I didn’t sleep well again – think am missing Bryan next to me and it is getting hotter and my stomach has not been handling all the fried food. It was quite cool tho last night cos we got fish and chips and coleslaw last night but the batter on the fish is so greasy and weird…keep asking for grilled fillet but I don’t think anybody understands.
Not much happening today, but a good surprise was that we got picked up from University Inn so we didn’t have to trek up the road. We got dropped off at the hospital to visit the study blood draw clinic and see how they do things there. Was quite impressed by their laptop/printer/label printer setup where they were printing out necessary forms and labels in real-time as patients arrives and they also were updating their database with information. I got some ideas about how I can improve my own scheduling database and it was really great to see how efficient and organized they were.
I brought a jersey with me in case of rain but I suspect today is just gonna be super hot…I was very relieved to have brought a tuna snack pack with me so I had some lunch and I also dug into the chocolate bar I brought with – didn’t think I could handle any more Ugandian food at this point. Poor Huub only managed to get a cake to eat for lunch because we are sitting waiting for cars to take us on home visits. For those of you who have been on mission to Moz, these are not the usual home visits, they are surprise visits to check patients are taking their medication and count the pills they have left J
So right now the Research Assistants are drawing straws for who gets to take me or Huub and then we are going out to the homes.
Okay have just come back from the house visits – it was pretty cool. We went to an old 75 year old lady who could hardly see and she had been taking her meds a bit wrong because she couldn’t see the bottles which was not good. She looked okay though and apparently only doesn’t take her meds when she doesn’t have food because they make her feel sick on an empty stomach. The next lady we visited way out in the bushes (the 4x4s shock absorbers were gone so it was a bumpy ride on dirt roads but fun) had 5 kids they were sooo excited to see the 4x4 and were very cute. This lady is quite young and she and her husband are on treatment and she was taking her meds almost exactly at the same time each day. They have bottles that electronically record each time they are opened so we could see she was opening the bottle of meds same time each day. She ran out to give us a bunch of bananas just as we were leaving. On the way back the 4x4 either got nails in the front tires or stones cos we heard them chinking all the way back. Thankfully you can withdraw Ugandan shillings from ATMs here if you also have a Visa card so I got enough money to pay the hotel. 200 000 shillings = R792.44 today!
It’s pretty hot and I’m all sweaty but yay nearly home, have enjoyed the visit though. Tonight we are going Lord's Bar...sounds like some dodgy dive but luckily we are going with a local!
Msungu = white person
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