WHEN WE ABANDON SENSE FOR BRAVADO AND RELIGIOUS ZEAL

So, this blogger goes online and he issues threats for government to stop harassing Muslims or else... ! Making a loose interpretation of the actions by security forces against terrorism to be actions against Muslims and people that practice Islam, the guy loosely and rather carelessly issues what I interpret as instructions for targets to be picked on Christian worship houses for revenge killings. What recklessness for a man his age in the name of faith!!! Our nation has become a nation of paid hands that speak junk and they get paid to do it. It is a nation where confusion reigns and sense is prevailed over.

The Born again Pentecostal church "Balokole" in Uganda do have a couple of weird hallmarks; one of them is that we shout a lot as we worship and pray and many times we go beyond the limits into the privacy and rights of our neighbors in the name of delivering them from the darkness, against their will; in the name of worshipping God, we cast off restraint just as we do neglect respect for our neighbors. How then can we reach them for the gospel? Another hallmark is that we "hear from God" that even when what we heard does not turn out right, we proceed as though nothing wrong ever happened! I have nothing against hearing from God as I believe God still speaks to people even today; but sometimes our own presumptions take the place of God and everything else can stop until “God” is satisfied. If you happen to have lived at a rented one roomed house (Muzigo) with one of ours, you will be lucky if he did not begin a prayer session at 3a.m shouting on the top of his voice. The list can go on and on. Many things get done in the name of God and religion and often these oppose the very theology that they claim to stand on.

This is the challenge we have with people like this blogger. He missed out to address the real issues around religious fanaticism but would rather overly simplify a significantly complex but not complicated matter. The problem with fanaticism is no one has monopoly to it and once that happens the situation is not desirable. History is often forgotten too soon by those that are quick to these modes of fanatic violence - those quick to the deployment of bullying tactics to resolve whatever issues they think they are resolving. A lot of gory stories are told in history of the crusaders as they are of the jihadists of old - there is no need to attempt a repeat of such times. But reckless citizens like these push the envelope in the hope that they will become freedom fighters at the expense of sanity and everyone else freedom. They don’t really care where all this ends up. They don’t even care about their own children. When one is aggrieved it is better to come up with facts and address or challenge status quo with facts; his rant never came up with any except the generic rhetoric that we have all heard one too many times followed in quick succession by threats!

The Baganda have a saying “Omulya mamba abeera omu, navumaganya ekika” translated to mean that one person will breach the code of conduct, but the blame will come to all that sit in fellowship with him; simply put the proverb can be interpreted to mean “one bad apple spoils the bushel” – unfortunately when the well meaning people in the bushel say nothing the loud mouths carry the day. This is not to say that Christians have not been at the helm of atrocities (recall Joseph Kony of the holy spirit movement) – I however would shudder at any Christian cleric or Christian for that matter that came out to defend the wrong acts of Kony. In fact, I recall it was the machine gun preacher, Sam Childers, a former gang biker turned preacher, a Christian, that decided to take up arms against Kony for the sake of saving children from these atrocities.

In spite of the different faiths that we practice, we all need to embrace harmonious living. Your religious leanings whatever they are should not be the cause for other people’s pain and tears. I challenge all leaders in the religious sphere of influence regardless of your faith, reign in your flocks! be responsible with the teachings you fan at the pulpit that you stand in. The challenge with modernity is that lately the pulpit has taken on the online social media dimensions too. But remember the pulpit is a place of building society and not tearing it down; it is a place of demanding responsibility in spite of whatever faith you practice. There is no point in having or practicing a faith that has no value for human life for after all if all the human beings are dead from your teachings, who will be there to listen to you or practice your faith? Matters of faith are matters of conviction; if your faith and the conviction it brews is not strong enough to change a man without killing him, re-examine that faith or its methods of teaching. Conviction means you convince rather than coerce someone to join you in that journey of faith, otherwise it loses its worth for the name.

You will tell me that the ones practicing these methods of violence to achieve an end are aggrieved persons. But one wise man said, "An eye for an eye makes the world blind." If these kinds of violence are not reigned in, if the careless speeches that spur and fan this violence on are not brought to book and as well condemned by society as a whole, then the world will be on fire, and no one will be left to put the fires out.

