10th

Back in Kampala, Edge House! Ha only after you’ve gone for the rural rotation then you’d appreciate the things which you took for granted. Luckily we decided to go for the rural rotation last instead of first, so we were exposed to a more of Uganda as the time went by and so there was no cultural shock. Ha.but yes, would have loved the opportunity to stay in the village. But we were only there for one day, for outreach.

So yes, the highlight of the week that has passed was that we took the Monday off to go outreach with the Korean missionary, called Missionary L. Ha but I preferred to call him Dr Lim. We went to this ? island (not sure if it has a name ha) in the middle of Lake Victoria for outreach. Apparently, Dr Lim has already been to this village for a few times to provide free medical care, often going with the Korean church. So on this trip there was Korean pastor, Korean elder, Korean Dr, Singaporean students, Ugandans (1 intern, 2 University Bible Fellowship people) all on the trip! Ha it was a wonderful experience. Shall describe what we’ve done later…

SUNDAY

so yups before using internet, had a great lunch at this place called Javas. Ha is atas restaurant. So yups here's the pic:

Cappuccino


and i ate this char grilled lamb! so nice



This is in stark contrast to the local food i eat everyday (ha the samosas in the background is already a luxury) and yes greens is a luxury



And yups, so shall show you where i've been to these 2 weeks. nice photo by JL's panoramic function on camera. Mine does not have. hahahha Wakiso health centre at busiro east district



After we left the internet café, we decided to go back to Edge House. On our way back we saw the sign for the museum in the University. So finally we’re going to the museum! hahaha Why finally? cos during our stay in the university, we wanted to go there, but could not find it and missed the exhibition! It was deemed by the Bradt guidebook as an attraction ha but we asked around and apparently the students there do not know it exists! ha. Hmmm but when we went there we were a tad too late, cos it closed 15 mins earlier. Sigh but there were many nice exhibits around there, presumably all by their school of fine arts students. So yups, we took many photos!



and



Later, on the pretext of giving photos, we sneaked back to Edge House to take a bath at our nice nice toilet. there was no one so we sneaked back in hahahaha it was real fun! Ha and we felt clean. WOW!

we stayed over at the Dr L’s house. We had a very very full dinner. Nice traditional Korean food!!! There was this ____ (erhm, I conveniently forgot the name, was busy eating… heh mabbe look at JL’s blog she’d have it) where you wrap the lettuce with bean sauce and stewed beef! *slurp* so nice! Then there was the traditional soup, used chopsticks and spoons (first time in Uganda) that look like the ones in Da Chang Jin (the Korean drama) and lotsa greens and late lotsa raw green chilli!! Miss them so much! ha show you the photo ah..



Then helped prepare the medical supplies, looked around in his clinic, slept in their children’s room, cos 2 of their 3 children are in Kenya, studying at an International School for missionaries’ children. Hmmm Interestingly, their 3rd son is more African then Korean! Ha he prefers African food more than Korean (hmmm, bad choice my dear… Korean food has chilli which is so so nice!!!!)

We set off at 6.30am, driving to Jinja for about 1plus hr (yes, where we’re planning to go, probably white water rafting?) then boarded a BOAT haha like sampan, but there’s motor and cruised Lake Victoria for 2 plus hours. Throughout the trip I did not sleep much cos I was busy taking photos of the nice nice scenery! Heh and yes, on the way back caught a nice nice sunset.

Ha yups, and the village was really interesting, it was like those village houses we saw at the museum come alive! Ha, took some photos. Didn’t see much patients, cos we were in charge of the dispensary, which was what we did in Batam. ha really think God made all the experiences for a reason.

The village was my idea of rural medicine! Ha the fields full of crops, village houses built from straw and mud and wood, no electricity, some water, no toilets… (well there is! army style heh) Was quite high when I went there. Won’t mind if I could stay there. ha the environment was so nice, the air was fresh! Lotsa maize etc. Really enjoyed myself.

