No-no to the Boda-boda from here on out....

The last few days have been a lot of fun and it is hard to remember what all we have done! We spent all day Tuesday at the Kasubi clinic doing 1-on-1 interviews with staff. Amazing how much information we gained and how many ideas the staff have to make the clinic better. It was a great reminder of how much the people on the front-lines of an organization know it best, and it is so important to have open lines of communication with them to incorporate their ideas!

Last night we had a great dinner with Candy at her house, then stayed up playing card games with Olivia. Today we had a rather lazy morning, worked a little, and then Olivia took us out. We went to 'Hakuna Matata' restaurant for lunch - pork roasted on a skewer with plantain and avocados. Then we went to a shopping area of town (very 'clutch-your-purse' overwhelming, but lots of great deals) and to the 'African village' where we got lots of gifts for family and friends (if you are lucky, you might be getting something...:).

We were quite a ways from the house by the end of shopping, and it was rush hour (4-8pm is rush hour here- I will never curse at 394 again!). We took boda-bodas which are motorcycles that weave in and out of traffic and can get you home much faster, though more expensive. (Though transit here is quite cheap- I paid 6,000 shillings, which is about $2.50 for a 20+ min. ride home). Scary thing though, and I am not totally sure why I am writing about this, except to ask for prayers.

As my boda-boda driver was getting through downtown, we drove past an accident where another boda-boda driver must have crashed into a car. He was not wearing a helmet, and, well, the head injury was obviously lethal. I yelled at my driver and told him to slow down and be safe the rest of the way- which he dutifully did. Olivia said she had never seen anything like that her whole life (and she lived here for 20 years), but it really scared us a lot and made us all thankful when we each arrived home.

Please keep this unknown driver and his family in your prayers.

We scheduled our weekend plans today- a 3-day safari to Murchison Falls! We are also hoping to fit in a day-trip to the Jinja: the source of the Nile, to whitewater raft and bungee jump!

Next week we will visit the other clinic, meet with leaders from the church and USAID (hopefully), and assemble and present our final recommendations. The cultural experiences we have had the past week have been so incredibly informative (and fun) and we look forward to incorporating them into our deliverable.

I have posted more pictures on facebook (or am trying, if it ever posts) at the same link as the last post.

Thanks for reading and blessings to all of you and yours!
K