Deliveries, Dinner and Dancing

Last night Cook Medical (a biotech company that has developed a plug that is being used here, in Mbarara, for the first time to repair fistulas) invited the entire OB/GYN department of Mbarara University Hospital and the visiting UCLA team, out for a night of dinner and dancing to celebrate the success of the fistula camp. Kari and I sat at a table with a lively group of nurses (sisters) and had a great time socializing in a non-work environment. I always feel like you get to see an entirely different side of people when the uniform comes off (and the beer and wine comes out). At the end of dinner, someone turned the music up, and the entire staff hit the dance floor...we even had a congo line going at one point!

On a more professional note, Kari and I have been splitting our time between learning to deliver babies with the Ugandan midwives and working on a project to improve neonatal resuscitation outcomes. We started by holding an inservice in NRP with the nurses (complete with samosas and chipatti as bribary for attending...just like American product reps who scour the UCLA halls with bags of candy to lure us into listening to insturctions on how to use a new $15 product that holds a foley bag to a patient's leg...seems completley ridiculous now, that we would spend money on a fancy gaget when tape has never failed to work...I'm sure the nurses here would be more than happy to have an endless supply of tape, or as they call it, "strapping"). After talking with the nurses about their concerns and wishes to improve the resuscitations, we learned that the primary barrier to succes (that they could identify) is a lack of available support/help during a resuscitation. Since there seem to be at least 4 0r 5 medical students in the delivery ward at most times, we decided to try and train the medical students in NRP as well. After a weekend off (tracking gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forrest...amazing! the subject for an entire post of its own), we taught a two hour NRP class for the medical students, complete with mock code scenarios. Today we are back on the delivery ward, learning delivery skills from those same nurses and medical students.

More later from Mbarara!

Lisa

Mbarara

After an eventful 6 hours on the bus (after it broke down three times the engine was jerry-rigged with a rope--yes, a rope, only.) we made it from Entebbe to Mbarara. We arrived here on Sunday afternoon, in time to get situated and make the best guacamole I've ever eaten (seriously, the avocados here are amazingly good). Monday morning we dragged our three 50 lbs bags across the street to the hospital to give out supplies. We met with Hope, the head nurse on the Labor and delivery/Maternity ward, so that she could help us determine where the supplies would be most useful/where to store everything.

So far, we have been especially excited to have the dopplers working (we brought 2 new ones that were purchased with donated money, and were also able to fix the doppler that Kelly Jensen (now Watson!) brought last time---apparently the battery had died and that is why it wasn't being used. Luckly we had packed a bag full of replacement batteries). We've also been able to use the reusable ambu bag to recusitate 2 babies thus far.

The other supplies have been greatly appreciated (especially the gloves and hand sanitizer) by the nurses, doctors, and medical students. At the same time, Kari and I have been learning to do things the Ugandan way: starting IVs with gloves for turniquets, cutting umbilical cords with razor blades, deep suctioning with a bulb syringe, baging with room air when there is no oxygen, working through power outages (being laughed at while using a headlamp to start an IV in the dark).

We have been dividing our time between helping out/learning on the delivery ward and working on improvement projects (we're currently trying to work with one of the anesthesiologists to set up a recusitation table in the delivery ward). Yesterday we got the chance to teach a class at the nursing school too...so we've sort of been all over the place, but we've been learing a lot and meeting super friendly nurses and doctors with great stories all along the way.

I'll leave you with one of the two words I've learned in Runyankole:

Agandi

(it actually means "how are you", but I have no idea how to say goodbye, or until next time, or peace out, so Agandi will have to do. In case you were wondering the other word I know is Sindica, which means "push" (it might be the most helpful word in our field)

Entebbe

We have arrived in Entebbe!! So excited to be back with my Ugandan friends at the Marphies Hotel. All of our supplies made it here...after a day of relaxation, we will head with the supplies to Mbarara. More later....

Lisa

Packing

We are leaving LAX bright and early tomorrow (woohoooo!)...so our job now is to organize and pack all of these wonderful supplies.

Thanks again to everyone who donated!

I will be posting updates from Mbarara, so check back!

Lisa

Supplies are here!

The women of the world need our help

Check out this article that clearly illustrates the global disparity of women's reproductive healthcare:

"Crisis in the Operating Room"

Countdown begins!

We will be leaving LA in 5 days and I am SO excited to return to Uganda!

First of all, a thousand thank yous to everyone that has donated money to support our mission to bring high quality, sustainable, and very much needed supplies to the mothers and babies of Mbarara!

With all of your generous contributions we were able to place an order that includes 2 new dopplers (used for fetal monitoring during labor), a reusable self-inflating neonatal ambu bag (which I believe will really make a difference in the ability to resuscitate newborns who are not born vigorously crying), sutures (for surgical procedures/normal repairs), surgical blades and needle drivers, and some smaller supplies (gloves, catheters, tourniquets, etc). We will also be bringing 2 large duffle bags of neonatal supplies donated by the L&D and NICU units at UCLA.

I am so thankful to have such a wonderfully supportive group of friends and family! This trip is going to be infinitely more successful because of your generosity!

I will be posting updates from Mbarara, so that you all can see first-hand the results of your donations! Please check the blog for new entries.

I can't thank you all enough for your continued support!

In case anyone is wondering, we are planning to purchase more supplies upon arrival in Mbarara (especially antibiotics), so it is not too late to donate for this particular trip.