Wrapping up in K'la

Since coming back from Gulu, things have been quite busy as Chelsea and I try to wrap up all the little projects we have committed to. On monday, (Maternity, of course), I delivered another baby, and watched twins be born via "ceasar!"- nursing slang for a cesarian section. I also catheterized a woman (necessary because the baby will often obstruct normal urine flow. A collapsed bladder is also less likely to be damaged during during birth). Fun fact of the day eh!
Tuesday was a day of office work, and we took our boss and his wife out for lunch. On wednesday, we visited Hospice Uganda - a large, very well-run organization that focusses on caring for thoes suffering from AIDS and cancer. After speaking with those there, I came to understand the disparity in funding for cancer patients (in Africa generally) compared to those with AIDS. Many of the former are in equivalent pain, yet cannot access the aid earmarked for latter. Breast, cervical, and prostate cancers are the prominant ones, while lung cancer is relatively minor compared to in the West. The organization operates on an outpatient basis, and conducts home and hospital visits. We each got to acompany teams out to rural areas on these types of visits. The doctor would interview the patient, conduct a physical exam, and usually leave him/her with an oral solution of morphine.
In other news, there is some encouraging developments on the environmental front. There is a new company , funded by the Danish government, that has begun to recycle the plastic bottles (water mostly) from the downtown core. The litter in this country is rampant, especially in overpopulated Kampala. This litter traps water and dirt, promoting malaria, cholera etc. This came to mind because the hospice distributes the morphine solutions in these (used, washed) ubiquitous bottles; another good example of the good ol' 3R's.

A last apology about the pictures, I am still having trouble uploading them, but will resolve this soon.