Erin's African Adventure: April 2007

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Cervical Cancer In Uganda - Stats and more - a glimpse into our project

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Working in the Communities

We have now finished our time on the wards. The remaining five weeks will be devoted to various community projects. The project I will be working on, surprise-surprise, is cervical cancer. The cervical cancer statistics in Africa make Nicaragua appear well-controlled! Some of the Einstein students here last fall noted the lack of cervical cancer screening services in Uganda and began working with Einstein GYN department to see what could be done. Through myself, PINCC was contacted and now PINCC will be adding Kisoro, Uganda to their itinerary next fall while in Africa. So, in the meantime, Katrina and I will be taking a survey of cervical cancer awareness, knowledge of pelvic exams and myths / fears surrounding women’s health issues. In addition, we hope to raise awareness of the need for women to be screened for cervical cancer, in hopes that when PINCC comes, they will have an easier time recruiting women.

This project has been quite challenging. In Rufumbira, the local language here in Kisoro, there is no word for cervix, and the word vagina is a shameful, dirty word, rarely uttered. Even doctors, MDs, refer to the vagina as “down there” and giggle as we discuss the female anatomy. We have compromised and now refer to the cervix as “the mouth of the uterus.” So trying to communicate about cervical cancer has had its extra difficulties…. women empowerment has not yet reached Uganda, so we have our work cut out for us.
(for more information on cervical cancer statistics in Uganda, see post entitled “cervical cancer in Uganda.”)

Beginning Monday we will trek out into the surrounding villages and go house to house interviewing women. In our survey, we plan to include lots of extra time for education, hoping that by educating a few women, the word will get out about the importance of cervical cancer screening.

My time on the wards had its highs and lows. I learned an unbelievable amount; in my physical exam skills, diagnostic capability and managing 15 patients at once. Internship should be a breeze after this. However we also suffered through terrible tragedies…. A 22-year old girl who died from cerebral malaria because the parents were awaiting transport for three days. But we also had great success stories and I think, overall, we made a small difference.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Day Trips around Kisoro

trying the local beer, originally uploaded by circusgirl327.

Kisoro sits at the foot of Maghahinga National Park, famous for its family of mountain gorillas and beautiful volcanoes that make the border between Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo. Every morning on our walk to the hospital, we marvel at the three volcanic peaks that define the Kisoro skyline. On our first day off after two weeks in the hospital, we ventured into the national park. The family of gorillas had already crossed into Rwanda so the Uganda portion of the park was no longer offering gorilla trekking. We decided to defer climbing the tallest peak until we could adjust further to the altitude and tackled the smallest of the three. It was a great hike through bamboo forests and lush green forest with opportunities for bird watching and monkey spotting – neither of which were successful. But it was a great day overall.

Our next field trip was a trip to Lake Matonda, a beautiful lake about an hour walk from the hospital. We hired a local guide who took us through quaint villages to an exquisite lake. From there we boarded canoes to a little island in the middle, home to the most magnificent storks. These birds are indigenous to Uganda and are famous for their monogamous nature – Uganda uses them in their campaign for HIV prevention to encourage people to be faithful! We had a nice picnic on the lake and them headed home, first visiting a very local bar and trying the local brew – banana beer.