Let’s say NO to careless speakers in the pulpits and on social media platforms. Let’s walk away from those emotional wreaks that want everyone to follow them to Armageddon. Let’s not tolerate useless speak that will not lead us to any form of development. It is time for Ugandans to render no space for such reckless people who have a will to die at the expense of everyone else. Let’s be on the look out for these careless people that have no value add to our nation. From our national anthem:…United, free for liberty, together we'll always stand. Muslim or Christian or whatever spiritual leaning you have, practice your faith with the understanding that conviction does not call for coercion. Freedom is bought with the price of discipline.

COVID19: LET THE INNOVATIONS LOOSE

 If you are reading this, CONGRATULATIONS! You are still alive and that is something to thank God for in this season of the Covid19 pestilence.

We thank God for the entire Ugandan medical fraternity that have fought the good fight, and thus far have they brought us. When one follows closely what is happening on the international scene, we should not place much of our trust in the good will of the rest of the world as it seems "every man for himself" has taken over. At times one cannot help but wonder if some of these international players are not indeed being deliberate about slow action or in some cases plain inaction. But kudos to the Ugandan medical fraternity who have wrought a good work in our midst.

In the midst of so much dark news, recent news on social media has been rife with number of great positive articles; for example a certain Prof Ogwang that is onto something in the realm of herbal therapy; we also have Dr. Nambatya that also has a solution already on the test shelves to provide therapeutic options. Then the other day I read about a one Dr. Makobore of Najjera Hospital that seems to have gotten the medical treatment equation right, at a time when many other hospitals and medical centers are taking their patients for granted in the midst of a very tough time. There are many other Medical heroes of this season whose names I have no access to, who are doing a great job in this fight. I wonder how some of the other players in this field are going to live with it when each time they look at their wealth accumulated in this season all they see is the blood of Ugandans that dug out their last pennies only to get nothing like they should have gotten for that value, and then ended up across the river before their time.

Anyhow, for some time now I have thought about what we can do as a nation to deal with this Covid19 crisis (and other crises coming in the future). These thoughts have resided in my mind since I left Mulago Hospital Covid19 HDU in December 2020 having fully recovered from the killer disease after careful handling by the excellent team of specialists manning this Unit. I realize that in times of national crisis we have to put on another set of hats that require silos to be broken down. A lot of great stuff is happening at the Mulago National Referral hospital and in the Ministry of Health in as far as treatment of and management of Covid19 is concerned. Like I mentioned in the previous paragraph as well, a lot of others are innovating therapies and treatments that have been proven to work in real time. I also have heard that Uganda is in advanced stages of developing its own homegrown Covid19 vaccine.

I wonder in time of war like this when some among us, rather than support these innovative efforts, find it in themselves to criticize these innovators that are trying so hard to save some lives. The other day I read an unfortunate comment on social media of a doubter that thinks nothing good can come out of Uganda; this was when someone posted that a Ugandan vaccine was in advanced stages of tests. I however think this is what happens when people have seen gory images for far too long and thereby get programmed by them; these images keep playing back to them even when the scene has already changed to the extent that the victim does not see any change but overwhelming flashbacks of the gory past before them all the time. One of the lessons I learned whilst I was hospitalized with COvid19 was that this disease loves negativity and will thrive much in such environments. This is true for the patients as it is for those affected by it. It is time for lots of positivity to issue out in our society even as we continue to be cautious and observe the SOPs.

A few things that I think the great medical fraternity can do (perhaps they already are doing so):

1)   1)  Treatment centers like the Mulago National Referral Hospital Covid19 HDU that have scored huge successes in treating this disease should open up to all medical practitioners to volunteer to learn. I think there would be a lot of value for any willing medical practitioner volunteering at the HDU and ICU of Mulago for at least a week. A lot of mentorship can happen in the process that will help speed up learnings and build networks to fight this monster.

2)  2) There could be daily online conferences for Medical practitioners that divulge new observations and findings plus all other helpful information on the disease. Discussions could happen on this forum to decongest and solve conundrums as well as to share experiences that can help move things swiftly forwards. The old English adage “two heads are better than one” comes to mind.

