Am now resorting to the internet cafe to check my emails, as the internet in school cannot access all my email accounts. Basically anything that needs log-in cannot be accessed. Can't be helped, cos I need to check my emails! Yet the internet cafe keyboard is really atrocious. Cant type. All the keys are hardened.
Yups, but the internet cafe here's ok, faster speed than school and quite affordable – 1500 shillings (about SGD1.50) per hour, with bonus of 10 mins, so its about 70 mins. Hmmm, but yups, don't think i'd check up on other people's blogs as much, cos its really difficult to get the net. Ha those in Kisiizi has better internet than us! They are on MSN almost everyday! Ha to think we're still in the capital city while they're in the more rural Kabale hahahaha interesting.
Back to sharing what I have been up to these days.
SCHOOL – started school, got to know the locals, talked to patients. Got the hang of stuff, basically saw cases quite similar in Singapore, except that the differential diagnoses were starkly different. Fever = malaria until proven otherwise. Quinine is given liberally to patients with fever and neurological symptoms. Young patient with hemiplegia or stroke like picture is ISS (immunosuppressive state, ie HIV) with suspicion of HIV vasculitis / CNS lymphoma / toxoplasmosis; Meningitis picture, think always of cryptococcus and indian ink. And I guess MBBS examiners will be so happy to come to the wards here. They do not have to list cases.. Almost everyone has like huge stuff. For eg, a hemato pt asked me to check on him, then one hand on the abdomen the diagnosis is out ha hepatosplenomeg +++ etc etc. But of course, the neuro signs are just comparable with our NNI haha.
Got to know many of the locals, am surprised my memory for faces & names were actually working that well. But yes, probably when I go back to Spore, my defunct memory will surface again. Here, I actually talk more to nursing students than I did the whole 4 yrs of my med sch. Ha, probably they're more friendly here? So I taught them a lot of stuff, like reading ECG and CT scans but yups me not very good at these myself! Ha JL taught some of them (haha she actually rem the wrong name and contacted the wrong person... so embarrassing... but as usual hahahahaha.) computer skills, like Microsoft Word, cos they do not have a computer, do not even know how to switch on one but need to use it for literature review (!?!!) Ha high expectations ah! Sigh, perhaps I've come from such an advance place I behave like a goon. So I usually watch certain things first before doing... Ha like for eg taking blood sugar... Spore one is put it in and it will switch on by itself. So I put the stick in, then waited and waited. Then realised it did not switch on... haha Then the nursing student was looking at me like I was some goon. Ha but yups i found the switch and on and did everything all over again. Things like this la... you get the idea.
But of course, have seen more deaths than I had. Could not take it at first...Felt exasperated. Cos these were many patients who deteriorated quickly cos the diagnosis was not made in time. Why? Invx not done OR they had no $$ to pay. Invx not done can be due to absurd reasons like NO GLOVE (cos it gets locked up some where even though there is, only sister gets it...) or sterile set (erps... tink it happens only in my ward... cos JL's ward has chlorhexidine too... mine really deficient. tink its the system) or the intern didnt feel like it.... wow.... so its pushed to the nxt day. And ya so patients go off like this: was conscious on first day, LP / other invx not done, so 2nd day semi conscious, 3rd day unconscious (btw, a lot of my patients are on the ward but unconscious and no one really asks the big WHY... take it as stroke causing unconsciousness) then need oxygen, so they get sent out of the ward to the common corridor where there is only one oxygen tank... and the intern will say almost 100% of patients who went to the oxygen area never made it back... I was like !?!?!. Oh wells. There is no crash cart everything. You get the idea. Basically its quite exasperating for me. Teaching not really that good... would have preferred the NNI teaching! Ha so its just the experience and self study, not so much that of learning. But yes i do learn about toxoplasmosis malaria tetanus (the spasms are triggered by noise!!!) etc which I have never heard of in my life. Here it is like if you do not know whats a ring enhancing lesion on CT, its criminal!
