3 flights and 4 airports later, we have arrived in Uganda safely! Despite the daunting connections, everything ran smoothly. The only stressful part for me was lugging around my 50+ kg worth of luggage through these airports (great work out for the upper arm), serves me right for bringing so many chocolates.
The RCPCH GL team and the UPA (Ugandan Paediatrics Association) team have been exceptional and pretty much thought about everything. I promise neither team have paid me to sing their praises, I am just super impressed! Both Sarah and I got our visas easily on arrival at the airport, within half an hour we were out with our luggages and meet by the lovely Nowella from UPA. So far so good, couldn't have gone any better.
It is 28 degrees today and the sun is shining brightly. You will be hearing a lot about Sarah over the next 5.2 months, I mentioned her briefly on the pre assignment training post. She is a paediatric doctor from Belfast who has completed her training (post ST8) and is also a RCPCH Global links volunteer like me. We travelled together from heathrow and are both going to be in Jinja, Sarah is staying for a whole year though! I'm very glad we are here together, it is a blessing to have someone here who appreciates the issues living and working in a new country poses.
We will be spending the next 2 days sorting out our work permit and Ugandan licence to practise in Kampala as well as getting inducted by the UPA. At the end of the week we will both be off to Jinja to start our adventures on Monday, so stay tuned.....
To the Global Links February 2014 cohort, I have learnt a lot from you all. Such fantastic people, I will miss you all a great deal. Unfortunately Sarah you are stuck with me for 6 months! To the East (side) Africa lot, hopefully see you in Mombasa soon. In the meantime there is always Skype, Twitter, FaceTime Facebook, Bbm and good old fashion phones
Goodbye and good luck y'all, Cheerio, Khaweri, Mweraba, Oda bo, We go si bak, Mah Krow
Whoa! What a week, the title of this post best describes how I have felt over the last few days. The pre-assignment course is an eye opener and I will highly recommend it, over the last few days I have experienced every emotion under the sun but rest assured I am still going to Uganda. I will start on a lighter note, and report back to you all that the floors at RCPCH college are not paved in gold, it does however have great views, serve excellent coffee and great food.
Spending time with other volunteers as well as colleagues currently working in the countries we are heading to has been fun and highly informative. The background knowledge and advice we have all received are second to none. Despite this glowing recommendation, the course has been the source of my current wobble. In spite of my previously said organisational skills, I often take a 'ignorance is bliss' approach to life and I'm afraid this highly informative course had well and truly taken away some of this bliss. That said, I am incredibly thankful that Global links organised this training and have put such efforts into inducting us all so well.
Without a doubt I am going to Uganda, however I spent a significant amount of time evaluating the situation, questioning my resilience and in fact my medical acumen. My self doubts and analysis reminds me of a book written by Dr Emily Joy titled 'Green oranges on the lion mountain'. This UK based doctor describes her first mission to Sierra Leone pre war. The book poignantly portrayed how she turned down the first post after a pre assignment short course in how to become a surgeon in a day, then subsequently built up her courage to go on the next mission offered and eventually finding her feet in Sierra Leone in a very entertaining Bridget Jones manner. It is a must read for the doubting thomases out there like myself. Through many faux pas and blunders this lady manages to cope, help and make an impact on some peoples lives in her own way. I hope my story take a similar but less dramatic route. Apparently "doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will". In the absence of such optimism here are some top coping tips that might make your stay abroad a little smoother.
- Take some pictures from home and treats with you e.g. Chocolate
- Buddy up! If you are going with someone always update each other
- Update the Queen- register at the high commission
- Upload your important documents including passport onto the iCloud/g drive or take copies.
- Don't be a tourist- no flashy goods or dresses, also familiarise yourself with the area and the local culture
- Look after #1- exercise, sleep, treats, holidays and down times are essential
- A good laugh is just as therapeutic as a good cry, avoid burn out.
- Be careful with public transport
- Keep calm and call someone on the GL team
- If all else fails have someone ready to book you a flight back home ASAP.
Good day all,
Sorry about the silence, the last few weeks have been pretty busy. Lots of oncalls/night shifts, a quick sunny holiday to celebrate my 30th birthday with some amazing friends, early send off parties from the 'Paeds Happy girls' (thanks for my birthday/goodbye cake) and now am in London for the RCPCH much anticipated pre-assignment training pre Jinja. It is really happening people! In less than a month I will be in Uganda. I must be nervous since my pre event insomnia seems to have set it, hence why I am up at this hour updating you all.
The course/training starts tomorrow and is over 9 days at the college, it covers topics such as child health in low resource settings, teaching in training, the all important security training as well as quality control. Aside from the very official trainings, this is also an opportunity to meet with the other Uk doctors going to different parts of Africa as well as our African trained colleges coming here to work in various hospitals all over the country. Oh I also get to hang out with the other UK paediatrician coming to Jinja as well.
A few of us are staying at the Indian YMCA during the course, the accommodation was organised by Global link and although I was initially apprehensive I must say the rooms are really lovely, it is pretty central, ideal for us Northerners arriving into London Euston and the food isn't too bad either. I finally met the famous Peter Nash (RCPCH Global links Manager) last night at dinner with a few of volunteers from Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and Kenya). It was nice to finally put a face to Peter's name, he has been extremely helpful over the last 9months or so and I must add incredibly patient. Thanks Peter!
Dinner with colleagues from different parts of Africa was fun and informative, explaining my dual nationality was a little confusing, the other doctor weren't sure which camp I belonged to, UK or Africa. I spent a lot of time explaining that I belong to both camps , I am both Nigerian and British but live and trained in the UK; therefore never worked in any African hospital before and that this will be my first experience. I got some light teasing from the Nigerian doctors who were not happy that I wasn't going to Nigeria instead. The Ugandan paediatrician seemed really amused by my looming predicament, I wasn't really sure what to make of it. In short I got the impression that I am In for a shock! Best to be prepared hey!
Best go back to bed! Tres excited about going to RCPCH tomorrow, very fancy! I wonder if the floors are made of Gold. I shall go find out and will keep you posted. Until then au revoir or shall I say Mweraba
