Spare time in Uganda

Despite spending six full weeks at the hospital, we still had plenty of time to travel and explore Uganda at the weekends. We travelled to the capital Kampala twice; the first time we explored the Gaddafi Mosque, the Kasubi tombs and the largest church in the city before heading to Acacia Mall (a shopping mall aimed at expats) where we enjoyed an up-market dinner. Our second visit took us to a craft market aimed at tourists but selling beautiful souvenirs, and we spent a couple of hours exploring this before heading back to Acacia Mall for another tasty dinner.

On another weekend we travelled to Jinja to go white-water rafting on the River Nile - something I would recommend! We went with Nile River Explorers and had an incredible day out on the river, and then chose to stay at their river camp for the night in tents overlooking the Nile. We enjoyed Jinja so much that we returned to the camp the following weekend for a couple of days of relaxation. The highlight of our trip had to be our journey to Murchison Falls where we did a three day Big-5 safari.

Highlights and reflection on the experience

The elective was honestly the best six weeks of my medical school life, and I learned an incredible amount from the staff at the hospital. The differences between the health centre and English hospitals has made me appreciate the NHS so much more.

The highlight of my elective was watching and helping the midwives resuscitate a baby who was born not breathing. Forty-five minutes passed before the baby made any respiratory effort of its own. The perseverance and skill displayed by the midwives was incredible, particularly given the lack of any real resuscitation equipment. Thankfully the baby survived and was transferred to a larger hospital for more specialist care.

My take home message would be that this elective is the one to pick if you want a family feel to your trip. Enoch and the team will make you feel as though you are part of their family, and that you are always welcome back!

My elective: Uganda

Laura Jenner