Hmmm no preaching or giving out of bibles, but yes, I loved it. And definitely, Dr L is really admirable. He was the one who helped build the health centre where we worked at. yes, albeit just a small single storey house with say 3 rooms, it was already the most modern building there. There was bricks and cement. (yes, he transported more cement on our trip there). He started building this since years ago. Currently, according to him, there is a nurse who works there. And all the medical supplies and the building? Built from his own salary from his clinic in UBF. And he charges each consultation only 10000 shillings (like 9 plus SGD) each patient, half of what the other specialists in Uganda charges, albeit having attained a PhD in paediatrics. wow. And you can see how the villagers respected him. Prepared a meal, helped with all the carrying (the cement, medical supplies and all) and lotsa maize as souvenirs.

The return journey was a stormy one. Ha so they had to get us life jackets, but yups, the boat was swaying in full force, cos the waves were huge and the boat was just a sampan ha. But it was an interesting experience. And yes, was they were in full confidence that we can sail. Ha reminds me of the scene where Jesus and His disciples were on the sea. Ha. Dunno why, but had peace in my heart even though the boat was swaying. Just having confidence in Him.

Yet, I know I have failed Him, always falling short, yielding to temptation and sin. Sigh. but no, will try my best, yes try my best to live a life that He wants me to. Free from bondage. Free. But yes, my actions have shown that He is still not my first and foremost priority in life, which is bad! Sigh. I am still more self loving than God loving. Hmmm change, change change! Naughty boy must become good boy! Ha.

Hmmm yups, looking at these missionaries, there is something that tugs my heart. And yes, such is the faith of the missionaries. Asked the pastor why Uganda? He just shrugs and point up there. Am awed by the faith. Am hoping that my faith is like that. Will I be like that?

Food for thought.

Anyway, the rest of the week was mundane hahaha cos it’s just running clinics on our own. Just like GPs, and lotsa question marks cos like 80% speak Luganda, so if we do not have a translator, its CHAM.

Ha yups, back at Edge house, really comfortable, at least there is running water. Has not stopped. And throughout these 2 months, it really struck me that if there was any natural disasters around in the world near Singapore, Singapore will just go downhill from our current state. Why? Cos we depend much on others for food, unlike like Uganda, where if the whole world is having war, they’d still survive, cos they live very basically. Water from the lakes, food etc all local produce. Hmmm, so many Singaporean students (heh me lah) have been taught in geography classes etc that we are well protected from all the natural disasters. True, but you never know how the world can change. And we are not immune. Any earth quake that strikes the water pipes from Indonesia or bird flu hitting the region we’d be out of water, or food. How to survive? Hmmm I’m sure our leaders have contingency plans. Ha, if not, they better start planning! Ha seeing Myanmar and China, we know more disasters are to come… but yes, we place our confidence in Him.
Have not cooked any meals for the past 2 weeks. Ha feel very unhealthy always having to eat out, so yups, will cook some lunch today! muhahahaha my fave hobby!

But yes, will try to post some more photos!

NEXT WEEK – FUNFILLED WEEK AHEAD!

So having completed the serious business that is all the medical studies in Uganda, we are now back to the fun business! Ha am so looking forward to touring to Uganda. So here’s our plan:

Monday – Lesster and us drive off to Kabale, Kisiizi hospital to pick up the other 4 students. We’re staying there for the night to see what their life is like.
Tuesday, - leave Kisiizi, to Queen Elizabeth Park! We’re staying at a resort and L’s fren is there so we get special price!
Wednesday – Game drive
Thurs – bee farm, bat caves etc
Fri, Sat – Jinja ? White water rafting? hahahaha
Sun – Kampala. Cornerstone church?
Mon, Tues – Entebbe, fly to HK
Wed – reach HK in the evening.
Thurs – Start HK tour… shall look at the itinery my fren planned for us!!!! muhahahaha!

kk gg to cook now!!!! hungry!!!!

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look at the next post for the village photos! :P