Amazing Race: Bundibugyo

Amazing Race: Bundibugyo Day 2

7AM- Team prayer meeting. Missionaries sure work hard….they work hard to get us spiritually on track. 

Today, our task was to find all the fruits from a list (e.g. Pineapple, bananas, lemon, mangoes, jackfruit, and guava) that Amy gave us, which by the way can all be found on the trees around the compound, and find the Lubwisi word for it. Then, we were to make a fruit salad from all the fruits as a final product. After our morning fruit hunt (and it wasn’t easy, because only the locals-especially kids- know if a fruit is ripe/ready-to-eat or not, so we ended up getting some at the market), we met with Baguma Charles who runs the BundiNutrition program for malnourished infants.

Knight in shining armour? Baguma Charles came on a boda-boda, a motorcycle (also known as “picky-picky”), to pick us up to the healthcentre out-of-town. The ride was bumpy and bone-rattling on the rugged african dirt roads. I held onto Baguma, as if my life depended on it. Then we came to a shallow river where a bridge was being built. So we had to get off the boda and be…..CARRIED by African men across the river!! It was hilarious!

Sarah & I laughed all the way across the pebbled river as short, scrawny men threw us on their back and precariously felt around the rocks with their bare feet. 

We babysat the Johnson kids that night and they performed a puppet show for us of “Mr. & Mrs. Linhart” (as in the other missionary, Anna Linhart. And no, she is not married or dating yet. Oh how kids say the darndest things).

AR:B Day 3

There’s nothing worse than waking up in the dead of night in Africa, feeling like you slept all night and it should be morning soon (since we are on the equator, the sun rises/sets at the same time EVERYday of the year, with maybe a max. 30 min difference, giving us only 12 hours of sunlight), but only 2 hours has gone by since you closed your eyes; waking up to lower left abdominal pains. So I pulled on jeans, my bug net, and a flashlight, and I ran outside to the “cho”, which is a 10 ft. deep hole in our backyard for human excrements, and I released what felt like the beginning of...Olvie’s traveller’s diarrhea. 

Today we had our first orientation of the Nyahuka medical centre, paediatric ward. During rounds, we shadowed Travis Johnson & Jessica Ankney, both MD’s and practice family medicine, and later had a lecture by Travis regarding “Determinants of Health”. Travis & Jessica volunteer their time at the government-facilitated hospital because most of their own local people never show up to work. The children, mothers, and infants there are in desperate need. Most of the cases were malnutrition, pneumonia, malaria, and sickle cell anemia which then stems off to other complications such as septic infections and other illnesses.

Disclaimer: the following contains gruesome, but professional medical experiences. Discretion is advised.

Sarah & I helped distribute meds and cut pills into proper proportions for the infants. I also helped one of the local nurses, Elizabeth, with an unsafe procedure. A father brought his son into the paediatric ward. His child’s left hand was extremely edematous from an abscess that was infected with staph aureus (basically, his hand was extremely swollen like a balloon from pus and infection). So after watching Elizabeth inject the child countless times with some sort of solution, also after several failed attempts of using a glove as a tourniquet, also while the child was shrieking and flailing his arms, she took a blade (also used as a suture cutter), and aggressively cut the back of his hand open. She squeezed the purulent and sanguinous drainage out into a k-basin. The child is now out of control (I don’t blame him). Then, the nurse told me to help her pack the wound, which I’ve learned to do...but not the way she does it. She took bloodied gauze that was definitely unsterile, and stuffed it into the now empty wound. As I watched in horror what would have been forbidden in Canada, I only silently prayed, like I do for many of situations like these. But I was still uncomfortable for the rest of the day, knowing it wasn’t handled safely. Jessica, the MD, also suggested the child be admitted,  which was probably a good idea, but the father refused. 

Tonight, we shared a nice dinner of eggplant parmesan, sauteed veggies, garlic bread, and mango crisp with Jessica (the family doctor) and Anna (the teacher), the other two American missionaries and who are also our neighbours. 

One thing the nurse did right today was that she disinfected and wiped down the surface she worked on, saying to me, “we must clean everything because it is staph aureus”. Isn’t nursing school wonderful for me? I’m so glad I’m being educated.

AR:B Day 4

Today’s Amazing Race was exciting! We went on a Scavenger Hunt around the market. Amy sent us off in the morning with 50, 000 shillings (which is less than $25 CAN/USD), and we were to find/purchase certain items at the market. Sarah & I made friends and learned Lubwisi words. I also had another episode of diarrhea in a “cho” in the back alleyway of a run-down inn, which was our last check-point in the scavenger. Nonetheless, it was quite the adventure! Sarah tried this soda called “Stoney’s” a Coca-Cola product which is bascially gingerale but tastes rustic & home-made:)

These days, God has certainly been picking & peeling at my heart. Living here is not easy. You are forced to meet new people everyday, and get along with your team members because they are the closest you have to family. It’s all about humility, and learning to love. As a team, we talked about how love & humility is seamless and inseparable. My love & humility has definitely been tested. And I am grateful.

We had “Rolex” for dinner tonight, which is fried eggs rolled into a chipati (tortilla/nan-like wrap) which is literally, “Roll-eggs” instead, but sounds like rolex with an african accent. We also babysat the Johnson kids again as Amy & Travis went on a date. Missionaries need date nights too!

AR:B Day 5

Today was a long, hot, humid, and epic day. Sarah & I got very sunburned and tanned. I guess my mother did tell me to lather on sunscreen everyday, but you never realize the importance of that command until 6 hours later of being in the hazy, cloudy, african sun. 

Today’s task was to go with Mama Asita to the market and purchase groceries for a Ugandan Dinner, which took place later tonight at a farewell party. We bought raw goat meat, red kidney beans, matoke (which is a non-sweet mushy banana that we eat hot, has the texture of mashed-potatoes), rice, potatoes, cassava leaves, and G-nut paste. Then we walked in the scorching heat, with at least 60 lbs. of grocery, and followed Mama Asita to her home along the rugged dirt road that we walk on everyday.

Oftentimes, when we walk on this dirt road, Sarah & I (the missionaries too) are viewed as celebrities. Hundreds of people stare or giggle, and wave to us from afar. We get hundreds of “olayo”s or “how are you”s from children and adults. Most of the time, they call us “mujungu” which means white person, but since my skin is lighter (despite my obvious chinese distinctions), they call me mujungu too. Mind you, some smart ones call me “china”. Sarah and I often have dozens of children following us, trailing behind us. And once in while, they reach out to touch us...or “pet” us. They are so curious as to what we must feel like, sound like, or act like, it is quite fascinating for me to observe too. 

So we finally lugged all the groceries to Asita’s mud home after grueling travels. We helped her make sombe (which is boiled & mashed cassava leaves. We used a giant pestle that resembled that of a butter churner), cut goat meat/onions/tomatoes, and prepared the beans. We learned so much from her. Webale kotega! Thank you for cooking!

Tonight, we had a wonderful dinner party with 18 people, eating the food we helped prepare. We played several games, ate Jackfruit, prayed, and sang praise songs the African way. It was a farewell party for Pauline & Baguma Charles, locals who both helped run BundiNutrition, but are now leaving. They are wonderful, godly people, with a heart to serve. Please pray for new leaders to run the nutrition program, as it is now being suspended due to lack of leaders. So many uneducated malnourished children & their mothers depend on this program to survive.