I have arrived!!

Wow! Where to start?
Well, I am here safe and sound! The journey all went really smoothly, all to plan and I even got my bags at the end, Bonus! Then when I got to Entebbe a driver from the hospital was there to meet me. The drive was just over 3 hours long. To begin with I was just looking at everything in every direction I could! The driver was able to chat a wee bit in English which was nice. After a while my eyes kept closing no matter how much I wanted to see everything we went by!
In some ways Africa is just kind of like I imagined!! And in other ways I just couldn’t imagine it till I got here!
When we were driving along there was loads of people at the sides of the roads and such a range of different kinds of buildings made of all sorts of materials from wood shacks to brick buildings. The most random assortment of things were being transported on bicycles and Bodas (what they call their motorbikes) i.e whole families, more bananas than you have ever seen before all piled on, handmade wooden stools and really long sticks! I think I’ve seen more piled on one Boda than we would attempt in some cars!! It was pretty hot when I arrived but thankfully with the windows open in the car it wasn’t too bad! In the city the roads were crazy; cars in all directions, Bodas and cyclists just nipping in and out and people in among it all just trying to sell things and crossing the roads so bravely in front of all this mayhem!!
The actual roads were a lot better than I thought they would be! (Though that might have been helped by the comparison a bit of offroading in a Landrover on a dirt track at home on Saturday!) So most of the time we could have the windows open, then every now and then they would be shut and hot air from the air conditioning would be coming out full blast while we drove through dust clouds for a while. The roads near Kiwoko are a lot worse as it really is in the middle of nowhere. There is a wee village of Kiwoko which has build up while the hospital has been here.
So the driver dropped me off at the guest house and I was just starting to wonder what I should do next when Sarah appeared at my side!! So good to see her!  She’s so settled in and I feel like I’ve been transported to a completely different world!!
We had lunch which was prepared by the two ladies who work here which was lovely and then I got shown around by Denise who is from Northern Ireland and lives here with her family. The hospital is hard to describe, maybe a bit bigger than I expected but that’s probably just because of the various different buildings, not the actual size. A lot of the wards are quite cramped. There is different buildings for Maternity, Rehab, Men, Women, Kids, a seperate T.B one etc and then there is a lot of staff accommodation around the hospital and the guest house where me, Sarah and two other medic students are staying at the moment ...I think it’ll take a few days for me to find my feet and where all these things are!
Placement wise, I’m a bit unsure about it all really! It seemed really organised when I got emails with a placement handbook and information etc but I now realise that was from the UK physio who worked here for 8 years or so setting up the physio department and who has just left not long ago! So yeah, there are two Ugandan physios both guys. I’ve only met one of them and all he said was ‘Hello’. Apparently they are both quite relaxed, so I can see this being a wee bit frustrating, especially as I feel like there is so much I don’t know about physio, nevermind what or how they do it here!
Culture wise it is just all sooooo different! I reckon I could stay here for years and still just not understand African way of life or their mindset on various things! I’ve been getting stories and various scenarios from the other students in the guesthouse, but I’m sure I’ll face my own misunderstandings/culture differences soon enough!
I am basically free to do whatever until I start working Monday morning.
We had a relaxing morning today, we’ve just been for a walk around the hospital and through the village and now I’m updating you all! I think we’re heading in to a market later in Luweero which’ll be about 20minutes or so away by Matattu (their taxi/minibuses) which’ll be good to go and see. Tomorrow I’ll head to one of the churches round here, which I’m sure will be a little different to either LBC or Carrubbers!!

Africa here I come!

Bags packed and ready to go! At least I hope so anyway!


So tomorrow I start my journey and by Friday morning I will be in Uganda! Very excited! :)

Just a tad worried about coping with the heat though... i thought Edinburgh felt pretty warm today coming from Shetland, so might take a bit of getting used to the warmer climes!!

I think I'm as ready as I will be! It feels a bit surreal, I'll just have to see what it's like when I get there!

It's amazing to know although I'm travelling on my own, I'm never really alone. I know God doesn't promise safety, or that everything will go to plan, but he does promise that he will be with me every step of the way and that he will strengthen me for whatever I may face and i know through whatever circumstances he can shape me into who he wants me to be.

Isaiah 41 v 10 'Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.'

Philippians 1 v 6 ' he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion'

I'd better get off for a good nights sleep, long day tomorrow!


Next update from Uganda!! :)

Eilidh

1 week to go!!

So, a week today I head off! I can't believe it has come round this quick!

I just thought I would update you all with travel plans before I go:

Tues 25th June I leave Shetland, I then have a couple of days to pack my bag before I leave Edinburgh on the 27th.

All being well, I will fly Edinburgh to London Heathrow in the afternoon and then I'll leave London at 8pm, arriving in Nairobi at 6.30am on Fri morning before flying to Kampala and arriving there just after 9am.

I will be picked up there by someone from the hospital and we'll head to Kiwoko which is a 2-3 hour drive away.

I've been in touch with my friend Sarah who is already at Kiwoko hospital and she's really enjoying it, so can't wait to go join her and see what it'll be like for myself!!

I'm really looking forward to finding out what physiotherapy is like in Africa, I'm certainly expecting it to be very different to any of my placements here. I've been trying to find out a bit about the culture and various conditions that might be quite common there but I think I'll just have to be ready to learn plenty about it all once I get there!

Thanks so much for all your prayers! I feel like I'm as prepared as I'm going to be until I get to Edinburgh where most of my stuff is to pack!

Hello!

I've decided to try out a blog for keeping in touch with everyone while I'm away, I was going to just send prayer updates via email but I'm going to give this a go!!

I can send the link for this to the email addresses people have already given me, so if anyone can't make sense of the blog I can always send you email updates as planned!

Prayer Letter

 As many of you know I’m off to Uganda for a good bit of my Summer holidays. I would really appreciate it if you would support me with your prayers! I’m away from the 27th June - 20th August in a Missionary hospital called Kiwoko Hospital which is in the Luwero District of Uganda.

I will be doing a voluntary placement there as a student Physiotherapist. As well as helping out medically, there will be the opportunity for me to get involved in different ministries such as Bible studies, kids work, sports, Sunday School and Outreach visits with the hospital ‘Mission Team’. I’m not exactly sure what to expect but I know that it will be completely different to any of the placements I have done in the NHS here, so there will be a lot for me to learn!

Prayer Points:

-For my walk with God - to know him more and that I would fully rely on him

-Opportunities to share the gospel

-That God would teach me what I need to learn through this experience

-Safety when travelling

-Culture – that I would be able to learn about their culture and won’t offend!

-That I would be ready to learn about healthcare there and will be a help rather than a hindrance while I’m there!

-Wisdom for time management: spending time with God and reading the Bible, building relationships with the people I meet, getting enough rest so I can work hard, and knowing how much extras I can fit in!

-Also that I will cope with the heat and bugs and stuff!!

Here’s a link to their website where you can find out more about the hospital and get an idea of what I’ll be doing there:  http://www.kiwokohospital.org/

They also have a facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/kiwokohospital?fref=ts