Day 12 - Frustration & Elation

If Wednesday was one of the hardest days of my life, today was one of the most rewarding.

Last night as we were going to bed we heard a strange sound, like running water. The water to the house had miraculously come on and the toilet was filing itself! This came at a time when we were almost out of water, had resigned ourselves to not bathing that night and were coming to realise we would be unable to flush to toilet at all. Though just a small trickle of brownish water it seemed like a good sign.

We had arranged a meeting with the organisation this morning and I had 4 main things I wanted to discuss with them.

• To confirm that I will be going ahead with the website SEO for them.
• That, should the costs be as predicted, I would like to cover Kizimula's cataract surgery.
• To work out whether funding Mussa's treatment would be sustainable.
• To confirm that Lauren and I would like to jointly sponsor Dorothy as a boarder at the school for the remainder of her primary education.

First we went to pick up Kizimula. While his appointment was not til quite late we had a lot to cover so had to bring him with us.

I wanted to see Katalemwa Cheshire Home, where Mussa would go if I funded his treatment. We were talked through what the centre does by one of the women who run it. We were then also shown around the facility. The forms were very basic, but clean and reasonably well equipped. The children in them all seemed very happy. They generally had big smiles on their faces and called to us as we walked around. 

The centre also make all of their own equipment. We were shown the metal works area where Mussa's wheelchair would be made. They also have areas where they make prosthetic limbs  and specially adapted shoes for bowed feet and uneven legs. All the staff were so friendly and happy to talk us through what they were doing. All the staff were so friendly and happy to talk us through what they were doing. The resident physiotherapist even talked us through the therapy he was carrying out with a young girl who had had no mobility with her legs.

Speaking to the staff I had some concerns about the sustainability of sending Mussa here. While I had been told that Aisha (Mussa's mother) had been accepted into a mothers' community empowerment program, this turned out not to be the case. In fact, it seems as though it's unlikely Aisha will be accepted into the program due to Mussa's age. Katalemwa usually only caters for children up to 18 years old, but have made an exception with Mussa due to the severity of his condition. It's not likely that the mothers' group will be so lenient. Izzy has guaranteed me that he will be following up with Aisha and will be pursuing a microfinance loan for her if this community empowerment falls though.

I'm not convinced that Aisha will be able to sustain Mussa's medication after his 1 month rehabilitation and have been feeling very conflicted on this. On the one had, I don't want to rehabilitate him for him to end up back in the same situation. On the other hand, he has spent the last 5 years lying on the floor in the slums unable to move. The fees would include a purpose build wheelchair and a toilet seat which he could take home with him. This would give him some more independence and prevent Aisha from having to carry him around. In the end, I decided to fund the treatment. I feel like I would feel worse knowing that I had passed up an opportunity to help, than feeling I had been a little duped.

Next we went to the eye hospital. The hospital was quite clean, but had bare concrete floors and was overcrowded. It operated the most frustrating system I've ever seen. We had a set appointment and had paid 10 times as much to do so. However, the clinic operates as both public and private. So what happens is that the doctors must see all the patients on the public side before coming over to see the private appointment side.

We had arrived at about 1pm and it must have been after 3 before they came over to us. We were number 10 in the queue. Instead of just starting from 1st and working back though, one doctor started and number 1 and the other at number 11. When our appointment came around we were called in. Without even glancing at Kizimula, the doctor said we needed to go to the test room. So we waited again, then went into the test room, the waited again for the doctor.

It was at this time that Ali decided to tell me that Kizimula's cataract eye had received a trauma. This must have been information that came out during the initial assessment the other day, but had not been interpreted. I can't even describe the incredible frustration and disappointment I felt at the point. Again, I was acting based on incomplete or incorrect information. I think I almost threw a tantrum and gave up right then and there.

Back in the doctor's room it's no surprise (well, now anyway!!) that Kizimula's left eye is not viable and as such there would be no point in him having cataract surgery. He was however recommended prescription lenses for his right eye. I've been assured by the doctor that these will allow him to see well enough to return to work.

So we took him to the glasses room where he chose frames. We then had to go to the cashier to leave a deposit, then back to the glasses room for the bifocal measurement. By the time this was all over it was around 5:30pm.

Feeling frustrated we returned to Kizimula's house. However, one look at the exposed ribs and distended bellies of his grandchildren and it was all worth it. While the process had been annoying, for under £100 I had been able to return a man's sight and hopefully in turn allow him to feed his grandchildren and gain medical support for his wife. They were all so grateful, going down on their knees to thank me. This is something I will just never be comfortable with, but I'm so glad I was able to help.

As we headed back to school and passed 3 men with a baby on a boda boda it really hit me that I was leaving Uganda soon.While I've only been here 2 weeks it feels like so much longer. I've grown really attached to the people here and Uganda in general. It will be weird for a while not feeling like a celebrity every where I go. I'm making mental notes about things I must remember not to do at home:

• Talk to random children, let them hold my hand and follow me around.
• Let a handshake turn in to a long handhold. Just holding people's hands in general really.
• Leave the loo unflushed.

Finally, on the way home we stopped in to Deborah's house (the bead lady). I made a couple of purchases as gifts to bring home and received a rather violent goodbye hug from her grandsons. She then gave me a parting gift, a purse that she had woven. I was so touched that this woman who could not afford to clothe her grandchildren had thought to give me a gift. I talked to Ali about this and he said it was just the Ugandan way. "Some can even give a bull." I'm glad no one has given me a bull!!

There were a couple of other strange conversations throughout the day.

• Apparently eating while standing or walking is rude. Probably could have done with this info 2 weeks ago.
• When bribing traffic police it's perfectly acceptable to haggle your bribe amount.
• I am "stupid" for not wanting to have 20 babies. I decided not to get into overpopulations and resulting social issues.
• Izzy wanted to know what that weird stuff was that I put on my hands after every latrine visit. He seemed confused when I explained it was kind of like soap.

We all headed to Afro Bar with most of the project staff for a parting beer and a couple of games of pool. Unfortunately more than one beer needs a latrine visit. As I crouched in a dirty cubicle, a cockroach fell off the ceiling and directly down my cleavage. I thought the whole thing was quite hilarious, but it scared the hell out of the other girls.

Next we moved to the club section of Afro and witnessed what appeared to be some kind of Ugandan open mike night, they called it Karaoke but it involved dancers as well. There are no words to describe it, but luckily I have videos. At around 11 Martin told us it was not safe for us to be out so late so we grabbed some street food and boda bodad home to bed.