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Published: June 12th 2016
Another week down! That leaves two remaining here in Rugazi, and ten total in Uganda. I enjoy the pace of life here, I enjoy the cuisine, and even the heat is becoming much more tolerable. My skin is changing, though I’ll never be the brown summer tone of my siblings or parents, no matter how much time I spend on the equator. The only thing I miss intensely is my man and my family. Sometimes I feel a sense of anxiety when I count the days down, other times it gives me peace… I close my eyes, and I see Tyler perusing me over his cigarette, head tilted back, eyes half closed with a look that tells me all my secrets are no longer secrets to him anymore. It’s both comforting and unnerving to be known so well. I have a big personality, I am a wild child and a loud-mouthed introvert, which can be difficult for some people to be around; it is nice to be loved fully for who you truly are, and it is that what I miss most when I am away from home.
But, I am making some really great friends here! Let me tell
you about some of them….
I’ll begin with Steven – “Stevo” - whom we chose as our team leader. He is a charismatic just turned 24 year old, with a winsome smile and beautiful teeth. He has a tall frame, and an athlete’s build from playing soccer, always in jeans and a jersey when not in his dress clothes for work, and always with a clean shaved head. When he laughs, he scrunches his nose up, giving him a childish look that belies the vast medical knowledge and skill he possesses. Stevo is good-natured, easy going, and easy to make laugh – he told me once at dinner that I am “so fun and stubborn” – a weird way to phrase is, but accurate enough. He will enter his fifth and final year of medicine in the fall, and hopes to specialize in ENT (eyes, nose, throat). He is a good leader, never overpowering, but confident enough to guide and represent us. I feel great affection for him, and feel protective of him as if he was my younger brother – God forbid he ever brings a girl by, she’ll get the older sister third degree! He’s the type
of guy whom a mother would be fiercely proud of.
Ambrose is next. Ambrose has a gentle manner, soft-spoken and kind. He will enter his fourth and final year of nursing in the fall. When we began our week of training at university together, I could not make a very accurate judgment of his character, because the boy WHISPERED everything he said, it seemed to me, unless I told him to speak up. I knew he possessed intelligence, but only now that we have been working together for the last two weeks have I been able to really and fully appreciate it. I look to him to be the voice of reason in our group when things get off topic, and with his gentle ways he guides us back to where we need to be. Ambrose regularly goes to the market for our food supplies, and to the little shop nearby for our breakfast breads or cakes each morning. Last weekend, he went all around town to eight different places to find two live chickens for the dinner the white kids had requested for Sundays. He toils quietly, never makes a complaint; when he saw me washing my laundry
by hand he said, “Oh, no! You should have told me I will wash for you”. What a dear, though of course I would never subject him to that. Ambrose was never spoiled as a child, it is quite clear; my first impression was that he was raised by a good woman, and likely had many sisters to boss him around. When I told my impression, however, he informed me it was quite the opposite. He had a transient upbringing, living with different people and relatives; his explanation when I asked why he is such a good man, he said it is because when you live with different people you want them to like you, and so you do much work without any complaint. I preferred my happy explanation of having been raised by a perfect mother, but alas, life is not a fairy tale. Ambrose is the kind of person you send your heart out to, one whom you hope the very best for, because he so deserves it. On Friday, he surprised me when I asked if I could buy him a drink at the bar down the road and he consented; I thought him too pious. But
he came along, and we had great fun playing a round of “heads up”, a game where you try to get a person to say a phrase; Britany had a slightly dirtier version of the game on her phone and we couldn’t contain our laughter when we miraculously got him to guess “edible panties” when it was his turn. A great display of our university caliber knowledge! I look forward to having a party when they can rejoin us in Mbarara at the end of July; I take comfort in knowing we will see them once more after we leave Rugazi.
