Friday was a day of mixed emotions. The day started well with a newspaper article in the local Ugandan paper New Vision featuring the work of World Children’s Initiative training the pediatric cardiology team at the Uganda Heart Institute. The story featured several quotes from one of WCI’s founders, Dr. Kanishka Ratnayaka. It was very complimentary of the efforts of the both the US and Ugandan pediatric cardiologists. We obtained many copies to bring back for the folks at home.

Newspaper article about WCI

Here is a link to a preliminary article by the same author that appeared in the online version of the paper. http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/652505-us-cardiologists-perform-surgeries-in-uganda.html.  With the exception of the facts cardiologists do not do actual “surgeries” and there are fifteen members of the cardiology team rather than fifteen cardiologists, the story is pretty accurate.

The remainder of the day was more solemn for the team in terms of patient care. Although our team arrived in Uganda as specialists and experts in pediatric cardiac care, our best efforts did not always achieve the desired results. We got through a rough day by supporting each other and focusing on the positives. By remembering this experience is about education for the Americans as well as the Ugandans, we used the setbacks as an opportunity to learn and improve for the future.

The first wave of the pediatric cardiovascular surgery team arrived late Thursday night. They left the DC area on Wednesday to avoid the snow that pelted the East Coast at the end of the week. The weather in Kampala has been about 80 degrees all week so the Ugandans are having a bit of difficulty conceptualizing the difference in our current and hometown climates. The cath team was grateful to have the surgeons available for back-up as needed as they prepared to do the most complicated interventional procedures on the last day of patient cases on Saturday.