Buvule: Watch the hand washing song in action!

Jambo!

Since our first blog post, our team has settled into village life, and we have been hard at work here in Buvule! We began our second week in the village by holding our third introductory meeting where we met with the local people to tell them about the programs we offer, as well as hear their concerns about the health of Buvule. After the meeting, we began conducting house-to-house surveys in order to evaluate if certain UVP programs have been effective at improving household sanitation and mosquito net usage. In addition to gathering quantitative data during the surveys, we have also been assessing people’s knowledge about malaria prevention, detection, and treatment. People have warmly welcomed us into their homes, and these surveys have provided us with a platform from which we have been able to educate the locals. So far, we have surveyed 160 households, and are soon approaching our goal of reaching 200 households in our village!

In addition to surveys, we held hand-washing sensitizations at two of the primary schools in Buvule. These sessions were a blast and were filled with games, skits, and the ever-famous hand washing song! We also held a family planning sensitization at the local health center where we taught over forty men and women about the importance of family planning, as well as the different methods they can use. The event included a drama, which featured lots of local children, and our very own Kyle Yoo playing a Ugandan mom. Kyle dressed in traditional Ugandan women’s clothing, and left the crowd doubled over in laughter. The sensitization was a huge success, and we were able to address many of the questions and misconceptions locals had about family planning.

Though we have been hard at work, we have also had lots of fun at home in Buvule, and in Jinja during the weekends. Every night we play with all of the children that live at our compound, teaching them new games and dances and showing them pictures of our loved ones back home. We have all fallen in love with the many animals that live on our compound. This week three goats were born, and we have thoroughly enjoyed toting them around the compound.  During our two trips to Jinja we were able to visit Lake Victoria, and raft the Nile River! The summer is half way over, and we are looking forward to all the work and adventures we are going to have during the second half of the summer!

Until next time,

Xoxo Buvule