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on Hoggs in Uganda (Uganda), 09/Oct/2009 07:32, 34 days ago
Rhona– Friday 9th OctoberWe have a holiday today as it is Independence Day, probably four days is enough for us for our first week. We get up at six and leave the house at 7.15 to get the matatu (mini-bus taxi) and are getting surprisingly used to it.Reach Out is an amazing organisation and Ugandans are great people. There is a genuine warmth and concern for fellow human beings and they have a great sense of humour. We start the day with yoga and then have reflection, with each department taking a turn to organise it. Everyone in Africa seems to be actively religious, they are very respectful of other peoples’ beliefs but don’t understand that some people are not passionately involved with some religious organisation. We sing a hymn and the Reach Out anthem and there are lots of fantastic harmonies added in. There is a bible reading and someone says a few words. The effect seems to last all day, it’s great and although it would not be acceptable in the UK, I think we can learn from the philosophy. Everyone we have met in Reach Out is really passionate about it, and it is run very efficiently on a small budget and with limited resources. Although only 6% of the workforce have a degree, we havebeen very impressed by the standards, for example the pharmacy is run by a great man Timothy who has a technician’s diploma but is very knowledgeable and committed to developing the department. Few departments are computerised, everything is written down in big ledgers, so Bobby has lots of scope.The nurses are a great bunch, and again although most have the equivalent of an enrolled nurse’s qualification, they are very professional and patient-centred, and they could certainly show us what compassionate care is. They do most of the diagnosing and prescribing and call on the few doctors for advice about complex cases. The clients, all of whom are HIV +ve, get treated for other conditions such as malaria and TB, and also for hypertension and diabetes etc. There is a department which  gives support to people with complying with their drug regimes and also a special team who look after pregnant women and their babies up to the age of 18 months to help prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child. There are WHO guidelines they follow and the have a very low transmission rate. They use community health workers (mother to mother support) and this seems to very effective. All patients with HIV have a community health worker who helps to support patients and alerts the nurses if there are problems.The executive director Dr Stella is a very charismatic and strong leader and she is keen for Reach Out, and especially the pivotal role of the nursing staff, to be more widely broadcast, and to get some nursing research going. I still have a lot of discussion to have with everyone, but Stella has suggested that I might help nurses to write an abstract for a conference and to work with the nursing team to identify some areas for research. There are academics at Makarere University Institute of Public Health who have just completed an external evaluation of Reach Out, so they may be interested in further research.So it’s all very exciting work-wise. On the domestic front, we are progressing, we seem to have progressed from camping to feeling that we are living in a bothy, and I will certainly appreciate my home comforts (and built-in wardrobes and fitted kitchen) when I return to Scotland. Also, having familiarpeople around, but we came for new experiences and we are lucky that we are expecting to see a good few kent faces in the months to come. Our landlord, his three lovely children and two really nice maids are  providing us with a very authentic Ugandan experience. Chiseveni took us for a very long walk one evening up the hill behind us through villages and also past some smart houses, one of which belongs to the President’s daughter. He is a really nice man, and the maids Florence and Maria are great with the children, who arejust a delightful combination of politeness, liveliness and fun.