K ENOUGH OF SCHOOL
ENTERTAINMENT – First weekend when I reached there, I was brought around alot... covered in the previous posts. then first week Thursday, another Sporean-Msian (the same one tt brought us to church on the 1st weekend) treated us to dinner, where we met other fellow Sporeans... about 10 of us... we ate at this place in atas (yes, their definition, not ours) Garden City, in the City Central, at the eatery called Spurs Silver City. Basically its a atas South African restaurant. Yups, foood was ok. Then 2nd weekend was boring, studied then went to the biggest pentecostal church KPC (mentioned in previous post) and bought lotsa souvenirs. Ha. 3rd weekend... Went to Uganda Museum, though the Bradt guide gave it a really low score but i had so much fun at the African village. It is those african village houses (mud + straw) kind of the different tribes... took lotsa photos there. Had intended to go to Kasubi tombs on the same day, but we actually overstayed in the museum so much that there was no time to go down there. Kasubi tombs was given a higher rating... haha never mind, we still have time. Then the next day we went to New Redemption church. We were brought there by this Ugandan pastor whom we met on the airplane. There we witnessed a church wedding!!!! Then he treated us to this atas cafe (erps... didnt quite catch the name... but tt place was packed with foreigners... so you know how much the grading is) the food was alright... ha but it was nice. Then he brought us to his house and his office.
FOOD – haha usually i'd have bread and jam / peanut butter plus mocha (milo plus nescafe) for breakfast, local food (matoke ie steamed bananas etc ) for lunch and cook dinner myself with the oven! Ha so yups its nice! And bowel movement has been rigorous, cos the local food is high fibre (ha no not much vegetables, but imagine your whole plate is steamed bananas….)
SPIRITUAL – Ha, hmmm am thankful for the Lord for laying the path in Uganda so smooth... we keep on meeting many people who takes us around... if there was no one to show us around, i think we'd get lost and leading a very un-entertaining life haha. Don't have much plans, but guess might be going to all the tourist attractions in kampala and entebbe.
Got to pray for a patient. Other than that, haven really done much. My initial motive for this trip was more of a spiritual one than a medical one... Wanted to see life as a mission doctor, see things in a mission hospital, to talk to people about my Lord. But things had not been what I had expected, as there was a huge change of plans due to the situation in Kenya... Haven done much of these, just going around to different churches and see see look look. But yups, I know God has it all planned for me... in fact the way I found myself in Uganda was almost something that was so smooth and unexpected. So keeping my eyes open, my heart open. Just know that in everything I do, I do it for Him and He will shine through, no matter how little or much i feel I have done. Yups.
ENVIRONMENT – AIR ETC – yes, its really dusty here, especially on the roads. the first few days we thought we were going to get asthma and get black lungs after 2 months! Ha really appreciate our garden city so much! Air is really considered very clean in Spore. So will not complain when i get back! Ha Getting muddy shoes to the wards is really like the norm... at least no one cares... try getting one into the wards at our hospitals... think you'd get screamed at. Ha and they have really red soil here... everywhere it is... Temperature here is like Spore. but humidity really nice!
anw... dun seem to be able to upload photos... really slow k so cya all
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
in reply to my class blog
There are several issues that struck me after reading these few blog entries. I would just like to point out certain things which I feel. Not in any motive, but just to share. Before I begin, you must understand that probably my approach to things is very much different from all of yours. To a “to-be doctor” I guess every thing boils down to practicalities. That is me, focusing on what I see as practical. (at this point you must note that I am typing this with only distant memory of what you have discussed, cos I rarely have internet in Uganda, so my apologies if I’ve gotten a wrong impression of what any of you have said) So just pointing out stuff which looks starkly different from what I think. And yes, I constantly like to explain and think and even challenge the bible. I’ve been taught to do that. But the fundamental belief is that all things can be explained, there are no contradictions in the bible, just whether one has the time to read through it. But yes, I am rushing thru this, so just typing what comes to my mind. NOT STRUCTURED AT ALL.
Firstly, some of you have quoted several philosophers and so on. My question is, these are but just mere humans expressing their views and thinking. So they are just like you and me, trying to explain certain things in life, just putting forth theories etc. Yet, theories are but theories, no matter how rational, how logical they seem, is it the truth? If they are not, why bother even reading / quoting them? (hmmm guess up to this point I can already feel many arrows shooting onto me) Yes, for interest. Yups, for history. Other than that? One may quote philosophies that appeal to him to explain his point. That further skews everything – one leads to another to another. So is that the truth? No.
However, I know nothing about plagiarism of the Greek philosophers. So please educate me. But before we jump to any conclusions about that, what you are talking about is probably some isolated teachings on how to be “good”, almost all religions alike, so who is plagiarizing who? But yet, these are but secondary. It is the central idea that matters. Most religions teach us to be “good”, but what is “good”? Universal morality as you have mentioned? Is being “good” as we’ve defined the end to it all? Then of course I would agree that all religions are the same, there is not much thinking to be done, and of course coolgoh’s take on how intellectual people, those who can reason what is good and what is not, do not need religion etc. These are but standards set by man for man. Are these the true standards?
