Week #1 – January 14th – 20th, 2019
The van ride from Kampala to Nakaseke was quite beautiful and diverse. Leaving the city we drove past several smaller suburbs, streets lined with markets and shops of all kinds. As we progressed further into the drive, the number of towns dwindled and the greenery grew lusher. Turning off of the paved road at a small town called Katikamu, we drove for roughly 25 minutes into the town of Nakaseke. We arrived at ACCESS (the medical facility) shortly before lunch. The ACCESS team was caught up in meetings so we unpacked our bags and settled in. When they were able to join us, they greeted us with warmth and excitement that we had arrived. We set up a team meeting for the next morning with the architect and general contractor.
The next morning we met with the team and discussed the project. The medical clinic was over budget by about 7% so we had to figure out ways to cut out costs. The overall construction budget is a little under 433,876,837 Ugandan Shillings.. which is roughly $118k! The meeting went well; we came up with a few possible options. Robin and I spent the next several days working with the GC, Allan, to discuss unit costs, typical construction methods, quantities priced and scope gaps. By the end of the week, we came up with a solution that eliminated only non-critical items, some finishing but leaving the building footprint relatively unchanged. We wrote the contract and had it signed. Quite the productive first week (in terms of work)!
the guesthouse
The guest house we are staying in is quite nice. It is very large, has a generously sized living/kitchen area, 6 bedrooms (3 single occupant rooms and 3 double) and shared men’s and women’s restrooms. Right now it is only Robin and I staying in the guesthouse, but they frequently house student doctors. We will be sharing the guesthouse with 4 American PHD students starting sometime in February. There isn’t any wifi here, so we bought a ton of data to hotspot our computers too. Cell service is also questionable at times as well.
Later in the week, once we were a bit more settled, we went on a walk into town. The town is about a 10 minute walk from where we’re staying. There are several small shops and Rolex stands. Rolex is a traditional street food that is fried eggs and a local home-made tortilla with tomatoes (optional) rolled up like a wrap. It’s really good and very cheap. We wondered into many stores, just checking out what was available close to us. We also found a seamstress and had our measurements taken for a dress for me and a shirt for Robin. For the bigger grocery trips we will have to have ACCESS give us a ride back to the paved road. Nakaseke has the basics (tomatoes, onions, peppers, potatoes, flours, beverages and eggs) but besides that it is quite limited grocery wise.
The kids are absolutely adorable here (they make my heart explode). We walk down the street and constantly hear “HI MZUNGU” or “BYE MZUNGU”. Mzungu means white person, in a non offensive way. We will slowly teach them our names haha. They also mix up “hi” and “bye” quite a bit which is comical. These little kiddos are my favorite; we pass them every time we walk into town. They run and slam into us giving us huge hugs and walk down the streets holding our hands.
On the weekend, we went on a hike to Nakaseke Hill with one of the founders of ACCESS. The area has a lot of rolling hills and is very green, which is beautiful. We also found the 2 bars (at least that we know of) that Nakaseke has to offer, thanks to Allan’s help. We grabbed a drink on Friday with Allan at one (Romanz) and then went down the road to the other (no one knows the name of it, but the owner says it’s called Dusk Point) to play pool. Sunday, Robin and I went back to Dusk Point to watch some soccer. There were a ton of people excitedly watching.
We’re settling in quite well so far. It’s very hot and there are a lot of bugs (of all sizes). But the people here are wonderful and very welcoming. I’m really looking forward to the next few months getting to know the community.
Next time I’ll talk more about ACCESS, the project and construction!
Red Rover 