 3)    We need to encourage our medical innovators to share the different therapies and treatments that they have found to work, and as well share the levels of efficacy that they have registered in these. Historically Uganda adopted the western world approach that beats down medical innovators especially if what they talk about seems new in approach or is unheard of before.

I have witnessed over the years medical expert “mobs” beating down medical innovators who were later proven right at the cost of loads of Human lives. I sometimes wonder if it is better to keep people alive with these innovations as we get to understand their interactions better or simply let them die until we perfect our understanding of them. In the former case at least, there is chance that some of our people would live to die another day. I think we need this paradigm shift to encourage these medical innovators to speak up.

There is no disease for which a solution does not exist. It is just that we do not know it yet, but remedies already exist; so lets create an atmosphere to bring these out. This way we shall swiftly move forward together.

Oh Uganda, may God uphold thee; We lay our future in thine hands!

BODA BODA AND WHY LEADERSHIP MATTERS

Have you noticed lately if you drive in Kampala, specifically after the Covid19 lockdown, how Boda Boda (herein after referred to as Bodas') in Kampala ride all the way into the entire width of the road? In fact, I at first thought this was a passing fad until  when 3 months ago I was caught up in a freak accident involving 2 bodas' and myself. Naturally as they always have it, I the motorist was at fault.

In this case on a rainy morning, the boda on the outer most was pushed right into the oncoming traffic by his colleague that wanted to widen out into the Centre; there was fast moving traffic! Thank God there was no fatalities! The two ladies involved were gracious and civil enough to accept my offer for medical treatment. On such days, one has to calm themselves down, play along and let life play out; I had a critical meeting coming up that morning, but I knew handling the people involved in this was more important - so I stayed on until the victims had all been treated and dispatched to their next destinations.

But coming back to my point and observations about Bodas' in Kampala lately. Lately there are some that now habitually think it is their right of way to come flying down one way streets in the opposite direction, with horns blaring and flood lights flashing (have you noticed how these new bright LED lights were such a "god send" for them!!!). In other cases they navigate their way into thin tight spots for example into insides of corners as motorists are already maneuvering these tight corners, often leaving the car with dents as they fly off with foul language spewed at the motorist; I can imagine that there are so many angry motorists out there waiting for the next silly boda. When I did my driving classes way back in the early 90s' my instructor told me that in a “keep left” road network, motorized devices never overtake from the left; that rule has since been changed by boda riders like they have so many other road traffic rules.

I watched as these bodas' increasingly jumped the traffic red lights; right now, it is a “right” for them on Ugandan roads and they expect the motorists with right of way to make way for them as they gleefully break these rules. The other day as I drove down a major road, all traffic on my side stopped to make way for an oncoming motorist that had indicated that they were making a turning off into a side road. Two lanes of cars stopped, and she started to make her turn; suddenly, I heard a swishing sound of a brand new boda flying me by, overtaking from the left at possibly 80km/h, and Boom!!! …straight into the oncoming motorist. The boda guy flew over the car bonnet and fell about 4 meters away. The boda fell right under the bumper of the car. Luckily, the guy was saved by his helmet. Quickly he got up, militant, making his way towards the lady that had now stopped. I immediately parked my car onto the curb and went back towards the scene of accident. Poor lady, on seeing the angry guy simply fled the scene of accident and speedily drove off. My purpose in stopping was that I was not going to let them bully her. Luckily for them they abandoned the project of pursuing her as wisdom prevailed.

Now, how did we get here? Often these episodes happen with a traffic officer right on vicinity that never lifts a finger to exercise their authority and bring these bodas' back to discipline. The Arabs say if you let the camel place her nose under your tent for comfort, you will soon find yourself sleeping outside the tent and the camel sleeping inside by the morning. This is simply an idiom with a key lesson for all of us that small, seemingly innocuous acts or decisions will lead to much larger, more serious, and less desirable consequences down the road; this is what has happened. The Police officers have watched as the small wound festered and grew more rancid to a point that they now cannot handle it any more; they then now push it to the politicians, who in turn too scared for their votes will not touch the sacred boda cow.

