Three entries in one!

Blog entry: Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Hello from beautiful Mbale, Uganda! I’m still living in the same hotel we had originally checked into upon arriving from Kampala. It’s a really nice place, but I’m definitely spending waaaaay too much living here. We’ve spent most evenings after work looking at other housing options, but it’s tough-going. We’re here for such an awkward period of time (around 2 more months at this point) due to the travel delays because of the violence and then a training course in Kampala we hadn’t originally planned on attending. As a result, a lot of the inexpensive places are taken and the ones that are left are pretty shady. Our friend Peter from TASO ended up negotiating a cheaper price at this hotel and one down the road. We tried doing some negotiating on our own, but it’s hard to tell what things should actually cost. I’m sure we’ll get a handle on “muzungu prices” at some point. (The constant bargaining for every. little. thing. is exhausting though.) I have to say that I absolutely hate the thought of living in a hotel. First, it feels like I’m a prissy American. Second, buying every meal out is another big cost and sometimes I just want something small and fast - neither of which are an option here. I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry, but I can’t help wishing there were better options. Since it looks like the current hotel is the best option, at least I’ll be able to unpack tonight… it’s been a long 2½ weeks of living out of a suitcase and not being able to find anything.

Things at work are starting to shape up. We’ve been thoroughly familiarized with TASO and were set up with mentors in various departments of the organization based on our areas of interest. Tomorrow we’ll be traveling on our first “outreach,” which reaches up to 800 people with HIV/AIDS counseling and basic medical care (mainly those who are unable to physically travel to the center located in Mbale). I was also invited to attend this month’s PMTCT Clinic and meet some of the pregnant women here at the center. Hopefully we’ll nail down the details of our final project soon as well.
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Blog entry: Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Since I last wrote, Lindsey and I are all settled in the Mt. Elgon Hotel. I reread my last entry and have softened my attitude towards the place. ☺ We spent last weekend on an epic cross-country trek to the Queen Elizabeth National Park in western Uganda. After a grand total of approximately 40 HOURS on a bus over the course of three short days, returning home to a hot shower and clean sheets seemed like absolute heaven. I’m just about finished uploading pictures and promise to email those along because I’m not sure you’re going to believe all of the things I’m about to tell you of what happened on our adventure.

Before I recount the journey’s details, I want to talk about what surely was the best experience I’ve had so far on this trip. Last Thursday, Lindsey and I were invited to accompany TASO on an Outreach, which basically involves moving TASO’s day-to-day operations of (counseling, treatment and some confirmatory testing) to the field. Outreach days are so important to the local people here, many of whom have no way of traveling great distances to get to the main center due to lack of transportation or grave illness. Thursday’s event, as expected, attracted over 800 people, one of the largest Outreaches of the entire year. Upon arrival in the early morning, we found many people were already gathered- young and old, mothers, fathers and children- all sitting under the shade of the clinic’s trees next to a sea of bikes. One of the first things we did was to sit with the local women who were cooking for the gathered clients. I even tried some of the porridge. While it didn’t look very appetizing, it was surprisingly filling and sweet. The porridge, which is made from ground millet, is rich with nutrients and has done wonders for helping the village’s children avoid malnourishment in place where food can be scarce.

A quick meal was followed by a flurry of activity. Staff separated over the grounds of the clinic to set up centers for HIV confirmatory testing, pharmaceutical distribution, medical consulting and counseling. I began the morning by helping out in the pharmacy counting painkillers and vitamins for individual clients. I then observed Julius, one of the lab technicians, administering HIV confirmatory tests. Clients are tested for HIV locally and then referred to TASO for treatment. However, before a client can begin receiving counseling and treatment, TASO administers a confirmatory test. Julius was kind enough to teach Lindsey and I how to administer the finger pricks and read the results of the rapid tests. The afternoon was spent with the medical team that specializes in the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. I had the opportunity to sit with two doctors as they addressed medication side effects and performed examinations for opportunistic infections on HIV positive pregnant women. The medical team also counseled on them on antiretroviral (ARV) adherence, encouraged them to deliver in the hospital (when possible), nutrition, breastfeeding and how to enroll in family planning after giving birth. I don’t feel I can adequately describe what a satisfying feeling it was to finally be working on the issues I’ve been studying for over two years now. Sitting in a classroom is one thing, seeing it for myself is entirely another.

At the end of the day, the TASO vehicles were repacked with supplies and we all piled in to head back to Mbale. As is common practice here in Uganda a dozen staff members piled into a van probably meant for eight people and off we went. Among the passengers were two Englishmen named James and Dave from Kingston University (located in a royal borough of London, I’ve just been informed) who are also working for TASO and staying in our hotel. They’ve been a near constant source of entertainment as we try to decipher what they’re saying, particularly James, who hails from the prestigious Peak District. We’ve learned a lot from our new friends, who have taught us such useful information like there’s no such thing as a city block in England (they give directions by pointing out various pubs along the way). I think I prefer that to Ugandan directions, which invariably involves pointing and saying “Oh yes, it’s up.” (This could mean it’s two doors down or a three-day journey away). Every time I ask for the time I day, I’m informed of what time it is in England and each time I inquire about future plans, I’m told to quit panicking. I’ve also learned no less a dozen new ways to insult people (with accompanying formerly innocuous hand gestures). They like to think they’re the main characters of this blog. They like to think a lot of things, haha.

