By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: Every service-provider has that one client they will never forget and whether it was because he brought joy to them or put the fear of Satan in them, it doesn't matter. For me it was the guy who showed us the darkness in all our souls. It had been an exceptionally busy night for the team […]
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By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: Before we get into this, I feel I should clear up a few things for some of the prissier critical readers. I was an intern doctor in Uganda, working at a Private Not For Profit (PNFP) hospital at the time this happened. Because I know you're wondering what that is, let me just say what I […]
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By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: There are people milling about on the earth every second of every day, going about their normal business with their neighbors none the wiser on what manner of skeletons lay in their closets. We've all experienced some shocking moment, some manner of horror; the stuff nightmares are made of. We know what they are and we […]
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By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: Aggression is one of those deplorable attributes and one never proudly admits to being violent…unless, of course, one is from an oddly specific Ugandan tribe that's nation-wide famous for exactly that sort of behavior. Sometimes though, you barely have enough time to try and find out which part of the country somebody comes from before s/he […]
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By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: At one point or the other, I'm sure we've all had to deal with rather spoilt children (and adults but that's a whole other Tolkien-sized novel on its own). As such, I'm pretty sure you can understand when I say that I sometimes want to hit the children that walk into my office. Granted it won't […]
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By Devise Kavuma, Uganda: Public holidays are excitedly waited on by most people and it is no different with me. I look forward to days spent without running in and out of wards, looking like a crazed, sleep-deprived sea-gull. There's little one can do with a limited imagination and so I found myself staying in, watching Terminator 2, on the […]
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By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: A brilliant day can easily be ruined by the most random things like a bird pooping on your newly done hair, a rude customer, a dragon stealing your gold or in my case, a barrage of extremely rude patients. It surprises people a lot when they find out (and I know I'm bursting a lot of […]
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By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: There are several documented ways to beat the vicious cycle involving finding no work because every job needs experienced people, but one cannot get experience without a job. As medical students however, we couldn't have cared less about these documented methods and would just go out into the villages, get attached to various health centers and […]
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By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: “Man is a dupable animal. Quacks in medicine, quacks in religion, and quacks in politics know this, and act upon that knowledge,” a random poet once wrote and well, I've seen that proven to be true more times than I'd wish to recall. It's on this very basis that I will tell you two rather dark, […]
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By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: Hospital gossip, much like any other form of unnecessarily detailed and unsubstantiated conversation, occurs when the patient of interest is long gone (and yes, sometimes that means death.) Shocked you there didn't I? But I suppose that's the major difference with it. The casual conversations that happen in the tea-room at this hospital tend to be […]
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