I wanted to update our Foldscope experiences thus far. Our NGO (Bushenyi Alliance for Rural Health and Development: http://barhd.net/) sponsored a two week trip to Uganda last summer. We had hoped to be able to distribute Foldscopes to rural schools and clinics from a consignment that was sent to my lab last winter. Months before we left, I assembled one scope from that package and shipped the one assembled scope and the remainder directly to individuals at the medical school at Kampala International University (KIU), to a professor and medical students who would be helping us staff the clinics. Unfortunately, we were informed that the shipment never arrived at KIU. I therefore asked for a replacement shipment- which we did not receive until after our return. I did, however, want to bring scopes with us as a learning tool- so I brought two Brock magiscopes recommended by a colleague who used them for field work in the Peace Corps. During our hygiene discussions at the clinics, we collected water from local sources and used the scopes to image contaminant protozoa, which was very compelling for the kids- I’m sure this would have worked really well with Foldscopes, but the medical students still maintained that they had never arrived at KIU.

Two days before we were scheduled to leave, we visited KIU medical school. There I found the package I had sent months earlier- apparently never opened! Since we were not scheduled for any additional school or clinic visits, I went through the assembly process with the professors (pictures below), and requested that the scopes be distributed to secondary schools. I have yet to hear if this has been accomplished- I am trying to follow up on this via email. Based on this summer’s experiences, we will plan to hold onto this shipment until we get some feedback on when/how the scopes that were sent earlier were distributed.

I wish we had more to report- we have lots of pictures and video (even drone shots) of trip activities, and I am very disappointed that we didn’t have access to the instruments earlier in the trip. I anticipate joining the medical team again next year (my wife is a physician who does perinatal exams in the rural clinics) so hopefully we can put the foldscopes to good use this summer, as well as get some feedback soon on the batch currently in Uganda. We have prepared slides showing malarial infections, which should be perfect in the field.