Yes, I anticipate you all will start standing up and say why am I highlighting what is true etc, is there really a truth etc etc. But simple simple. There must be a truth. And my take is that a truth is a truth. It cannot be challenged cannot be changed. So there can only be one explanation, not others. (of course, if I dwell on why I think Christianity is the sole truth etc, I’d have to take the whole day… shan’t go onto that yet. mabbe in future)
Next, many people have mis-quoted the bible. The bible is ONE book. So it has to be interpreted as a whole, not isolated lines. (although the labeling of the verses have made it so convenient for people to quote) For the bible, there is simply no distinction of the new and the old testament. It is just like chapter one and chapter two of a novel. The new is a continuation of the old. There are no new laws no new ideas. You all have been quoting Matthew, so lets start off from Matthew 1 and 2 then. Matthew 1 tells of the genealogy of Jesus. It traces all the forefathers etc. God has attempted to prove to man that all these are part of history. If we really trace, all these are the exact lineage. Note that a large part of the bible is dedicated to the lineage. These are not invented, but is recorded, so that the future people (like us) know how the history progressed. So the bible is a record of historical (NOT fictional) events. And the lineage of Abraham all the way to Jesus, tells of the fact that how since the beginning of time God has already been wanting to send Jesus down to save mankind. The old testament is the covenant of law, while the new testament is the covenant of grace. The old testament tells of the promise God will send One to save mankind. The new testament tells of the promise of salvation through the One.
Note that there are many cross references in the bible, as it is all one book! For eg in Matthew 1 the birth of Jesus was described exactly in Isaiah 7:14 (shows fulfilling of the prophecy), that he will be born out of a virgin and was from the Holy Spirit. Then in Matthew 2, there are cross references to Micah 5:2 (that he will be born in Bethlehem) and then in Hosea 11:1 (that he was to raise his son in Egypt). etc etc So my point being the new testament is interpretation of the old testament, it explains the old testament, which some might not understand. So there are no new laws, new things. God did not change. He was always a God of love. He did not “turn into a loving God” instantly in the new testament.
Yes, God is jealous. But if you interpret the whole passage instead of that line, you’d understand what this “jealous” means. These people were worshipping idols instead of God. God is NOT jealous (like the jealousy in humans) of the idols, but He is jealous of the love of man. He loves us so much, desires to have fellowship with us so much so that if we do not love Him / fellowship with Him, He is being torn apart. That is being “jealous”. (think: one sided love affair) Is He still perfect? Yes.
About all the destruction to mankind, how God destroyed cities of Sodom etc etc… It is judgment. From the start till the end of the bible, it is all about judgment. We have sinned. So we need judgment. Just like how if we break a law in Singapore, we have to face up to the punishment. Except that WHEN is the judgment met. For the “old testament people” their judgment has been done. For the “new testament ppl” it will occur after we die.
Idea about original sin. We all know that humans are not perfect. It is not just about choices. We may sin even without choosing to. The thought, the action, just comes to our mind. Its almost like a spinal reflex. No thought.
We may try to explain our ideas, our existence by our wisdom, knowledge or intellect. Yet we know that if someone is of lower intellect, he may never explain things as the higher intellect sees it. So the higher intellect must explain to the lower one. If we can apply this to the situation between man and God, then you’d see why I think it is pointless to look at philosophers and so on. Humans like to think arrogantly that we are the highest on this earth and so we attempt to explain everything ourselves. Yet, are we really the highest being? No. (note that if we are the highest being, we would not be subjected to sufferings etc, we would be the one creating this world and not subjected to the forces of this world.) And can we ever explain fully something of the higher being? No. Its just like a dog can never explain what his master thinks (erps poor analogy I know but you get the idea) So you need the higher being to explain things to you. Which is God. God came down (in the form of Jesus) to explain things to us, to explain the old testament to us.
Erps taken too long. Too much to explain. (haha we should all meet up when XY etc comes back! class outing!) But yups the crux is Christianity is logical and rational. If you would allow, just email me each contradiction you (anyone, not just XY or GCS) think and I will try my best to explain. Yet note all my answers will be from the Bible. NOT from any philosophers or any other people. So I can only give a Christian perspective. And doesn’t matter if you’re an atheist or Buddhist or what. Yups, guess its just a exchange of ideas, breaching a closer understanding!
