The Week Uganda Stole My Heart

As many of you know I have had a goal since I graduated from school to try to go on a medical mission trip every year. So this year I decided it was time to go to Africa and I signed up for a trip to Uganda with International Medical Relief. At first I will admit I was a little nervous because I had heard Africa was kinda crazy and I had a friend who got Malaria twice while there, not to mention the fact that my mother and a few others just might have been freaking out a little. ;)  Nevertheless the day finally came and I found myself hoping on a plane with my friend Meagan. I was so excited that she was coming with me and was going to be able to experience the awesomeness of these medical trips that I so love to do! We flew to DC, stayed the night with my dear friend Nicki, joined our medical team, and finally after an eternity of traveling including a layover in Ethiopia made it to Uganda!

When we got there we all jumped in a small bus that we would learn to become very “familiar” with and traveled to Jinji which was our base for duration of the trip. The next 5 days consisted of us going to various villages 2-3 hrs away in different locations to set up our medical clinic. Most of which were places where the people had never seen white people or ever had any medical care. Our team consisted of 7 providers, 1 dentist,  number of nurses and a few other helpers making it about 22ish of us in total plus some Ugandans who worked as translators and such.

 

On our first day of clinic we had the opportunity to go to a local school. The first thing that amazed me was the children and how happy they were to see and be involved with us. They LOVED getting their picture taken and would all want to see what they looked like when we were done. That day was crazy getting everything setup for the first time but it ended in success as we saw a total of 600+ patients! We also had the unique opportunity to treat a number of people who were albino. Apparently in many parts of Africa albino people are outcasts, looked down upon, and in some cultures are actually enslaved or abused. However, a number of them were invited to our clinic and we had nearly 50 people come from where they were in essence “hiding” to receive medical care. While there, they were able to meet each other and I think one of the most touching things was that the children were able to meet others like them and learn that they were not alone. The children also loved seeing our white skin. From this we are hoping that they will be able to establish connections to possibly sent up a community with each other which would be so amazing.

The next day we hopped in our lovely bus and drove and drove and drove on this bumpy dirt road through the beautiful countryside of sugar cane fields to get to our next clinical spot.  Along the way I got a nice “dust tan” from the red dirt and went past a number of communities where children would pop up from everywhere excited and waving to us and saying “jambo” which means “hello”. They were so precious!

 

After 3 hrs of driving and feeling this place didn’t even exist we finally got to our clinical spot and were greeted by hundreds of kids who ran to our bus. It was so completely

overwhelming and hard to hold back tears to see soo many of them so excited to see us.  When we arrived there was a meeting going on about jiggers and a number of important people from the UN were actually there. Apparently Jiggers are a flee type mite that would get into peoples feet because they didn’t wear shoes and burrow into their skin. They would then lay eggs and hatch larva inside their feet. It was a horrible thing and we were able to observe some of the people getting those larva removed. It made me so sad to think that something so horrific could be prevented if they just simply had shoes, something I think we all definitely take for granted here. It was a good clinic day though and we had a little down time so I got a chance to play with some of the kids which was so fun!  It’s amazing how they found so much joy in something as simple as bubbles, cameras, and stickers.

The next 4 days consisted of similar experiences with each village having its own unique spirit about it. One community we went to had a little church where a number of

people were in there playing music and singing when we came. As we walked into the little church the spirit felt in there was so amazingly strong, to see them singing praises to God and welcoming us with fun beats and joy was so sweet. I could feel the love our Heavenly Father for them, it truly was such a touching experience. At another villages we also had the opportunity to have a meal in someone’s home that was a hut, as I sat in there it was really humbling to know that this was where they lived and and how simple their lives were.

Throughout the week in clinic I saw a ton of children. The interesting thing about Uganda is that approx 60% of the population is 14 years old and younger so there was lots of kids everywhere. One of the most common problems was malnutrition and a protein deficiency called Kwashiorkor that caused them to have pretty sig abdominal distension. Apparently most of these children would eat a corn type mush and often most of them only ate about 1 meal a day. There was also lots of rashes, fungal infections, dehydration, diarrhea, and respiratory illnesses. Most all the children got antiparasite meds and vitamins, and we tried to educate them on nutrition but it was a really difficult as they did not have much access to additional food. One baby was having diarrhea and when I talked to her mom I found she had to work so they were feeding the baby cows milk because that was all they had. I wanted sooo much to just get her some formula but that was of course impossible there so what else can you do?

