Hello world!

November 18th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized

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  1. One Response to “Hello world!”

  2. By andrewbrainard on Dec 10, 2008

    Hello blog,

    Things have smoothed out here a little bit. I’m beginning to figure out how things work and can navigate my way around the hospital grounds without too much trouble, grab a bus or moto into the nearest ‘real’ town, and make change without getting ripped off. I might even be picking up an Irish accent.

    Ugandans are unbelievably friendly, helpful, and funny. They will cram 20 people, 5 chickens, and a ton of charcoal into a VW bus, bribe their way through the police checkpoint, and laugh as the children sick up and on your shoes and mother continues her labour contractions.

    The internet and power has become more reliable but now the cell phone tower is down. Most locals cook with charcoal, but since we are rich doctors, we get propane for our stoves. However, we are now having a propane and a charcoal shortage. In another week, we might not be able to boil our water. It’s the little things…

    I have been perfectly healthy since I’m been here despite forgetting to take my malarial drugs for a couple of days, wading in human secretions, and eating tons of village fried dough. It did stub my toe yesterday, but this is much safer than working at St Chris’s.

    It just started to rain like mad. My first African rain is currently refilling our water tanks and creating breeding grounds for millions of mosquitoes. It also just washed away a woman in a wheelchair. I’m sure she will be fine.

    The clinical side of things are still a bit rough. We (I mean the entire country of Uganda) is out of blood, and that really increases our mortality rate (especially since I currently have 4 patients with a Hb below 3). I’m getting to teach and learn some procedures, learning the difference between deadly malaria and just really bad malaria, and getting a small handle on TB and HIV treatment regimens. It has been worth it for my learning, but I would need much more time to really become proficient working in this type of environment.

    Q3 call is getting tiresome, but this my golden weekend is upcoming, so I think I’m going to raft the headwaters of the Nile. Anyway, I’m still busy, still healthy, still getting used to working in a place where people have a 40 year life expectancy. I miss you guys,

    By the way. It is infinitely easier for me to check my gmail account (abrainard01@gmail.com) than it is for me to check my Comcast account. IT you want to get a hold of me, please write there. Oddly enough, my facebook page is also pretty easy to access through this internet connection.

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