May 20, 2009
Oh what a day! I don’t think we did much more than we do in a normal day around Mulago Hospital and Kampala, but some things seem to have made a bigger impact on us all.
We started the morning with a walk down to the main hospital. A patient that we saw yesterday had a perforated bowel, which means that the contents of his stomach and intestines were filling up his abdomen, causing his stomach to be very enlarged and painful. He was at risk for dying from an infection or some other complication due to the perforation. The doctors in the ward didn’t seem to catch it on the x-ray, but Ross and Troy did. I’m sure somebody might have caught it on the x-ray at some point, but probably not until much later (days) at the rate things go here. The doctor in charge arranged for a transfer to surgery almost immediately. It’s the first time I’ve seen a patient’s orders being carried out within the same hour as it was prescribed. When we arrived in the surgical ward, I was not expecting much. Troy had checked on the boy’s status yesterday afternoon and the surgeons told him that he wouldn’t get surgery because they were too busy! Apparently there is no priority for emergency situations, so I guess it’s just a first come first served type of thing. The waiting area was full of people waiting on mats for their surgeries. A guard has to stand at the door to control who goes in and out. Luckily for us, when you are doctors from another country, nobody really checks when you walk in. We found our patient after looking in two wards packed with people that are pre or post surgery. We was wrapped in a blanket and hooked up to oxygen and an NG tube that removes “stuff” from his stomach. His mom let us look at his chart. Surprisingly, he had gotten the surgery! The notes said that they repaired the tear and they hadn’t closed his abdomen yet. We uncovered him to find tape over his belly. He was still working really hard to breath and didn’t keep his eyes open very much, but at least he was alive. Even though he got the surgery, he still might die from infections, but he was given a better chance because of the surgery. We don’t know if he will be there tomorrow, but hopefully we’ll be able to try and check again soon.
We went back to the children’s ward to meet up with a doctor named Justice who is the neurosurgeon that would look at the boy who has become paralyzed and developed scoliosis from something that has not been diagnosed. Justice was supposed to meet us at 8:30. By 11:00 after rounding with some of the other doctors and following up with some patients from earlier in the week, we decided he wasn’t coming. Troy called and Justice told him he wasn’t even at Mulago today. We weren’t shocked when later in the day another Ugandan doctor told us she had eaten with him at a canteen at Mulago. I don’t know why he found it necessary to lie and to not actually come to see his patient, but he’s done it before. Last year we went to find him shortly after we arrived and were told he was out of the country. We sat outside his office for about an hour and eventually he emerged and then looked surprised to see us! He had been sitting in that office and told his assistant to lie about his whereabouts! He’s not the only one who does these sorts of things and that’s what’s so frustrating about trying to get things done at Mulago. I watched Ross and Troy conduct a physical exam on the partially paralyzed boy to determine what might be causing his ailments. It was so amazing to see what they could discover based on reflexes and responses to pain that he had. I don’t know how they did it, but they could determine that he has a tumor and that it is located in a particular region of his spine. However, in order to treat it, the boy will need a CT scan. It will cost 150,000 shillings, which is more than the mother has. If Justice would right an order for it, the cost could be cut in half. That’s not happening anytime soon and we couldn’t communicate with the family because they don’t speak English, so he and his mom will sit there and wait for a long time.
Priscilla is actually doing a little worse today. She is walking with a little less steadiness and she is no longer could control her urination, so she wet her bed while the doctors were watching her. It probably means that the fluid is building up and putting pressure on her brain again. She needs to have the tumor excised. By the time we were ready to leave for the morning, we were told she was being discharged and her mother was going to take her to the hospital that could remove the tumor. We went over to say goodbye and her mother said that “poverty” is a problem and she wasn’t sure she would be able to find a way to pay. We told Priscilla that we would pray and ask Jesus for her and she smiled and nodded. Ross told her she had to ask him too and her mother was thankful to us for spending time with them. I will be praying that Priscilla will get her surgery and get better. She is too sweet to be sick!
There is another baby in the ward that is a sad story. We saw her throughout the day and thought she was the cutest little girl. She is severely malnourished and she was wearing a knitted white hat with purple trim that was almost as big as her body. She was eating a big bun piece by piece. She giggled a little at us the first time we walked by her. Later I brought her a little stuffed elephant and she didn’t know what to do with it. I saw a nurse bathe and change her a while later and thought that was strange because I’ve never seen a nurse do the jobs that mothers usually do. We found out later that the girl had been abandoned at just about two years old and the nurses have been taking care of her on the ward. Tomorrow I hope to bring up some of the very small clothes that we brought that I didn’t know what to do with and maybe just hold her for a bit. I know that the nurses don’t have a lot of time to just sit with her, so she basically just sits in the bed all day, eating and occasionally having a nurse stop by to check on her.
