I've been in Karamoja for the past week and I need to thank everyone who was praying. It was a great time! Besides the fact that I love hanging out with Heidi and Dr. Val and I laughed more than I have in the past month (mostly because I’m pretty sure Val was delusional briefly, but I have no proof) overall things went really well and it was a great adventure.

Sunday- We had planned to leave Soroti about 1pm but after loading the truck, then stopping to repair the truck, then driving, the last 3 hours of which without brakes (just down shift- it isn’t that big a deal) we reached Kangole pretty late in the night. 

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Yep, looks like it needs repairs...

Monday- First thing in the morning we went on to Moroto and they did some vet work and caught up on office work. I got the challenge of finding “parts” to make the “autoclave” work. Success!

In the afternoon I began the process of meeting with other NGOs and humanitarian groups in the area who are involved or have been involved in medical work in the past. I myself am still trying to piece together what is actually supposed to be happening out there but the essence of what I’ve got is that some people (VHTs) have been minimally trained and are occasionally supplied with meds but really are  not checked on and there are  no health services to speak of. Several of the players have identified the biggest health problems out there but for various reasons nothing is happening. While the brakes on the truck were being repaired I met with UN WHO Doctor/director and the OCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) area coordinator who explained some of the biggest needs, issues and the training that they have done for villagers in the past. They say  however, that the roads are too difficult to manage (they are known to be very bad and impassable with most vehicles) so they have passed off responsibility to IRC. We walked over to the IRC office and discovered that the Health Manager was busy but could meet with us Tuesday. So headed to the government offices to meet with the District Health Officer (DHO, with the Ugandan Ministry of Health) but was told he was over at the hospital. It is a good thing the city of Moroto is small. Walked over to the hospital looking for him and was directed from outpatient care to the eye clinic and back around without success. The CLIDE staff member I was with tried calling him but we were told the work day was almost over and to come back Tuesday. I did get a chance to meet the SPNO (senior principle nursing officer, aka head nurse) but she doesn't know much about the resettlement camps.  So we called it a day and headed back to the office to rejoin Val and Heidi. We drove back to Kangole to spend the night there. One might think that would be the less eventful part of the day but 10 pm found us standing under a thorn tree full of guinea fowl, looking for a cobra, while listening to the yells from a raid going on. In my journal I wrote “can still here the trills and undulations that are communication from one manyata to another about the raid. Warriors have probably struck more than one. Heidi and I had planned to run at sunrise but Val has said no because the military might be mobilizing to track the attackers at that time so I guess we can sleep in.”

Tuesday morning we drove back to Moroto and began in the morning to try meetings.  Back to the government offices to find the DHO- “not in this morning”. We left our contacts with his secretary. Over to the IRC offices- he is “in the field today.” But we did manage to meet with the program coordinator who didn’t know much about the villages but he could tell us a little about the medicine boxes they distribute. He said they have not distributed in “a while” (6 months) due to logistics problems (decreases in funding) but he did know they wanted to be offering quarterly training to VHTs and meet with them monthly. He didn't however know when that was expected to start. So we hiked out to the UNICEF and World Food Programe offices. Met with their Health and Nutrition Specialist. They explained they have selected and trained VHT’s, possibly different ones than the WHO trained a few years ago and couldn’t give me the list for who has been trained (I have to get that from the DHO who I still can’t seem to track down) but could tell me that malaria, diarrheal diseases and malnutrition are the biggest issues in the area where I’m headed. From there we went out to visit CUAMM (Italian group- also called Doctors with Africa) who have a strong desire for partnership and focuses on health care training of nationals.  We had heard that they were attacked while traveling out there a few months ago, so due to the security situation, they had not gone back and were not planning on it. I wanted to hear the issues they had and see where they had left off. Their office had an ostrich and a swimming pool but no staff to be found so we wandered around a little then decided to come back later. Headed back to the office. Did some vet work with Heidi and Val and then, right around supper time learned that the truck has had three flat tires and the repair place isn't open any more. Val carries two spares but they just weren't enough. So we hung around the office for a while longer then scrounged up a mattress and a few blankets, half a Jerry can of water and a lantern and when to check out the hut that Val occasionally uses when she is stuck in Moroto. It needed some serious sweeping but it had a bathing shelter and was a roof over our heads.  

Heidi waiting while Val makes the hut clear enough to sleep in. 

Wednesday- One last trip to the DHO- “has started his leave for elections won’t be back until Monday next.” And to IRC. “He was in office earlier but I think he will now not be back until after elections.” So we called it a day. More vet work, waited while the tires were repaired, other office odds and ends.  Took a couple of hours to evaluate what CLIDE has accumulated as supplies for the VHTs and was really happy to see some of the basic equipment like thermometers, good scissors, dressing supplies they already have. Then we headed back to Kangole. Chocolate and warm water for bathing waited for us there. So nice….

Thursday- We all traveled out to Matany Hospital (the regional referral hospital and best in the area) to see who we could meet with there and find out what they do in the settlement areas. We didn’t get a chance to meet with the woman who coordinates because she was out at one of the peace villages (amazing!) but we did get to meet with the doctor who thought partnership was a realistic possibility. After meeting with all of these humanitarian groups, this hospital seemed like the place where the most is happening that will really impact villagers. We also discussed the idea that I could do some work at this hospital (the cleanest, best staffed, most organized that I’ve seen in all of Uganda) over the coming months to learn more, build relationships and have a better sense of medical services in the area. Possibly even work towards getting my Ugandan Nurses license? In the evening we just kicked back at Val's place to rest and discover that Val was developing a probable case of Malaria. Seemed like perfect timing for me to head back to Soroti!
Friday- Hopped on the 6 am bus which was actually a 7:15 bus and got back to Soroti around noon. 

So this was a really long blog to simply say it was a good week. We made big strides in laying the ground work for what needs to take place out in Nakayot. Next step: a trek out there!