Woolies at the Zoo

May 16, 2009

A day at the zoo with a group of Woolies is pretty much just a day of pure bliss. For those of you who don’t know what a Wooly is, I will tell you. There are currently 9 known Woolies in Uganda called Joshua, Kenneth, Arthur, Trevor, Henry, Simon, Peter, Irene, and Ruth. They are all members of the Need for All Orphanage that are pseudo adopted by the original Wooly – Ross. You can sometimes luck out and get them to sing the classic old song “Wooly Bully” which is quite a treat. They have their own interpretation of the melody and often use plastic bottles to add their own drum beat to the soundtrack. We really love the Woolies and if we could, we would put them all in a plane and bring them home for you to see.

The kids are rarely out of their little two room home that barely has furniture or running water. They have two “moms” who take turns sleeping over at night on a mattress in the cleared out garage that also holds the toys and clothes drying above them. The refrigerator is one that we bought last time we were here that is barely bigger than a dorm room frig. Even though they sometimes go with no food when the administrator, Ruth forgets to buy them or give money to the mothers. However, they do end up with enough to keep them growing and the house is full of love from the mothers and each other, along with Angella and us and all of the people that have heard about them back home. Since they get what they need at home and a lot of the times that we buy them things, they somehow manage to “disappear” when Ruth sends workers over to the house, we decided to give them an experience. They are old enough to remember a trip and it is something that will never be taken away from them, even if they are transferred to Watoto or split up from each other.

The mothers, Ellen and Noelena, had gotten a Mtatu driver to take us to Entebbe (an hour away) and back. It was originally for 100,000 shillings total, but after they saw us, the driver and conductor decided there was a “waiting fee” of 20,000. It seems to be the way that things work, and I'm pretty much accepting that it’s the way it is. It’s not the first time it’s happened and it sure won’t be the last. Regardless, it worked out better than anything else we could have thought of. By the time Ross, Rachel, Troy, Angella, and I arrived, all of the Woolies were dressed (WITH SHOES TOO!) and in the care eating their bread. Noelena also brought her Wooly, Suda. We also invited the two neighbor boys Henry (17) and Sully (14) because they are almost always at the orphanage and they do a great job taking care of the kids.

The ride was great. I don’t think the kids have ever been on a trip with all of them going somewhere in a vehicle. They have taken some shorter trips in Kampala, but none have been with all of them together. All of us had a seat and we were comfortable cramped, but there was still less people in that Mtatu then there would have been if we were just getting on somewhere in the city. All the way, the kids were jumping up and down and talking about the things they were going to see. They were also pointing out things such as the King’s Lake and buildings where they thought people lived.

Once we got to Entebbe, we had to stop to pick up Joshua whose step-aunt was meeting us in town. The Woolies had to use the bathroom, so Noelena helped them all take down there pants and go right on the grass next to the sidewalk. Although not widely accepted in the U.S. or other countries, it seems to be the way that most kids go in this country, so I wasn’t surprised. Nobody had seen Joshua for the past 2 or 3 months, so we expected them to be a bit more excited than they were, but I think it was just because they are used to people coming and going. I also wondered if kids have a memory like my dog Rocky. He’s excited to see you when you come home and if you leave for 30 seconds, he greets you as if you’ve been gone for a week. Kids and dogs may have the same idea of time….really no idea of how it works!

We got to the zoo and got everybody together for a group picture (I’ll try to load it at some point) We got the drivers in the photo in front of our own personal Mtatu. Prices for the zoo are great. They go according to age and nationality. Ugandan children are 3,000 ($1.50), Ugandan adults are 5,000 ($2.50), and Mzugu adults are 20,000 ($10.00). We really make out well in this country! Let me tell you, it was well worth the price of admission. We had from about noon until four to be there which was a good amount of time for the kids. We saw all kinds of animals, all of which are rescued from different places, so the selection is limited. The highlights for the kids were the crocodiles, snakes, chimpanzees, and lions. We got the chimpanzees at the right time because they were outside and running around. The Woolies loved hearing them yell and each other and pick fights with one another. The lion was in a place very close to the fence. We went up on a platform to see the lion. It was probably only 10 feet from the fence underneath a tree. There is only one female left now because the male died sometime in between last January and now. When we got down from the platform and started walking, the lion crept closer to the fence and we just thought it great that it moved. Later on we were on the other side of the lion’s fence and realized that the lion was by us again. We realized that it was pretty much stalking the kids. It had followed us around and kept getting closer. We think that maybe Peter or Ruth looked like good targets as they lagged behind. Troy and the older boy Henry got closer than everyone to the fence and the lion leapt forward and gave out a little roar. We all ran backward and laughed at the situation. Thankfully, fences are great at keeping animals in, but it managed to scare the little kids a bit.

We went to see the snakes, which were Joshua’s favorite. Kenneth was a bit scared by them. He would get close to the cage and then run away screaming. He didn’t want to get closer when we asked him to go and see the snakes again. We went to get lunch after we had seen as much as we wanted to see. There is one restaurant at the zoo so we didn’t have to make any decisions. The menu had a lot of fancy foods so making a choice of sandwiches and fries was pretty easy. The kids washed their hands and sat down at the table. It took nearly an hour for the meals to be served and I’m surprised the kids didn’t get more restless. I think it was because there were monkeys running around that kept getting close to the tables to steal food. We joked that they were killing the chickens for the sandwiches, but around this country, that actually might be what was going on behind the kitchen door. The kids ate all of their food, which was surprising to me because I was full after my sandwich and chips. Angella said it is probably because they are used to not eating for a while when there isn’t a lot of food so when there is a full meal, they know to eat the whole thing.

After lunch, the kids got to play on the playground for a while. The videos I took of the kids going down the slide are my favorite. The younger Woolies looked so scared at the top and some of them tried to pull themselves back up the handles as they went. At four, we gathered up the Woolies and headed back to the Mtatu.

I was very surprised at how smoothly the whole day went. None of the kids cried or wet their pants the entire day. The only a tear was shed was on the way back to the Mtatu when I monkey started chasing the littlest Wooly, Suda, but since he cries all the time, we weren’t surprised and didn’t count it as a loss. Once we got back in the Mtatu, it took the first Wooly about 2 minutes to fall asleep and by 10 minutes, all of them were zonked including Ross. We dropped off the kids at the orphanage and got the Mtatu driver to take us back to Mulago. I agreed to pay them a totally of 20,000 for the ride back and made that the only “waiting fee” I would agree to. I don’t know what the Woolies thought of the trip, be we sure had fun and I think that they must have too. I would really like to thank my friend Lori and Maleah for providing a little but of extra funding for the trip. You don’t even know how much this meant to them and to us to be able to give them a great experience as a group. It may not be medicine, but we did provide them something that will help lift their spirits for a bit.