I am saying more and more goodbyes and every time I tell someone I am leaving they ask when I am coming back. I think that is the hardest part, when I left England, yes I was sad because I was going to miss everyone but I knew I was coming back in 2 months, the trouble with leaving here is that I know I will be back for sure, but I am also going to be a student with no money for the next 5 years at least so it is going to be a while before I am back :(
Last time I wrote I was about to embrace a knew role out here as mother to the 3 girls I live with. Personally, I would say I was a very good mother... they ate on time (although I didn't cook, the maid did), they washed well, they weren't in bed too late and I even got up at 6 in the morning to get them up and ready for school. Although, I think that was my downfall... I woke them up, then sat on the sofa and dosed off to sleep again.Thankfully the 9 year old, Esther, is very responsible and grown-up and got both her and Eve washed and dressed and then they had breakfast. Once they had gone to school I went straight back to bed for another couple of hours - early mornings are NOT my thing! I did find it hilarious that the previous evening I had gone for a walk to Thad's house which is just done the road and took Eve with me, I then got a phone call from Esau (their dad) saying I hear you are walking towards Thad's, because someone had rung him to say that a white person had stolen his daughter!! Throughout that day I helped deliver 3 babies and I love looking after the baby once it is out - sorting out the chord, putting a nappy on it (not any more as we've run out), dressing it, weighing it and then wrapping it up like a little parcel to give to the mother or more often the attendant who is with the mother. The 3rd baby of the day was the 11th child of a 42 year-old woman which I think is just crazy... imagine having 11 kids :O As a result of being a 'grand multip' (having so many kids) she bled a lot after having the baby so we then had to deal with that.
Played my last netball match with the girls from Canon Njangali girls school, however, there weren't so many that were keen to play at the beginning because they were watching a film - but when the power went off they all wanted to play!
Had another new experience on Saturday; I went to an introduction ceremony. This is a traditional Ugandan function and is basically the pre-amble to a wedding. It is basically the bride's family meeting the groom and his family and checking whether they approve, then the groom has to choose his wife from a load of different groups of people who come dancing in and then there is lots of gift giving (including 4 goats). Eve and Esther, my 2 younger sisters, were some of the girls who walked in in the groups to see if any of them were the bride. They looked adorable in their little pink spotty dresses and thankfully he didn't pick any of the under 9 year olds ;) I really enjoyed the ceremony although I found it quite difficult and parts of it very dull because it was all in the local language so I couldn't understand anything and I was sat next to my other sister Eileen who wasn't particularly helpful and just said 'I don't know' to every question I asked her. In typical African style it also started extremely late, the official start time was 12pm, I arrived at about 12.30 and there were very few other people there. Masses of people started to arrive at about 2pm and the event properly started at 3pm - so only 3 hours late. I got to wear a traditional Ugandan dress to the wedding which was good fun and everyone told me how smart I looked; it was long, thick and blue with gold flowers, it had very pointy shoulders and a big gold sash belt to wear around my middle - I felt like a true African woman!
Decided to go to church with the kids from the Mustard Seed on Sunday, but it was a complete failure which is entirely our own fault as we trusted them with telling us the time of the service that they go to and that it was in English. So we turned up at 8.20 for the 8.30 service just as they were coming out of sunday school and there was still a service going on. The mustard seed kids then all left and went back home so we waited a bit for the service but it hadn't started by 9 so we just left and went to the mustard seed.
We were picked up from there by Charlie and Heather and 2 other Brits who are visiting Hoima, having lived and worked at the hospital for 6 months in 2013. Bravely, we let Charlie drive us to a beautiful little lodge right on the edge of Lake Albert for the day. The entire drive there was on a completely flat, no speed bumps tarmac road which was heaven - especially as I was sat in the boot because the car was only 5 seats for 6 of us, and being the smallest I got that honour ;) it is probably the best road in Uganda and it has been built very recently because it is the road that the Turkish have built to the oil fields. The lodge was pretty much deserted but was completely idyllic and so peaceful. We spent the morning sitting around with feet in the pool, then had lunch followed by a long and intense game of Monopoly in the sunshine until we melted and everyone got bored and gave up. We drove home through the wildlife reserve surrounded by beautiful birds, thousands of antelope and loads of warthog.
In the evening I had dinner with the family and then both Olive and Esau did little speeches which I sobbed my way through making me so sad to go home, the girls didn't really know what to say with me sat there crying in front of them but even just them saying they were going to miss me made me sob harder. They have been so welcoming and they are like my family now, it is lovely to have the little sisters that I have always wanted, even if they do live on the other side of the world from me.
Yesterday, I delivered a baby entirely on my own because the Senior Midwife Grace (who I love and is hilarious) was far too busy taking out an implant on the next bed to help me. Sofia came into find me pulling out the head and then the rest of the body came very easy. I still get such an exhilarating feeling from delivering a baby and knowing that you have just brought a new life into the world - it is made better when the baby comes out screaming its head off as this one did. It is strange to think that in a weeks time it won't be an every day thing to be delivering babies :( Charlie and Heather came round for evening tea and I was presented with a leaving gift from the family which was a beautiful orange and purple dress that the Ugandan women wear all the time! I then went to my last aerobics session along with Olive who has never come before. It was a particularly tiring and sweaty one, but I think that might just be because it is generally getting hotter now. Again had more goodbyes to say to everyone there.
Today I have just been pottering around town, doing a bit of shopping and saying farewell to various people who have become such good friends out here. Rhi is arriving today along with a new delivery bed for labour ward at Azur which people have donated money to buy so I am very looking forward to her arrival.
As much as I am sad to leave, I am really looking forward to coming home, back to the little luxuries (particularly toilet paper that tears on a dotted line)
Love to all and see you soon xxx
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