To start out, Dennis had literally only the clothes on his back. Troy and Dennis had both lost their luggage somewhere between Minneapolis and here. So that meant that the first thing on the agenda was to take Dennis to get some clothes and random things to tide him over! We decided to go to garden city. Dennis’ mom, Vanessa is working with Troy in the hospital so it is the 4 of us just exploring and working in the city! We could have taken Mtatus, special taxi’s or bodas to get there. Since bodas are a bit intense for a first ride, mtatus are crowded and specials are overpriced, I was hoping we could walk. Luckily both Isaac and Dennis were agreeable to walking. In fact, they really enjoyed the idea of walking to our destinations. It was a pleasant day to walk and the sidewalk on the way to Garden City is one of the best in Kampala so it was perfect for getting to know people.
The craziest thing happened on the walk though……a MZUNGU asked us for money! Angella has never seen anything like it and I have to say it is a first for me. There was a guy from what sounded like Great Britain that came up and started telling us a story about how he lost his wallet and when he told the embassy they had no sympathy and his money wouldn’t be coming for at least a couple of days. It’s my strict policy to not give money to people on the streets, whether here or back home. Plus, I simply didn’t buy his story. It was full of a lot of randomness and he honestly didn’t look like he had been robbed recently. His shoes were worn as if he’d put a ton of miles on them and his clothes were not what I would expect from an Englishman who had just started traveling. We all had to decline giving him money and walk away. It’s so hard to say no sometimes. I feel like I’m heartless for not saying yes, but I have learned a lot from volunteering in big cities and from being in Kampala. One of the biggest things to remember is never to give money because it’s not going to solve any problem. There have been a few times when we have given money here simply because we know that if the mom’s buy the items they will get a fair price, but if we buy them, it will be double or more! We had to explain what an oddity this whole situation was to Isaac and Dennis.
Once we got to the “mall”, we let Dennis go to the Mr. Price store to buy some fresh clothes. Unfortunately, the clothes are generally overpriced. I would compare the quality of the clothes to something that you would find in the clearance of Old Navy, but with the price of something much more expensive. A basic button-down shirt was 65,000 shillings. This isn’t a super expensive store in Ugandan terms, but I that the equivalent of about $25 was too much for the quality that you get. Dennis is really relaxed and didn’t worry about paying for the replacements. I’m glad he’s calm! Angella and Isaac and I enjoyed each other’s company at a small coffee shop while we waited.
We then wandered around the grocery store to try and find some things. I started picking up the random things that we knew we watned to eat at Angella's place. After a while Angella came up and Angella said that we shouldn't get anything here because the prices were much higher than in Ntinda. Since I don't know anything about prices, I just trusted her and put everything back except for some candy and crackers for the orphanages today.
On the way home we decided to take a Mtatu. They only run in certain directions on certain roads. I'm pretty sure the distance is much shorter if we had walked because the Mtatus go all the way around the city. At least Dennis and Isaac got to see the whole city.
When we got back to the HVO house, Troy and Vanessa were also there on a break from the hospital. They were still trying to get the internet to function. Isaac had purchased some minutes for the modem in town, but he lost one of the cards. Everything is pay-as-you-go here, so if you want internet or phone time you have to purchase a credit card sized piece of paper. There is a code to scratch off that you enter into your phone or modem and it adds time to your SIM card. It's pretty convenient, but those cards are easy to lose! Isaac must have dropped one of the 4 cards he had purchased on the way home so we weren't able to load any of the time! Instead, I gave Troy my modem so he could at least check his email and get some work done.
We then went down to Katanga. It was probably not the best way for somebody to start a trip to the country because it is pretty much the worst you can see. It's one of the many slums in the city. It has definitely gotten better in JaJa's house, but it's still pretty awful. The "house" is one room with 5 sets of bunk beds and one single bed crammed in. I don't think anything is clean. There are piles of clothes everywhere and children hiding in every corner. There are two windows, but they don't let much air in because the next home is so close. A church group has helped with food and some other things. For example, they built shelves and cupboards on one wall and made a half-wall outside so there is a semi-private place to go to the bathroom. It's much better than last time when the "bathroom" chair was right next to the pot where they cook.
JaJa remembered me, and she remembered Rachel and Ross. I think the tall Mzungus always stand out! She always knows where the medicine cabinet is even in all the piles of stuff. She said all of the medicine had been used. We will come back on Sunday and actually go through the specific medical questions with her when most of the children are home. After only about 15 minutes inside, we were all sweating like crazy and it was honestly getting hard to breath. There is a ton of dust and the smell doesn't really get any better after time. Can you imagine living there.....sleeping, eating, kids playing? It's one thing to just be there for a few minutes, but to call that home would be rough. Luckily most of the kids spend the day at school, but they this is still what they come home to. It's pretty overwhelming to think about it. I haven't taken any pictures yet this year, but we eventually I will get some from Dennis and take some of my own. For now, here are a couple of pictures to kind of get an idea. It's Pay attention to the backgrouds.....what you see is pretty much all there is. Add the smell of garbage, dirty clothes, baby diapers, and maybe you'll get a picture of what we saw.