This afternoon was the most heart-wrenching thing I have seen ever in Uganda. We had talked with Susan, the director of international medical students coming to Mulago about finding a small orphanage without a lot of funding. She told us she heard of an old lady who took kids in somewhere in the slums. She decided to take us to try and find her. So many times we have walked by the outskirts of the slums or down a street or two, but never actually gone in. We drove to a spot and got out to walk the rest of the way. Susan asked a woman who was crawling around on the ground (we don’t know why, but she doesn’t get off of her knees) where to find this woman. She directed a boy on a bike to take us there. We wound through streets full of garbage. As you walk by the doors of people’s homes you could smell the rot and mold inside. I could see near the trenches that the streets are piled with garbage underneath all the dirt. I think that’s all that the slums are just garbage used to make other things. We finally arrived at “the place” there was a putrid smell coming from it. Outside, there was one pot cooking on some coals and right inside the door there was another. I have never walked into a place that brought me to tears simply by seeing it. In the dark room there were six beds all lined up with about 8 inches to walk around them. Dirty boxes lined the walls. Soon, all of the children (18 of them) came inside and were sitting or standing in that little room. Every time somebody moved, more dust and dirt entered the air. You could see bugs crawling on the blankets. The old woman doesn’t speak any English, so Susan explained to her what we wanted to bring here with the medicine cabinet. She understood and we told her we would be back in the next couple of days with Angella to interpret for us. We were in that room for less than 5 minutes, but I won’t every forget that feeling. I don’t know how people manage to survive in places like this, but somehow they manage. If they don’t, nobody really notices. These are the real “invisible” people of the world. The ones that you hear about or think about but you can never actually understand what it is. The movie Slumdog Millionaire brought us all into that world for a brief moment, but even seeing the movie didn’t make me understand as much as being there and having every sense stimulated by extreme poverty. The little baby on the bed was crying because he was hungry and people are constantly yelling in the streets. The smell is a mixture of rotten garbage and dirty bodies with small hints of potatoes and mtoke cooking in a pot somewhere. People are dark and dirty and sad looking. You can see in their eyes that they are suffering, but holding on and fighting for everything that they need to survive. We left that place with a whole new feeling of this country. We’ve been spoiled by seeing a city with poor people, but now we’re exposed to the poorest of the poor. Even Susan wasn’t expecting it to be that bad. The more shocking thing is this is not an isolated place. When you look from atop any of the 7 hills of Kampala, you see the tin roofs of the slums scattered everywhere. The majority of the people live in this poverty. This old woman they call Jjajaa has taken in 18 abandoned street children and I have no idea how she pays for anything for them. We are hoping that we will be able to make a small difference for this group of people in the next few days. We will go back on Saturday to bring some things and get more information about the children. I really don’t want to ever forget the feeling that I felt upon first walking in there and I’m hoping that we will be able to do something to make it better.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Sometimes the System Stinks
May 19, 2009
Sometimes you wonder why things just can’t get done. I mean, I know I procrastinate on certain things unless I know that there is a close deadline or that it’s really important to somebody else. I think that going in to medicine, I’m making sure that my focus is not on doing things for myself but on getting things done for patients. By getting things done I mean conducting tests, making a diagnosis, and starting treatment on the patient to make them better. These don’t seem like a whole lot to ask and I would think that most health care professionals back home would agree that this way of thinking and acting is not out of the ordinary, but here that’s not the case. Both Monday and today have been full of roadblocks, not because there medical complications, but because the people or the resources are just not there.
Rounding on patients is interesting, although I don’t know if what people saying is accurate or not. That’s why I like following on rounds when Ross and Troy are there because I can ask questions or at least get an idea of what is happening based on what they say. The doctors will come in a group of 4 or 5 to discuss the patient and then recommend actions to take place. This seems pretty standard and that it would work, but generally we will leave and go to another patient and 10 minutes later there will be another team of doctors rounding and repeating what was just said or done. It doesn’t seem to be that efficient. Some patients will arrive on a Friday and then they will stay in the hospital waiting for the attending doctor to make grand rounds the following Thursday.
Today we saw a patient we is basically paralyzed in his arms and legs, but was normal about nine months ago. He was admitted on Monday and hasn’t been seen by anybody other than the rounding interns who haven’t given him any treatment. Luckily he’s not really getting worse, but he just sits with his mom all day, knowing that he has to wait for the doctors to show up at some point. He is a precious boy but you can tell he is very sad. He’s pretty much trapped in his body because he can’t move is appendages. I hope that somebody sees him soon so that at least his mom knows what is going on and what they can do to hopefully reverse his condition.
