Adventure Time: The City That Never Sleeps

In a country of almost 37 million people, I am living in a 72 sq foot city with approximately 1.2-2.7 million, depending on the time of day. It’s not quite New York, but Kampala, Uganda could give them a run for their money in terms of constant hustle and bustle. I am spending the first few weeks of my internship at Sanyu Babies’ Home where I am collecting data for my research concerning child nutrition programs in institutional and rural settings of Uganda. I’ll spend half of my summer in Kampala and the remainder at the Nutrition Education Center in Kamuli, a rural outreach program for mothers and children, to determine overall efficiency, quality, sustainability, and impacts. In addition to my research I hope to aid in any odds and ends I can while at these locations. Currently, this makes me a glorified baby-holder.

Sanyu Babies’ Home (Meaning: Home of Joy) is an organization that cares for abandoned children in Uganda. It was established in 1929 and is able to care for about fifty children from newborns to four year olds. The journey of each child to Sanyu is different, but many have been found in the garbage, pit latrines, taxi parks, side of the road, etc. The workers also tell stories of children brought in missing limbs because dogs have rescued them a bit too roughly from the site of abandonment. Sanyu serves as an in-between home for these young children and attempts to reunite them with relatives or forever families. It’s a bittersweet experience working here, to say the least, but it has been quite an adventure thus far.

I left good ol’ Iowa for Uganda May 20^th, a quick turnaround from finishing up finals and testing for the NREMT. Perhaps due to stress or a bad salad, I was uncomfortably sick during my travels. Minutes before boarding my international flight, (i.e. vomiting in the airport bathroom) I considered forgoing my excursion for a few weeks, but so many plans were in place and I was currently traveling with two other students that I deemed rescheduling an inconvenience. So I jumped on an 8-hour flight to Amsterdam and hated myself the entire way. I survived the flight and even helped a passenger who fainted, on top of me nonetheless, with my freshly learned EMT skills. Another long layover, 10-hour flight, and an hour drive to my home made for 37 total hours of travel. Yuck.

My living situation is fantastic and can be seen pictured below. It is feet from Sanyu, has WiFi, and most importantly (Hi Mom!), is guarded and safe. It is a home for volunteers at Sanyu, therefore I may have others joining as the summer progresses, but currently it is just the house manager, Joel and myself. (Update: & now Lance, as his building flooded during the night) We spent the first day touring Sanyu, picking up groceries/necessities in Kampala, and aiding in feeding during the evening. Yesterday I attended Staff Nutrition Training, worked all morning at Sanyu, and explored Kampala in search of a phone (much more exciting than it sounds).