This is how a failure in leadership creates problems that soon become too big to handle and require complex approaches to diffuse. The Traffic officer does not know that they are a leader right on the scene of crime that can stop a small problem from becoming a big conundrum. Leadership does not mean position; leadership is influence and according to leadership guru John Maxwell "everything rises and falls on leadership"! The boda problem in Uganda is a failure of leadership at all levels.

Now to my key point; each one of us has been placed in a position of leadership somewhere, where our failure to do our job will lead to a "boda problem" that will soon become a festering wound, for which when the gangrene is fully set in, shall require extreme measures perhaps even amputation of limbs to resolve. Must we come to that point? But you see, this is what happens each time you say "what can I do? the problem is too big and my small action here will not resolve it." When we say things like "the system is too rotten for me to make an impact" or "Afterall every one is doing it". I do not know what your excuse is, but the time has come for each one of us to rise up to the occasion and be the leadership we want to see in our community. Let each one of us own up, man up (not sure why “woman up” does not exist) and become a smoldering ember and let’s come together and get this fire of transformation burn in our society.

We can have the society that we want. Let us be the leader that we want to see! It begins with you.

UGANDA: A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER LOOMING

The most beautiful place in Uganda I have been to is the Kyenjojo, Fort Portal, and the Rwenzori Areas. The West Nile region too is Romantically beautiful. I also travelled to a place in Sezibwa area that had one of the most amazing forest drives I have had in a long time; the air too was so fresh that I wished I could stay. Someone coined the phrase "Uganda: Gifted by nature!" and they surely did not lie. I have been to a few African countries and struggle to find a country that is physically and climatically as beautiful as Uganda. The land is also endowed with all forms of picturesque beauty that if one wanted a fair taste of Great Africa they had better come to Uganda. No wonder it is called “The Pearl of Africa.”

Also, almost all foods and fruits grow here. Being raised here I took it for granted that variety of foods is something all peoples of the world are blessed with; it took me to travel not so far from Uganda as a grown-up man to understand that I was terribly wrong! But all this could most likely be grabbed away from us, if we are not careful to stop the growing trend, in not so a long time from now!

If you have not noticed, the rainfall patterns have been pretty unpredictable. That can be painful for farmers who can no longer reliably pinpoint seasons. The planting seasons have been shifting indeterminately and harvesting seasons too have been impacted leading in some cases to economic losses. Some friends and I tried to dig a well in Nalutuntu Sub-county in Mubende 4 years ago; the experienced diggers had to stop when they hit 150feet underground due to lack of oxygen, but still no water! We abandoned that project and thought we needed to try technology. The well digger truck we hired picked its spot where they said they were sure of water; two tries yielded nothing, and off they went with millions of monies already paid to them and no results on water! Eventually we were told by the locals that no one has been successful in that venture in this area so far (atleast by then). We resorted to laying pipes and pumping water from the only available private dam 1Km away nearby our project.

One does not have to look far to see things happening around us that leave true environmentalists shivering with fear. What is scary is that Uganda’s Forest Cover is still significantly receding more than it is being replenished to the tune of 100Ha/Yr compared to 150Ha/10Yrs replenishment (Ref. New Vision 17th Oct. 2017). Some investors have tried to fight back by growing trees and forests however despite all these initiatives, Uganda’s forests are faced with continuously worsening trends through encroachment, deforestation and forest degradation through conversion of forest land to other land uses. These include agriculture, urbanization and rampant felling of trees for timber, firewood and charcoal burning on private and government land, rampant fires and livestock damage on forest plantations. More specifically, one report states that the country lost on average 122,000 ha/year of forest every year from 1990-2015. The greatest loss in the country is estimated at 250,000 ha of forests annually according to NFA estimates for the period 2005-2010. On the other hand, on average, only about 7,000 hectares of planted forests are established on a yearly basis in the last 15 years. (Ref. MINISRTY OF WATER AND ENVIRONMENT STATE OF UGANDA’S FORESTRY 2015 THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA MINISRTY OF WATER AND ENVIRONMENT STATE OF UGANDA’S FORESTRY 2016). Clearly, we are not doing very well. My primary school science tells me the rainfall cycle depends on both trees and water bodies.

