Special Topics in Global Health: Water and Health in Uganda
My interest in the Master of Nursing program at UW Bothell centered around a desire to explore community-based health and to examine how nurses might have an impact on systems affecting populations not just in our region, but throughout the world. Approaching nursing from this vantage inevitably leads to an examination of the vast disparities in health determinants that exist in our society and others. The program I participated in, facilitated by Drs. Amy Hagopian and Bert Stover at the UW School of Public Health offered a unique opportunity to look at one of our most overlooked resources in one of the most under-resourced regions of the world, sub-Saharan Africa.
What made this course in Uganda so appealing was the scope and design of the study. Prior to leaving the States, we wrote an epidemiologic paper on the water-borne disease in Uganda. This had the effect of preparing us for some of the scarcity and challenges we might observe in relation to water during our month-long journey in Uganda. To my amazement, Uganda was impressively beautiful with lush greenery all around us. Kampala, Uganda’s capital, sits on the shores of the second-largest freshwater lake in the world, Lake Victoria, making the scarcity of potable water all the more harrowing.
along the Western border of Uganda
To better understand this dichotomy, we immediately partnered with local university students to begin research on the infrastructure-related challenges around water quality, access, and management. This element of the partnership with Ugandan students was one of the most appealing aspects of this program, and provided for a local perspective we would otherwise not have had. We toured hospitals, universities, government ministries, water, and sewage treatment plants, the source of the Nile River, schools, a fishing village on Lake Victoria, underserved community health clinics, a Coca-Cola bottling plant, an orphanage, city slums in Kampala, a women’s sewing collective, a coffee-growing community in the mountains along the DRC border, the incredible scenery and wildlife near the Murchison Falls National Park, and had an unforgettable experience in the Bidibidi refugee settlement near the South Sudan border. Needless to say, our agenda was packed, and I could not have asked for a more thorough look at the many facets of water and the related challenges faced in this region of the world. With the knowledge gained by our experiences in Uganda, on our final day in Kampala we were able to present to the Makerere University community our findings and observations.
the Bidibidi refugee settlement
In preparation for leaving for Uganda, I felt it necessary to understand a little about our water supply; where does it come from, and how is it processed? This led to tours of the Brightwater sewage treatment plant in Woodinville, and a tour of the Fall City Water District that supplies most of Seattle with water. This understanding was crucial in identifying how economic disparity has impacted Uganda’s ability to manage the most fundamental of resources, and one so prolific in this beautiful country.
Upon returning home, we completed our final paper for the course on a topic related to water policy in Uganda. This holistic approach to studying water in Uganda, from illness to infrastructure to policy, provided exactly the scope I’d hoped for in my endeavor to expand my knowledge base around nursing competencies in community health. The experience of studying abroad was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for which I couldn’t be more grateful.
I would be remiss not to mention the incredible hospitality shown to our group by our student colleagues in Uganda, and the lovely Rev. Dr. Sam Luboga and his wife Christine, who together own and operate Nabacwa House, a guesthouse in Kampala for visiting health students from around the globe. Their family and accommodations made the experience in Uganda all the more unforgettable. I am indebted to all of those who made this trip possible and am proud to represent the Study Abroad program at UW Bothell as a student ambassador.
“TRAVEL IS FATAL TO PREJUDICE, BIGOTRY, AND NARROW MINDEDNESS, AND MANY OF OUR PEOPLE NEED IT SORELY ON THESE ACCOUNTS.”
~ MARK TWAIN
Jason Hopper, Early Fall 2019
