As I was interviewing people yesterday I noticed that every time I first entered the room they would say "You're Welcome". I responded by saying thank you since I didn't know what else to do. My last interview of the day was with a group of 12 midwives and in unison, they all said 'You're Welcome' when I entered the clasroom. I laughed, since to me it just sounded kind of funny. Today it was explained to me that 'You're Welcome' means 'You have come and you are welcomed". Makes sense. When I return to my waitressing position in Seattle, this is how I will greet my customers.
As for my time thus far, it has been a whirlwind of activity. I arrived in the capital of Kampala with David who is seriously - the guy to know when coming here. I've been conducting interviews on the campus of Mengo hospital which houses ECUREI, the only school of ultrasound in Africa. Mengo, the oldest hospital in Eastern Africa also houses the school of nursing and midwifery.
The instructors and students have all been very welcoming! Especially my host, Dr. Kawooya who is the principal here at Ecurei. He has one of those deep and infectious laughs that makes everyone around him smile.
Tomorrow David and I drive down to Mbarara (4 hours) , which is a university town and where I will be primarily staying in for the rest of the time I am in Uganda. We will then drive to the district of Isingiro and attempt to visit all 6 Millenium Development Villages (MVPs) and their clinics in the afternoon.
David tells me the closest village from where we will be in Mbarara is 45 minutes and the furthest is 1 and 1/2 hours, if the roads are dry. (Yesterday on the way to uptown Kampala for lunch it poured for an hour. And not a Seattle kind of pour but a monsoon kind - which made the roads extremely muddy and backed-up with traffic on our return trip to Mengo campus.) Sufficed to say, tomorrow will be a long day with a lot of driving on bumpy roads. The potholes here can easily swallow a car. Luckily, our driver will have four-wheel drive.
Friday we travel to Mpigi (3 hours from Mbarara) for the launch of an ultrasound project which David has been working on for some time. The first group of midwives who just completed their training in ultrasound here at Ecurei are leaving to live in Mpigi tomorrow. We will get to see them Friday at the launch which should be very fun. From speaking with these midwives yesterday, they all seemed very excited to begin working in the field.
That evening I will return to Mbarara. Saturday David has suggested we see one of the game parks - which would be awesome! Then Sunday David returns to Kampala and I will stay in Mbarara for the duration of my time here. I hope to spend most of my time in the 6 villages interviewing midwives, pregnant women and others. I can't wait!