Now turning to the latter, water bodies! We have been told by geographers that East Africa has the second biggest freshwater lake in the world, the Lake Victoria. There is many other smaller freshwater lakes in Uganda through out the land. A close look at it though reveals that all these water bodies are interlinked somehow; Victoria, kyoga, Edward, Nile valley, etc. This means that when one chocks others will eventually follow suit. However, Lake Victoria is under threat already, under assault from the activity around it. I have watched with great horror over the last 30 years as the swamps around Lake Victoria have swiftly disappeared making way to various economic activities and developments.

A close look also reveals that settlements around the lake have aggressively take over and now activities are happening with reckless abandon right up to the lake side; the result - silting of the lake. Plastics clog the channels and eventually end up in the lake, human wastewater, herbicide, and chemicals infested runoff water from Flower farms on lake shores, cutting of vegetation on the shorelines and so much more. Lately my water bill has gone up into the uncomfortable zone even when the consumption has not and its no wonder why.

The rate and trend of destruction and abuse of these forests and water bodies is now imposing an ever-increasing risk on us all; so this is no longer a concern for just the environmentalists but for all Ugandans. Slow but sure desertification and related Land pressure as the population grows, which means that food and water pressure increases and eventually with-it competition for the same. To put it plainly, all this is a budding serious national crisis and security issue. For Uganda right now the environment in my view is the most critical national priority which if we do not radically pay attention to will speak a language of its own, screaming back at us in ways that we shall not be able to deal with. People must immediately stop the indiscriminate cutting down of trees and as well we must engage in an aggressive drive to replant forests in order to increase our carbon footprint. National Forest reserves must be restored, and older species replanted too together with the fast growing one's.

The lake shores must be recovered back from private ownership and protective vegetation restored and as well actions to desilt the lakes taken. The swamps, all of which play a critical filtering role must be restored and all encroachment pushed back to old boundaries. We must aggressively enforce environmental laws and criminalize environmental abuse and as well push environmental restoration to the homestead level. Lastly, we must employ valley Dams and water harvesting plus irrigation schemes in order to utilize to the maximum the rainfall we are still so blessed to receive as a nation.

Unless we take to these aggressive paranoid measures and more, environmental degradation in Uganda is a clear and present danger which if not addressed immediately, will force upon us the abundant harvest that yields from this kind of abuse. And nothing will stop the immense collateral damage that shall arise from this; and no one shall be spared.

I kid you not!

THE SILENT WORLD WAR!

I grew up in Uganda during the tumultuous 1980s where you didn’t have to be at fault to be hit by a stray bullet coming from any fracas started by anyone at any time. One time whilst in my primary 3 class, we heard gun shots outside a bit far off from the school. A few seconds afterward, Stephen my neighbor to the right, on the same desk, was hit by something swift; he fell. its only when we saw blood that we knew something had gone terribly wrong! He survived by a whisker as the bullet only glanced his skull and took off a chuck of flesh on his head. So, I totally understand the meaning of the phrase "stray bullet".

In those times basic military safety protocol was tutored into us; if you hear gun shots take cover, do not peer through windows at night, avoid scenarios of chaos wherever you see them, etc. All this became second nature to us to date.

I recall one day (I was 10 years old at the time) as I walked back from school, a pickup truck loaded with Special Forces troops just pulled up swiftly beside me at the road, the soldiers jumped off and made a quick formation and then started offloading their AK47 rifles into the horizon, apparently "in pursuit" of an errant colleague. Nothing like the sound of ten AK47s going off in automatic fire at a go! that was some explosion. I cannot tell you how I ended up in a very safe place behind a big tree, but I can attest to the fact that I dived, hit the deck and rolled. When I came to, I was safely tucked away behind this huge tree 15 meters away.