Last note. The difference in Christianity is that it is all about a personal relationship with God, not any intellectual discussion or anything. You will know that He is in your life, He is there. You can feel the Holy Spirit, you know He is guiding you. A true Christian is one who has a relationship with God, not just based upon some simple motive or logic. It is like a love affair with your spouse. (And yes, the love between man and woman is but an emulation of the relationship between God and Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, shan’t go into that…)
kk. Shucks. My English is really atrocious. Too much of dialects & Singlish in the wards! Now lugandan! haha
Firstly, some of you have quoted several philosophers and so on. My question is, these are but just mere humans expressing their views and thinking. So they are just like you and me, trying to explain certain things in life, just putting forth theories etc. Yet, theories are but theories, no matter how rational, how logical they seem, is it the truth? If they are not, why bother even reading / quoting them? (hmmm guess up to this point I can already feel many arrows shooting onto me) Yes, for interest. Yups, for history. Other than that? One may quote philosophies that appeal to him to explain his point. That further skews everything – one leads to another to another. So is that the truth? No.
However, I know nothing about plagiarism of the Greek philosophers. So please educate me. But before we jump to any conclusions about that, what you are talking about is probably some isolated teachings on how to be “good”, almost all religions alike, so who is plagiarizing who? But yet, these are but secondary. It is the central idea that matters. Most religions teach us to be “good”, but what is “good”? Universal morality as you have mentioned? Is being “good” as we’ve defined the end to it all? Then of course I would agree that all religions are the same, there is not much thinking to be done, and of course coolgoh’s take on how intellectual people, those who can reason what is good and what is not, do not need religion etc. These are but standards set by man for man. Are these the true standards?
Yes, I anticipate you all will start standing up and say why am I highlighting what is true etc, is there really a truth etc etc. But simple simple. There must be a truth. And my take is that a truth is a truth. It cannot be challenged cannot be changed. So there can only be one explanation, not others. (of course, if I dwell on why I think Christianity is the sole truth etc, I’d have to take the whole day… shan’t go onto that yet. mabbe in future)
Next, many people have mis-quoted the bible. The bible is ONE book. So it has to be interpreted as a whole, not isolated lines. (although the labeling of the verses have made it so convenient for people to quote) For the bible, there is simply no distinction of the new and the old testament. It is just like chapter one and chapter two of a novel. The new is a continuation of the old. There are no new laws no new ideas. You all have been quoting Matthew, so lets start off from Matthew 1 and 2 then. Matthew 1 tells of the genealogy of Jesus. It traces all the forefathers etc. God has attempted to prove to man that all these are part of history. If we really trace, all these are the exact lineage. Note that a large part of the bible is dedicated to the lineage. These are not invented, but is recorded, so that the future people (like us) know how the history progressed. So the bible is a record of historical (NOT fictional) events. And the lineage of Abraham all the way to Jesus, tells of the fact that how since the beginning of time God has already been wanting to send Jesus down to save mankind. The old testament is the covenant of law, while the new testament is the covenant of grace. The old testament tells of the promise God will send One to save mankind. The new testament tells of the promise of salvation through the One.
Note that there are many cross references in the bible, as it is all one book! For eg in Matthew 1 the birth of Jesus was described exactly in Isaiah 7:14 (shows fulfilling of the prophecy), that he will be born out of a virgin and was from the Holy Spirit. Then in Matthew 2, there are cross references to Micah 5:2 (that he will be born in Bethlehem) and then in Hosea 11:1 (that he was to raise his son in Egypt). etc etc So my point being the new testament is interpretation of the old testament, it explains the old testament, which some might not understand. So there are no new laws, new things. God did not change. He was always a God of love. He did not “turn into a loving God” instantly in the new testament.
Yes, God is jealous. But if you interpret the whole passage instead of that line, you’d understand what this “jealous” means. These people were worshipping idols instead of God. God is NOT jealous (like the jealousy in humans) of the idols, but He is jealous of the love of man. He loves us so much, desires to have fellowship with us so much so that if we do not love Him / fellowship with Him, He is being torn apart. That is being “jealous”. (think: one sided love affair) Is He still perfect? Yes.
About all the destruction to mankind, how God destroyed cities of Sodom etc etc… It is judgment. From the start till the end of the bible, it is all about judgment. We have sinned. So we need judgment. Just like how if we break a law in Singapore, we have to face up to the punishment. Except that WHEN is the judgment met. For the “old testament people” their judgment has been done. For the “new testament ppl” it will occur after we die.
