Week of January 29

It still feels like I am settling into my place at CURE. It’s officially been a month now, somehow! While I miss home and school very much, I am happy here. Especially because there is a gecko crawling on the wall as I type. I love accommodating and adapting to the silly little differences like that, or changing my handshake, or having to stick things into the electrical outlet so I can plug in appliances! I can’t say I feel at home in the culture because it is so different, but I am enjoying being a part of it for four months. No driving will scare me when I get back home!
I have been talking with Miriam about differences in social work here in Uganda and in the U.S. As I said before, it seems to be at a different level, though universities are working to improve their programs. Charles would like to start an MSW program at some point, perhaps. Maybe I’ll come back and teach! Ugandan social workers do not operate by our Code of Ethics, but they use the British version, which is adapted from ours. She spends a lot of time on the NASW website, trying to learn as much as she can; she is always reading a social work book or literature about hospitals and disabled children. I hope she gets into Case Western and is able to pay for it. She is wonderful. She truly shows the clients that she cares for them.
Aubrey and I have both been feeling somewhat useless because there are so many barriers to helping clients. For one, we are mzungus, and being white automatically puts us in a different category of opportunity and money. Clients will often ask us to give their children toys, sponsor children’s school fees, or pay for some service. We have been told by Ugandan employees to say that we do not have these things. My first reaction when told this was to balk at lying. But in reading African Friends and Money Matters, I have realized that Ugandans place paramount importance on maintaining relationships to the point that they will lie to avoid conflict. In fact, it is somewhat rude to say, “No.” Therefore, I suppose that lying in this context is excusable. I still don’t like it, but I will donate to organizations in hopes that this is the best way to help the poor.
Another reason Aubrey and I both feel irrelevant to clients at times is the fact that we are young and not mothers. It seems that mothers sometimes look at us and think, “What can they do to help us? It’s not like they can come close to empathizing with our situation.” Speaking with the clients is also difficult. A few speak English fluently, but most do not. I have started asking staff to translate for me so I can communicate better with the mothers. Still, it is frustrating, especially when I have taken time to learn Spanish and it is useless here!
Miriam Ampeire (the social worker) and the other Miriam (the director of the Spiritual Center) have both told us that simply taking time to talk to the clients and hear their situations and hold their babies does great good. Coming from a society and culture that emphasizes efficiency and doing makes it difficult for us to feel like we are being effective. But I think we can find a balance in which we get things done but also slow down to simply be with the mothers and love them.
I focused on several projects this week in hopes of moving forward with them. Charles and Melissa (his wife) have both warned me that getting things done here is quite difficult because of cultural differences. With that in mind, I am trying to take charge of my little projects but include many people so they feel ownership in them and will continue them when I am gone.
I talked to Florence, head of the nursing department, about my booklet idea, and she gave me information on nutrition as well as other ideas. She agreed that a PowerPoint presentation on nutrition would be very useful. Aubrey and I also met with Miriam, the head of the Spiritual Center (yes, names get so confusing!), to learn about spiritual influences on the clients. We were surprised to learn that most of the mothers go to witch doctors, even if they’re Christians, for healing before they will come to the hospital. They believe that the children’s condition is due to a curse and will often blame the mother and the family for failing to do something or doing something to bring on the curse. So not only do the mothers have to care for sick children, they have to take the blame for their child’s sickness.
I grabbed Miriam on Thursday to ask the mothers in the ward about their questions, what they would like to know when they leave, and what would have been helpful to know when they came into the hospital. These answers were extremely helpful in formulating ideas for the booklet as well as the orientation video I’m trying to put together. Aubrey is gathering pictures to better explain the rules to mothers who cannot read (or speak uncommon languages), and I am trying to put together an orientation video so they will be less confused when they come into the hospital. This project is going to be a lot of work as well, but everyone I have talked to about it has agreed that it is needed. I want to be useful!
We visited the epilepsy department to learn what they do in that section of the hospital, since we have spent time in every other department. It was so interesting. The patient had to shave her head so the electrodes could be attached to measure brain activity. The two epilepsy nurses were gone; one was on her honey moon and one was sick, so Richard employed Aubrey and me to help him. Aubrey covered the electrodes in conductive substance, Richard placed them on Amanda’s (the patient) head and covered them with gauze and a special glue, and I cemented the electrodes to her head with a tool that releases oxygen at high pressure. Richard then plugged the different electrodes into different jacks to correctly record her brain activity. The goal is to record three different seizures in a patient in order to analyze abnormal brain activity and pinpoint the regions of the brain causing the epileptic seizures. Quite interesting.
This coming week I hope to make a lot of progress with the book and spend more time with the mothers as well. I am much more comfortable in the ward now and am enjoying getting to know the mothers and playing with their children. I hope to find material online about working with sick children so I can know how to better work with them.