Happy belated Valentine’s Day! A lot has happened over the past few days. We made several field trips around the Kabale region after our time in clinic, discovered a location to buy scary movies in English, and found a store to buy delicious South African wine. A worm was also discovered in the tap water that still wiggled around the water bottle after being zapped with my Steripen. So I’m thinking my UV light water purifier might have to be temporarily retired.
On Wednesday, we visited a family farm to learn about sustainable agriculture (one of the students here is interested in that) which grew a plethora of different fruits, vegetables, herbs, and animals. Families in Uganda typically have small plots of land passed down from generations where they grow modest amounts of different organic pesticides made from peppers and ash, which was pretty neat.
Coffee beans 
Me on a family farm
Thursday, we tagged along with Kihefo’s monthly HIV outreach about an hour’s drive outside of Kabale. These outreaches are primarily geared toward HIV positive patients living in rural areas too far to walk from Kabale since many of them lack transportation. Here, patients’ viral loads and CD4 counts were tested and then the patients were counseled based on the results. These counselors looked at aspects of the patient’s life that could be affecting their illness, such as medication adherence, social support, and proper nutrition availability. Based on these factors, patients could be started on a new medication regimen or simply counseled the proper way to take their medications. I was really impressed with the clinic’s dedication to helping the rural communities remain adherent, as Kihefo’s employees will call patients who missed their appointment, and if there’s no answer, they’ll visit the patient’s home to check on them.
HIV outreach location 
HIV rapid test
We ended the week on a high note by visiting one of the recipients of the Rabbit Program at her home. She was given 3 rabbits in 2015, and since then has been able to sell and eat many. She gave an example of eating rabbits for Christmas dinner and specifically selling 12 rabbits last time she went to the market. She continues to sleep with the rabbits in her house at night for fear that someone will steal them from their cages. She additionally uses the rabbit dung as fertilizer in her garden and uses their urine mixed with pepper as a natural pesticide.
2015 Rabbit recipient 
Erika's Experience in Kabale, Uganda 