Another girl that has touched all of our hearts is Priscilla. Ross had taken us to meet her on Friday after him and Troy had seen her on rounds. She came in unable to walk and had difficulty controlling her bladder. They suspected that the cause of her problems is mostly likely a brain tumor. She’s an adorable little 8 year old who smiles every time she sees us. We gave her a little pink stuffed pig to sleep with. She’s missing her two front teeth and her hair stands up on her head as if she were Albert Einstein. She had a Lumbar Puncture to relieve some pressure and to run some tests. Since the pressure was relieved, she is not able to walk and isn’t having any other main problems. Her CT results took four days to come back and they confirmed what Ross and Troy had said. She has a tumor in her brain that is completely operable and removing it should cure all of her problems. The only issue is that she is poor. There are two options; Priscilla can get a shunt put in that will keep the fluid at bay, but won’t fully cure her problem or she could drive 6 hours to a hospital with another neurosurgeon who can completely remove the tumor and cure the problem for good. If she gets the surgery here at Mulago it is free, but it is not the proper course of action. At the other hospital she will have to pay but won’t be cured. Her mother wants to get the surgery at Mulago because she can’t afford to pay the bill somewhere else. I don’t know if the doctors will have the ability to convince her to go and get the surgery somewhere else, but I really hope that they can. This lovely little girl deserves to have that tumor removed and there is only one place in the whole country where the doctors are trained to do it. Hopefully the doctors will send her off for surgery soon, but for now she is the shining little smile on the far end of the ward that we always go to in order to brighten up our day!
Sometimes you wonder why things just can’t get done. I mean, I know I procrastinate on certain things unless I know that there is a close deadline or that it’s really important to somebody else. I think that going in to medicine, I’m making sure that my focus is not on doing things for myself but on getting things done for patients. By getting things done I mean conducting tests, making a diagnosis, and starting treatment on the patient to make them better. These don’t seem like a whole lot to ask and I would think that most health care professionals back home would agree that this way of thinking and acting is not out of the ordinary, but here that’s not the case. Both Monday and today have been full of roadblocks, not because there medical complications, but because the people or the resources are just not there.
Rounding on patients is interesting, although I don’t know if what people saying is accurate or not. That’s why I like following on rounds when Ross and Troy are there because I can ask questions or at least get an idea of what is happening based on what they say. The doctors will come in a group of 4 or 5 to discuss the patient and then recommend actions to take place. This seems pretty standard and that it would work, but generally we will leave and go to another patient and 10 minutes later there will be another team of doctors rounding and repeating what was just said or done. It doesn’t seem to be that efficient. Some patients will arrive on a Friday and then they will stay in the hospital waiting for the attending doctor to make grand rounds the following Thursday.
Today we saw a patient we is basically paralyzed in his arms and legs, but was normal about nine months ago. He was admitted on Monday and hasn’t been seen by anybody other than the rounding interns who haven’t given him any treatment. Luckily he’s not really getting worse, but he just sits with his mom all day, knowing that he has to wait for the doctors to show up at some point. He is a precious boy but you can tell he is very sad. He’s pretty much trapped in his body because he can’t move is appendages. I hope that somebody sees him soon so that at least his mom knows what is going on and what they can do to hopefully reverse his condition.
Another girl that has touched all of our hearts is Priscilla. Ross had taken us to meet her on Friday after him and Troy had seen her on rounds. She came in unable to walk and had difficulty controlling her bladder. They suspected that the cause of her problems is mostly likely a brain tumor. She’s an adorable little 8 year old who smiles every time she sees us. We gave her a little pink stuffed pig to sleep with. She’s missing her two front teeth and her hair stands up on her head as if she were Albert Einstein. She had a Lumbar Puncture to relieve some pressure and to run some tests. Since the pressure was relieved, she is not able to walk and isn’t having any other main problems. Her CT results took four days to come back and they confirmed what Ross and Troy had said. She has a tumor in her brain that is completely operable and removing it should cure all of her problems. The only issue is that she is poor. There are two options; Priscilla can get a shunt put in that will keep the fluid at bay, but won’t fully cure her problem or she could drive 6 hours to a hospital with another neurosurgeon who can completely remove the tumor and cure the problem for good. If she gets the surgery here at Mulago it is free, but it is not the proper course of action. At the other hospital she will have to pay but won’t be cured. Her mother wants to get the surgery at Mulago because she can’t afford to pay the bill somewhere else. I don’t know if the doctors will have the ability to convince her to go and get the surgery somewhere else, but I really hope that they can. This lovely little girl deserves to have that tumor removed and there is only one place in the whole country where the doctors are trained to do it. Hopefully the doctors will send her off for surgery soon, but for now she is the shining little smile on the far end of the ward that we always go to in order to brighten up our day!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
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.
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.
A Ugandan Cancer Patient's Experience
May 15, 2005
I guess I’ve missed a few days of writing because we’ve been just getting established and doing work inside Kampala. We are realizing more and more that the places to make the biggest impact are not inside the city, especially not at Mulago. The hospital has been around for a very long time and there are systems in place that really are hard to work with and be able to treat patients. The other people that are staying at the Mulago Guest house are working on endocrine projects outside of the city. The leader of the project has been working in Uganda for nearly ten years and said that each year they are at Mulago less and less. As a future medical student, it has been useful for me to walk around the hospital and shadow doctors to see how things are done in the medical world. However, I’m always aware that I am seeing the worst of the worse cases and that the way that diseases are diagnosed and treated are pretty much as far from standard of care as you could possibly be.
