We began our second day of clinic in complete darkness, even before the sun decided to show its face, with the registration team leaving for our clinic site at Kinyara sugar plantation at 6:45am. This is a perfect illustration of how we can work from sunrise to sundown and still not fulfill the need that exists here.  We were excited to start another day of clinic, especially now that we were “experienced” at practicing African medicine, and it’s always an amazing feeling when we pull up to the site and see a line of people that wraps around the building and goes on for what seems like forever.  The site we were at today was at a school about 45 min away from the hotel and in a more isolated area on a sugar cane plantation.  The school had closed today so that we could have our clinic there but we found that many of the teachers there had volunteered to work the day as our translators.  Today ran more easily and peacefully than our hectic first day, and everyone from those in triage to the providers to the pharmacists found an amazing synergy and were able to help more than 170 people who needed care.

I had a particularly amazing experience today in clinic because I was given the opportunity to assist in my first surgery with Michael.  We removed a large dermoid cyst right over the eye that had been plaguing a young man since birth.  This was my first time actually using a scalpel on a real patient (and not a cadaver), my first time suturing, and basically my first time doing any kind of surgical procedure.  The faith Michael had in me and the experience that I got to have is not something that I will ever forget.  Even more than that, I was so happy that we were able to give this young man any kind of semblance of looking “normal” and that we were able to take away that burden from him.  He expressed so much joy and appreciation and he is a wonderful example of why we came to Uganda.

We’re all tired but holding up really well and excited to continue the week!  Tomorrow we are going to a site further away where apparently hundreds of people are going to line up, but after today we know we can handle it.  We are all safe, eating really good food (and probably gaining a few pounds), and loving our experience here! That’s all for now!

Love, Grace

11 hours, 260 patients, and 31 exhausted team members later, we are back at Masindi Hotel after our first full day of clinic here in Uganda!

Even before most of us were awake this morning, the line for our clinic was already forming with locals in desperate need of care. Many had spent the entire night saving their place in line to assure that they or their loved one would be seen by one of our health care providers. Marianne and her registration team arrived an hour before the health care providers to give each patient a coveted form and number on their hand, capping the number we would be able to see at a little over 200. We don’t envy their job of turning patients away after that number was reached but hope that those people will have a chance to see our team coming in May.

The two of us, along with Nicole (another nursing student) and Rachel F. (RN), spent the day in the tiny converted school classroom that would serve as our triage center. Each of us was assigned a translator and an area in the room to take vital signs, a brief medical history and chief complaint, as well as to administer zinc tablets, an anti-parasite (to fight worms), and vitamin A. Even this simple task will help prevent numerous health problems in each patient’s life. Our creative nursing skills were in full force as we faced multiple challenges from translation to screaming infants who had never seen a “munzuga” or white person before. It was definitely a grueling day but our inspiring patients’ stories kept a smile on our faces and captivated our hearts. We definitely each had a few patients that will stay with us forever.

After our time with the patient was over, we sent them off with Kelly or Danielle (our life-savers!) to see the providers who would give a  full physical exam and prescribe much needed medication. The patients also had the opportunity to see our dentist, physical therapists, and even be fitted for glasses…but we’ll leave those stories for another day!

We miss you all and thank you for your support of our team! It’s amazing what we have already accomplished here! And now it’s off to bed for another long clinic day tomorrow!

Erin Taverniti and Amy Marialke

The team could not have thought of a better way to start off our exciting journey to Uganda than spending the day playing with some of the most spirited children in Masindi.  This morning after a gracious breakfast, half of the team departed to visit a local orphanage that is home to as many as 100 children. As we pulled into the orphanage, the van was almost instantaneously surrounded by about 30 smiling children welcoming us to their home.  Each team member was quickly embraced by several children before they could even step completely out of the van.  After playing for a while, the team was serenaded with song and dance by many of the kids.  The children, who have so little by traditional American standards, display a kindness and hope that we should all aspire to in life.  After an exciting “playtime” period, the providers set out to begin providing healthcare to many of the children who were acutely ill.  It was refreshing though how healthy many of the children were after having all received well-child check ups by our December team.  Still, we were able to identify 2 young kids who were showing signs of early asthma and the fact that we will be able to provide them with albuterol inhalers will not only slow the progression of their disease but will also allow them to hopefully lead a relatively normal and symptom free childhood.