I had another little girl that was deaf and she was completely terrified of me! I tried to lur her in with a sucker but she suddenly screamed and ran out, it definitely caused some scene in the clinic but I can only imagine how she felt not understanding what was going on and seeing some crazy white person wanting to touch her, I think I’d probably run too, lol! I also had a kid who randomly had giant butterfly fly into his eyes and his eyes were really red, watery and swollen. Not knowing what the heck kind of things those butterflies did to eyes I irrigated them and gave him antibiotic eye drops, hopefully he is seeing ok, crazy butterflies?!?

In addition to those crazy kids, I also saw 2 little boys that just about ripped my heart out. They came in by themselves and when I asked about their mom they said something to the fact that she was not there or they didn’t have one, it was hard to understand via translation. But they came in for some rashes and when I looked at them their skin was soo dry and dirty that it was cracking and becoming infected. I wanted soooo much to just be able to put them in a bath and clean them but all I had were wet wipes so I cleaned them as best as I could and put on some antibiotic ointment. I think what touched me the most however, was how brave the older brother who was maybe 8-9 years old was and what care and concern he had for his little brother. I think this was one of the first times in my life that I really REALLY wish I could have just taken them home with me, but as I couldn't I was in total amazement by their courage, strength, and diligence to persevere. They really taught me a lot and even though I could only do a small service for them they will forever be my heroes.

While we were in clinic we also had a member of our team who had the opportunity to go over to a very poor island to go help fix a well that has been broken for a number of years. Apparently because of this they were drinking polluted water and living in horrible conditions. However, a miracle happened that day and he was able to fix it and change the lives of the hundreds of people on that island. It really blows my mind to think that nobody ever took the time to help these people before now but what an amazing day that was for them and we all were soo happy!

 

Overall the trip was an amazing and life changing experience for me. We ended up seeing 2000+ patients and treating 250+ people in dental. I got the chance become friends and work with our amazing medical team who was full of some of the most kindest good people I have ever met. They were such a great example to me and inspire me to be better.

I also came to better understand and love the people of Uganda.  I have been a lot of places and experienced many things but these people probably live the hardest life I have ever seen and have nothing when it comes to worldly things. Yet somehow through it all they seem to be the most happiest. Their spirits radiate a kind of amazing light I cannot describe and its so striking the joy and faith they have that seems to come from within. They taught me that regardless of what you have and the trials you face in life that you can still find happiness and that happiness truly is a choice.

The other thing I felt so strong through this experience is the amazing amount of love that God has for his children there. That regardless of what we may think or understand he has not forgotten them and that he looks over, knows their circumstances, and cares for each one of them. I also I don’t think it was until the end of the trip that I realized that one of the ways he had shown them that love was by sending us to be his representatives and his hands to give them comfort and care. What a humbling experience that was and I feel so extremely grateful that I have been blessed with the skills and opportunity to be able to go and that he trusted us enough to allow us to help them and learn from them. I think through this experience I have gained an even greater appreciation of the power of the atonement and the knowledge that although they may have nothing now someday they will have everything the Father has and that brings me such great joy.  As I reflect on this Christmas season I am so grateful for my Savior and I know that he loves, cares for, and will save ALL of his children. I am also grateful that he has helped me to gain that love for amazing people of Uganda who will forever be in my heart.