On Wednesday we spent the entire day going from one orphanage to another looking for one that will work for his study. The requirements are that they are community run, not significantly funded outside the area, the children are between 6 mo. – 10 years, there is little to no medicines in the home, and that the caregivers have little training in basic distribution of these medicines. You would be surprised how many times we struck out searching for these things. It’s not a bad thing, but looking for an orphanage that is similar to Need for All has been a huge challenge because every one we visited was so well funded. We visited one that has sponsors for the kids in the UK and a nurse who comes every night. It has the capability to distribute numerous hospital drugs and start IVs. There is also a mother who is trained in first aid and administering basic medicines that we would be providing. Another had an ICU building for the children and had a team of administrative people in an office with 3 computers. We were happy to see so much invested in so many children, but also sad that we haven’t been able to find a good place to give a medicine cabinet to.
Finally, today we found the perfect place. Ideally we want three like it, but at least we found one to start. It is called Little Angels and it is run by a Ugandan business man who had a heart for abandoned babies and started the home about 10 years ago. Max has spent his life trying to help these children. He is very grateful for all of the help and without him saying directly, you can tell he relies on God to provide what the orphanage needs. He said that every time they have needed something, somebody has stepped in to bring food, a refrigerator, clothes, school supplies, and repair services for the house. When we looked at it, we all were thinking the same thing – that this is what we would have liked Need for All to Be. It makes it a lot easier to say that the kids need to go to Watoto or there needs to be drastic changes to the way things are done there. The children listen to Max and are super polite. He personally pays for their school fees and even though he doesn’t know what they will do for higher education he plans on supporting them for the rest of their lives. I was very encouraged today to see what he has done and hope that we can somehow find a few ways to help them with what they need.
Yesterday was an interesting day at Mulago. We followed one of the orphanage kids, Joshua, as he went through his last chemotherapy treatment. He was diagnosed with Burkitts lymphoma at the end of February and since then has been living with an uncle in Entebbe. The staging is different here for cancers. They put him at a stage C, but when Troy looked at his records he said he would be classified as stage 4 in our system. Joshua comes in every two weeks for a day of blood tests, then chemo treatment, and a Lumbar Puncture. Back home, all of this would be done in a single or double patient room with only a few hours in the hospital. We decided to follow Joshua to spend time with him as well as to find out what a normal day of treatment for a cancer patient is like.
Joshua and Wyclief (his uncle) arrived by Mtatu at about 8:30 in the morning and signed him in to the cancer ward. He was told to wait outside for his named to be called so he could get his blood drawn. Then they went and grabbed breakfast and gave us a call. By 9:30, we were visiting with them and sitting outside the ward waiting for the lab to call his name. At around 11:00, he finally got his draw after being told he had initially missed his name because we were in a different building making copies of his records. After his draw, we had to wait for the results. By 12:30 we got his paperwork and had to walk to the pharmacy to get his drugs. One of the drugs was not at the pharmacy so Wyclief walked to a pharmacy outside the hospital to get it. Then we walked to a different building where the infusions take place. Joshua had been in good spirits all morning, but after being outside the infusion room and then seeing another child throw up from the drugs, he put his head in his hands and got really quite as he waited. Wyclief had to go again to get a plastic bag and washcloth for when Joshua’s stomach reacts to the drugs. By 1:00 it was time for Joshua. However, it Wyclief had not pushed his way through a crowd to be near the front, I think it would have been much later. Joshua began to cry hysterically as the nurse prepared his hand for the IV. I think it was more because he knew he was going to be sick than it was because he didn’t like the needle. Sure enough almost immediately after the first medication was pushed, he began to throw up his breakfast. Rachel thinks it might be because the anti-nausea medicine was given at the same time as the other drugs. It doesn’t have time to take effect. Plus, the medications are not given as a drip over a long amount of time, but in a matter of 30 seconds directly in. After the chemo, we walked back to the cancer ward where Joshua took a seat on a chair and immediately fell asleep. He stayed asleep for an hour or two while we waited for the LP. The doctor said he wouldn’t be ready until at least 4 or 5 and Wyclief was content with that answer as he went to stand against a wall and wait. I am sure that for the other 5 treatments, he did the same thing and didn’t leave the hospital until 6. While Ross was there he would have none of the waiting. He felt partially responsible for Joshua missing his name earlier in the day so he tried to do what he could to make it work faster. He went into the office where he found the intern eating and drinking a Coke, one nurse sleeping, and the other just sitting in corner. He closed the door and explained that they needed to try to get his patient done a little faster because he had a long drive ahead of him. Although it is a nice gesture, and probably helps a little, it does nothing to change the system and how much people wait. It didn’t even help Joshua that much. He got his LP done at just before 4, which is only about an hour earlier than he would have without Ross. Plus we succeeded in making the doctor and a few nurses not like this particular group of Mzungus too much. Oh, well, at least the attending will be a different person and since they’re in charge, we’ll have a new chance at first impressions.
