Alright so this is still pretty early in the day but I’ll fill you in on the day’s events so far. I had a really good sleep last night after we were taken out to dinner to the best restaurant in Mbarara at the Agip Hotel. It wasn’t too fantastic but I guess it’s good food for here and I didn’t get ill so all in all a good experience. We did talk work till 9pm with Nneke the director which was cool but also after such a long day it was exhausting…entertaining watching the mosquito’s buzzing around like a halo above Huub’s head…think they liked his hair for something…at least it kept them away from me!
I was so happy to see my bed and have a shower that I slept pretty well and after being offered an opportunity to move to a nicer hotel 5 minutes away – I was happy to stay where we are. It’s clean and they had closed my windows and shut my curtains before I got back so no Mozzies and a comfy bed. Only problem was pillows..ended up sleeping without because they were overstuffed.
So I woke up at 7:30, had a shower and washed my hair cos I have a sneaking suspicion that damp hair my attract the mozzies at night and had breakfast. It was pretty decent and I even got a fried egg on toast..have learnt to take bananas to go so that I have food when I need it because there is no telling where you get food next…like now I’m waiting for lunch but without transport it can be a bit of a pain.
We were picked up at 8:30 and taken to the HIV clinic linked to the Mbarara hospital called MUST and given a tour of the clinic and explained their systems…I was quite excited to see their MS Access databases in the pharmacy and reception and then their 15 data capturers upstairs capturing all the data. They have an internal network and internet connection, 2 servers and are capturing in Open MRS for the clinic. It was quite impressive although I wondered about their servers in such a hot room full of people. The hospital was pretty bad in comparison, it seemed somewhat clean and orderly but at the same time was overflowing with people, smelly and obviously almost bereft of any equipment and medication which was really sad.
All over the place are these hideous birds with huge beaks called Mbora (or something like that) that eat garbage and bones…think they are basically scavenging vultures..must take a pic and post it although I can’t seem to get the pics online at present.
This afternoon Huub is presenting about the study that will be started at Prince Myisheni hospital (which I have to get an internet connection set up for and a database program in place). Then hopefully a quiet evening where we get a decent meal and I can go to bed early and read my book J
Okay so day has ended at 6pm – had a really late lunch of chicken (non-discernable pieces) and meeting ended now.
Battery ran out and because Bryan and mom organized me a charger, I’m able to finish up by describing supper…not the greatest..I asked for potatoes and fish and veg. Got fried twirls of fish (at least no bones), ”Irish potatoes” (normal boiled potatoes) and cabbage and carrots. Yet to find a great meal in Uganda! At least there was some entertainment at supper: a group of people (young internationals) travelling through Africa met with a big speed hump driving their truck/bus too fast and the driver sustained bad neck and back injuries…the result was the British Embassy sending a helicopter to airlift him out to Nairobi and a whole pack of students staying at the University Inn…they’re noisy right now ..have taken up all the rest of the rooms and some are camping in the grounds in front of my room. Can’t find my three pieces of papar that I wrote all about today on so am hoping I can find them tomorrow!
Image for the day: A boda-boda (motorbike taxi) driving past with a guy on the back holding up both hands with a giant long fish in them! Couldn’t get a pic in time because I nearly got run over…no rules on the roads!
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