My sneaky little hubby had told me he was at home cleaning and had just gotten back from taking the dog for a walk. I so wanted to see him and was seriously dreading the 4 hour drive I had from Wetumpka back to Navarre because I was a whole new kind of tired by that point and REALLY didn't want to have to stay over the night because I was too tired to drive home. Little did I know, he had talked his younger brother, John, into driving up to Wetumpka with him and surprising me when we got there! I had to do a double take when we pulled into the church parking lot! I knew I recognized the car when we pulled in, but I couldn't really believe he was there! I was soooo unbelievably happy to see him (and pretty darn happy I didn't have to drive the whole way back to Navarre!) He even brought me my bed pillows so I could snooze on the way home (which I absolutely did!) :) What a great guy- he's totally a keeper! lol
Anyways, props to any of you who actually read this whole thing, but I needed to put it all down, as I've told many people I would, and it's so much easier this way than to tell 50 people the same lengthy story (although I really already have)! lol
Love you guys! Thanks to everyone who supported me, both through prayer and by financial means! It was truly a life-changing experience and I'd love to go back someday!
Katie :)