But I digress. Back to our trip home- with all of us packed into a van like sardines, Dave started to feel a bit green after a day of malaria-like symptoms. Thankfully we made it back in one piece with relatively little incident, though there was a moment when someone bought a whole calf leg/hoof in a clear plastic bag from a roadside vender and it was touch and go for me there for a bit. Dave was still feeling pretty rough when we returned to TASO so Julius offered to administer a malaria test. I’d never seen one in person before and it looks an awful lot like a pregnancy test with the two bars that indicate positive or negative results. Good news: Dave wasn’t pregnant and didn’t have malaria. Close call. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in any shape to travel with us to Jinja, where we were to meet some of their friends from uni and a group of TASO staff from the center there for our safari. Lindsey, James and I sent Dave home to recover while we began what was to be an exhausting, but exhilarating journey.

Since we were leaving Mbale after 5pm, we missed the coach buses that take passengers to Jinja directly. Our only option for transportation was a taxi, or matatu. These 14 passenger vans travel from city to city (or village to village, as it were), picking up and dropping off passengers along the way. The upholstery reminded me of something your great-great aunt Esther would have in her living room, minus the plastic of course. At any one time, the van contained a total of up to 21 people, live chickens, and a car battery that was leaking a substance I wouldn’t have touched with a fully equipped haz-mat team. The hour and a half trip was stretched out to three hours because we stopped so many times to load and unload passengers (human or otherwise). It was a long, bumpy ride - there are speed bumps everywhere along the route - but shocks on the van? Not so much. By the time, we reached Jinja we were pretty tired. We found a great Indian restaurant for a quick dinner and headed to the hotel where our friends were staying.

At 6:30 the next morning, a coach bus arrived to pick us up to begin our cross-country excursion to Queen Elizabeth’s National Park near the Uganda-DR Congo border. The entire ride took just over 12 hours to reach the safari site, again due to many stops. Thankfully this trip did not involve poultry or miscellaneous car parts. After a quick dinner, we retired to our hotel. We all slept pretty well due to the exhausting day before, but were woken up in the middle of the night by a violent rainstorm. Wake up call at 430am was painful. After a quick breakfast, we all piled back onto the coach bus. I was disappointed we weren’t taking land cruisers, but didn’t make too much of a fuss since we managed to get a window seat. We had to get on the road early because most of the animals hide from the midday heat. Seeing as we passed a sign along the road letting us know that we were passing over the equator, I certainly understand why.

After a few minutes on the road, we ran into herds of grazing antelope and water buffalo. They seemed unbothered by the busload of tourists snapping pictures out the bus windows as the sun rose steadily behind them. Our tour guide then directed the bus driver to keep going as we had a chance of catching sight of some lions nearby. Much to my surprise, the bus driver took a hard right and cut directly across the field. Interesting choice, seeing as the ground was soggy from the previous night’s torrential downpours. We made it about 30 feet before sinking down into the mud. For the next few hours, the entire busload attempted to push the coach bus out of the mud, succeeding only in burying it further into the ground. Nevermind that we were stuck in the exact spot where we were hoping to spot lions. I asked the tour guide if anything like this had ever happened before, assuming that no one had ever made the mistake of driving a coach bus on safari, let alone directly into the fields the night after a driving rain. The tour guide said, “Oh yes, it happens all the time!” I was less and less amused by hour three, feeling much like an ant being fried on a sidewalk under the magnifying glass of a mischievous child. Lack of amusement quickly turned into terror though. Lindsey had dropped her glasses somewhere in the grass and in the midst of looking for them nearly stepped on an enormous snake. Not convinced that it was actually a snake we were looking at, we bent to get a closer look. It was roughly the circumference of my thigh. I didn’t stick around to find out how where the head was. I’ve never been particularly afraid of snakes, but then again, I’ve never nearly stepped one that could swallow me whole either.

Eventually a tow truck of sorts showed up carrying an audience of about 20 locals who came along seemingly just to witness the spectacle. First attempts at dragging the bus backwards failed. As the tow truck repositioned itself on the other side, I decided that I would probably rather be eaten by a lion than a snake. Seemed like a faster way to go. As the nose of the tow truck dipped down into the dirt straining against the weight of the bus, I wondered if the national park kept a second tow truck handy to dig this one out. Lions probably think humans taste like chicken. Don’t most things taste like chicken?

