From: Solomon Sindano june 2008
Hello to all my dear sponsors!
I am doing quite well back here in Kenya having come for a short holiday break after a hectic 3 weeks of exams. It s now 3 years thereabout since I joined the university; I can assure you it has not been easy especially the studies t of it and sacrificing not seeing my family for 3 months duration. I would like to address the issues and challenges I have faced in a form of headings such that all the points will be clear, thus;
TRAVELLING;
When going back to the campus i leave at Kapenguria at around 6 am to reach Kitale at about 7am.Then I have to oard a different vehicle to a junction called Kanduyi in Bungoma town which is about 3 hour drive from Kitale. From anduyi it is 1 hour drive to Malaba border (Kenya-Uganda border). At the border there is often a delay which epends on number of travelers. Since i have to fill exit forms and get cleared by stamping of the passport on the Kenyan ide and again a similar entry process on the Ugandan side; during this clearance transit one has to have a porter to help carry the luggage since the Kenyan “matatus”(commercial public transport vehicles) do not cross the border d neither does the Ugandan vehicles.
Now on the Ugandan side of Malaba border, I get another matatu which will now get me to Kampala city which is 4 hour drive with good weather. This means the earliest I can arrive is around 4pm. It is rare to find a bus going to Ishaka (a small town 6 hour drive from Kampala where the university is situated) at this time and even if you do,it means arriving at around midnight!. So I often have to spend the night in Kampala and leave early in the orning to arrive at around 12 noon. That is how my journey is like to and from if there are no travelling mishaps in between.
ACCOMODATION;
Initially as a freshman I spent my whole 1st year on campus; we were booked in 4 students per room which was not so conducive for private studies. From 2nd year henceforth I moved off-campus renting a room at a place 1km away. The rental houses are single rooms in two rows facing each other; we have an understanding landlord such that all the 10 rooms are occupied by students alone and hence we easily co-operate to make the environment suite our studies. The other advantage is that my wife has been able to visit and spend time with me once in a while!.
Problems we face sometimes is water shortage; if it occurs we have to send bicycle porters with jerricans to the water springs at a cost of 100 Ushs (4 kshs) per jerrican. We also suffer black-outs (electricity disappearance) once in a while; in this case since I am far from campus where they have a standby generator I normally use a lantern which uses paraffin to read.
FOOD;
The Banyankole tribe are the majority occupants of western Uganda; their staple food is “matoke” (plantain/boiled mashed bananas).It was a little bit challenging for we Kenyan students to adjust because for most of us the staple food in Kenya is “Ugali” (made from maize flour) which is a heavier meal compared to plantain; this means you get hungry faster if you take matoke. Luckily the local hotels now prepare much of “Ugali” noting that many of their customers are the students.
The price of food has been fair till recently now that the student population has grown; remember that I am in the 2nd major intake group such that we can assumedly be considered as the pioneers of Kampala International University. In one month I could spend 5000 kshs on meals in cafeterias but now we spend about twice this amount!.
To curb the food price problems I embarked on cooking my own meals since the beginning of last term; this was a little bit challenging at first considering the nature of the course and the distance I have to walk to the house to make lunch for example. But am now used to the routine and another advantage is I get to eat food of my choice, not necessarily ‘matoke’! I also do much of the shopping from Kenya carrying enough to last for at least more than 6 weeks hence cutting costs further.
STUDIES;
Thanks to you all, my studies have been fairly smooth; no problem with fees, no problem with acquiring textbooks via Dr.Bea and above all the laptop which has really changed my study life and widened my scope of understanding in much of the medical stuff both from the internet and friends with PCs.
Medicine is quite a tough course at Kampala International University (KIU); we started off a class of 128 students but now narrowed down to 40!. By the time we were preparing to sit the 3rd year exam we were 61 students, one student had a problem with fees and another could not sit the exam because his room off campus got burnt and he lost virtually all his belongings.The3 weeks exams were quite hard as usual comprising of; 1 week of theory, 1 week of practical and 1 week of orals. Out of the remaining 59 students the results were as follows; 9 students have papers to resit, 9 are to repeat the whole year, 1 student has been discontinued and only 40 of us made a clean pass!
I promised to make you proud of me and am thus so happy to write you this report as an official FOURTH YEAR student!
In 4th year we are expected to do junior clerkship; this means that I will spend the next 18 months seeing and learning directly from the patients either at the KIU teaching hospital or at Masaka Regional hospital which is 2 hours drive from Kampala.
The two weeks break ends on 23rd and thus we are required to meet at campus and get informed on how we shall be transported to Masaka and also arrangements concerning accommodation since most of us have not visited Masaka town.
MY WIFE AND CHILDREN;
It was difficult having to stay away from my family more so in the beginning; this was because the place looked so far and being a foreign country with scary political history I did not feel safe. Communication was also a problem since at the time the only available network was Ugandan MTN; so calling was quite expensive. it was also difficult for my wife to visit both financially and in considering leaving the children under someone else care. But with time we learnt to survive on weekly calling especially Sundays till recently that we have several networks in the area; I now communicate daily morning and evening!.
Lyn my 1st born daughter is in primary school, standard 3, and little Anke is in nursery school, the first year. They are doing well and quite jolly especially when i am around. My wife is also fine and very supportive of my studies; apart from caring for the children she also keeps herself busy with gardening: the vegetables grown are often bought by our neighbors.
PARENTS AND SISTER;
My parents are very fine. My mom retired and they are both now busy running their business holdings. They have been very supportive in my studies both in encouragement and upkeep. My younger sister still under the care of my parents is in Busoga University also in Uganda, so we communicate frequently.
CONCLUSION;
My three years of sturdy has been quite successful and smooth much of all because of your support. I have not faced any major problem since I began the course up to this point. I appreciate so much since without you my dreams of becoming a doctor would have been shattered; it is very obvious that I am a lucky man to have you all assist me make it.
Thank you and May God bless you.
