Day 3: "I Feel Like...Chicken Tonight"

Outside our new home for the week, Nufu House

Our team with the Luis, Chairman of the Makerere Dental Department, and our Ugandan advisor, Annet

We awoke for our first day at the Health Science campus of Makerere University. Little did we know we’d end up walking 8 miles by the end of the day thanks to all the “shortcuts”. There we met the Dean of the Health Science Program, President of the Uganda Dental Association (UDA), the Chairman of the Dental Department, as well as numerous other faculty and staff. We discussed the issues facing dental care in Uganda and our efforts in upcoming collaboration with the UDA and Makerere in Kakooge. We then went to the Ministry of Health to meet various staff and made our way with growling tummies to one of the campus eateries, “The Good Samaritan”. YUM! Another delicious traditional Ugandan meal. Our hostess from the Ugandan dental school took us around the dental clinics and Mulago Hospital where we found out that the dental students have to pay for ALL of their own supplies (x-rays included)! Mulago Hospital is one of the largest public hospitals in Uganda and people travel from all over the country to receive treatment. So as you can imagine, the hospital stays very busy.

Makerere University Dental Clinic

On our way to the grocery store to grab some more water and snackies, Bianca took a tumble. And by tumble I mean, sliding down a red, dirt hill feet first, then rolled over onto what she thought was trash. Guess what!?! It was actually two children covered by a blanket. Bianca screamed, “Oh my gosh, it’s a child!” She got up remorseful, but the screams and howls from the child expressed through the salty water droplets rolling down his cheeks drowned out her many apologies. Leilah quickly grabbed her and ran towards the rest of the group. The kiddo was okay, but I think just a little shocked or emotionally scarred. For dinner we all felt like eating chicken, so we went to “I Feel Like…Chicken Tonight”, basically the Ugandan Bojangles. Fanta, fried chicken and chips filled us up and the ketchup tasted like sweet n’ sour sauce from McDonald’s. It was another dinner full of laughs and good times with our wonderful Ugandan host, Sam. We ended the night once again in our mosquito netted/princess canopy beds.

The Ugandan Bojangles