Then there is Stephen, a medical lab student with a lot of experience in community health. I would guess he’s older than the rest of us. He is quite tall, and extremely slim. He pokes his tongue out when he is thinking, talks even more rapidly than I do, and uses more hand gestures when he speaks than my sister after five beers. I believe he has a high metabolism, which accounts for his high energy. I like Stephen very much outside of work, but I would be a blatant liar if I said we didn’t butt heads
during work. I’ve told him to hush up more than once, sometimes diplomatically, other times not so much. We are always friends at the end of the day, and neither of us lets it come between us. He grew up with seven sisters, so I am sure he is used to being told what’s what. I don’t know a lot about him, other than that his father passed away from cancer which was hard for him, and which softened me towards him during our training. We are on dish duty together Wednesday afternoons, so I will get to know him better. He tries my patience, but is an undeniably valuable resource for the work we are doing. We will be good friends by the end of this, no doubt about it.
And Rehema, or Remmy; she is a pharmacy student, only twenty-one years of age. She is a fashionista, the definition of “cool”, in her dress and in her attitude. She is Muslim, and always looks so amazing in the way she ties her scarfs and her outfit combinations. I was drawn to her in school, as I noticed her intensely exaggerated eye rolls when the days became so
long, and I found that amusing. She is a bit of a sass pot, in her own way, which is another reason I love her. Remmy is a very good girl; she knows what she wants out of life, and the right way to go about it. She’s not the type to fawn over a man who will give her anything less than she deserves. She’s strong, and she is smart. One of my favorite snapshots is of her butchering our chickens, decked out in all her regalia, Chanel shoes and all, chicken head dangling in her hand. It’s the contrast that I love about her. Also, she is much more open to me than the other females around; she is not shy to laugh and joke, to be affectionate, to ask questions and answer mine. She is confident, bold, and knows how to laugh. No wonder I admire her so much. I’ve told her on several occasions that I’m going to bring her home with me, and we’ll live together in Sarah’s basement….hehe.
The conversations we all have at mealtimes and in between work hours is always amusing. Usually, they speak in English, with heavy “t” and “d”
consonants, confused “r”s and “l”s, and drawn out vowels. The last consonant of a word is generally very exaggerated. I remember on our first day here in Rugazi, the Ugandan students prepared a weekly menu for us to approve – every breakfast we were to have meeeelkey. Me – milk? Yes – meeeeelkey. Tenielle – millet? Yes – meeeelkey. Me – Oh, so like, millet, porridge? Yes, meeeeelkey. Dayna – millet??? Stevo – No – spelled M-I-L-K! All of us – ooooh. MILK.
They all have different variations and inflections that make me laugh. Stevo’s classic line is “Ah don’tee knohhh” and he sounds just like a little four year old; Ambrose will describe things as (high pitched voice) veeeeeddy beeg. Or veeeeeddy fahnny. A simple example of the difference in a Canadian and Ugandan accent is the word banana. Canadians say “beh-neh-nah”; Ugandans say “bah-naw-naw”. It becomes increasingly easier to decipher the accents, but sometimes I’s still gotta say - pardon?
I grow more affectionate towards them everyday. Their faces have become comforting and dear to me. I shall miss them immensely when we return to Mbarara in two weeks time, and wished they were coming with
us, or that we were to stay here with them. The absolute best part of traveling is making new friends to love, and the absolute hardest part is having to say goodbye to them, quite possibly for a lifetime.
Traveling is an emotional rollercoaster for me. Continuous ups and downs, of experiencing the most incredible sights, sounds, tastes, but missing the presence of Tyler, of mom and dad, Sarah and Drew, to share it with. I miss them so much some days. I love the people here, the children, the old men and women, my new friends and coworkers; I love the food, the scenery, the lackadaisical way of life. But these experiences come at a great sacrifice for me, as I am so deeply attached to my family. On hard days, I wonder if it is all worth it; but most days I know with absolute certainty that it is. The struggle is good, it ensures I never take my home, my loved ones, and my life in Canada for granted. In the end, it is all so, so worth it.
