Back in Uganda

By Jessie Stone

October 29, 2006

I have been back in Uganda now almost two weeks, and it feels like the blink of an eye. It also feels like I never left which is really nice because everything is running smoothly; with of course the occasional Ugandan hiccup (flat tires, missing keys, Ugandan time etc!) This month we are scheduled to visit 23 new villages with our Malaria education program and mosquito net sales. It is really exciting that we able to help with the Malaria problem here and that the demand continues to grow! After all my time here, I am still amazed! Our clinic is also busy, and I have hired another doctor to work part time with us. We have several volunteers here at the moment, one from New York, one from Australia and another from Seattle. They are helping out a lot and having fun too.

Over the past three weeks, we had a group of Spanish Dentists visiting from Basque country in Spain. The head doctor, Sabin Gabilondo, is a kayaker and had been here in the spring on a paddling trip. I met him then and discussed with him the possibility of coming back and doing some dental work for the community. He was very excited about the idea. It was even more thrilling when I saw him here with his colleagues Xabier Aguirre Huegun and Guillermo Escobar Ruiz. A fourth dentist, Mariangeces Mohedano had come to help as well but she stayed in Bujagali and Kyabirwa for only 1 week and then went on to work in Kampala.

A lot of people say they want to help but not so many actually follow through!! They set up an impromptu dental office in the new Soft Power Education building next door to our clinic and saw many people from the village. They did this for three weeks free of charge. Using a generator, they were able to use the filling machine they had brought. Everything else they did was literally by hand. It was quite a sight to behold. For people who have never had dental care, this was spectacular! Every day, there was a line out the building of people waiting to see the dentists, and they saw everyone they could!

Dr. Sabin also was happy to get back on the Nile when he could! Like all kayakers here, he made sure to get his river time. And Xabier and Guillermo also tried kayaking here and enjoyed it very much. The dentists were also involved in helping some other charities while they were here, such as the Gertrude children’s home which is an orphanage near by. All in all, it was a very successful visit. We look forward to their return!