Dental Camp 2015

Due to circumstances beyond our control (including but not limited to the Ebola outbreak), we have decided to take a hiatus with our Dental Camp for 2015. With the blessings of God we will be up and running again with Dental Camp in January 2016. It will be a long time to wait to see our Uganda friends again. May God bless them while we are away from them.

Last day, pack up, go home.

Today we saw recall patients (from earlier in our camp) and Mildmay staff for our last day of clinic. Everything went well and we were done with our dental camp and starting to take down by 12:30. We took a break for lunch (American style sandwiches and Ugandan cake) which included a thank you from the Mildmay administrators. By 4:00 we had everything packed away and ready for the next camp. Now we are back in our rooms packing, hoping to make the weight limit for our luggage. We will leave for the airport at 7:00 for our 11:30 flight to Amsterdam and return flight to Minneapolis. I will try to post pictures next week as I haven't been able to while here. Thanks for the support.

Another new face

Last night our group met a dentist from the U.K. That has been doing outreach dentistry in rural Uganda and is staying at Mildmay. His name is Dr. Graham Bell and he asked if he could observe our clinic today since he didn't have other plans and had a late flight to catch. This morning we were treated to our patients arriving by bus at 8:30 so we could start around nine. Their day started around 4AM as they walked to the bus stop and were to ride the bus for 3 hours to Mildmay. We also greeted a bus of 10 special needs children from Jonah's House. Dr. Graham observed in the morning and worked on patients in the afternoon. It was good to have him with us. Around 5 we finished a successful day of clinic and had our picture taken with the bus of children. Their day will end with going home around 9 this evening. Tomorrow we will see patients til noon and pack up. We have seen 400 patients so far. More tomorrow . . .

Mildmay concert

Today we were treated to a concert after chapel from the Mildmay Children's choir. There was good singing and dancing and it was fun. After chapel we treated Mildmay staff and a few children from Taso-Entebebe. So far we have seen 335 patients with another 70 anticipated for tomorrow and 30 +/- before we wrap up on Friday. More tomorrow.

New team members this week

First work day of the second week. Joining us this week is our former team member Dr. Kristin Bothun and her friend Rebecca. We were able to see 62 kids and several adult staff from Mildmay. Everything went smoothly, all of the equipment worked well, and only a few of our group have minor intestinal issues. Tomorrow the children's choir of Mildmay is preparing a special routine for us at chapel.

Back from weekend

Everyone arrived safely home last night from their weekend. We were all treated to pizza and sodas at Caroline Macleod's house at Mildmay and also treated to chocolate cake provided by Shartsi Musherure. Everyone had a fun if not restful weekend ranging from safaris that took many hours travel, horseback safaris, Scottish Burns Dinners, relaxing at an island house on Lake Victoria, and visiting sponsored children. Today we are seeing (hopefully) 70 children. More later.

Last day before weekend break.

Today we saw 35 patients and were able to finish clinic by 2:00 to prepare for the weekend. Everything is running smoothly and everyone is safe and sound. Today's highlight name was Achilles (what a cool name). Here is a sample of a typical day: 7:00 - breakfast is served (fruit, cereal, French toast, toast, and juice) 8:00 - Chapel 8:45- Morning huddle, plan, and prayer 9:00 - start with staff or Mildmay patients until the buses arrive 11:00 - Morning tea 1:00 - Lunch break 1:30 - afternoon patients 3:30 - afternoon tea 7:00 - +/- end of patients 7:00 - dinner and bonding time Tomorrow we leave for safari, etc . . Returning for clinic on Tuesday. More then.

Successful day.

Today we planned to see 70 patients from a group associated with Baylor University in Texas. After the bus arrived (a bright pink tour bus with a large "Las Vegas" sign in the front) we registered only 36. Luckily we were able to contact a local charity called "Cherish" who were able to bring in another 29 for a total of 65. It was a good day. We were also provided with jack fruit at tea time which was a new experience for some in our group. What I haven't mentioned before is some of the interesting names we have seen. There have been Cherish, Patience, Nelson, Robert, and even one Elvis (but no Marilyn). More tomorrow before we break for the week and safari, etc.

Day Three

Today we saw a bus load of kids from Mityana. Everything went smoothly because we triaged in the morning and saw the worst cases first, thus breezing thru the afternoon. We saw 53 kids and were able to treat their caregivers in the afternoon. Today we were also treated to brewed coffee, our first in Uganda in 11 years of missions. Even though they export world renowned coffee, it is more valuable to sell than to use. Coffee is usually served as a sanka type product. We were also treated to French toast for breakfast and tilapia for lunch. Yum! Also for my friends back home, it was 80 and beautiful here today. (Oh, good for me.). More tomorrow.

Tuesday , january 21

Tuesday was supposed to be a day of 70 plus patients. Unfortunately there was heavy rain at the bus stop in the morning and only 19 children were transported to us. A little disappointing because it meant that the rest of the children from that village that missed the bus wouldn't be seen on this trip. However, we were able to see more Mildmay kids including two of Lawrence's sisters who were still really upset by his death. On the bright side, Dr. Nick got his lost luggage and our team were able to go downtown for shopping. Today we should see 70 patients. . . . Hopefully. We are all well here. Our love to our loved ones at home.

First day of clinic

After being welcomed at chapel, we started our first day with patients. So far by noon, we have seen 29 on our way to 49 for the day. We hope to ramp up to 70 per day. On a sad note Lawrence , a local young man who helped as with registration and postoperative in years passed, passed away last August due to complications from HIV. He will be missed.

Setting up clinic

We arrived safely last night after uneventful at Mildmay around midnight.  After finally laying flat in wonderful beds and being dead to the world we had breakfast at 8:30 and started setting up clinic.  Everything appears to be working and we are currently having lunch.  The only casualty so far is one of Dr. Nick's luggage (his clothes bag).  Hopefully it will be found.  More tomorrow after clinic.

Halfway there

We all made it safely to Amsterdam after a thankfully uneventful flight.  No turbulence,  good food, and Academy Award winning movies like"Mud", "the Conjuring", and "Despicable Me 2".   The only  interesting thing that happened was that Lisa's tray table literally fell apart a half hour before landing. If it had happened before takeoff I would have thought we were in the movie "Final Destination".  A three hour layover,  an 8 hour flight to Uganda, and we're there . . . At about 11 tonight.   I'll write more on Sunday after our arrival at Uganda.

Last Minute preparations for Minnesota Uganda Dental Camp 2014

Last minute preparations are under way for our Dental mission which begins tomorrow.  We will be boarding our planes (from Minneapolis, Kansas, and Colorado), meeting in Amsterdam and continuing to our final destination of Uganda.  Dr. Paul spent Christmas with his family in Uganda and was able to check on our supplies that were shipped.  Everything has arrived onsite and is waiting for us!  Now all we have to do is get there.  For our Minnesota group it will be an 8 hour flight to Amsterdam and another 8 hour flight to Uganda.  We will also be dealing with a 9 hour difference (Uganda is 9 hours ahead of U.S. Central time).  We were also informed that our clinic location on site has moved to a different building which will bring new challenges.  Prayers for a safe successful clinic are appreciated.  My next post will be from Amsterdam airport on Saturday.