So, landed safely in Uganda after the long flight over. The journey was pretty uneventful, though I stupidly bought suncream in Liverpool airport once I was through their security. Once I arrived in Amsterdam at my transfer, I realised that I wasn't going to be able to take it through their security since it wasn't sealed. When probing the security guy for some sort of direction or advice, he sincerely suggested  to "wear it all at once". Great… wearing two whole bottles of suncream on a 7 hour flight, only to land in a country in darkness for the next 12 hours. Those crazy Dutch… But apart from that, everything went fine, and Dr. Kale Wanume was waiting at the airport to greet me with two other guys from the centre. After a brief hour of getting out of the airport, some random guy deciding that he wanted to get in the car and drive it for a bit, and dodging potholes and craters on the roads, we arrived at the Great Lakes Rehabilitation Centre. Unfortunately the area had been plunged into darkness due to an electrical blackout (in order to alternate different parts of the city to ensure that they get equal fair amounts of power since there isn't enough to feed the whole city), so I couldnt get a good look at the place until the next day.

However, once I did get to look around, it's a great place. Big security doors seal it off from the nearby roads passing along side it and there's a large garden, rehab rooms, rooms for guests to stay if they have travelled a long distance, and a workshop alongside the accommodation that Dr. Wanume Kale (Alex) stays at. There's also a parrot and a dog, though neither have names. So I took it upon myself to name them both. Parrot - Charlie and Dog - Bert. Sorted.

Not got around to doing too much work yet, since Saturday was more about getting used to the centre, looking around and having a chat. Today has been fairly quiet since it's a Sunday, though it's quite common for people to work 6 days a week and sometimes even 7. The patients that I'll be seeing will begin to arrive tomorrow, so I'll get a chance to see if/where I can help out with from that point onwards. I've also been given the task to create a document to list the history of the centre and all the others that have been established in different cities around Uganda. It's a huge job really, but I recon if I split it up and do it in stages, then it should be manageable. At least I have a month to get a good start on it.

Above are two photos of the centre, the second is a view from the gate and into the complex. My room I'm staying in is further down on the right, past the door that's open and on the end. Past that path down the centre is the main house.

The third image is of the rehabilitation section, without the wide open door, being the entrance to the workshop where technicians can rectify casts and assemble the limbs for patients. That runway or "parallel bars" is space in which patients can begin their practice and gait training, using their new limbs. When patients begin to arrive, I'll upload more of their progress, but for now, this is all I have.

I'm in an internet cafe writing this since the centre has no internet, so I'm not sure how frequent these post will be, but I'll update whenever I can.