In those days you could not behave like life was normal. No one convinced you of curfew, told you to to be indoors early and lock up your house or reminded you to follow safety protocols. As a child I saw so many corpses on the streets almost on a daily basis I became immune to them. However, you ignored those SOPs to your own peril. In fact, you were considered a mad man if you started running towards the direction of Gun shots instead of further away from them.

The world is at war right now. There is a World War raging right now. This world war is more subtle but possibly more dangerous than the other two before it. People have died by the thousands daily and continue to die across the globe. What I notice about this war is that it puts you so much at ease even when danger is looming right around your own corner; and that is how many have taken the hit! Many have died and many more will die until the world adjusts to basic protocols for safety. I notice my dear country Uganda is in serious trouble too from this war too.

From piecing up numerous versions of its origins, Covid19 is a weaponised virus. Only evil minds come up with such stuff and evil intent must be presumed on how Covid19 was "accidentally " released into humanity; no one though ever comes up to a firm conclusion on how this "accident" happened. There are some constants in the Covid19 story though; a bunch of American scientists, a city called Wuhan in far East China, and an "accident" at a Chinese lab in Wuhan.

There has been lots of conspiracy theories around Covid19 that it would be unwise to think that all is well; the smoke is simply too much for one to ignore. So, following my simple logic, if we presume that this is a weapon that was "accidentally" deployed, why do we keep behaving like all around us concerning this disease is normal? Why do we not exercise precaution? It is high time we behaved like this is the war that it is. No one in war time goes about hanging out whilst bombs fly over head and keep indiscriminately landing on civilian targets. 

Some key things though to take note of even in war time: The Economy must continue to grow else other gory stuff kicks in; health services must continue as these are the very lifeline of society during the war, and life must go on but definitely cannot remain the same as it was in the beginning. My concern is that people in Uganda keep behaving as though Covid19 is a common cold. A lot has been said about the SOPs but it is alarming how these are breached even by those that are educated enough to read and follow the international news reports; those that can see the carnage of Covid19 almost first hand. Until we begin to treat the Covid19 situation as the war that it is, a lot of our loved ones as a people shall leave us before their time.

I have interacted with lots of people who somehow think it is an act of valiance to defy Covid19 by not following the SOPs; those who think it is an act of weakness. Fine, it is your right to die before your time but do not take others with you who are innocent. If you must defy SOPs, do it in your own private space, but for the sake of those others around you align to the recommended guidelines. Strangely, this disease can be transmitted by asymptomatic persons who then carry it to unsuspecting innocent people that get badly hit. A number of people have been affected this way. Also, as a society we must accept that certain rituals around the dead belong to the past where in respect to what this sneaky enemy Covid19 can do, we must ensure to bury our dead without much fanfare. I have heard a few stories of infections that have happened around funeral vigils leading to further deaths that were not warranted.

I have also heard some folks from a religious perspective who think exercising precautions against Covid19 is a lack of faith in God and His salvation. As a pastor I notice so much troubling presumption among parishioners around this disease even when we sound warnings tirelessly at the pulpit about it. Until similar precautions were followed in the days of pandemics in the past, many men and women of faith were lost to these merciless diseases. Others think exercising precautions is expensive; to those I will say try catching the disease and we compare notes and see which weighs you down more.

We can make this disease get down on its knees and finally knock it out, but it is going to take everyone believing that we are at war, and our enemy is merciless and indiscriminate on whom they knock out. Our enemy Covid19 has nothing to lose, and the sooner we figure this out, the better for us all.

We are at war!!! Wake up and exercise due precautions.

I SURVIVED COVID19 (Part 2 of 2)

 HEALTH ADVICE DISCLAIMER:

The information contained in this blog is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, it is provided for informational purposes only. You assume full responsibility for how you choose to use this information.

Always seek medical advice from your physician or other qualified healthcare provider before starting any new treatment or discontinuing an existing treatment. Talk with your healthcare provider about any questions you may have regarding your medical condition.

WARNING: [This Blog is deliberately Longer than I normally write as I do not want to write a third blog on this matter; please keep with me on this one. My sincere apologies for those of you that hate longer blogs]

 

I had the shortest ride from Namugongo to Mulago in the Ambulance. My attendant nurse, Zahara was ever so graceful and extremely calm. The ambulance driver as well knew his trade really well.

