In Europe October means the beginning of fall, with hot chocolate vibes, pumpkin recipes, indoor activities, late afternoon coffee dates with friends and cozy warm clothes. But in Uganda, October marks the soon arrival of summer, the ending of the rainy season and the beginning of the real heat.
And for EMOTER October is one of the month of medical outreaches, after the last in July and this means that for three weeks, three days in a row, our local staff and volunteers are committed to medical assistance and healthcare services provided to rural communities.
This month we cover Arua, Pakwach and Nebbi districts, aiming to reach around 500 persons per day. The first two weeks have already gone; our volunteers and local staff have treated and visited more persons than predicted, allowing everyone to have their right for health guaranteed.
Last Friday, the 18th of October, we set up our medical outreach in a secondary school in Pakwach district; the amount of students who lined up to be registered and then visited has been overwhelmingly as the previous days where more families with babies and kids came to us.
While patiently waiting for medicines and immunisations, I had the chance to talk with some of the students present. They were all really curious, looking at others being treated or questioning about the functioning of the medicines. I have approached a group of three students, two boys and one girl.
The two boys were both in Senior 2, so between the oldest in the school, but still with 2 more years of studying. At the beginning they were quite shy, speaking very low; to make them feel confident I have started talking about the weather, the days, asking basic informations as names and ages. The more they were increasing their tone, the deeper I have started going; I have so asked them about their dreams and impressions. One of the two wants to become an electrician, attending the vocational school after the end of secondary 4, while the other boy plans to finish senior 6 to go to University in order to become an ICT expert. Big dreams for bright futures.
But what personally interested me the most, was the story of the girl, Tracy. While I was talking with her friends, she was insistingly looking at me, with a smile on her face and some excitement in her eyes. At the beginning I thought it was due to the fact I was a mundu; it happens quite often that especially youngster become very enthusiast when it comes to talk and interact with us. But then, when we started talking I realised that the motivation behind her behaviour was much deeper.
She is now attending senior 3, so she was the oldest in the group although her short stature and young face; she told me she wants to study to become a nurse, as the majority of the girls I have met here in Nebbi.
But, her plan is not to work for a hospital;
“I want to work with you, with EMOTER, your organisation. I want to come with you during these medical outreaches to help people around, visit rural communities and provide medicines even to the poorest. I want to help as you are doing. I think you are doing a great job and I want to be part of it.
How can I start working with you?”
Her determination surprised me; she was really sincere and sure in her statement. You could see her motivation and while she was looking at the rest of the local staff working, it was clear how much she was inspired.
Being a source of inspiration for a young student, pushing her to study hard and achieve her dream, make us all, as part of EMOTER, very proud. Although the tiredness and the issues that we may sometimes encounter during medical outreaches, we are all conscious of the positive impact we can bring to the communities, both from a medical perspective and from an educational social level.
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