- There is SO much need. I was just blown away by the need there and for this trip we saw just how much medical need there is. There is just so much sickness and its heartbreaking because so much of it is preventable if people get behind Africa and support it. Things won't get better unless there is long standing education and dedication to improving health care. Even the electricity there is so unpredictable and usually goes out for days at a time. There is so much need but there is also so much potential and so many ways to help.
- Africa is seriously beautiful. America just doesn't compare to its wildness and wonder.
- The hotel was not only nice but the staff was so sweet to us. They made us delicious food and were so welcoming and gracious in teaching us things about Uganda.
- The guards, oh the guards. Each day we have 5 Ugandan police drive with us and stay at the clinic for protection. Its a pretty sweet gig though because really they just have to stand and watch the Americans for a whole week and hang out with us. Its funny that at first they were so intimidating with their guns but they were the ones checking on me when I was hopelessly sick, sleeping in the van. One of my favorite times was sitting in the van driving for an hour (on scary unpaved dirt roads) and talking about life, religion, culture with one of the guards. It was so awesome.
- Driving in Uganda looks a lot different, besides the whole drive on the left thing. The roads were mostly unpaved and dirt, there are no posted speed limits, the whole time you just know you're going to get hit, and the horn is so useful in telling others that you're about to pass 2 inches from them. Also there are no lights on the roads- exactly why we had to get back before dark. But our drivers were wonderful guys who we all got to know so well and became so special to us.
- The luggage. So I didnt get my bag until Monday night- never have I been so thrilled to get old tshirts and scrubs! At first I was irritated definitely because how it happened and got left just seemed so ridiculous. But then God did something really cool (as he frequently does) and really convicted me to take left luggage not as just something inconvenient but a way of seeing just how much we have in America and how spoiled we are. It was so convicting to think of how much I have in a world where there is so little- it was such a perfect lesson for the trip.
- You will be stared at because you are white. You will stick out. They called us Muzungu and even one is cause for staring much less 50 of us. The kids also really liked my skin (maybe because its so white?) and were constantly waving at us from the road and jumping up and down to greet us.Its a very weird sort of celebrity type feeling.
- So.much.love. Maybe its because I just adore children, but nothing brought me such joy as getting just to love on the kids there, to hold them and play with them, to give a kid hope for the future with adaptive equipment. I cannot even put into words how sweet it was to go to the orphanage and just get to spend hours with the kids. The people of Uganda are such a beautiful, loving people who have changed my life forever. They are people of great perseverance, strength, and joy and they can teach us so much about how to live our lives and serve others.
Stats:
- over 15,000 miles travelled
- 6 flights
- 6 movies watched on planes
- Times fish was served on the plane- at least 6
- 51 volunteers
- 12 trips in the 15 passenger vans
- 5 sites visited
- 5 wonderful drivers
- 5 hilarious guards
- 1600+ patients seen at clinic
- over 250 patients seen in OT/PT- this is huge for us!
- a ridiculous number of Fantas had
- hippos, elephants, and crocodiles seen: I stopped counting.
- over 800 photos taken
- songs sung to our drivers: you don't want to know
- sunscreen used: 85+ spf
- 7 splints made
- 1 awesome adventure
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