Training Day

Esther and I reviewing answers to last week's test with the VHWs

One of our most interesting jobs with Doctors for Global Health is coordinating and teaching day-long training sessions for cohorts of Village Health Workers.

Nurse Spe teaching about immunizations

The VHWs travel from their villages (by foot or on the back of a hired motorbike) to attend three morning and two afternoon sessions designed to strengthen their healthcare knowledge. This week was the first of many training days that we are responsible for and, all things considered, it went pretty well.

We are very lucky to work with a team of Ugandan medical professionals who are also naturally-gifted teachers. They're all very good at connecting with the VHWs, asking good questions, and eliciting interesting conversations. This Friday was all about childhood immunization, respiratory illness, and a review of HIV data collected from neighboring villages.

Nurse Immaculate role-playing how to talk to parents who
haven't gotten their children immunized

Today, after a well-earned late wake up, we've repaired to a cafe on Kisoro's main drag to revise the lesson plans based on what we saw. This cafe's Americano -- the standard by which I judge any espresso-serving establishment -- is wonderfully good. The cafe has also turned out to be an excellent spot to weather today's torrential downpour.

Sam reviewing the latest HIV data

My Americano the next day