Our final days in Mbarara flew by, we made it into round again on our patients and were lucky to have Marvin join us for a final review of the plan. He again expressed his thanks and we made arrangements for me to send some orthopaedic surgical textbooks his way for the Mbarara residents. We also settled up with the private ward – one of the previous teams patients Ken had had issues maintaining adequate blood oxygenation and we needed him more closely monitored in the private ward.
Unfortunately, Uganda has a two-tiered healthcare system and requires cash payment for closer monitoring. We took care of the family’s bill and paused for a couple of final photos of the hospital. Our jobs done for now, we said our goodbyes to the patients and the staff. With a final glance back we boarded the bus and headed back to the hotel.
We spent the rest of the day preparing. We had our final breakfast the following morning. We all agreed that though breakfast was pretty decent, none of us felt the need to have potatoes and onions anytime in the near future for breakfast. We loaded up on the bus for another organ-rattling drive through the Ugandan countryside. We took time to stop at the equator and shoot a couple of photos on either side of the hemisphere. Having fulfilled our mandatory equatorial tourist obligations we climbed aboard the bus with souvenirs and a greater appreciation for the Ugandan skill at bargaining. Our final stop before the airport was the Kyber Pass. This little gem of an Indian restaurant has come to be famous amongst the spine mission teams with Brian and Sherron singing their praises about the best Indian food either person had ever had. I entered optimistic but doubtful, I had witnessed the intestinal havoc Ugandan Indian cuisine had reeked on my team members.
Brian et al could not have been more right, no words can describe how delicious this meal was – who knew that Kampala was the destination spot for delicious Indian food. It was a great way to conclude the trip and we all left with our bellies full ready for 22 hours of flight time.
We arrived at the airport and submitted ourselves to three separate personal searches by the heavily armed airport security. We made our way through the rain and arrived in the airport terminal just in time for another power outage – a occurrence that is so regular that I haven’t even mentioned it in previous blog entries as it is a given daily event. We stopped for a final photo and exchanged hugs and contact info.
We arrived at the airport and submitted ourselves to three separate personal searches by the heavily armed airport security. We made our way through the rain and arrived in the airport terminal just in time for another power outage – a occurrence that is so regular that I haven’t even mentioned it in previous blog entries as it is a given daily event. We stopped for a final photo and exchanged hugs and contact info.
We headed to our separate seats on the plane, tired, well-fed, and deeply grateful for the experience. Throughout this spine mission odyssey we had experienced so much and I have searched for a good way to summarize it for the blog. The truth is that there is no way I can encapsulate it all. I thought I had some idea of what I would see and I now realize you can’t really understand it until you experience it. The desperate need for medical care cannot be overstated. We saw tremendous tragedy and people die of injuries that are easily treated in the first world. We also saw the tremendous beauty and pride of Uganda and it’s people. These are a people who know what hard work and gratitude truly are and you can’t help but be affected by it. So we depart, each of us grateful for the experiences we had and people we met. We also depart committed to returning and hopefully bringing the ethos of spine mission Uganda to our own everyday lives.
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