Fun in the Fabulous Philippines

So my adventure began after a long cold drive to Seattle and getting on an airplane way too early in the morning. I was a little nervous as I was going to meet up in Hawaii with a group of people I had never met before. Who knew what kind of “group” of people I would be with for a week and if where I was going really be safe and not end up in some crazy monastery somewhere in the middle of the Philippines nomads land. I guess to preface this predicament every year I try to look in to doing some kind of medical mission trip and wanting to do something different I found an organization online called Project Compassion. Seeing that they had done a number of trips and being impressed by their organization I decided to seriously look into working with them. After much thought and prayer I came to realize that their trip to the Philippines was where I needed to go and so I signed up for the trip. The only problem was that I didn’t know anyone and the only person I communicated through email with was a random lady that was organizing the trip. Needless to say I guess you could call it a great leap of faith but felt good about it even though I had no idea what I would be getting myself into and what type of people I was going to be with. You could imagine my nervousness. Anyways back to the story, so after landing in the Hawaii airport and getting kinda lost I found finally them and they luckily all looked pretty normal and really nice so I was relieved .

After chatting a bit, we then got on the plane for a long flight to Manila. Our team consisted of Cardiologist, Internist, Optometrist, Dentist, peds NP (me), 2 nurses, and a handful of other people to help with the clinic (12 in total). When we got there we stayed the night in Manila and chatted about where we were going, the island of Siquijor. I roomed with a girl who had just joined the team and had been in the Philippines for a couple of months. Apparently according to the locals the Island was cursed and enchanted by evil witch doctors and someone even said vampires. It made for an interesting travel over to the island to say the least, I just hoped I wouldn’t run any witch doctors or worse make one of them mad…..

To get to the island we hopped on a plane to the town of Dumagete and then took a random boat to the island. When we got there to our surprise we were greeted by some awesome Pilipino people and realized that we were staying on a full blown resort that was apparently on the island. To be honest based on past mission trips I assumed when they said “resort” we were going to be sleeping in random cots or in old beds with bed bugs and have a hose for a shower, but boy was I wrong! We had awesome rooms to stay in, great food, 2 pools and an awesome view of an amazing beach! I felt like I had just come to something straight out of a magazine!

The next day we got up super early (meaning 530 am) and ate breakfast. I guess I forgot to mention that the Project Compassion is a Christian organization and there were many of us of different Christian faiths, me being the only LDS person. They sent up all the clinical sites with the local missionaries in the area and we had 2 missionaries on the island working with us. Every morning we sang a spiritual song with a guitar and had a devotional. It fun and a nice way to start the day, I even learned so new random churchy songs . Oh and the mangos were also superb!

Anyways after breakfast we then headed over to our first clinical site. Apparently in the Philippines instead of soccer like most countries being “the sport” they love basketball and have a random covered small basketball stadiums in each town which worked great for clinical sites and that’s where we set up. We had a place for dental, eye, us doctors, and the pharmacy. There were lots of people waiting in line outside when we got there so it was rather intimidating but once we got going it wasn’t too bad. Since I was the only pediatric doctor person I saw lots and lots of kids and their moms. It was fun but kinda sad at the same time because there were lots of unfortunate medical problems. There were tons of scabies and sadly many children with ear drums that were ruptured due to multiple infections. It was funny however, that even in a foreign country the most common complaints were a cough and colds. The kids were fun though and it never ceases to amaze me how a 6 month old baby can be the same happy smiley baby no matter where you go in the world. They also liked stickers, and you’d be surprised how a little sticker can make just about every little kid smile! The Pilipino people were so sweet and there was great joy in being able to help them even if it was in a small way.

After they saw us and before they got to the pharmacy they also went and were prayed for especially if they had difficult medical or emotional problems. I thought this was really cool as I felt like there were so many people that we could not fully heal physically but through prayer maybe their hearts could have been touched and they could feel peace and the love of our heavenly father to heal them at least spiritually and emotionally.

After a day of clinical and we were done, we usually made it back just in time for the sunset which was amazing! I then usually went for a swim and relaxed.

