Just another week at the office ...

This post is a little on the tardy side due to our lack of internet access. But, here it is anyway. These are a collection of photos from our third week in Kampala and working at Mulago Hospital. It is interesting in that both of us have started to see an ever-enlarging myriad of issues when we examine life in Uganda. In particular, we question many of the fundamental attitudes and values of some of those living in Kampala. For example, it takes only a walk down the sidewalk of a busy street to see what we perceive as a lack of the respect shown towards others and the nearly non-existent reciprocation of good will in the interactions of people.

Here, drivers fight for every inch of space on the road and show little grace towards other drivers. Furthermore, even in a traffic jam with no space to move ahead, drivers will fail to wait for pedestrians to cross. And, the worse part of it all is the reckless driving of the Boda Boda drivers. These Boda Bodas are motorcycle 1-3 person point-to-point taxis that cost about $1 CDN a trip. Unfortunately, there are usually no helmets worn and these motorcycles scoot in-and-out of the traffic and squeeze between lanes. When there is a traffic jam, they pop the curb and ride along the sidewalk without even slowing for pedestrians walking on the sidewalk. We have treated two children with closed head injuries from being hit by a Boda Boda while walking on the SIDEWALK to school! Yesterday while walking home from the hospital on a little-traveled dirt road with no traffic a Boda Boda passed within inches of Sean for no reason as the road was wide open! Sean was able to brush the driver's helmet with his elbow as he was that close! No, we are not making friends with everyone here! If these driving attitudes are an indicator of general regard towards other humans than we fear that Ugandan society will never work together to grow, develop, and prosper.

Ok, enough of our rant... Here are some more uplifting pics!



Sean and Emmanuel sharing a Bell beer at an Ethiopian restaurant in Kampala.

Sean before the Ethiopian feast! No, he didn't eat all of this on his own, but he was glad to see meat!

Sean and Glenna on a night on the town in Kampala.

The traffic jam that continues for a good part of the day here in Kampala. See the merchants trying to peddle their wears to those stuck in traffic?

Two of Sean's friends at Mulago Hospital. Names?

Much to Glenna's dismay, our pool has been closed due to poor maintenance. According to the "pool guy" the water had not been changed in many months and the pool had not received maintenance care in nearly 12 years.

And we wonder why we see so many head traumas - check out the guys on the back of the truck.







To avoid the traffic smog, we took a walk through the Golf Course. Here is a caddy sharing a moment with a school boy walking home.

Some kids at play at the Mzungu Mall - Garden City.

Our local Irish Pub - Bubbles O'Learys. This is match night for the U.S Medical students and our American friends are in good spirit following a successful match. Quotable quotes for the night:

"I can't believe that I put 10 litres of IV fluids into that guy!" Robbie, matched to Pediatrics.

"I'm covered in urine and sweat from head to toe!" Josh, matched to Radiology.

"I think I need to be autoclaved" Rob, matched to Dermatology.

Here's the happy couple after inhaling a meal of Irish stew!

Glenna "relaxing" after our mass casualty disaster.

Yes, Sean loves his food - especially the meat!

Glenna spent a day on the labour and delivery ward. What an experience! 80 mothers, all in labour - some on beds, many on benches, and the rest on the FLOOR! 4 C-section rooms going with patients "in distress" awaiting "urgent" sections. Fetal death rate is nearly 5% and a mother dies almost every other day!

Dr. Glenna wearing Mulago scrubs as our Canadian scrubs were not "clean enough". See the towel on Glenna's head? Well, when she tried to put on the scrub hat it wouldn't fit. When Glenna returned to the clerk to get another one she was told, "Your head is too big as the hat fits everyone else!" The lady didn't seem to understand the fact that Glenna couldn't readily change her head size.

Glenna delivered by C-section two twins! Yep ... twins! Can you imagine how excited she was to tell Sean this?

Ok, away from the hospital and because our pool is closed, we had the privilege of walking 30 minutes to the Golf Course Hotel pool. Wow! Look at this pool. Nearly 40 metres long and with fountains! Here is Sean "swimming" at the pool. In fact, the hotel photographer took the same photo so keep an eye out for the Sean on their next brochure!

This is our Olympian swimmer Glenna - look at that form.

Glenna doing synchro! Naw, just a really neat shot of the water trailing off her hand.

Professor Sean teaching resuscitation basics to residents, nurses, and medical students.








Yep, Professor Sean again.

Sean on the streets of Kampala talking with some local children.

Sean still talking ...

Glenna with her matching shirt to the Banana lady! It would have been a better picture if Glenna was wearing the basket, no?







So Sean has been having sleeping difficulty - he thinks it is the Mefloquin. Here is his solution to the noise and light issue at our apartment!

That's it for now. Stay tuned for another update ....

Missing everyone back home.

Glenna and Sean