I want to share a little challenge with everyone. Each day, I use a writer’s inspiration book to help aid my journal writing.  I am going to revisit a challenge I did earlier this week. The question read, “Open an imaginary door. What do you see?”

In a cinder-block building, there is a metal door.  Once inside, daylight is seen streaming through the wire-gated windows.  Tables and benches line the room in a haphazard fashion.  A simple map hangs in the corner.  The floor is coated with a thin layer of red dust.  I imagine over 300 patients walking through the metal door with pain and ailments and walking out with renewed hope for a healthier tomorrow.  I imagine hearing different background stories and different worries, but experiencing one goal: empowerment.

As you can tell, this isn’t really an imaginary door.  It’s reality.  It’s exactly what I saw today in the town of Ntoma.  I described the room triage took place in today, where about eight volunteers and five translators worked, filled out patient history and sent them to doctors, OT/PT, glasses, or pharmacy.  PMI is creating a beautiful reality for so many Ugandans.  They have a terrific model and future outlook for the clinic, and it is such a blessing to be part of this incredible movement.  If you had to ask me to imagine something, I would say that 10 years from now, even more Ugandans will have better access to healthcare and public health initiatives will increase.  But then again, I have a feeling that will be a reality too.

- Kristen Beres

Wow, what an incredible day! After a good night’s sleep we woke feeling refreshed ready to start a new day in Uganda! After meeting with our group for breakfast we loaded up the vans with stickers, balloons, and Frisbees and headed off to Family Spirit Orphanage, about one kilometer down the road. Family Spirit is an orphanage here in Masindi that caters to children whose lives have been affected by HIV whether it be themselves or family members. As our five vans pulled up to the orphanage, children rushed to the fence cheering and smiling, SO excited to see the Mzungus (term meaning ‘white person’ or ‘traveler’).  As we got out of the vans nearly all 160 children living at the orphanage ran up to each of us, hugging us, smiling, and filled with joy. We toured the orphanage which was complete with dormitories, classrooms, and living facilities. The dormitories each had around 4 bunk beds which slept anywhere from 2-4 children on each mattress. They are in the process of building a brand new girl’s dormitory, showers, and toilets, which the children were excited and proud to show us. We got to spend the morning with them throwing Frisbees, blowing bubbles, and passing out LOTS of stickers! The children were also super excited to check out our sunglasses and wore them around the grounds feeling like “rockstars.” They loved our digital cameras. They wanted to get their picture taken, see pictures of themselves on the camera display, and especially loved taking tons of pictures of anything that came into their sight. To wrap up our visit at the orphanage, the children had prepared an amazing performance for us that included singing, dancing, and expressing their lives as orphans. It was awesome to see how hard they worked to put it all together, and the family dynamic amongst the children was very evident. It was truly amazing, and I think we were all humbled by not only their genuine appreciation for us coming to visit them but also their faith and overwhelming joy.

After leaving the orphanage we came back to the hotel for lunch before we headed to the permanent Masindi PMI site. Luckily, it was close to our hotel so we got to walk as a group down dirt roads through the natural environment of many Masindi residents. The sites were breathtaking, and I think we were all surprised by how lush and green the vegetation is here (which we discovered is attributable to it being the rainy season in Uganda). On our walk we passed a couple schools and houses where children waved and smiled as we passed. We even saw some goats and cows tied to trees in their front yards! When we got to the clinic we got an orientation by Michael O’Neal (Project Director-PMI Uganda) and were introduced to the permanent staff here. We learned some really interesting things from Michael about living in Uganda, for example: females in Uganda have an average of 7 children, 75% of the doctors in Uganda serve urban areas where only 20% of the residents live (leaving the other 80% of Ugandans with very few options for healthcare), and the average Ugandan makes less than $3 a day. It was amazing to see the difference PMI has made for the rural populations that need medical care. After hearing about the clinic we each got the opportunity to tour the facilities (which are amazing!) and see how things work here. The clinic included triage, inpatient, outpatient, emergency care, pharmacy, and many other up and coming projects on site. While the clinic is pretty incredible and open everyday, our job on this mission trip is to work in rural outreach clinics throughout Uganda. Tomorrow we get to work our first clinic day in Ntoma (about 40 minutes away from our hotel) and are so excited to work with patients and learn about the lives of people who have lived here forever.

- Carson Michalski and Lauren Wengerd

P.S. A shoutout before we go… HAPPY FIFTH YEAR ANNIVERSARY to Dr. and Mrs. Huffman, who are celebrating their anniversary by serving others (how cool)!