Level 2 in Mulago where I was admitted is only one flight of stairs above where the Ambulance arrived at. It is really a short walking distance to the ward floor. Whilst I was on oxygen in the ambulance I kind of felt better, just a bit. I had spent the entire day on Oxygen at the Hospital from where I was referred to Mulago. Arrival protocols at Mulago require for you to check-in any medications you may have and a number of other things which Zahara graciously did for me. She later returned with my meds and offered to bring a wheelchair to wheel me in; I declined because I felt I could walk that short flight of stairs to Level 2. I was dead wrong! this was the longest walk of my life ever, because by the time I got to the ward I could not stand anymore. I was offered a seat as Zahara made my bed and later connected me back to Oxygen in the HDU on Level 2. Just then I realized how important the Oxygen we take for granted is to our general well being. Just leaving the Oxygen to go to the rest room that was less than 10 meters away was such a task! I had to get accustomed to accepting that I needed to depend on Oxygen more than anything else.

Honestly, I never took a shower for three days!  (Let him without sin cast the first stone). This was simply because the walking away from Oxygen was a task I was not willing to undertake; you begin to cough incessantly; your chest is heavy and your natural breathing labors greatly. So, it is safer to miss the shower for a while than be sorry. Actually, even the medical staff discourage it. Its only after about three days that I felt a bit of relief to clean myself up. I took my shower that day, though even then I was still significantly weak; it was such a relief.

Coming into Block B Level 2 I found a number of people in my section. There was two gentlemen well on their way to recovery. Remember I left home not knowing that I was an emergency case. So, coming to Mulago was a process I did not prepare well for. I carried some basics in a small backpack (more of a computer bag). My wife later the next day packed for me a proper bag and had it sent. Once you are in, you cannot get any visitors coming direct to you. They are sanitized and asked to leave whatever they bring at the reception where it is brought to you by the nurses.

One of the fully recovered gentlemen, for privacy whom I shall call Eng. Jimmy was really helpful. He immediately took me on to mentor me to recovery. He made sure I had a hot drink to sip on regularly. He changed my oxygen water canister often (in fact on one night it had run out and he did it for me). He kept providing much needed counsel on how to recover, as well as encouragement that I can make it. I took to his counsel. Jimmy took care of the rest of us in our section (there was 6 of us in that section and a total of about 18 in our wing). Eng. Jimmy was discharged 3 days later, but not before dispensing survival skills to the rest of us.

There was one particular guy (call him Ali) whose bed was right next to me. It seems to me he had been traumatized by the disease and wanted out. He was inconsolable, clearly in great pain, but he kept defying all the directives of the medical staff and the advice from the rest of us. He kept removing the oxygen mask and thereafter incessantly coughing and groaning in pain. Eng. Jimmy kept replacing Ali's mask, but immediately Ali would remove it. Later the medical staff tried restraining him, but he found his way out of the restraints and removed the mask. Ali was later wheeled away to the ICU where he could be attended to 24x7. I later learned he passed away two days later. Ali had lost the will to live, and that is the greatest asset in the fight against Covid19.  Another lady who was wheeled in the night I was admitted came in shouting on top of her voice, she was so hysterical. To be honest, knowing what the rest of us were going through one cannot garner the strength and energy to shout like that. I kept wondering what her problem was. You could hear other patients begging her to keep calm and all will be well; she would have none of that. Later after about an hour the noise receded. In the early morning by 6a.m she was wheeled out, dead!

The medical staff at Mulago in the Covid19 section was another unique but pleasant and refreshing surprise that I got. I have not seen this level of discipline, hard work and dedication anywhere in the Ugandan public sector in recent time. These ladies and gentlemen have laid it all down and do it all in a calm and collected way. They are not even distant cousins to the previous lot of medical staff that used to walk these corridors (I know for my mother passed away years ago in Mulago Hospital). It was a breath of fresh air seeing this dedication, commitment, discipline and efficiency displayed by this team.