As for the occurrences in the last week, it has been relatively routine. I enjoyed our
week in the maternity ward; I witnessed one birth, perfectly executed, and Brooklyn was the one who caught the baby girl. The baby was slipperier than a jackfish, a reminder to maintain a good grip when it comes my turn to catch a baby at the next opportunity. I will be spending three weeks on maternity at the hospital in Mbarara and expect there will be exponentially more deliveries there. Birth has got to be the most horrifically beautiful event in the world.
We have been celebrating birthdays this week! Dayna’s was on Thursday, and she wanted to go out for some drinks and dancing after supper that night. FINALLY, I got a chance to dance, the first time I’ve been properly out since I’ve left home. We stayed out until the wee hours of 11:30 pm before we were all tired and were ready to go home. Today, Sunday, is Brooklyn’s birthday. She, Sarah, and I had a pre celebration at the King Fisher safari lodge yesterday. The lodge has a great pool overlooking the Queen Elizabeth national park, and offers a spectacular view. It was incredibly peaceful, and we had a nice visit; we stayed for about
Fun with Photos
The kids are endlessly fascinated with cameras and having their pictures taken five hours in total, before heading home for supper. To celebrate today, Brooklyn and Sarah and I ventured to the “House of Love”, an orphanage primarily for children who are HIV positive, whose parents either died of the same or who abandoned their children at birth because of the baby’s status. The name is very befitting for the home, all the children greeted us with hugs and handshakes; the little ones clung to our hands with both of theirs, each of us had at least two kids holding tight to us. They were fascinated by our pale skin, and my soft straight hair that they loved to run their fingers through – I also loved it, tiny hands combing your hair feels so nice. They were delighted with the stickers we brought for them, and the little ones put them all over their faces and bodies. The children sang songs and played the drums and danced for us, I was overwhelmed almost to tears from the positive energy. Children are just such beautiful amazing little creatures! Afterwards we played some local games with the children, and that was really fun, lots of laughter. It is a happy home that exudes
positivity. The administrator Agnes is a delightful soul, the children and facility are lucky to have such caring workers. They have gardens on site, and a shop with crafts that the children make during their school holidays. I have been blowing my souvenir budget and told myself I wouldn’t buy anything, but how could I refuse their precious creations when it’s for such a good cause? We stayed for almost four hours, then had to say goodbye, as tonight we had a true celebration for Brooklyn; the locals have been regularly requesting that we make them a Canadian meal, so we chose tonight for our feast. Groceries are limited here, but we decided we had what it takes to prepare tacos. While not truly Canadian, it is an essential part of most of our diets! Yesterday, Stevo googled a picture of “taco” to get an idea of what we would be eating and his reaction was “ooooh, so nice!” All the Ugandan students had the same sentiment when they tasted our work; they loved the tacos and were amazed at the amount of toppings and ingredients we can use for just one meal. We had banana boats for desert, and
Sarah and Carrie
Can't cook without wine! the students were also very satisfied with them. One boy ate four! We all stuffed our bellies and declared ourselves pregnant with food babies. It was a very fun night; the boys said they are excited for us to prepare supper again next Sunday! I told them maybe, if they are all good boys.
Our time here in Rugazi is all ready half over. Before we know it we will be packing our bags for the city and saying goodbye to our new friends. It has been so great getting to know them, by far my favorite part of the experience. They are growing accustomed to our loud dinner conversations, how “free” we are, and have even adopted some of our ways – such as lining up for food buffet style rather than patiently waiting for one person to politely dish it out plate by plate. The Canadians come running when food is ready, and we figured we could get into our systems much faster if we served ourselves independently. Stevo once asked me if I couldn’t see my food, because I had my face so close to my bowl! (I told him it’s so I can get the
food in my mouth faster). There is never a shortage of laughter at meal times, and I always look forward to the time we share together as a big family of twenty.
Thinking of you all at home! Thank you always for reading.
Carrie Ann
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Tammy Gusr
non-member comment
Wow Carrie
What a wonderful thing you are doing and learning. Awesome writings, keep them coming. All the best to you, your time will be done before you know it and soon you will see your family!