So many of life’s choices involve considering whether to keep the status quo or change to something untried or untested. In the UK earlier this month we had the option to keep the government that we had, or make a change to a new one. The end result of a coalition between Conservatives and Liberals has been slightly unexpected, but I’m not disappointed, and so far most of what’s been said by the new Government has been positive. The rhetoric about reducing the scope of the state and putting more power back into the hands of society has got to be good – one aspect of life in the UK which I was greatly struck by when I returned to the UK from Uganda 30 months ago was how so much of day-to-day occurrences are overseen or regulated by the state. The number of CCTV cameras watching our daily lives is incredible, the licences or permissions required to do almost everything, and most of all the underlying charges which have to be paid to go about your daily life underpin everything. George Orwell and Aldous Huxley were truly visionary with their novels 1984 and Brave New World from which so many of their hyperbolous extremes have come to be an accepted part of normal life here.On the other hand, Uganda has many different ways of doing things which aren’t necessarily better... Although I had no problems in this area myself, apparently many aspects of day-to-day interaction with the state require bribes in order to get anywhere. Armed police stopping cars on any whim can be slightly scary, especially when you’re seen to be rich by the colour of your skin. Mob justice can be the norm – which is possibly why crime levels in Kampala are pretty low – the standard punishment for someone caught stealing is to be beaten and stripped naked in the street!
There are however many things about life in rural Uganda that compare very favourably with life in the UK, and you’ll see from many of the previous blog postings here what I particularly appreciate. I’ve now got to within six months of finishing my UK training, and that has forced me into some more serious thoughts about what to do when my current job finishes in October. Do I stay in the UK and find a job as a Consultant Surgeon here in the NHS, or do I leave all that behind and go back to work at Kiwoko Hospital in Uganda?
I’d come to the conclusion six months ago that my best plan was to work in the UK for a couple of years at least in order to establish myself as a Consultant Surgeon, to get the large jump in experience that those first few years of independent practice can give, and to give me a much better chance of being able to come back to work in the UK if I did indeed take a few years in the Developing World. As someone with a strong Christian faith, I want to be somewhere where God can use me to best benefit others, and although I know that He’ll have a role for me wherever I end up, I’d rather be where He chooses first and foremost. I also believe that common sense is a gift from God, and that He can guide our personal desires, so it has been interesting over the last six weeks to find myself in a position where the sensible career choice would be to stay in the UK, but I actually had very little enthusiasm for doing so!
I had been feeling quite homesick for Kiwoko Hospital, after hearing lots from my friend Charlotte who has now completed her two months in Uganda, and with getting lots of other news from other friends who are there full-time, such as Rory and Denise who have just had a first baby, Ken and Judith who are considering whether to renew their contract at the hospital next year, Emma (one of my sponsored students) who has just completed her final Nursing exams, and Mark who is planning to take time away from the hospital for more studies in Kampala.
However, I’ve been in touch with some of the hospitals in my area, and one of them suddenly called me a couple of weeks ago. They discovered at short notice that they potentially will have a retirement in a few months time, and seem to be very keen for me to consider taking that Surgeon’s place – so much so that they’ve arranged with my own training director to get me sent there in August so I can work as an Acting Consultant for the last three months of my training. This will enable me to see whether this is indeed a job I would like, and let them see if I would fit within their department, prior to any job application/interview. All of a sudden, I’m excited and enthusiastic again – this hospital would give me most of the things I’m looking for from a Consultant job in terms of the type of surgery I’d be doing, and it’s in a good location not too far from where I currently live. More prayer required, methinks, but watch this space!
Of course this may all lead to another conundrum... would living nearer to that work be a good idea sooner or later... should I stay or should I go?
Steve
