A few words from Newman

Not too long ago Trish wrote about what her typical day is like here.  The truth is that typical is no longer in our vocabulary.  I find myself making lists all the time of the things I want to accomplish in a day and at the end of that day I have gotten very few of them done because of all the other things that popped up and took precedence.  A great example of that was a Monday not too long ago when our pharmacy rotation students from the US had just arrived.  I wanted to take some time and show them around the clinic, introduce them to our staff, and help them get acquainted with Masindi since they would be living here for a month.  I went to Joseph, our administrator,  that morning and told him my plan for the day, he usually laughs during these conversations and reminds me that nothing is easy in Uganda.  On this particular Monday I also asked Joseph to make arrangements to meet with the Regional District Commissioner (RDC), on Thursday or Friday.  The RDC is the highest government official for the district and is usually appointed by the president, we need his signature from time to time on important documents.  I wanted to take him to lunch, show him how far we have come with the new wards and grease the wheels to get some papers signed a few weeks later.  Joseph called the RDC to make these arrangement’s, which happen in Runyoro usually while I sit by wondering what is being said. When he hung up the phone he told me that the RDC needed to be picked up in one hour for our meeting.  Puzzled, I asked Joseph how Thursday or Friday had turned into one hour to which he replied, “Nothing is easy in Uganda.”  So perhaps a typical day here just means looking at your week backwards and deciding which things you really want to get done Monday and planning those for Friday.  I do love my job here and each day brings new and exciting challenges.  My days usually begin around 7 am when I check the emails that have come in from the night before in the US, that whole time difference thing really gets in the way when you want a fast reply to an email.  I then look at my list of things to accomplish for the day/ week/ month/ etc.  We are wrapping up construction on our new ward and equipment orders are being placed.  We regularly meet to go through our operational budget here to make sure we maintain our sustainability.  I work alongside a number of Ugandans to set up security, food, lodging, etc for the US teams that come over quarterly.  Basically everyday is different and you never know whether it is going to be spent in front of the computer, on a construction site, in line at a bank for an hour, or over a three hour lunch meeting with the highest government official in the district.  Some days, ok a lot of days, actually include a little bit of all of these things but Trish is good about reminding me that I need to relax sometimes and take a break for dinner.  Some emails can wait until the next morning, construction can’t go on in the dark with no power, the clinic closes and most of the staff goes home so I need to put some things aside and watch a sunset before the ice melts in my drink.  But, I am looking forward to starting it all over tomorrow because I absolutely love my job.

3 Month Update

Hey Everyone!

Life is as normal and therefore as unpredictable as usual here in Masindi. The time has really been flying by. I cannot believe we are over half way through July. When we were leaving home back in April, we knew that we would have our first 6 weeks with Michael and Amanda, as well as a team in May. That left the time between mid-June to mid-August with just us here, or so we thought. We thought that since it would be just us, the time would go by slowly and these few weeks could potentially have been tough. In keeping with our theme of never being able to predict life here, we have actually had a lot of visitors during these weeks and it has flown by. We have had 2 pharmacy students from USC College of Pharmacy for a month, our Peace Corps volunteer for a few days, and a Citadel cadet for 2 weeks throughout this time. It was our first time having guests in this house, so I now have a better idea of how to host here.

I have not had as much time in the clinic, due to a little more to do at home, but I enjoy the flexibility and the change of pace. Also, I have not been as needed in the clinic these days since we have more staff hired and the new ward is not quite up and running yet. There are plenty of very able hands around, which is great. I have been really impressed so far with the new staff. They are doing an amazing job, and they are a huge answer to my prayers. With the new wards being surgical and labor and delivery, I was really praying for some good staff, and that prayer was answered. So, really everything is working out really well with us having guests and more to do at home, and me not feeling like I am neglecting the staff.

Another thing I have been working on is making sure that I maintain my RN certification while we’re here. There are a few ways that the SC Board of Nursing will allow a nurse to maintain their license.  One way is to have your employer sign off on the hours you worked. Since I am not an actual employee of the clinic and I am not on the payroll, I cannot have anyone sign off on my working hours. Another option is taking 30 hours of approved Continuing Education or CE courses. I was very happy to find that I can take these courses online, and many are free!! Since I have a little down time from the clinic, I have begun to take some of these courses which have also been a great refresher of information.