It was great to see what a day in the life of a cancer patient is like, but I have to say, it’s a lot of waiting. I hope that I think about Joshua’s experience every time that I am in the hospital so that I do not complain about my own wait times in hospitals. At least I get to wait in an air-conditioned room that I most likely have to myself. I won’t have to stand outside in the hot sun or sit in grass covered in what’s left of vomit, urine and dirty washing water that was emptied in front of the hospital. I know that I’ll probably forget and end up whining about something, but I really hope that every time that happens, I look back at Joshua and be thankful. I also hope that as a future physician I am sensitive to my patients. I want to give each one the individual care and time that they deserve while not making them wait extremely long amounts of time to see me.
I guess I’ve missed a few days of writing because we’ve been just getting established and doing work inside Kampala. We are realizing more and more that the places to make the biggest impact are not inside the city, especially not at Mulago. The hospital has been around for a very long time and there are systems in place that really are hard to work with and be able to treat patients. The other people that are staying at the Mulago Guest house are working on endocrine projects outside of the city. The leader of the project has been working in Uganda for nearly ten years and said that each year they are at Mulago less and less. As a future medical student, it has been useful for me to walk around the hospital and shadow doctors to see how things are done in the medical world. However, I’m always aware that I am seeing the worst of the worse cases and that the way that diseases are diagnosed and treated are pretty much as far from standard of care as you could possibly be.
On Wednesday we spent the entire day going from one orphanage to another looking for one that will work for his study. The requirements are that they are community run, not significantly funded outside the area, the children are between 6 mo. – 10 years, there is little to no medicines in the home, and that the caregivers have little training in basic distribution of these medicines. You would be surprised how many times we struck out searching for these things. It’s not a bad thing, but looking for an orphanage that is similar to Need for All has been a huge challenge because every one we visited was so well funded. We visited one that has sponsors for the kids in the UK and a nurse who comes every night. It has the capability to distribute numerous hospital drugs and start IVs. There is also a mother who is trained in first aid and administering basic medicines that we would be providing. Another had an ICU building for the children and had a team of administrative people in an office with 3 computers. We were happy to see so much invested in so many children, but also sad that we haven’t been able to find a good place to give a medicine cabinet to.
Finally, today we found the perfect place. Ideally we want three like it, but at least we found one to start. It is called Little Angels and it is run by a Ugandan business man who had a heart for abandoned babies and started the home about 10 years ago. Max has spent his life trying to help these children. He is very grateful for all of the help and without him saying directly, you can tell he relies on God to provide what the orphanage needs. He said that every time they have needed something, somebody has stepped in to bring food, a refrigerator, clothes, school supplies, and repair services for the house. When we looked at it, we all were thinking the same thing – that this is what we would have liked Need for All to Be. It makes it a lot easier to say that the kids need to go to Watoto or there needs to be drastic changes to the way things are done there. The children listen to Max and are super polite. He personally pays for their school fees and even though he doesn’t know what they will do for higher education he plans on supporting them for the rest of their lives. I was very encouraged today to see what he has done and hope that we can somehow find a few ways to help them with what they need.
Yesterday was an interesting day at Mulago. We followed one of the orphanage kids, Joshua, as he went through his last chemotherapy treatment. He was diagnosed with Burkitts lymphoma at the end of February and since then has been living with an uncle in Entebbe. The staging is different here for cancers. They put him at a stage C, but when Troy looked at his records he said he would be classified as stage 4 in our system. Joshua comes in every two weeks for a day of blood tests, then chemo treatment, and a Lumbar Puncture. Back home, all of this would be done in a single or double patient room with only a few hours in the hospital. We decided to follow Joshua to spend time with him as well as to find out what a normal day of treatment for a cancer patient is like.
Joshua and Wyclief (his uncle) arrived by Mtatu at about 8:30 in the morning and signed him in to the cancer ward. He was told to wait outside for his named to be called so he could get his blood drawn. Then they went and grabbed breakfast and gave us a call. By 9:30, we were visiting with them and sitting outside the ward waiting for the lab to call his name. At around 11:00, he finally got his draw after being told he had initially missed his name because we were in a different building making copies of his records. After his draw, we had to wait for the results. By 12:30 we got his paperwork and had to walk to the pharmacy to get his drugs. One of the drugs was not at the pharmacy so Wyclief walked to a pharmacy outside the hospital to get it. Then we walked to a different building where the infusions take place. Joshua had been in good spirits all morning, but after being outside the infusion room and then seeing another child throw up from the drugs, he put his head in his hands and got really quite as he waited. Wyclief had to go again to get a plastic bag and washcloth for when Joshua’s stomach reacts to the drugs. By 1:00 it was time for Joshua. However, it Wyclief had not pushed his way through a crowd to be near the front, I think it would have been much later. Joshua began to cry hysterically as the nurse prepared his hand for the IV. I think it was more because he knew he was going to be sick than it was because he didn’t like the needle. Sure enough almost immediately after the first medication was pushed, he began to throw up his breakfast. Rachel thinks it might be because the anti-nausea medicine was given at the same time as the other drugs. It doesn’t have time to take effect. Plus, the medications are not given as a drip over a long amount of time, but in a matter of 30 seconds directly in. After the chemo, we walked back to the cancer ward where Joshua took a seat on a chair and immediately fell asleep. He stayed asleep for an hour or two while we waited for the LP. The doctor said he wouldn’t be ready until at least 4 or 5 and Wyclief was content with that answer as he went to stand against a wall and wait. I am sure that for the other 5 treatments, he did the same thing and didn’t leave the hospital until 6. While Ross was there he would have none of the waiting. He felt partially responsible for Joshua missing his name earlier in the day so he tried to do what he could to make it work faster. He went into the office where he found the intern eating and drinking a Coke, one nurse sleeping, and the other just sitting in corner. He closed the door and explained that they needed to try to get his patient done a little faster because he had a long drive ahead of him. Although it is a nice gesture, and probably helps a little, it does nothing to change the system and how much people wait. It didn’t even help Joshua that much. He got his LP done at just before 4, which is only about an hour earlier than he would have without Ross. Plus we succeeded in making the doctor and a few nurses not like this particular group of Mzungus too much. Oh, well, at least the attending will be a different person and since they’re in charge, we’ll have a new chance at first impressions.
