Ok i can blog again

http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2011/08/why-i-blog.html

What I'm doing

Many of you must be curious what my job actually involves. I bring 14 million dollars worth of ART drugs into the country. The drugs and diagnostic consumables are donated by UNITAID and I do the quantification and forecasting of drug consumption with implementing partners, place orders and manage the import and delivery of these drugs. I also work with the government to improve their quantification of consumption and forecasting across the country.

So basically, I'm a drug kingpin.

Apparently there is more to the role but this in itself has kept me quite busy these last few weeks. Once the quarter's quantification and ordering process is over (in a month or so) I can start looking at other stuff.

On a side note, here is great article on trade ties between India and Africa: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/BUSINESS/08/25/india.charm.africa.china/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1

Ouch

I have been outed as a massive cliche.

I can't blog after reading that!

My first weekend

I went to my first “frat party” last weekend.

Who knew that the movies were true? There was beer pong and flip cup and for some reason guys started taking their shirts off at around 10pm and writing on each other. A sheep was roasted and t-shirts were sold that proclaimed in times new roman the existence of the party. The t-shirt also had a drawing of a sheep being roasted.

This is what my first weekend in Uganda was like. Who’d have thunk it?

Also, there seem to be a disproportionately high number of Americans here. What’s up with that?

TIL: why HIV is complex

Yesterday started at 2AM for me. It was either a howling dog, a tooting car or an overachieving rooster that woke me up. I forget which though all of them tried at some stage of the night. I tried in vain for a good hour to force myself back to sleep.

I learnt about HIV today. Specifically, the different categories of antiretroviral drugs and how each intervenes at different stages of the HIV replication cycle using different strategies. Fascinating!

I met one of the implementing partners (Baylor), went along to the National Drug Authority office to get a consignment cleared and finished back at the office to study the different first line and second line drug regimens. I hope to be able to rattle off HIV drug names and side effects by the end of the month.

The team works proper private sector hours. 8PM finishes are quite common and seem easy when surrounded by so much drive and passion. This has the pace and focus of consulting directed towards a goal I can feel proud of. The people are brilliant! Two of them went to Harvard [ed: one of them works at another NGO], one worked at Bain [ed: Oh! and two of them are engineers :) ]. Not sure about the rest but I'm sure they are equally well accomplished.

Also I had a banana.

It was the first thing I did yesterday.

I bought a bunch.

Jealous?

Welcome readers

My flight departs at 9:21pm tonight.

For those whom I have not had the pleasure of saying personal goodbyes, I'm sorry. It all happened quite quickly. Slowly at the start but very quickly towards the end. Five weeks ago I was offered a role at Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) managing supply chain of HIV medicine in Kampala, Uganda (Ed 23/08: It's actually forecasting, procurement of UNITAID donation of second line and paediatric ART drugs). I accepted with such alacrity that I'm sure records were broken.

During these five weeks, I have moved out of my place and back with folks, said numerous goodbyes, terminated a 6-year relationship with Accenture and even managed to squeeze in 5 days at the snow.

Unlike my PNG and Ghana stints, this is not a 'trip'. This is that final step towards a career in development that I have pined for. I have purchased a one way ticket and intend to be in Uganda for at the least a year but quite possibly more.

Like my PNG and Ghana stints, I will keep this blog to keep my well wishers informed of my life in Uganda.

Good bye for now! Next post from Uganda!