Idea about original sin. We all know that humans are not perfect. It is not just about choices. We may sin even without choosing to. The thought, the action, just comes to our mind. Its almost like a spinal reflex. No thought.
We may try to explain our ideas, our existence by our wisdom, knowledge or intellect. Yet we know that if someone is of lower intellect, he may never explain things as the higher intellect sees it. So the higher intellect must explain to the lower one. If we can apply this to the situation between man and God, then you’d see why I think it is pointless to look at philosophers and so on. Humans like to think arrogantly that we are the highest on this earth and so we attempt to explain everything ourselves. Yet, are we really the highest being? No. (note that if we are the highest being, we would not be subjected to sufferings etc, we would be the one creating this world and not subjected to the forces of this world.) And can we ever explain fully something of the higher being? No. Its just like a dog can never explain what his master thinks (erps poor analogy I know but you get the idea) So you need the higher being to explain things to you. Which is God. God came down (in the form of Jesus) to explain things to us, to explain the old testament to us.
Erps taken too long. Too much to explain. (haha we should all meet up when XY etc comes back! class outing!) But yups the crux is Christianity is logical and rational. If you would allow, just email me each contradiction you (anyone, not just XY or GCS) think and I will try my best to explain. Yet note all my answers will be from the Bible. NOT from any philosophers or any other people. So I can only give a Christian perspective. And doesn’t matter if you’re an atheist or Buddhist or what. Yups, guess its just a exchange of ideas, breaching a closer understanding!
Last note. The difference in Christianity is that it is all about a personal relationship with God, not any intellectual discussion or anything. You will know that He is in your life, He is there. You can feel the Holy Spirit, you know He is guiding you. A true Christian is one who has a relationship with God, not just based upon some simple motive or logic. It is like a love affair with your spouse. (And yes, the love between man and woman is but an emulation of the relationship between God and Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, shan’t go into that…)
kk. Shucks. My English is really atrocious. Too much of dialects & Singlish in the wards! Now lugandan! haha
Monday, April 14, 2008
3rd
Today is an interesting day. I met the first (erhm, he just goes to the ward every day and shouts), nope second psy patient, no not a patient, he was just outside the medical school. Ha, guess its no different in the nationalities when it comes to psychiatry. But the locals were nice, they helped me out and find me a computer when I was waiting for one. Ha. ok. 10 more minutes before procedure time, but guess they'd make me wait again. Just had a filling lunch and trying to access the internet and emails now! The weekend had been good, I stayed home on saturday to catch up on my reading (yes yr 5's imminent!) and then went to a big church – Kampala Pentecostal Church – on Sunday. It was good, the sermon's by an invited Jew born-again. It was interesting, he talked about family. Yups, the ministry starts from the family, if not there is not testimony to talk about
Then went to buy souvenirs at a craft centre in Kampala. It was nice! Ha i saw many crafts on animal skins which made me drool but sigh each one's like SGD 60. So ex. So ya didnt buy those. Bought other nice crafts! Ha their artwork's great.
Well, k shall update ya all again. But basically, there is nothing much to talk about school, ha just an interesting way of life, many things are different and you'd really appreciate the Singapore system. Shall see if i can find another pastor who has several orphanages. Hope to visit some of them and do some work there! :P
Then went to buy souvenirs at a craft centre in Kampala. It was nice! Ha i saw many crafts on animal skins which made me drool but sigh each one's like SGD 60. So ex. So ya didnt buy those. Bought other nice crafts! Ha their artwork's great.
Well, k shall update ya all again. But basically, there is nothing much to talk about school, ha just an interesting way of life, many things are different and you'd really appreciate the Singapore system. Shall see if i can find another pastor who has several orphanages. Hope to visit some of them and do some work there! :P
Thursday, April 10, 2008
2nd post
2nd post, hope it can get thru
It has been good, I have already gotten use to the pace and the life here. And finally I'm on a computer that can access gmail, blog, yahoo. Ok, well, hmmm there seems to have some problems loading the pages again. So hmmm, I shall reserve my comments. And the queer thing about the keyboards here is that it is different from what I usually use. For many of them, the “@” is NOT above the number “2” key. It is “ instead. So yes, when I saw this dell computer with the dell keyboard with all the familiar keys, I thought it was different, for it was printed on the keyboard as “2” and “@”, yet, just as i am typing this message, I realised it was no difference. Ha. Just a random comment.
