Uganda Trip Day 4

This morning we woke up early to check out of the hotel and have breakfast. We made a long drive to the Mubende district.

Today is Eid al-Adha - it's a holiday, and one of the tenets of the Muslim faith (like Christmas for Muslims). Our destination was Mubende Town Mosque.

Since many people live so remotely in villages, far away from health clinics, Family Health Days and Children Health Days have been implemented. Four times a year (January, April, July, October), health facility workers travel to places of worship so that those in attendance have better access to vaccines, health checks (blood pressure, blood sugar, etc.), as well as documentation (such as birth certificates). It was incredible to see, on this sacred holiday, families lined up to receive the care, monitoring, and information they need. The governor was even on hand to administer a vaccination.

One woman wasn't feeling well -- feverish and thirsty. She thought she might have malaria. Turns out her blood sugar levels were very high. With the Family Health Day services, she was accurately diagnosed and brought immediately to the hospital for proper treatment, without waste of time or resource.

After our visit at the mosque, we had lunch and then visited St. Zoe Primary School, which is a boarding school, but still a government school so while the education is free, parents still pay for things like supplies, food, and uniforms.

We learned about how this school harvests and stores rainwater for use, and the children told us of their dreams for where they see themselves in the future: a lawyer, a nurse, a president.

We visited the school's nurse's office where we saw Shot@Life in action: 17- and 18-year-old girls received vaccinations.

These kids are respectful, hard-working, and bright. Beautiful kids in a beautiful country.