Back in Uganda

Being ‘’back home’’

I realise I haven’t written anything since being back in Uganda. How could that possibly be?

We had a looooong journey here. The flight seemed long, the night in Rwanda (when the rain came in through the roof) was long, the road through the forest was long.… Was it all the right thing to make this journey again, I wondered?

When we arrived, it all fell into place . There was no doubt.

It was absolutely the right thing to be here again. We were greeted with warmth by our friends. As we got out of the car, our neighbours welcomed us with open arms. People knocked on our door, the phone rang. Back in staff quarters we found ourselves once more in the middle of our warm, vibrant community. We went to the guest house to have supper. More friends to greet, news to share. The girls disappeared into the surrounding vegetation with their friends to look at the dens under construction.

This was coming home.

Within twelve hours, I was back on the wards, working. But this time with a few more doctors to help make the team feel more robust and sustainable. Dr Gideon, the previous director of Clinical Services was back after a year spent specialising in laparsocopic surgical techniques in India. We had a wonderful paediatrician for a week (using his leave from his usual place of work to come and help us out.) It felt good. It feels good.

I’m busy all the working day. There is the ward, there is out-patients to support, there is a chronic care clinic to support, there was an afternoon full of gynaecology today. There are wounds to suture, procedures to perform. And somewhere in amongst all of this, there are new services to start, protocols to draft, training to deliver. I am not sure how it will all fit in.

There’s time for play too, not just with the family. Brian has started a chess club, and I have had the honour of being initiated into the BCH scrabble club. There is nothing simple about the scrabble. It is cut-throat competitive and the skills of my friends have been honed to a tee. Every allowable two letter word is well rehearsed, and all the three letter works that contain an X.…. I am well out of my league. From time to time, it is a real pleasure to laugh heartily, eat popcorn and care only about the seven letters in front of me.