Yes, for the past 2 days I have been trying in vain to blog something... Ha always problem with the word processor or with accessing the blog itself. Anyway, I've found much cheaper food, thanks to the locals, and am adapting much more to the system. Yes, the system here is really dependent on what you want to do, it is very much like in Singapore, except that you take on abit more responsibilities. Ha went to admit a patient the other day, and presented in rounds. Ha but when it came to correcting and carrying out the plans of management, the consultant passed it to the intern. Oh well, ha. And yes, today the other students were all gone, so I got to do and learn much more, cos I was the only student around. i have not taken so many BP before.
Saw myriad of cases, but its starting to be the same... shall look to the surgery side muhahahaha. Anw, I hope to see and do LP today! :P tt's all about it in neurology... I'm still quite averse to doing procedures, but JL has scrubbed in like a few times. Ha but yes, will do LP ha. i try to “disappear” after the rounds while the interns are doing the blood taking. Then I will try to go back when its time for LP ha. But yes, just be careful lorz. Learnt quite a few local lang and the way they speak. it is Lugandan. Mzungu = foreigner; Weebale = thank you, Kale = you're welcome, Olio Otya (pronounced as 'tia') = how are u feeling today? and if you want someone to do something immediately, you have to say “now now” and not just “now” ha.
SHucks can't see the cursor now on the blog. Shall give it abit more patience and see how it goes. Wonder if this blog is going to get thru again! Anw, have received new news that I have gotten a merit for my ethics test. hmmm wow. didnt know i was that ethical ha. yups guess it was just by fluke. Having to study it during the shiong Obstetrics & Gyne posting was bad!
Baaaah. no more medical stuff first. Shall tell you all what i've done so far... Actually looking forward more to the weekends than anything. Ha cos tt's when i get to play! wooo!
Friday when i first reached, i had to change money... wow i changed like more than 2 million shillings. we both freaked out. that was a thick wad of notes. It was all in 20,000 pieces, so its like 3 to 4 cm thick la! then the driver was quite far away and we didnt know where to hide it. Ha i tried to downplay my anxiety and walked coolly towards the car. anw, yups the weather here is hot but not humid, so u sweat less. but need to put sunscreen. Lots of dust, but yes, the place where i'm staying is on the campus, which is built on a hill, so its slightly cooler and the air is really fresh! just that the city and the roads are abit dusty. on the first day when the local student brought us to the market, we were not used to it, for we were the minority and were getting the stares. but guess now its all ok, feeling more like a superstar than anything ha. And yes, at night its darker, cos the lights aren't as aplenty as in Singapore. So had a bit of adjustment to do.
Had a try of the local food, matoke. which is some starch like thing. Taste ok, similar to rice stuff and the like. yups. They usually eat alot of starch together with the sauce, which can be chicken, beef, fish or even goat. yups It is quite nice la. I'm a big rubbish dump, so yups tt's why i tink i dun really mind. Think the Singapore Lei Cha thingy is the worst dish i've tasted so far hahaha.
went to visit many places. last saturday, went to walk ourselves in the streets, just to get a feel, topped up SIM card etc. Then the honey man, Lesster, a very nice fellow Singaporean who owns bee farms and produces honey in Uganda, brought us around and we enjoyed ourselves. He first brought us to this "Atas" place called Garden City, which is a shopping centre, where we ate nice local food. GOAT meat yes. hahaha in other words mutton. Anw then shopped for maps and bought an african recipe book. Then we followed him to an orphanage, that was set up by the swiss. Too bad we didnt get to go in and see...the security was tight, cos they were afraid ppl will come in to take the children for black magic. But yes, according to him, those ppl only wants children without any defects, so they poke ear holes for them, so that they will not catch them. He made it sound scary... they will decapitate the children they catch. But yes, so children, do go get ur ears poked and u're safe. more reasons for girls to poke ear holes hahahaha
then went to his place, and cos the other 4 of my frens who stayed in his house the previous night (getting ready to go up to the more rural part, Kabale) told him that i could cook very well, so yes, he made me cook for him. Ha cooked gong bao ji ding (the chicken u know) and brinjal w bean sauce and just stir fried the vegetables. Yups. Had fun playing with his 2 sheep (ha kor kor note!) and feeding them with cassia leaves. then he has like 6 huge german shepherds! WoW! Ha, but yes, it was under lock. Had great time talking to him, he was a nice person.
