Fairwell Tororo...last day of medical school ever!!

So today is our last day in Tororo. I have come to really enjoy this small sized city/town. When I first arrived, I learned very quickly that it did not take long to see the whole town. There is one main round about and a few streets that come off that. With only a few true “roads” the city then branches off to many communities off dirt roads/paths. I would have loved to see Tororo during its hay day in the 1950’s 60’s while Uganda was still a British protectorate. From my observations and talking to people it appears that Tororo was a busy business center back then, which is represented by nearly every building in the city center being built during this time. However, not much in regards to building or repairs has been done since then. The majority of the buildings are run down with windows blown out. In no way though does this reflect on the nature of the people, everyone hear has greeted us with open arms saying “you are welcome.” As you walk around Tororo, from the distance, you can see the roof tops of temples and if you follow the sounds of prayers 5 times a day, you can see the masques, and the muslim influence on the community. It has been great to be in a town where I don’t have to worry about dying while crossing the road. We have met so many people during our time here, that often I will walk down the road and hear my name called, but I can’t see from where, someone passing in a car must have met me along the way. To run into friendly familiar faces has been great.

Today being our last day here in Tororo, makes it also my last day of medical school!!! Lisa and I are going to celebrate tonight with Dr. Welishe by having a beer….or two. Today we traveled to Kiyeyi, a health center level 3 a 1 hr drive from Tororo on a dirt 4WD only road. This and smaller health centers is where the majority of Ugandians really receive there care. When we arrived, there were patients sitting outside on the concrete steps, waiting for the nurse who staffs the health center to arrive. We were able to tour the grounds. Dr. Welishe had already informed us that this health center needed a lot of work. Apparently 2 American women donated 10K dollars a few years ago to go towards an electric water pump so that it would have running water, electricity, fumigating to get rid of the hundreds of bats that set up home in various buildings, repairing the roofs that blew off in a rain storm, ect. Of the 10K dollars, 2K has been spent, and the other 8K has “disappeared” in the university deans office where it was donated too, basically none of the repairs have been completed. The water source is a hand pump 50 meteres from the health center, and over 300 m from where all the staff live. The maternity ward that used to deliver all the local mothers and have 2 midwives, lost its roof 3 years ago, and they have since not been able to repair it. The walls are crumbling under the amazing African rain storms and domesticated animals roam through where children used to be delivered. With out a maternity ward, the midwives have long since left, and local pregnant women usually deliver with traditional attendants (no formal training) or must travel to Tororo or a health center 4 that is closer, but the doctor is often in Tororo working at his private job.

As we rounded the corner, we ran into 5 2nd year medical students that were living on the grounds during their 6 week “COBES” rotation that aims to put medical students in the more rural environment to encourage them to practice there when they graduate. However, they were staying in bat infested housing, with no running water or electricity, with the nearest trading post 2 km away that they had to walk too, and that had very expensive prices. It was nearly unanimous that this experience was not going to encourage them to come back to the rural setting.

So I have seen the health care in Uganda, from the epicenter in Kampala, Mulago Hospital, to the smaller health care units that you can only get to by 4WD roads. This experience has only further confirmed that I want to do some international work during my career. What that will eventually entail? Stay tuned 

Crystal