It was great to see what a day in the life of a cancer patient is like, but I have to say, it’s a lot of waiting. I hope that I think about Joshua’s experience every time that I am in the hospital so that I do not complain about my own wait times in hospitals. At least I get to wait in an air-conditioned room that I most likely have to myself. I won’t have to stand outside in the hot sun or sit in grass covered in what’s left of vomit, urine and dirty washing water that was emptied in front of the hospital. I know that I’ll probably forget and end up whining about something, but I really hope that every time that happens, I look back at Joshua and be thankful. I also hope that as a future physician I am sensitive to my patients. I want to give each one the individual care and time that they deserve while not making them wait extremely long amounts of time to see me.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The Orphanage Dilemma
What do you do when you don’t know what to do? This is the problem that we have right now. Although the orphanage has been great for us and we feel like we have made a huge investment in these kids, there might be a better option for them that would mean we are involved less and Angella won’t be able to see them nearly as often.
This is the situation. The orphanage was founded by a social worker named Jovenes about 4 years ago when she failed to find homes for Kenneth and Trevor. Instead of trying to put them in a larger orphanage, she found a home to rent and a woman to hire as a mother for their orphanage. A week or so later, Joshua came along and the orphanage began to grow. As many as 22 kids were there at one time, so Jovenes hired 4 mothers to take turns sleeping at the house. Most of the kids were adopted quickly because of their age or they were sent to a better home. Now there are the nine kids left that we all adore, but for them, there is a very uncertain future. They are past the age of likely adoption so the will most likely live there for the rest of their lives. But what happens when they are past the age of school? Will Kenny become a boda driver? Will Joshua sell fruit on the street? Will Arthur drive a Mtatu? These kids are very smart, but they won’t have the opportunity to go to school if they can’t pay for both books and uniforms at the government schools, and their chances of getting into university are even smaller than the chance of all of them having sponsors.
All of these questions came up last night because Angella has been contacted by Ruth. She is the person who is basically running the orphanage now, but she does an awful job of managing resources. Ruth was one of Jovenes’ best friends and she had offered to help when Jovenes invested all of her time and a lot of money into those kids. Then, a year or two ago, Jovenes got transferred to a city hours away from Kampala so she left Ruth in charge. Ruth has done little to make the orphanage better. Every three months, the rent needs to be paid, and you would think that after four years, they would have collected sponsors and raised funds to pay a bill that comes at the same time every year. She also sometimes does not sent food or money to buy food. Even the chickens, which were moved to Ruth’s house (not too far from the kids) are never send by the children. The mothers said that they never get eggs from them and that they have only eaten 5 or 6 of them. Ruth never calls Angella to let her know about the kids, nor does she ever go to check up on the kids. When the mothers tell Ruth there is a problem, she does nothing to fix it. The rent is due again soon and Ruth has called Angella a few times to ask her to cover the rent. If Angella did that, she wouldn’t be able to pay her own rent. The money is not the problem. The bigger issue is a future for the kids. If Ruth can’t manage to make a payment three months in advance, then how is she going to plan for any sort of future for the kids.
The alternative that Ruth has given is to give up and send the kids to the Watoto orphanage. This is a huge organization run by the Kampala Pentacostal Church. It seems to be a great organization. The kids live in a house of 7 kids with one mom (which means they will most likely be split up) They all become part of the Watoto children’s choir which travels around the world to raise money and awareness of the orphaned children of Uganda. They are close to a local school and Watoto trains the kids to learn a trade or go to some sort of school after they finish grade school.
This all seems like a good thing, but it would mean all of the children would have to move. They would no longer see their mothers or the two older boys that care for them. Angella would not be able to just stop by and see them because the Watoto has strict rules about visitors and outside help. I want what’s best for the kids and so do Angella, Ross, Rachel, and the mothers, but it really hurts your heart to have to send them someplace new, knowing that you may never see them again. However, it’s looking at what is best for them, and if Watoto is best for them, then that is what needs to happen.
