Hand Washing or Bust

Hello to all the loves in my life. Things are continually super duper fab here. This week marks the start of a new project that I’m really excited about! We have teamed up with another NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) called Sight Savers International. They donated eight million shillings ($4,000.00 US dollars) and supplied us with ophthalmologists and eye surgeons. For the next week and a half we will be going to rural villages and doing eye tests and screenings. Those with conditions that could be cured with prescriptions were given the drugs free of charge. I assisted with the eye tests yesterday and we saw 267 patients! We have seven more days of these outreaches then three days where the eye surgeons will be performing surgeries on those who were in need and were prescreened at the outreaches. The only bummer to this program is we didn’t get funding for glasses, but almost all other eye conditions will be treated. It’s a great program and I’m so excited to be apart of it.
Last week we had our unveiling of our very first hand station in the Lugazi Central Marketplace. We set up a booth in the marketplace, luckily it was near the produce and the not near he hanging raw meat. We first presented the hand washing station to the management and then had them sign a contract saying that the hand washing stations will always be fully stocked with water and soap. I will be checking in on the station throughout the summer and if I find that it is not stocked with water and soap three times then we will have a meeting with the management to discuss their relocation. The management agreed and the station has been well stocked since the grand opening. We then certified 167 market vendors in small groups. I gave a lesson on how germs are spread and then I discussed the importance of hand washing and how if done correctly, it can decrease diarrheal diseases by 42-45%. I then asked them questions to verify they understood the material. When they answered them all correctly we had them line up and wash their hands. As soon as they washed their hands they were presented with a hand washing certificate and a hygiene kit (Thank you again Sister Morton!). It was a wonderful day and many of the vendors have proudly displayed their hand-washing certificate at their stand. We are still waiting for four more hand washing stations to be built and I’m hoping they will be finished by the end of the week and then we can install the remaining four. The picture was taken at the end of one of my lessons and the woman I’m handing the hygiene kit to has just washed her hands in the newly constructed hand washing station.
Our next stop for hand washing stations is the local hospital where we will be installing four. We’ll have to do something a bit different as far as promotion and sanitation education, so more to come on that.
Now I must tell you about the most beautiful and magical place on earth, Sipi
Falls. Sipi is just a mere thirty minutes from Kenya and is probably the most the gorgeous place on the planet. We stayed at this resort with little cottages with only enough accommodations for 16 people. So the resort is tiny tiny and half of our group filled the place. The adorable cottage I stayed in is not far at all from where we we’re standing in the picture and you can see the waterfall from the window above my bed. One of the coolest things is that there’s really nothing around you except for a few huts and some locals. So you’re pretty secluded and besides the sound of the waterfalls, its soooo quiet. We got there around seven at night and they fed us the most fabulous meal I’ve had in over a month. I then got to take a long hot shower, first one in over a month. We spent Saturday hiking around and eating three fabulous meals they fed us. Oh and you must know that I only paid forty-five US dollars for accommodations and three fabulous meals. If you’re ever vacationing in Uganda this is the place to go. The two girls in the picture standing next to me are our two country directors. The one to my left is Melissa and she just graduated from BYU with her Masters in Public Health and has been such a great help to me. The girl on the far left is Becca, one of the other volunteers that I flew all the way from Salt Lake to Uganda with.
Thanks for all the love and support! I wish you all a wonderful week!
XOXO-Hill