Newman has been working almost nonstop on many things, one of which is getting everything ready for the new wards to open. This requires frequent trips to the construction site, doing research on and ordering equipment and supplies within a budget, and a working on a host of other details and tasks. It is also time for PMI’s first NGO renewal, so Newman has been working diligently to first of all, figure out how to do it, and secondly, get it done. He is definitely learning on the job. I think he enjoys the challenge and he is learning more than he realizes all the time. The hard part is knowing when to stop. By living just a few yards away from the clinic and having a home office, he has a hard time ending the work day. He is doing a fantastic job though and luckily he is a very flexible person, because there are constant interruptions. For instance this is what is happening at this very moment: Newman rode on a boda boda (motorcycle) into town with Mustafa because our vehicle is being used today, and a HUGE storm just rolled in leaving him stranded in town. What was supposed to be a quick trip to the bank, Masindi Hotel, and the internet store, will now be substantially longer. These things happen and are out of our control, and we have learned to just roll with it.

We were able to get away this weekend for a night which was really great, and much needed especially for Newman. We took the 2 pharmacy students, Brooke and Brittany, and the Citadel cadet, Franklin, with us to Para Safari Lodge in Murchison Falls. Newman and I both did not bring computers which was great, and Newman’s phone was dead part of the time, which I was happy about so that he was able to relax. We went on a game drive and a river safari on the Nile and both were amazing! They were definitely the best safaris both Newman and I had ever been on. We were given fantastic service during our meals from the chef there who we have gotten to know. Michael and Amanda had gotten to know him when they were here, so he knows about PMI and the groups that we bring there. He took really good care of us. When we returned Newman told me that he was so glad we did that and he felt very refreshed. I will leave you with a few pictures from our weekend. More are on facebook if you want to see the rest. Thanks so much for following along with our lives here and for your prayers and support. We really appreciate it!!

I just had a moment, and wanted to share

So you know sometimes when something will just hit you at the strangest times, and you are thinking, where did that thought come from? Well, that’s kinda what just happened to me.

It’s an average day here in Masindi, and I was in our bathroom brushing my teeth. I looked around and all of a sudden I kind of teared up. I looked at how simple, and yet how full our lives are here and I began to picture what our lives would have looked like had we stayed at home.

Newman was working for Chick-fil-A with the plans of moving up to possibly become an owner/operator of a store. This was encouraged by the people he worked with/for and of course me, because I love Chick-fil-A, and that would be a pretty good gig. Also, Newman would be good at it. I had plans of finding a nursing job, hopefully in Charleston at one of the major hospitals, paying back my loans as quickly as possible, moving into a bigger house, maybe buying a boat, and then starting a family. Sounds good right??

So there I was in the bathroom, brushing my teeth (in the dark of course with no power), and tearing up. Not because I am sad that we are not doing all of those things, but because I am SO content here with none of those things. Now, I’m not saying that people who have lives which include all of the formerly mentioned things are wrong or unhappy AT ALL! And maybe, if that’s what God has planned for us, our lives may include some of those things one day. I hope at least a family is in his plans. My point is that whatever God has planned for us, it is always going to be way better than what we have planned for ourselves. I could never imagine feeling so peaceful and fulfilled while living in a place without my family and friends, a place where there is usually no power and sometimes no water, having no modern convenience close by, and a completely EMPTY wallet.

I would encourage everyone to look and see what is driving their goals and plans, and what they think will make them happy. I promise that God has big and specific plans for each one of us, but it’s up to us to follow his lead. We can have whatever lives we choose, but to live the fullest life, we must be living for Him. My family has kind of always lived by the verse Jeremiah 29:11. I think I have mentioned it before in this blog, and there is a small plaque with that verse on my parents’ front doorstep. It was also a big part of our homily at our wedding. The verse is, “For I know the plans I have for you.” Declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” He knows what his plan is for each of us, we just have to listen and be obedient. I also want to clarify that you don’t do this to be “happy.” I in fact do not like the word “happy” because so many people try and try their whole lives to find “happiness” and happiness is an emotion that comes and goes. It doesn’t sustain us. Following God’s plan leads to feeling fulfilled and at peace, but it does not always mean that you will be happy and comfortable or that life will be easy. Trust me, many days here are not easy and sometimes I am not happy, but I have never felt unfulfilled or not at peace. As soon as I start to feel that way, I need to reevaluate weather or not I am following God’s plan.

I didn’t mean for this to turn into a sermon, but I was just feeling called to share that. I just want to encourage us to always be reevaluating what we are doing with our lives and be willing to change them as we are called to. I promise, you won’t regret it in the end!

Love,

Trish

P.S. I will leave you with a picture of how laundry gets done around here. It took 5 pieces of long line to hang everything, and there is still more inside. You can tell we have waited till the last minute to wash clothes. And then I have to iron it all to get rid of the mango fly eggs so that they don't burrow into our skin....gross right?  Our sweet lady that washed the clothes was here from 9:30am to 1pm. I paid her and gave her a bag of rice and beans. You would have thought I had given her filet mignon and caviar by her reaction.

