Friday, May 27th: Today we fly from Dallas to Newark, then change planes and travel overnight from Newark to London. Once we reach London, we will wait most of the day at Heathrow for our overnight flight to Entebbe Uganda.
So as I already stated in part 1, this adventure really began when Paul and I decided that we would go to Uganda to do site prep for a new group of clinics. As Paul learned about the project in Uganda, the idea was hatched that he could also get involved as part of his senior project at school.
The senior project is intended to teach the boys about the value of community involvement. Although only a sophomore, the sheer size and time requirement of the project requires that he start a few years early. Paul put together a presentation about ITW and presented the idea to his form master and then his senior thesis advisor. It is Paul’s job to do the planning, the organization, budgeting, documentation, and even some fund raising to deploy the ITW paradigm in three clinics which refer to the Bwindi Hospital. With approval from his form master (Fr. Paul) and thesis advisor (Fr. Gregory), the project planning began months ago. For the last few weeks, Paul has been trying to juggle school work and finals with time to create documents and to plan for this trip. (the pic is of Paul at the airport – relieved having finished his finals just the day before).
My focus has been on creating software that can monitor internet performance to take some of the guess work out of data transmission. Although I have made some very good progress, the software is not yet what I hoped. Originally I though it might be possible to find software for purchase that would do what we need, but after testing software from five different companies, I have come to conclude that none can do exactly what we need. I did find one software program that provides some core needed functions. So finally, I decided to use that software (from a very small company) to perform the basic functions and then create home brewed software that integrates in with the purchased software to do the rest of what we need. It has been many years since I have written this type of software, and integrating home brewed software with existing software is never easy. As such, we are leaving today and I am not yet done.
The last few days, I have spent making sure that we have all the necessary materials including anti-malarial drugs, mosquito netting, mosquito spray, unlocked dial up modems, a netbook for software testing, a signal booster, emergency flight evacuation insurance, and of course lots of candy for the kids (note that this list is far from comprehensive). I spent a few hours treating our clothing with permethrin to provide further protection against mosquito bites and the risk of contracting malaria. I joke that we will be spared malaria but that I will contract cancer from this relatively noxious spray. Through the miracles of carry on, Paul and I were able to fit everything into one checked bag, two carry on bags, and of course two “personal items” which consists of a red backpack and a black computer bag. Given how much candy we are carrying, I am sure that our return trip will be much lighter.
I also packed another suitcase with suits, dress shirts and ties. This suitcase will be mailed to the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago since when I return I will need to go there directly to lecture at the SVU/SVS Conference (Society for Vascular Ultrasound and Society for Vascular Surgery). The contrast between these two suitcases could not be any greater. Flips flops and sandals for one and ties and wingtips for the other.
