We’ve arrived home after a 3 months in Gulu, Uganda. Despite a challenges, frustrations, culture differences and the odd illness, we had an absolutely fantastic time!

Shortly before leaving the hospital, we organised a ‘clinicians meeting’ with the other guys from the Manchester group so that we could present some of the work we had done during our stay and hopefully stimulate some discussion of the issues amongst hospital staff. After a nerve-wracking first half-hour sitting alone, people finally began turning up and we eventually got going, 50 minutes late but with a good turn-out. The presentations were well received and definitely stimulated discussion. One of the problems in Gulu is that the staff in different specialties had stopped talking to each other and it was so encouraging to see how keen the hospital staff were to talk and think about the issues and come up with ways of improving patient care. After all, they’re the ones who will be making all the changes after we’re gone. The plan is for the clinicians meeting to be a monthly occurrence from now on. 

Looking back over our time in Gulu, we’re hopeful that things are and will continue to improve, despite all the challenges the hospital faces. And although a culture of acceptance has certainly developed amongst some staff, following years of poor funding and lack of government support, this is changeable. As new young people begin working at the hospital, they will help to raise expectations and encourage and motivate others to work towards a better level of care. And also, the work of the Manchester-Gulu link is set to continue, at least for the next 10 years. Who knows, maybe we’ll be back in Gulu in the next few years on one of the short-term projects – we’d like to think we will be.

Despite our pleading for a small affair, we were thrown a big going away party by the hospital. We had some concerns over the money spent buying an entire goat for the event, but it was a lovely evening and a great excuse for all the staff to have a good meal and socialise. We realised how many friends we’d made during our short time and were really sad when it came to saying goodbye.

We left Gulu on the Saturday morning, with flights home booked for the following Friday. This gave us a full week to explore some of Uganda and enjoy the last of the sunshine before heading back to English autumn. The highlight was definitely going to see the mountain gorillas in Bwindi National Park, an incredible experience that we will never forget.

We arrived home to a large family gathering at my parent’s house in Salisbury and had a lovely weekend wrapped up in jumpers by the fire. We’re now in Coventry with Dave’s parents for a couple of days before flying out to Kosovo on Wednesday (9^th).

So, until next time…..