[SPECIAL NOTE TO FOLLOWERS OF THIS SERIES] This will be the last blog recounting experiences in support of Imaging the World in Uganda from our previous visit in 2011. We are returning to Uganda in 7 days, and will be gathering more comprehensive video records of this live-saving work to share in future posts. Our goal is to train and equip local staffs in three clinics, creating access to modern diagnostic imaging, therefore saving lives – one ultrasound at a time.
I am proud to relate that Paul is raising the visability of this initiative through the following website: http://www.paulsugandaproject.org/ I hope you will click-through, and encourage his efforts!
IN NEXT WEEK’S BLOG, I DISCUSS RESULTS FROM A SURVEY OF ULTRASOUND INSTRUCTORS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR BETTER PRE-ASSESSMENT AND SELECTION OF ULTRASOUND STUDENTS
Monday, June 13th: Today, we headed back to Entebbe as we prepare to fly back early tomorrow morning. We loaded up the van and said some sad goodbyes to our friends. We started out early and were treated to a very pretty sunrise which the video from a moving van does a poor job of capturing. Click to see video here.
We passed through Queen Elizabeth Game Park early in the morning, and this time saw many more animals than on our arrival. Where before we saw mostly individual animals, today we were treated to entire herds. In one herd there were more than 100 gazelles. We also saw a very large family of baboons, a pack of 8 elephants (including three or four babies), and a herd of water buffalo. The water buffalo were just about to come over a ridge onto the road when we happened across them. I think their faces expressed as much shock as ours did at the encounter. We also saw a massive elephant drinking water from a small watering hole only about 15 feet from the road.
In this case I will let the pictures and videos do most of the “talking.” You can see a large group of baboons (not those sticking out of the gray van 🙂 ), a few water buffalo, and a herd of gazelles.
We stopped at another clinic about 4 hours from Bwindi (called Bushyeni). There is yet another remarkable story surrounding this clinic. A church in the States adopted this clinic and started a school which takes care of the many orphans in the area. Many of these children have now graduated and work at the school and clinic. Just before we reached the clinic, we drove into an area where they were holding a market. I am including a video clip taken from the van so you can get a sense of what the market was like. Click to see video here.
Later we enjoyed lunch at the same restaurant in the town where we had stopped on our way to Bwindi. Paul got adventuresome and decided to add some chili paste to his food. You can see the before and after pictures – to get a sense of how well that went (notice the “patina” of sweat on his forehead). For about 20 minutes, Paul did not look so good.