This was basically how the next 4 days went. We traveled to 2 different towns and each day I saw 50-60+ patients, some of which were mildly sick and just wanted vitamins and others that were very sick. When you go to places where there is no health care its always sad to see conditions that you never seen in the states because it was either treated before it got that bad or prevented all together. One condition that was very common there was thyroid issues and goiters, this happy lady was one of the worse I have ever seen. We also saw a boy who had a tumor growing on his leg and within 3 months according to mom this is how his leg turned out. It was so sad.Luckily project compassion had a number of people donate to the organization so they were able to take him to a larger city off the island for testing and hopefully treatment to save his life. What a blessing that was that we were able to help him or at least give him a chance. I also saw a little girl with a possible tumor on her face, guy who chopped part of his pinkie toe off with a piece of wood, and drained 2 abscess one on a 1 yr old kid’s forehead and another on a little girl’s bottom. There were also murmurs I heard and lots and lots of bug bites!

One thing that was interesting about the Philippines is their language they spoke. They spoke Tagaloc which had lots of similar words to Indonesian, Spanish, and they even threw in some English. So I would hear all these random words scattered throughout their language that I recognized and occasionally even English words popped out. It was the craziest thing and kinda nice because I could understand some of it which was great as most places I have been I could not understand anything. Also most signs were in English which was kinda nice as well.

At night on the resort things were always very interesting and you were never sure what was going to come out. One night someone found a huge spider the size of my hand in their room, another person had a huge lizard fall out of a tree right next to them. There were tones of frogs that one of my friends accidentally kicked, it kind made me laugh because I thought it was a leaf but then it hopped away. I also stepped on a crab which scared the heck out of me because it freaked out and ran and I thought it was a spider. I also saw this hermit crab, his shell was the size of my hand he was soo cool!

After we finished clinic on Thursday it was reported we helped about 2000 people, it was awesome! And according to the missionary people about 400 said they were interested in coming to Christ. Although the island was not currently open for LDS missionaries yet, I thought it was soo wonderful that these people were turning to Christ and going in the right direction so hopefully the island will be open to our missionaries someday

When Friday finally came I was exhausted ready to play! Apparently on a random island in the Philippines there is amazing snorkeling! They had a fish sanctuary near the shore of the island and it was awesome, it had tons and tons of tropical fish! We also had little boats to go out farther although I will admit they were kinda sketchy and you could tip over easy…. When we got father out the coral and plant life was remarkable and we saw lots of schools of fish! I wished I had an underwater camera. We then went on a ride around the island up to a huge tower in the center of the island that over looked the island, it was breathtaking and the island was pretty big. We even passed a witch doctor persons house along the way, but luckily she was not out watching us, or so we thought…. The funny thing was randomly out the middle of nowhere on this island by the tower there was wifi, which I thought was awesome, lol. We then went to a waterfall, actually it was 3 waterfalls and it was beautiful. The drive through the island was also grand; it was so green and tropical. Some homes looked kinda crazy on hill sides and on stilts and it made me wonder how they withstood the rain but apparently it has survived thus far so it works, maybe they have some kind of magic...

On Saturday the day finally came that we had to pack up and say good bye. On the way home we stopped for some touring and shopping in Manila and I was glad we didn’t spend too much time there cuz it was crazy! We went on a horse and buggy ride through some historical sites which was really neat, it was cool to see the Spanish architecture. We then stopped by the 3^rd largest mall in the world. All I can say is that on a Saturday its crazy and since I was taller than most Pilipinos all I saw was a sea of black heads of hair.

We then hopped in a plane after waiting 2 hrs in line to check in and flew back to the US or aka Hawaii. Lucky for us we had a 24 hr layover and a hotel by the beach so it wasn’t too shabby ;).

Over all the trip was amazing and I learned a lot! I had never worked so closely with so many good people of other Christian faiths. It was wonderful despite some of our differences that we came together as followers of Christ and served his children. It was wonderful to see that light touch so many of the Philippine people. I am very grateful and humbled that I had the opportunity to use my education to go and serve these amazing people of humble circumstances. What a huge blessing it was and although I did my best to help them I feel they helped me and taught me so much more. I know our heavenly father loves all his children and I could see and feel that as I worked with so many wonderful people. In a world today with so much wickedness, uncertainty, sadness, and pain it was so inspiring to know that there are still many good people in the world. We are so lucky to have what we have, I just pray I did my part and made maybe a little difference in the lives of some of the amazing humble people of the Philippines.