We gave JaJa some money for coal (this is one of the people I make an exception to my money rule for) We are also going to bring some rice and beans for her on Sunday when we return to get the information about the kids and the medicine. Dennis and Isaac seemed to appreciate the experience. It is hard to know what people are really seeing. Now I know how Angella feels when she takes all of us places. She's seen it so many times before that she wants to know what people are thinking the first time they see these things. I try to remember what it was like the first time I was here, but no matter how hard you try, you just can't go back to that feeling. I think that's why it's so great to bring people for the first time. I get to see what they are focusing on and what stands out to them when they see things. It brings back a bit of the excitement and I'm really thankful for that!
After Katanga, we went to get lunch at Taste Budz near the orphanage in Bukoto. Then we took bodas on the short trip down the hill to see the orphanage. In a half day we managed to get Isaac and Dennis to try almost every type of transportation! Dennis and I rode together and I think he was excited. He said he had never done anything like this before. He's actually never been out of the U.S. before, so everything is really new to him! Hopefully we make it good for him!
At the orphanage, we didn't expect to see many of the kids since they should all be in school. There were at least 8 of them there. It was a huge disappointment to see that Hilda, the mother from last year, was no longer there. Nobody was able to tell us why. The other mother introduced herself as Ana. She has only been here for two weeks and she doesn't know any of the children's names. I don't know why, but there seemed to be a bit of sadness in the kids that were there and they weren't as well-mannered as I remembered them. Hilda had a huge joy about her and the kids seemed to really love her. I think the kids are still adjusting to Ana and she is still getting used to her new job. Angella decided to examine the children and see what they were sick with. While she talked with them, the rest of us played with the kids a bit. Dennis noticed them doing carwheels and all sorts of tricks. Dennis said he knows how to breakdance and the kids would be great at it so he decided to try and teach them some moves. It was great to watch them respond to him and get excited about learning new moves. When we left, one of the older girls, Rita, came with us. She told us that Hilda is still living close to hear and that she sees her often. It seems like an odd situation that Hilda is gone. I think tomorrow we will try to get some medicine for the kids and possibly link up with Hilda. I have a feeling there is some sort of corruption going on, but I have no idea what the source of it is.
We sent Dennis and Isaac home on a boda. I was a bit worried about it but since the boda knew where to go, I figured they should be fine. I felt like a mother hen. I made sure they texted me when they got home! Angella and I didn't want to be responsible for anything bad happened when we were supposed to watching out for them!
I was exhausted and felt really dirty when we got home. I was too tired to take a shower so I just layed on the cold tile floor for a while. Troy and company decided we should go to dinner some place. I suggested Pavement Tandoori, a restaurant that is fairly close to Mulago and closer than most places from Angella's place. By the time Angella decided she was going to join us, it was already past the time we were supposed to meet. We eventually got there. Troy had called to ask where it was and I said it was right there, with a patio out front. He said he couldn't find it and he would wait at the Crocodile, a pretty good restaurant with lots of choices. When Angella and I pulled up, sure enough the Indian restaurant was gone and so was the Chinese restaurant that used to be there. Who knows why they closed, but they were gone, so we ate at the Crocodile instead. I guess maybe the location wasn't the best since it's off the main roads and a little harder for tourists to find? Who knows....
Dinner was great. Vanessa knows a ton about her field of hematopathology (or the study of blood diseases). Her and Troy work together but their focuses are pretty much opposite. It was great listening to them tell stories about research in the field because they would both interject points that focused on what they study. They were constantly trying to top each other's points with a good one of their own. Their excitement level was great. You know people really love what they do when they get excited about the things that most other people whould not understand or would find boring. Since all of us at the table have some sort of interest in medicine, we were all entertained by the conversation!
After dinner, Angella and I waited for almost a half hour to find a Mtatu that wasn't full. They either had no seats or one seat, but the conductors kept trying to get us to cram in. Eventually we had to settle for one with one seat left and just get closer to each other. Apparently everybody was traveling at 9:00 on a Monday night.
All in all I think it was a good day. JaJa and the children are still at Katanga. The Bukoto orphanage is still there but we are worried about why Hilda is gone. We showed Dennis and Isaac some good things and got Dennis some new clothes! Hopefully they are having a good first day! Tomorrow we will go to see Little Angels and meet up with Hilda if it all goes as planned, but let's be honest, when has anything really gone as we planned it?
No comments:
Post a Comment