Oh yes, he intro us to this Christian and fellow Singaporean who works here and was previously a missionary, when we said we wanted to go to church. And so our sunday was filled with activity too! went to this church called Covenant Nations Church, according to him was started by the first lady and some powerful ppl. it's a small church, and got to know this Congolese couple there, whose whole family have been killed in the civil strife. prayed for them, and for their newborn. Really an experience. Learnt alot from the sermon, about turning round against the devil instead of letting him attack us. Ha then had nice fried chicken with matoke, then went to his house to use the internet, had some singapore peach tea (wow am still missing it, yes the Pokka one; he had his fren bring it) then went to this nice church function - it sorta like a ceremony for the boys turning 13, saying that they are now adults and hold responsibility to God, etc etc. Their commitment and their maturity, especially in Christ was remarkable! Both of us were impressed and JL wanted to implement it in her youth ministry. I thought it was a good idea too! ha shall try to get photos from her and show u all...
the rest of the days i've spent here's all about sch. yups it has been good, as previously mentioned. k shall stop here. do check updates here again!
It has been good, I have already gotten use to the pace and the life here. And finally I'm on a computer that can access gmail, blog, yahoo. Ok, well, hmmm there seems to have some problems loading the pages again. So hmmm, I shall reserve my comments. And the queer thing about the keyboards here is that it is different from what I usually use. For many of them, the “@” is NOT above the number “2” key. It is “ instead. So yes, when I saw this dell computer with the dell keyboard with all the familiar keys, I thought it was different, for it was printed on the keyboard as “2” and “@”, yet, just as i am typing this message, I realised it was no difference. Ha. Just a random comment.
Yes, for the past 2 days I have been trying in vain to blog something... Ha always problem with the word processor or with accessing the blog itself. Anyway, I've found much cheaper food, thanks to the locals, and am adapting much more to the system. Yes, the system here is really dependent on what you want to do, it is very much like in Singapore, except that you take on abit more responsibilities. Ha went to admit a patient the other day, and presented in rounds. Ha but when it came to correcting and carrying out the plans of management, the consultant passed it to the intern. Oh well, ha. And yes, today the other students were all gone, so I got to do and learn much more, cos I was the only student around. i have not taken so many BP before.
Saw myriad of cases, but its starting to be the same... shall look to the surgery side muhahahaha. Anw, I hope to see and do LP today! :P tt's all about it in neurology... I'm still quite averse to doing procedures, but JL has scrubbed in like a few times. Ha but yes, will do LP ha. i try to “disappear” after the rounds while the interns are doing the blood taking. Then I will try to go back when its time for LP ha. But yes, just be careful lorz. Learnt quite a few local lang and the way they speak. it is Lugandan. Mzungu = foreigner; Weebale = thank you, Kale = you're welcome, Olio Otya (pronounced as 'tia') = how are u feeling today? and if you want someone to do something immediately, you have to say “now now” and not just “now” ha.
SHucks can't see the cursor now on the blog. Shall give it abit more patience and see how it goes. Wonder if this blog is going to get thru again! Anw, have received new news that I have gotten a merit for my ethics test. hmmm wow. didnt know i was that ethical ha. yups guess it was just by fluke. Having to study it during the shiong Obstetrics & Gyne posting was bad!
Baaaah. no more medical stuff first. Shall tell you all what i've done so far... Actually looking forward more to the weekends than anything. Ha cos tt's when i get to play! wooo!
Friday when i first reached, i had to change money... wow i changed like more than 2 million shillings. we both freaked out. that was a thick wad of notes. It was all in 20,000 pieces, so its like 3 to 4 cm thick la! then the driver was quite far away and we didnt know where to hide it. Ha i tried to downplay my anxiety and walked coolly towards the car. anw, yups the weather here is hot but not humid, so u sweat less. but need to put sunscreen. Lots of dust, but yes, the place where i'm staying is on the campus, which is built on a hill, so its slightly cooler and the air is really fresh! just that the city and the roads are abit dusty. on the first day when the local student brought us to the market, we were not used to it, for we were the minority and were getting the stares. but guess now its all ok, feeling more like a superstar than anything ha. And yes, at night its darker, cos the lights aren't as aplenty as in Singapore. So had a bit of adjustment to do.