I make this sound as if it’s a done deal, but we really don’t know what will happen and we are looking at options right now. We really love these kids and we are going to pray that we have the wisdom to do what’s best, even if it means letting them go. Please pray that we will figure out the best course of action and that we can help these kids move in a direction that will give them a hope for their future.
This is the situation. The orphanage was founded by a social worker named Jovenes about 4 years ago when she failed to find homes for Kenneth and Trevor. Instead of trying to put them in a larger orphanage, she found a home to rent and a woman to hire as a mother for their orphanage. A week or so later, Joshua came along and the orphanage began to grow. As many as 22 kids were there at one time, so Jovenes hired 4 mothers to take turns sleeping at the house. Most of the kids were adopted quickly because of their age or they were sent to a better home. Now there are the nine kids left that we all adore, but for them, there is a very uncertain future. They are past the age of likely adoption so the will most likely live there for the rest of their lives. But what happens when they are past the age of school? Will Kenny become a boda driver? Will Joshua sell fruit on the street? Will Arthur drive a Mtatu? These kids are very smart, but they won’t have the opportunity to go to school if they can’t pay for both books and uniforms at the government schools, and their chances of getting into university are even smaller than the chance of all of them having sponsors.
All of these questions came up last night because Angella has been contacted by Ruth. She is the person who is basically running the orphanage now, but she does an awful job of managing resources. Ruth was one of Jovenes’ best friends and she had offered to help when Jovenes invested all of her time and a lot of money into those kids. Then, a year or two ago, Jovenes got transferred to a city hours away from Kampala so she left Ruth in charge. Ruth has done little to make the orphanage better. Every three months, the rent needs to be paid, and you would think that after four years, they would have collected sponsors and raised funds to pay a bill that comes at the same time every year. She also sometimes does not sent food or money to buy food. Even the chickens, which were moved to Ruth’s house (not too far from the kids) are never send by the children. The mothers said that they never get eggs from them and that they have only eaten 5 or 6 of them. Ruth never calls Angella to let her know about the kids, nor does she ever go to check up on the kids. When the mothers tell Ruth there is a problem, she does nothing to fix it. The rent is due again soon and Ruth has called Angella a few times to ask her to cover the rent. If Angella did that, she wouldn’t be able to pay her own rent. The money is not the problem. The bigger issue is a future for the kids. If Ruth can’t manage to make a payment three months in advance, then how is she going to plan for any sort of future for the kids.
The alternative that Ruth has given is to give up and send the kids to the Watoto orphanage. This is a huge organization run by the Kampala Pentacostal Church. It seems to be a great organization. The kids live in a house of 7 kids with one mom (which means they will most likely be split up) They all become part of the Watoto children’s choir which travels around the world to raise money and awareness of the orphaned children of Uganda. They are close to a local school and Watoto trains the kids to learn a trade or go to some sort of school after they finish grade school.
This all seems like a good thing, but it would mean all of the children would have to move. They would no longer see their mothers or the two older boys that care for them. Angella would not be able to just stop by and see them because the Watoto has strict rules about visitors and outside help. I want what’s best for the kids and so do Angella, Ross, Rachel, and the mothers, but it really hurts your heart to have to send them someplace new, knowing that you may never see them again. However, it’s looking at what is best for them, and if Watoto is best for them, then that is what needs to happen.
I make this sound as if it’s a done deal, but we really don’t know what will happen and we are looking at options right now. We really love these kids and we are going to pray that we have the wisdom to do what’s best, even if it means letting them go. Please pray that we will figure out the best course of action and that we can help these kids move in a direction that will give them a hope for their future.
SAFARI
A Disney Safari last week was great at the time, but pretty much nothing can compare to an amazing African Safari at Murchison Falls National Park!!
On Sunday morning, Godfrey met us at the HVO House with a driver and jeep that would be taking us on the long journey to the safari. Our driver’s name was Charles. Coincidentally, the last time we had a driver in Uganda named Charles was on a trip to the equator and he was the best driver we had the entire two weeks, so I knew this had the potential to be good. Thankfully, Charles lived up to his name and we had a great guide with lots to share about his country and the animals and history of Murchison Falls.
The ride up was probably the best we will have for three weeks. There is an attempt at a freeway around the main city to bypass the traffic, but it is nothing more than another beat up road with lots of potholes – I mean, craters – and a few less people, cars and boda’s to hit along the way. The further you get from the city, the more you see why they call Uganda “The Pearl of Africa” and God’s Country. The landscape is full of rolling green hills and the roads are lined with beautiful trees. Even more appealing to the eye, are the people; there are women in colorful traditional dresses carrying baskets and fruit on their head more than in the city. The children are carrying food and water and babies are tied to their mothers back in a cloth sack. Men and boys are hard at work trimming the grass with long metal blades, building a ditch of stone and cement by hand, planting gardens, and pushing bikes piles high with more banana leaves, coal, and sugar cane than I could fit in the trunk of my car! (I’m serious about this one…..sometimes the back of a bike is piled 10 or 12 feet in the air!) The air keeps getting cleaner too. I didn’t notice it as much on the way out because it was a gradual pleasant improvement, but on the way back today, I could smell the garbage and exhaust as well as the smell of thousands of people crammed into a relatively small area. It made me glad that we had our little time away in the fresh air.
