I did my practical training in three different places: first was a private hospital, second was a level four health centre and the last one was a public hospital. Midwife work was a bit different in every place. Everything was a bit doctor centred in the private hospital and because of the high prices, it was not very busy there. In the health centre we got to deliver babies and also we got to do family planning for a few days which was very interesting. In the public hospital, we got to work two weeks in gyne emergency which was really interesting and we learned a lot. The hospital was really busy and we also got to work in the delivery ward.
Views from Kawempe Hospital. Photo by Viivi Räsänen.
The working culture in Uganda is so different compared to Finland. The perception of time is so different. Ugandans work in two shifts as in Finland we work in three shifts. And In Uganda if your shift starts at eight, it is okey to arrive at nine or ten. And in Uganda there might be even 10 to 15 women to take care of for one midwife in labour ward. And in Finland it is probably 1 or 2 women. The resources are also very different. In Uganda, there might not be any medicines available whereas in Finland we rarely need to think about such things.
In our spare time, we explored Kampala and our own neighbourhood. We also did some shopping for ourselves and for souvenirs. We went to three day safari which was an amazing experience. We saw elephants, giraffes and lions among many other amazing animals. We Finnish students also spent time together playing card, watching movies and talking about everything.
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