Uganda Round 3

My pal Claire sums up our trip to Uganda perfectly in this article..........

It’s December!!! December this year means 3 things for me.
Not just Christmas, and not just moving into a new house, but the most important thing: back to the motherland I go!  I have not been to Uganda in well over a year, and I can’t wait to be back.  Our last trip was cancelled because of an Ebola outbreak, and my next 2 trips were to our new site in Nicaragua. 

Uganda is such an incredibly special place.  It is a place for me that brings new humility, new lessons in pride, opportunities to grow and yet ground me all at the same time.  It’s a physically and emotionally demanding trip.  I’m so incredibly fortunate in my new job to have a department and boss(es) that actually “get it” and encourage staff (including doctors) to go and do humanitarian work.  In fact, two of my surgeons are actually joining me on this trip!  My previous experience in jobs was almost a disdain for my leaving for so long, so that I could go on “vacation” and that made the trips that much harder.  I would think “Don’t they get it? If I wanted to go on vacation, this is not what I would pick.”  We work harder on these trips than one could ever hope to work in the states.  Conditions are hot.  The food may be weird.  You may or may not get the trots.  There may or may not be a toilet.  You sweat.  You smell.  Vacation?  Totally… 

Tomorrow I will get up at 3, arrive at the airport at 4 to help the team check in and get our equipment on the plane.  We will fly to DC.  We will fly to Ethiopia.  We will fly to Uganda.  We will drive to Masindi.  And by Saturday night, we will finally be at our final destination.

I can’t wait to do all of these things below, included but not limited to:
Laugh, cry, hold babies, meet new people, hear incredible stories, work hard, save lives, be saved, and give glory to God who has made this whole endeavor reality for the past 5 years