This team are also very relatable and take on a lot of stuff from the patients as you can imagine but do so ever so graciously. I suddenly realized how much we have not been told about the improvements at Mulago National Referral hospital or rather how much the past must have traumatized us to the extent that we never believe that anything good can come out of Mulago! Up to now the average Ugandan cannot believe that Mulago Hospital possibly has the best Covid19 HDU and ICU in Uganda and possibly the region. I left Mulago ten days later with my confidence restored in the medical system that is being rebuilt in our National referral hospital. I can now proudly talk of Mulago Hospital with the renewed confidence of an experience.

The Hospital does provide three meals a day. At the HDU there is lots of sharing and one will walk to the central desk and pickup an apple, an orange, make a cup of tea, etc. I never met a rude person in this centre. It has a way of humbling even the most arrogant of us. Patients took on to helping each other and sharing with each other. I too decided to help all the new people that came into the section I was in. Over the 10days I saw 5 new people come into my section of 6 beds. All of them were scared and beaten. You see Covid19 is a sneaky disease. In my conversations with each of these patients I discovered we each shared only one common end result: breathing complications.

But how we got here, each one of us had a separate story line. However, there was a common underlying theme being the fact that each one had treated whatever malaise they had for at least two weeks without making much progress. This is where I warn that what may manifest as Malaria, cough, flue, pains in the joints could be early stages of Covid19. Ensure to get medical attention fast!

Also, to our medical providers, do not treat suspected Covid19 patients as outcasts; simply practice the SOPs and behave professionally, but help Ugandans. I have come to a personal conclusion that most of our medical practitioners have not taken keen interest in how to diagnose a Covid19 would be case even without running the nasal swab tests. From my experience I think any dedicated medical personnel can start “sniffing the presence” of this disease so people can be helped early and avoid running into the breathing complications stage.

One guy simply got joint problems and weakness; he presumed that he was simply fatigued simply because his work involved lots of walking, until one day he went down hill and got breathing complications as he was walking himself into a clinic. He was rushed to Mulago. Another guy treated Malaria for three weeks, but he was simply going down hill until, breathing complications kicked in. Another treated an infection for two weeks. So, the stories continue that way. General Malaise, feeling lethargic, treating obvious illnesses that normally respond to known treatments but this time they seem resistant, joint pains, are all common manifestations of this monster. Please pay attention to yourself and get medical attention.

Whilst I was in the Hospital I also did a number of things to help my recovery. I took a teaspoon of CAYENNE pepper in a half a glass of water each morning and evening. I also regularly took hot tea with lots of ginger and some half a teaspoon of black pepper. My friends made me a 500ml bottle of pineapple juice laced with chilies which I sipped on through out the day. They also made me another bottle of ginger, garlic, onion concoction that I also sipped on; so, each 24 hours I sipped on these two drinks. Of course, the supplements also did their part: Vitamin C - 500Mg, Zinc - 30Mg were a daily portion. By the way, to date I still take all the above measures. Another thing I now do daily is to steam myself each evening for at least ten minutes. All this went along with the Hospital treatment that we were getting per doctor’s prescriptions.

By the way, lastly, lets love the sun, and we have lots of it here in Uganda. Vitamin D is another critical vitamin in the fight against covid19, and the early morning or late evening sun is a great source for it. Love the great outdoors and get back to basics of playing with the kids outdoors.

I left Mulago believing three things about Covid19:

1) The disease is spreading like a wildfire amongst us; we MUST exercise the SOPs else a lot of people are going to die!

2) The disease is controllable and treatable, and we can avoid the breathing complications stage for most people. Simply observe the things recommended above in the last paragraph and as well listen to your body. Do not dance tango with what you consider simple ailments; seek medical attention.

3) Many medical practitioners have not taken time to understand Covid19 and how they can provide the first line treatment. This I have simply observed from discussing with many patients I met who described how they degenerated until the stage of breathing complications. I think medical practitioners can learn how to control the disease. They only need to be interested. Going by what I saw with the team in Mulago, we can beat this disease, but we must all sign up for the fight.

I hope sharing my experiences and views will help someone. I pray that the LORD gives us Grace and wisdom as a nation to make all the right decisions and moves in this fight.

For God and my Country!