May 6 - Rukiga and Rice, Dan the Man

(Read to the end for a pineapple cameo!)

Today was the first full day testing in Mbarara's pathology lab and we had a whopping 11 users thanks to Habert's recruitment efforts of lab technicians in the hospital. Laboratory space is a luxury, so we did our best to occupy a corner of the lab to not disrupt the pathologists' work. Dan and I had a system going and were productive with splitting the responsibilities of sign-in, didactics, survey administration, observations, and note-taking in groups.

Highlights of the work day included:

• Dan working his magic on the didactic in Rukiga (pronounced Ruchiga), his local language when two users spoke the language and were more comfortable in it. If I didn't mention it before, Dan is an alum of MUST and grew up in the South-Southwestern part of the country, which is where Rukiga is spoken.

Dan going through the didactic and explaining the adaptor's use

• A timely lunch break in the MUST cafeteria with Habert and Dan, and Dan being recognized by nearly everyone in the University that we passed by.

Lunch time

• Making a pit stop in the Guild office (Dan's old stomping grounds as University Guild president)

• A visit from a friend!

We realized that we could have our last couple of users test when we would be back in Kampala so we wrapped up the work for the most part this day in Mbarara. We decided to come back the next day to see if more of the pathologists might be able to share their feedback, but knew that their time would be limited.

After work, I celebrated a personal milestone with a lovely dinner with a friend and visited Easton and his family, who lived close by!

"Congs" (Congratulations) Banana Cake :)

If you are a new follower, Easton is a nurse we met in Jinja, Uganda in 2022, who was very helpful as we navigated Jinja Regional Referral Hospital for the first time and were brand new to the country. Nurses really keep the pulse of a hospital going. He has remained a good friend since then. You can read about one of the days Kim Hwang and I spent with Easton on the blog here: Day 9: Sunday, Nile River. This visit, Easton gifted me a pineapple from his family's farm in Southern Uganda! I am grateful to have met such great people in this country.