A Typical Day in Uganda
My typical weekday starts at 7:00 AM. After waking up, I dress in either scrubs or business casual depending on which location I am working at that day. Then I brush my teeth, fill my water bottle, and put on lots of bug spray. I usually head to breakfast here at the hotel around 7:30 AM. When everyone is finished breakfast head off to work with my group. It takes about an hour in total to commute to each location from the Makerere Guest House. I usually arrive around 9:00 AM at each location.
At Tunaweza, the center for children with disabilities, I spend the first hour from 9:00 to 10:00 AM working with one child. Around 10:00 AM the whole center takes an hour-long break tea to eat a snack. After this, I work with two more children for one hour each. Lunch starts around 12:30/1:00 PM and also lasts one hour. In the afternoon I usually work with one more child or bring someone back from the morning sessions to work on more walking or standing since the PT room is emptier and easier to move around in during this time period. I head home around 3:30 PM and arrive back at the Guest House about an hour later. This schedule is extremely similar at House of Charity, except that I typically leave around 3:00 PM since their prayer begins then and instead of working with people for assigned time slots, I usually just wander around to talk and play with different residents.
Once I get back to the Guesthouse, I typically used the afternoons to hangout as a group, interview locals, or complete research studies around campus. The group really enjoys playing active games on the field, singing their hearts out during intense games of Heads Up, and having movie nights all together in the largest room. I also used some free time in the afternoons and evenings to write daily journals. For dinner, I ate many of my meals across the street at a restaurant called Hot Bites. I tried some other places as well, such as Café Mist, the Guild Canteen, and the restaurant at the Guesthouse. Typically, I went to bed between 10:00 and 11:00 PM.