Pipe Cleaners are VERY Popular with the Kids of Masindi

Occupational Therapy Students at Masindi Kitara Medical Center

After 31 hours of puffy red eyes, wind blown hair, and delirium, the May 2012 PMI team (and all of our luggage) has made it safely to Masindi! We got off to a bit of a slow start when our luggage wouldn’t fit under our first plane from Charleston, delaying our flight for over an hour. Turns out, when every one of our 50 members checks a wheelchair, plastic tub, or giant duffel bag of medical supplies, it doesn’t fit so nicely. Upon arriving in D.C., our flight attendant reminded us, “Don’t forget your crutches in my closet!” Seventeen other members of our team joined us in D.C. to depart for our TWELVE hour flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We weren’t sure it would ever end. You’d fall asleep feeling like six hours went by, and wake up to realize it had only been two. It was at the airport in Addis Ababa that we ran into a problem… the toilets have no seats, and you put the used toilet paper into a wastebasket. There is no flushing. Our quads may be sore by the end of this week. Luckily, when we got to our hotel in Masindi, the amazing hotel staff had prepared a home cooked meal for us, and we all gathered to eat and share our experiences from the five hour drive from the airport in Entebbe to Masindi.

A few things that we noticed on the drive over included: the lush green vegetation lining the mountainsides during this rainy season; how confidently our drivers navigated the bumpy roads lined with hundreds of pedestrians, animals, bicycles, and “motabodas”, even in the pouring rain; how eager the drivers are to use their horn; how happy the children seemed to be with smiles plastered onto their faces, peering over the wall to watch us at the gas station, then greeting us with hugs (some of them lacking pants; the variety of ridiculous things you will catch riding a motorbike: a family of five, some bananas, a full-sized refrigerator, four chickens, a grown adult pig…; the bustling shops and markets lining the streets, with most things written in English; how much the Ugandans like their Coca-Cola products; the balance it must take to carry a heavy basket on their heads; the blend of traditional African clothing with contemporary fashions; how normal it is to have guys in black uniforms with AK47’s casually walking around the airport; the “traffic police” stationed watching the roads which have no speed limits or laws at all!

Now it’s time for some MUCH needed sleep and a clean shower. Check back tomorrow to read about our day at the orphanage and our tour of the PMI clinic in Masindi!

- Kaleena S., Nicholas F., and Sara J.

P.S. For those family members reading this who may have been expecting emails, our internet is down here with no word on when it’ll be back!

A little over three years ago I met Marianne for the first time. Since that first meeting I have called, emailed, texted or met with her face to face almost every day, and at times almost every hour. The person who was a stranger across the table in early 2009 now feels more like a sister.

What I can say of Marianne is that there are few people like her in the world. She is one of those unique individuals who is always positive, always calm, and always ready for any situation that may arise. As you can probably imagine, those are three extremely valuable traits to have when starting a global non-profit organization.

Over the last three years Marianne has accomplished a great deal at PMI. She has led hundreds of people on life-altering trips to East Africa. She has built friendships with volunteers, donors, churches, businesses, universities and entire communities in Northwest Uganda. She has done whatever had to be done in an organization with very limited resources. And for me she has become a very dear friend.

I think I speak for everyone in the PMI family when I say that Marianne will be greatly missed. But more importantly, she will be greatly remembered as a leader, a team mate, a servant and a friend.

Mar – We are so thankful to have had this time with you! Thank you for your extraordinary help in shaping PMI into what it is today. We love you!

We would apologize for the mess in our office, but we won’t. That’s because it means that our May Uganda trip is upon us! We are thankful for the generous donations  people have brought that will help make this an impactful trip. We’re setting out with a team of 59 volunteers early on Friday morning. A large percent of our team specializes in Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy, so we are excited to offer those services on this trip. This is also Tyler’s (our new DOV) first time going to Uganda! Subsequently, it is Marianne’s last trip, so give her a big hug around the neck when you see her! Keep a close eye on the blog for updates from the ground on how the trip is going. It is sure to be a great trip for all!