Unforgettable 4th of July

Hey Everyone!

I hope everyone back home had a great 4^th of July. We had quite an interesting day to say the least.

So the day started out fine. It was a beautiful morning and we had invited some friends over for an afternoon cookout. I was running around the house trying to get everything set up, while Newman worked a half day at the clinic. Per usual, Newman had planned on accomplishing certain things that morning, and ended up getting pulled in many different directions causing him to accomplish completely different things. When we finally met up around 1pm to drive into town and get the rest of the things we needed for our cookout, he was feeling somewhat frustrated. He was venting to me in the car on the way to the market, which I completely understood his frustrations, but we both also know that this is the way things work around here. After having managed a Chick-fil-A for the past year and a half, Newman was very accustomed to things being well timed, and accomplishing a lot in a short amount of time. In his current position, due to factors beyond his control, small tasks are often accomplished over a long period of time.

So anyways, we drove into town, picked up drinks and vegetables, and began to make our way back home. We were almost to our turn off the main road towards home when we spotted a group of high school students crowded around a girl. She was on her knees and there were two boys on either side of her, each holding her up under her arms. Her head was flung back, and I could see she was unconscious. I yelled at Newman to pull the car over, and I jumped out before the car even came to a stop. Also, at the same time, our friend Mustafa happened to be driving up and pulled over as well. He ran over there with me, and I was so glad he was there to help translate and move the girl. I ran up and told them I was a nurse and to please lower her down to the ground. I checked her pulse, which was strong, and I could see that she was breathing normally. I asked what her name was, and the children replied, “Lydia.” I called her name and tried to see if I could get her to open her eyes. I told Newman to bring the car over so that we could put her in the back and take her to the clinic. Luckily we were really close to the clinic too. We put her in the back seat with one of her friends and began to drive to the clinic. I tried to get as much information from her friend as I could. His English was pretty good. I asked if she had had a seizure or if she had just fainted. He said she just passed out. I asked if she had been feeling bad earlier in the day and if this had ever happened to her before, and he said no. We got her to the clinic, and the staff helped us get her into the nursing room. I was so pleased with the staff and how they reacted. We have a few new nurses, and they are AWESOME!! They quickly checked her vitals, started an IV, and checked her blood sugar. Everything was normal, but she was still unconscious. We stayed with her for a little while to see if she would wake up, and she didn’t, so we asked them to update us when she woke up.

Next, we went back to our house to finish getting everything ready for our cookout, as people would be arriving in the next hour. We kept our phones close by in case the clinic called. About 15 minutes later, there were two men standing on our front porch. Newman went to talk to them and I kept working in the kitchen. Then Newman called for me to come outside. I went out there and one of the men held up my big pink wallet and asked if I was missing something. My face dropped and I said something to the effect of, “oh my gosh, yes, um, yes, that’s mine, and where did you get it?” They began to tell us that when I had jumped out of the car to help that girl on the side of the road, someone came up to the window of the car, reached in, and took my wallet. These two men said they saw it happen and they began to chase him down on a boda boda (motorcycle). They got the wallet back, and luckily everything was still in it. There was not much cash, and I was not worried about that, but it did have my SC driver’s license, my international driver’s license, and my credit cards. I gave them each a hug and thanked them profusely for returning it. We gave them a small reward for bringing it back and they left.

We just looked at each other like, what just happened?? It was a crazy chain of events. I had just begun to think earlier that day as I was walking through the market how safe I felt here, and how we have only experienced kindness and hospitality. I will be a little more careful in the future, but I think if I see another person on the side of the road who needs help, I probably still won’t remember to roll my windows up and lock the door before I jump out.

The rest of the day, despite a downpour of rain for a little while, was really nice. We had a small group of about 8 people come over, and we had a really nice meal. We were updated later that the girl, Lydia, had woken up, she was fine and her parents were coming to pick her up. I think that she was just dehydrated and overheated. The school children always have a lunch break between 1 and 2, and that’s when we saw her. It was extremely hot, and she probably had not had anything to eat or drink for some time.

Looking back, Newman and I realized that had his morning gone the way he intednded it to have gone, we may not have been passing by when that girl needed help. Also, the fact that Mustafa just happened to be there at the exact same time was such a sign that God was with us. We both said that we are going to try really hard not to complain when things are not going our way, because there could be a reason and we just can’t see it yet from our perspective.

So I hope everyone had a blessed 4^th of July. We definitely felt blessed and happy to be here. Thanks so much for all of you who are praying for us. We can really feel your prayers and love. I will leave you with a couple pictures of the view from the backyard. I took these yesterday morning before I knew what the day had in store for us.

Love,

Trish