Had a try of the local food, matoke. which is some starch like thing. Taste ok, similar to rice stuff and the like. yups. They usually eat alot of starch together with the sauce, which can be chicken, beef, fish or even goat. yups It is quite nice la. I'm a big rubbish dump, so yups tt's why i tink i dun really mind. Think the Singapore Lei Cha thingy is the worst dish i've tasted so far hahaha.
went to visit many places. last saturday, went to walk ourselves in the streets, just to get a feel, topped up SIM card etc. Then the honey man, Lesster, a very nice fellow Singaporean who owns bee farms and produces honey in Uganda, brought us around and we enjoyed ourselves. He first brought us to this "Atas" place called Garden City, which is a shopping centre, where we ate nice local food. GOAT meat yes. hahaha in other words mutton. Anw then shopped for maps and bought an african recipe book. Then we followed him to an orphanage, that was set up by the swiss. Too bad we didnt get to go in and see...the security was tight, cos they were afraid ppl will come in to take the children for black magic. But yes, according to him, those ppl only wants children without any defects, so they poke ear holes for them, so that they will not catch them. He made it sound scary... they will decapitate the children they catch. But yes, so children, do go get ur ears poked and u're safe. more reasons for girls to poke ear holes hahahaha
then went to his place, and cos the other 4 of my frens who stayed in his house the previous night (getting ready to go up to the more rural part, Kabale) told him that i could cook very well, so yes, he made me cook for him. Ha cooked gong bao ji ding (the chicken u know) and brinjal w bean sauce and just stir fried the vegetables. Yups. Had fun playing with his 2 sheep (ha kor kor note!) and feeding them with cassia leaves. then he has like 6 huge german shepherds! WoW! Ha, but yes, it was under lock. Had great time talking to him, he was a nice person.
Oh yes, he intro us to this Christian and fellow Singaporean who works here and was previously a missionary, when we said we wanted to go to church. And so our sunday was filled with activity too! went to this church called Covenant Nations Church, according to him was started by the first lady and some powerful ppl. it's a small church, and got to know this Congolese couple there, whose whole family have been killed in the civil strife. prayed for them, and for their newborn. Really an experience. Learnt alot from the sermon, about turning round against the devil instead of letting him attack us. Ha then had nice fried chicken with matoke, then went to his house to use the internet, had some singapore peach tea (wow am still missing it, yes the Pokka one; he had his fren bring it) then went to this nice church function - it sorta like a ceremony for the boys turning 13, saying that they are now adults and hold responsibility to God, etc etc. Their commitment and their maturity, especially in Christ was remarkable! Both of us were impressed and JL wanted to implement it in her youth ministry. I thought it was a good idea too! ha shall try to get photos from her and show u all...
the rest of the days i've spent here's all about sch. yups it has been good, as previously mentioned. k shall stop here. do check updates here again!
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Uganda - Pearl of Africa
Finally i have access to the internet. Will just drop a quick note here.
I have reached Uganda safely and thank you all for all the well wishes! Will take care of myself here. These few days have been good, almost like having a tour of Kampala, thanks to the great hospitality of fellow Singaporeans who are living and working in Uganda (there are only 14 of them in total) Have met only a few of them, not all. But yes, it was really fortunate to have them take us around, if not we would be really lost.
The culture here is very much different and it so happens that we are the minority. Read: bad reputation of chinese in Uganda, cos of the way the Chinese ppl do their businesses in Uganda. Yes, so we have been quite careful all the way, even while walking in the streets. But yes, we are able to get around fairly ok, mostly walking cos the public transport is really not that safe actually.
Shall post my travel diary when I am done with it. At least, when I have proper access to Internet. Yups, so just wanna leave a note and wish all well. Take care of yourselves and we shall meet again in 2 months' time.
Yes, i know God will be ahead. So no fear. Will hang in there! :P
I have reached Uganda safely and thank you all for all the well wishes! Will take care of myself here. These few days have been good, almost like having a tour of Kampala, thanks to the great hospitality of fellow Singaporeans who are living and working in Uganda (there are only 14 of them in total) Have met only a few of them, not all. But yes, it was really fortunate to have them take us around, if not we would be really lost.
The culture here is very much different and it so happens that we are the minority. Read: bad reputation of chinese in Uganda, cos of the way the Chinese ppl do their businesses in Uganda. Yes, so we have been quite careful all the way, even while walking in the streets. But yes, we are able to get around fairly ok, mostly walking cos the public transport is really not that safe actually.
Shall post my travel diary when I am done with it. At least, when I have proper access to Internet. Yups, so just wanna leave a note and wish all well. Take care of yourselves and we shall meet again in 2 months' time.
Yes, i know God will be ahead. So no fear. Will hang in there! :P
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