The MKMC was graciously given a 40’ container full of medical supplies to be used in the L&D  and surgical wards of the clinic.  After being held in customs for quite some time and negotiating through Ugandan red tape the container was released on Thursday to arrive in Masindi on Saturday.  Late Friday we found out that the container must be unloaded immediately upon arrival the next morning and our team pulled together to find a suitable place to use for storage while work on the new ward is completed.  This became a good lesson for Newman Lawrence, the new Project Director, to learn about how business is done here and to work together with our incredible staff here at MKMC to accomplish this task.  We are very grateful for all the supplies we received from Mission Ready in Wilmington and our staff is very excited about the new ultrasound machine which will help to create a lot of revenue as we maintain operational sustainability for PMI Uganda.

At the Masindi Kitara Medical Centre we aim at being up-to-date concerning health dynamics and providing quality care. To educate, heal, and empower is the reason we exist.

Concerning health dynamics, we update ourselves with new information about dynamic medicine through health education and reading books and newspapers.  We also get involved in workshops that update us on new changes of management regarding different  disease cases specific to Africa.

Recently, myself (Doreen) and Bernard went to a 4-day workshop  from April 17th to the 20th.  The workshop addressed the integrated management of malaria.

We did have knowledge of managing malaria prior to the conference, but we also had the opportunity to learn a lot more from this workshop.  As a result we have changed the way we handle malaria cases at our site.  We therefore hope to give quality care to our patients in the following ways:

• Practicing what we learned
• Training our staff
• Educating our patients

A word from Bernard (an enrolled comprehensive nurse)

Experience

Bernard is an Enrolled Comprehensive Nurse in Masindi Kitara.  His experience from the workshop included understanding the importance of comprehensive patient medical records, a new drug called Artesunate which is geared towards advanced malaria cases, and using RDT (Rapid Diagnostic Tests) for diagnosing malaria.  Overall, Bernard felt as though his skills improved dramatically in terms of managing malaria and he definitely benefitted from this workshop.  Obviously, his patients will also benefit from this training too which is great!

He concluded by expressing his thanks to the MKMC (PMI) management for allowing him to attend that workshop.

A word from Doreen a bachelor of nursing science nurse

I (Doreen) acquired more knowledge and skills, as well learning about a new drug (Artesunate) which is helpful for managing complicated malaria and other related illnesses. Some of the things I learned were already in practice, but new things were emphasized, such as prevention of malaria in pregnancy,  sickle cell, travelers from less endemic areas to more endemic areas, malnourished children and HIV patients. I learned that people with these issues are more prone to get malaria. Some of the other topics that were covered at the workshop included: relation to malaria, such HIV/AIDS co-infection and malaria, monitoring for drug safety, medical record keeping, malaria in pregnancy, treatment of uncomplicated malaria, and management of patient with severe malaria.

Though we were the first two to go to the workshop, Alex and Dorothy will be the next two to attend the workshop.  The  knowledge and skills we acquired is already being shared  with our colleagues through CME, so that we are all up-to-date and therefore can improve our services to the community.

We appreciate the management for giving us an opportunity to go to this workshop. The knowledge we received will tremendously improve the quality of care to our clients.

Doreen standing in her discussion group during the workshop

Benard in his discussion group during the workshop

The different discussion groups

The construction crews continue to work hard to bring the Labor & Delivery/ Surgery center to completion.   The interior and exterior finishes are being put on the walls and the first coat of paint is being applied.  This week will see the installation of doors and windows.  Our supplier is promising that they will be delivered by Wed.  (only 4 weeks late) so, we are all eager to have them installed.  The ceiling is installed and looks great.  In the mean time, the other sections of MKMC are running smoothly.

The rainy season has begun therefore, cases of  Malaria are rapidly increasing.  Fortunately our staff is AMAZING and they are handling the increase in numbers perfectly.  Patients continue to be impressed with our level of care, professionalism, and facilities.  We are thankful for the success we have seen thus far and look forward to the opening of the Labor & Deliver/ Surgery center in a few months!

Thank you all for your continued support of our efforts here in Masindi!

Michael O’Neal

PMI Project Director

On behalf of the entire MKMC team, I am humbled take this opportunity to thank you for your great support (PMI & the donors)! Without each of you we would not have progressed as easily as we have in this 1^st Quarter of 2012.  It is has been a pleasure for our MKMC team to walk alongside the PMI family.  We are very grateful to our community and corporate partners in Masindi that have entrusted us to provide medical services for them. Their appreciation of our facility and services has not merely been good but also encouraging to our staff.

All of the MKMC staff is overjoyed with the 100% sustainability mark that we have hit with this quarter’s performance. It has been such an exciting time as all of our staff have learned of the excellent and commendable accomplishment.

Thanks for your support!

Christine Gabaami

Head Accountant, MKMC