Crazy 8s is International

We have all been very busy trying to get settled into our practicums. Each day I am feeling more and more comfortable in my new environment. Last week at the Fellowship we had a big monthly general meeting. There were around 60 members that arrived. There was more wonderful singing and dancing as well as some important business that was attended to.
I have spent a lot of time socializing and chatting with the members of USF as well as the in-patients and their family members. I have been surprised at how many people are able to speak English with me. I have met so many different types of people-soldiers, students, mothers, farmers, teachers, and so many more. It has been great to hear people's stories, but also talk about subjects unrelated to their illness. I find myself feeling frustrated though. The hospital does not have access to new medication so many patients are experiencing debilitating side effects from older medication. I know that the mental health workers are doing the best with the resources they have, but it is difficult to witness the level of care that they receive when I am aware of the level of care that is available in Canada. There is a thirty bed psychiatric ward that is being built at the hospital. In the mean time, the patients and their caretakers are crammed into a tiny room with very few beds and many people are forced to sleep on the floor.
On a lighter note, I discovered today that the card game ‘Crazy 8s’ is played in Uganda. I have been able to interact with many more people now that I carry around a deck of cards! Tomorrow is National Epilepsy Day so there will be a big meeting and celebration at the Fellowship. Epilepsy is treated as a mental illness as the Masaka Hospital. Some days a majority of the people I interact with are there because they are seeking treatment for their epilepsy. National Epilepsy Day helps to raise awareness about Epilepsy and break down certain stigmatizing attitudes—such as the belief that Epilepsy is contagious.

We had a nice weekend in Kampala visiting a former Douglas College student who now resides there with her husband and many many children that they take care of. The children that I have met in Uganda, and there have been very many, have been so sweet, well behaved, grateful, respectful and…. hardworking!! I woke up on Saturday morning to a nine year old changing her baby brother’s diaper, and a six year old sweeping the backyard. The children were very shy around us but on Saturday night we brought out our drums and began drumming and dancing with them. Music and dance is in their blood. The children were teaching us djembe beats and how to dance traditionally. They came out of their shells in no time. It was very funny.
It was nice to be in the city—although I think we all have come home to Masaka very grateful that we have settled here and not the capital.--K