By some miracle, the bus lurched out of it’s muddy tracks and the tow truck was able to drag it to the road. Our audience of locals cheered. I cried. Okay, not really. It was a relief to board the bus again and continue our safari. Relief was short lived. It began to rain again and the driver was turning down the side of a mountain, navigating our beast of a bus down switchback turns. Apparently, we just had to see the salt mines. Simply could not miss them. I like salt as much as the next person, but I really just wanted to stay on solid ground. Somehow we managed to get down and back with no major incident. Our next stop was a lake filled with hippos. I’m told they’re quite fierce, but watching them bob up and down in the water and nudge one another with their snouts made them seem quite cuddly. The rain had dissipated by this point and we made our way to the park’s lodge for lunch. Unbelievably, the bus had to slow down because there was a leopard ambling along the road blocking our way. It was definitely one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. I changed my mind - way better to get eaten by a leopard. They’re even faster than lions.

After lunch at the park’s lodge and some more touring, we were back on the bus for the three-hour drive to Masaka, where we were to have dinner and stay the night. As we pulled into town, we noticed swarms of moth-like creatures under all of the town’s lights. Upon closer inspection they look like dragonflies without tails, or sense of direction for that matter since they are constantly slamming into walls. They were everywhere in the room where we were supposed to have dinner. I politely declined dinner and swatted my way to my hotel room.

I was completely exhausted after a morning in the hot sun alternatively pushing a bus or sitting for hours on end. All I wanted was a shower to rinse off the layers of DEET, suntan lotion and sweat. The hotel room left a lot to be desired. It was a cement cube with a sheet for a curtain and a single light bulb hanging from a string above the bed. No matter, I killed a couple of the tailless dragonfly things and took a shower, which was really just bending down under an ice-cold faucet that emptied directly onto the bathroom floor. This is not an uncommon occurrence here in Uganda, but I had a rough time balancing because I was so tired. I threw on my pj’s and tried to settle into bed under the mosquito net. Not three minutes later we received a call that we were leaving the hotel. I legitimately thought they were joking. Apparently there was a dispute about the number of bookings in the hotel and three people were left without rooms. Instead of just moving these people to a different hotel next door, everyone was asked to get back on the bus. I scrambled to get dressed and repack. On my way upstairs, I noticed that all of the tailless dragonfly creatures were gone. They all died, unceremoniously and simultaneously. No wonder none of the locals were bothered by them. I also noticed on the way out that the food was still hot, covered and untouched. That must have been some nasty dispute for them to leave all of that food. Well, the masses were not content to go to bed without dinner and after a lot of yelling, we got back off of the bus to eat the dinner. I was too tired to eat and soon we were reboarding to go to a different hotel. The second hotel had large beautiful rooms with hot showers. Of course.

So that was my first safari experience. It was anything but boring. Another 12 hours on the bus on Sunday and we were back in Mbale, for a grand total of 40 hours on a bus over the course of three days. At least I didn’t get eaten by a lion? For all the madness of the weekend, I would definitely do it again... I'd probably just make different travel arrangements! :)

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Thursday, October 15, 2009

I cannot believe I’ve been away from home for a month. I’m settling into a nice routine here and we’re finally making headway on our projects at work. Our focus has changed a bit. As opposed to just working on gender mainstreaming, Lindsey and I will be working to standardize the health education of TASO clients. As it stands now, all new TASO clients attend “health talks” to introduce them to the organization and prepare them for what to expect in treatment. Since various facilitators administer these talks, the disseminated information differs rather widely. Our project would involve an institutional review of current Health Talk topics, expansion on relevant topics as guided by the most current research and the integration of new topics where suggested by TASO Medical Officers, Counselors and Administrators. The final product would be a comprehensive binder available to each Health Talk facilitator containing one to two pages devoted to educating TASO clients on matters important to their physical and emotional health, their social selves and overall well-being. We have about 13 topics with up to 7 subtopics under each after the first round of brainstorming. Here’s hoping we’re not being too ambitious, especially since I’ll be working separately on PMTCT projects while Lindsey is pursuing issues of child neglect.

Not much else new happening this week since the safari. I have started going for a jog in the evenings though. The food is so impossibly heavy here that it feels great to burn off some of those calories. Though I’ve quickly learned that running isn’t exactly common here. I get stopped by the local schoolchildren who run after me saying, “Excuse me, excuse me! Are you very late??” My friend Dave pointed out that it’s probably even more perplexing to them when I abruptly stop after seemingly reaching no destination at all and turn around to run back exactly the way I came. I’m sure they’ll get used to me eventually, haha.
We are planning a trip this weekend to drive by Sipi Falls and hike on Mt. Elgon. We’ll only be spending one night on the mountain and going for out for a few hours on Sunday morning. Since it’s only 45 minutes away from where we are staying, I’m sure we’ll make a second longer trip, hopefully when my friend Radhika visits me from Rwanda in November.

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