While one half of the time visited the orphanage, the other half was able to visit the local Masindi Hospital, which provides the second best level of care in the country after the main hospital in the capital, Kampala.  We had the chance to tour the facilities and talk with several of the hardworking staff.  They shared with us many of the obstacles that they must try to overcome when providing care for an ailing patient.  The team was also able to walk through several of the hospital wards and visit the “theater”, or operating room.  It was an important experience for our team because it helps highlight how significant our contribution to the people of Masindi can be.  In the afternoon, the two groups swapped places so everyone got to share in these unique experiences.

Tonight, we had a delicious dinner and heard touching testimonials from 3 team members: Sandy, Rachel and myself.  Michael also discussed some of the different diagnosis and treatments that we expect to see before the entire team joined together to count and bag several thousand pills.  So as we prepare for a long first day of clinic tomorrow, we are thankful for the opportunity we have to be here and look forward to helping and sharing with the people of Masindi.

Please stay tuned for more updates!

Brian Blaker

Michael, Matt and Joel at Entebbe airport

Monkey at the airpot

Hello family and friends! The March team arrived safe and sound at Hotel Masindi at 7 pm Saturday night. It was a long day of travel from Charleston to DC to a quick touchdown in Rome to refuel, then back up to Addis Abbaba and finally Entebbe! The team then traveled in buses for the next 5 hours through Kampala and out to the beautiful countryside. Everyone ate a delicious dinner and turned in early as we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow visiting Family Spirit Orphanage and Masindi Hospital. Monday is our first official day of clinic in Kisuuga/Kigezi. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers and will continue to update the blog nightly -hopefully with pictures! Thanks for your support - PMI

Amanda and I arrived safely in Masindi on Monday. We cannot thank you all enough for your prayers and support throughout our transition process. We are so excited to be here and have hit the ground running. I have met with an attorney here in Uganda and we are only a few days away from having PMI Uganda recognized as a Non-Profit here. I have spent the last two days traveling to the sites that the March team will be visiting and the excitement and support from the community leaders is overwhelming. The people are all eagerly awaiting the team and there is a feeling of excitement and thankfulness at each meeting. I am also meeting with the Contractor again on Mon and hope to nail him down to a start date for the land clearing and site work. Sorry there are not pictures this week but I will get a few uploaded for next week’s update. Thanks again for everyone’s prayers and support.

Michael and Amanda

THANK YOU to Jennifer and Eric Prestridge for hosting such a fabulous reunion party OYSTER ROAST on Saturday. The December “Dream Team” had a great time!

The College of Charleston Halsey Institutue of Contemporary Art has a wonderful exhibit on display right now highlighting the humanitarian crisises in both Rwanda and Northern Uganda. We encourage volunteers to stop by to view the exhibit before it closes on March 13th.

Exhibit: Now through March 13th

Hours: 11-4, Monday-Saturday

Location: 161 Calhoun St., Charleston, SC 29414

Info: 843.953.5680, http://halsey.cofc.edu/

Jonathan Torgovnik - Intended Consequences: Rwandan Children Born of Rape &
Heather McClintock - The Innocents: Casualties of the Civil War in Northern Uganda

The pairing of these exhibitions is intended to highlight humanitarian crises in two troubled African nations. In an effort to familiarize our audiences with aspects of history that do not often receive in-depth attention in conventional media, these exhibitions serve as examples of the College of Charleston’s campus-wide commitment to the discussion of international issues.

PMI is still on the look out for office space anywhere in the Charleston area. If you have any information about available properties, please email marianne@palmettomedical.org. Thank you!

If you werent able to see the story yesterday on ABC News 4 yesterday, be sure to check it out here. Great coverage of Palmetto Medical Initiative and Michael and Amanda’s upcoming departure.

http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/0210/703645.html

Be sure to check out ABC News 4 tonight at 6pm and 11pm. They are featuring a story about Palmetto Medical Initiative and our new Project Director and his wife who are moving to Uganda on Monday. You can also see more details on the story later today at www.wciv.com.