Uganda Public Health Intersession 2020

Malnutrition: In a Land Plentiful of Food?  By: Nicolas Cruz, Flavia Nalugya, Veena Thamilselvan              In a country plentiful with food and subsistence farming, it is surprising to find that many children suffer from malnutrition. After visiting different hospitals and living with a homestay family in Rakai, we have come to build upon our knowledge of nutritional intake in rural and urban communities, along with administrative and cultural factors that affect malnutrition.  During our time at Kalisizo Hospital, we had the opportunity to meet a nutritionist who educated us about the several barriers that prevent Ugandans from properly eating healthy and nutritious foods, these include: economic, cultural, and regional difficulties. Firstly, the nutritionist illustrated that eating healthy foods and having a balanced diet is not a priority of most citizens. She explained that the optimal diet in Uganda includes: a protein, carbohydrate, and vegetables. A sample meal of

Battling Malaria and Childhood Illness in Uganda: Our Experiences Aditya Bhave, Han Zhang, Robert Walyaula Hello! Over the past few weeks, we have spent much time learning about the public health issues that surround malaria and childhood illnesses. This blog post details our journey on how we answered pertinent public health questions about our topic. Our initial dive into this area started in the rural district of Rakai, where we visited Kalisizo Hospital and met Dr. Suliaman and Dr. Patrick. They were the ones on the front lines of the battle against malaria and we learned much as they took us on a tour of the pediatric ward of the hospital. The doctors told us of how in resource-limited hospitals such as the one in Kalisizo, the medical staff took the Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) approach towards their patients. The idea of this approach, according to Dr. Suliaman was to “use the senses in order to diagnose and cover a wide variety of conditions.”

Decoding WASH: from water to hygiene and sanitation in Rakai Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) falls under the sixth development goal as set forth by the United Nations to assure equal access to clean water and sanitation. The WASH team had the opportunity to meet with the National Water Service, the health inspector for the hospital in Kalisizo, and a town health inspector in Rakai to inquire about the real-time processes and problems faced in each aspect of WASH. From spring to tap The National Water Service (NWS) oversees many locations spread throughout districts in Uganda and is responsible for water treatment and sewage management. Boreholes are placed into underground water springs in order to tap into natural water sources. Pumps connected to the boreholes transport water from springs into collections of unprocessed water known as sumps which contain small stones to filter out any dirt/bacteria from the water. Water from the sumps is pumped into dosers, which he

Defining and Exploring Maternal Healthcare in Uganda By: Courtney Harrington, Mackenzie Simon-Collins, Suzan Nakalawa Hello from Lake Mburo National Park! We are the maternal health group. In this blog post we will tell you information we have learned on our topic in the two weeks we have spent in Uganda so far.   Our first maternal health site visit took place at Kalisizo Hospital. First, we interviewed the head midwife Jennifer, who told us about the ward. We first learned how to use a partogram--a paper chart used to monitor the progress of the labor and the health of the mother and child. Mrs. Jennifer told us major risk factors for mothers--first-time births, multiples (twins and triplets), previous scarring, and mothers with more than four previous children. We learned that cesarean sections often cause complications like infections due to poor wound care. Mothers often stay for three or fewer days after their cesarean section, whereas the recommended post-surgery sta

The Incurable (?) Disease: Learning more about HIV/AIDS in Uganda. By: Georgia Parsons, Prisca Nakayenga and Tiffany Zeng Our study about HIV began when we traveled to Rakai on 9 th , January, 2020. This is the district where the case with HIV was first detected in an area called Kasensero. A lot of research has been carried out in Rakai (Rakai community cohort study) run by the Rakai Health Science Program (RHSP).   During our stay, we learned on the prevalence of HIV; known to have been high and deadly in the past years but with the programs like RHSP, TASO, DREAMS and AHF, HIV has greatly reduced. Such programs have educated communities about HIV testing, safe male circumcision, and safe sex practices. Among those practices, condom use is emphasized and supported. The programs also ensure the presence and use of ART’s for the positive patients. On Monday, we had the opportunity to meet with Irene, a Uganda CARES team member at Kalisizo Hospital. We spoke with her about t

Sophia, Chantal, and Gerald Met with dancing, good food, and a wonderful cause, we were so excited that the Training of Rural Women in Uganda (TORUWU) got to give us our first official welcome into the country.  TORUWU stands up on three themes: education, health, and income generation. Their primary focus is to economically empowering rural women in Uganda by providing different skills training so as to be able to sustain their families and themselves. These economic activities like wine making, tailoring, craft work, mushroom growing, etc. help woman sustain their vulnerable children in aspects of health and education. TORUWU also has a primary school in their premises that serves about 400 children, and their main heath service is providing physical therapy for 35 community children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities. These children are identified through peer assessments of homes, but unfortunately, in Uganda disabled children are often seen as a curse and hidden fro

Every year, to thank the community for hosting us in Rakai, we make a structural contribution. This year, the community asked us to provide a pit latrine at the Malete Primary School. Together with community members, we painted messages from each of our six study themes for all to see as they pass by the school or enter the latrine. Nutrition AND Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Orphans and vulnerable children HIV Maternal Health This was truly a community affair, and we gathered for a group photo to commemorate the project's completion.

Our journey to the home stay included a brief visit to the Equator. Here is a photo of the ladies in the program gathered together. Once we arrived in Kalisizo, we got a course in local culture from Ivan, one of our hosts from the community outreach team at the Rakai Health Science Program (RHSP). After the lesson, we went off to spend the first night with our home stay families. Here are Prisca, Han and Veena pictured with a few of their family members in the sitting room at their home.

Crash Course in communication at Owino Market To shop at Owino, first you have to get there. The traffic in the city center of Kampala is thick and overwhelming! Here we are, preparing ourselves to face the busyness and business in the market. The shopping trip, a disguised lesson in team members learning to communicate, was quite successful. Each shopping group was charged with trying to purchase the most outlandish T-shirt. This shirt, selected by the HIV study theme group, won the grand prize. Nick is now the happy owner of the Owino Market shirt of the year! Ndere Show Our Kampala accommodations are at the Ndere Center, which is also home to the world class Ndere Troupe. Three days a week, people come from all over the world to watch the show on the 9-acre grounds lush with gardens and several amphitheaters. The show is a terrific lesson in Ugandan culture, including cultural concepts of stress, time, love, and community.

Welcome to the blog of the 2020 Uganda Childhood, Health and Society intersession program.  This blog is written by undergraduates studying public health via a unique peer-to-peer experiential program that takes place across the country of Uganda each January. We are completing studies at Johns Hopkins University and Makerere University, and although we study on different continents, our purposes are exactly the same. We want to eliminate health disparities and create public health solutions for infectious disease as well as social and behavioral health problems. Tuesday, January 7 was Day 1 Orientation We bonded quickly by sharing experiences. Our program focuses on engagement in candid cultural exchange and we wasted no time sitting down and getting to know one another. We manage to have a lot of fun doing it. Mackenzie is about to get flipped 360 degrees, in record time. This is trust! Training Of RUral Women in Uganda (TORUWU) This organization w