The road to Murchison is paved for about 200 kilometers or so, which wasn’t the case even 2 years ago. Charles said it used to take nearly 13 hours from Kampala to the Red Chilli Camp where we stayed. Our trip took 3 hours to Masindi (the last city, and the end of paved roads) and only another 2.5 on red dirt roads to get to our final destination. More than half of the unpaved part is driving through the park property. It’s huge. I can’t remember the exact numbers, but the park is thousands of square kilometers of land. Once we entered the reserve, we saw baboons almost as often as I see squirrels running around in Minnesota. There are families with 20 or more that are eating on the short grass or the middle of the road. The mostly scatter when they see a vehicle, but occasionally one or two play chicken until we get very close. It’s almost impossible to take a picture of them because they run into the tall grass as soon as the jeep stops. It’s not a good idea to roll down the window when you stop to look at baboons because the biting flies that live near or on the baboons get in the car. We learned that the hard way, spending a few kilometers stopping every few minutes to kill a new fly that we had let in.
Further in, we crossed a couple of metal bridges that look exactly like the ones at Animal Kingdom. Obviously, Disney did their research! The road is very bumpy because it is straight up dirt going up and down steep hills all the way. We found after the rain storm on Monday that the roads keep getting worse every time large amounts of water fall and wash away parts of it. Coming down around a corner of one hill, we just had to stop and take a picture looking down into the valley. The green of the trees against the blue sky is breathtaking. All you can see for miles is trees in every shade of green. (Speaking of trees, on they way Charles showed us where they are planting pine trees to replenish the forests people have cut down to make charcoal….never thought I’d see that type of tree in this part of the world!) It seems that all the way on the drive, it kept getting better and better.
Once we got to the Red Chilli, it was about noon and we had until 2:00 before we could check in to our banda. I was expecting a tent with a public toilet and shower, but Godfrey set us up to have our own two person room with a bathroom of its own and a living room too! We ate lunch in the restaurant with a thatched roof that overlooks a view of the Nile and the Valley surrounding it only a short distance down a steep cliff. I usually don’t eat a lot of meat here, but a bacon and cheese hamburger sounded like the best thing on the menu, so it’s what I chose. The meat tasted a lot sweeter than I’m used to, but it still hit the spot.
Charles decided to take us on a game drive in the afternoon to beat the group of people that goes in the mornings. The jeep vehicles has a sunroof that you can pop your head up through to see from a better vantage point. The only pitfall was that one of the backseat windows didn’t work so Ross and Rachel kept switching sides of the car. I offered the front seat, but they liked the back better. We really lucked out on the game drive. On the ferry ride to the North side of the river, we thought we were lucky to see and hear a herd of hippos on the banks. It turns out the hippo are much more numerous than any of us expected. There are hundreds of them lined up on both sides of the river for miles and miles. Thousands of different types of antelope cover the plains of the reserve and most of them are pretty shy about the vehicles, which didn’t bother us much because the honestly look a lot like deer and move like them too.
We saw a small herd of elephants with babies that were quite a ways from us. We also some giraffe and buffalo that I thought were fairly close, but Charles told us we should keep driving because there are others closer in different places. We got close to the edge of the Nile Delta and Charles kept looking with his binoculars. It’s one of those….”you know you’re a tourist when….” moments. Whenever our guide looks in one direction, we assume it’s something excited and get on the edge of our seats, when he’s usually just scanning an area. Charles gave up on a spot and started to drive away when Rachel asked what animal was near the water’s edge. When Charles took out his binoculars again, he got excited and said “It’s a lion!” Not only one, but two, - a male and a female drinking along the water’s edge. I was content being that close to them, but apparently our driver wasn’t, because he drove off the road and onto the grass to get a closer look. We ended up within about 30 feet of the lions, who laid down in the taller grass. He revved the engine a bit and moved closer so that the two lions got up to walk further. We could have stayed and watched longer, but we had to move on so we could make it through the park and catch the last ferry. As we came around another corner, we spotted three more female lions walking around the remains of an antelope. We broke the rules again to get close. There was nothing left of the carcass except the face, bones and skin. All of the meat was completely cleaned off, so they must have made the kill at least the day before, if not longer. After more ooing and aaahing, we got back on the road. On the way back, we spotted a giraffe on our left and then noticed at least a dozen more behind it. Rachel yelled for us to look ahead and there was a giraffe, just standing in the middle of the road, reaching it’s long neck down to a short tree to grab some leaves. We drove up a bit closer and stopped. Then the giraffe took a bunch of steps towards us, then stopped and stared right at us, while we admired him and all of his friends. He must be pretty popular because when we looked on either side of the road we saw giraffe all over. I tried to count, but I lost track after about 37. There were probably about 50 or 60, just surrounding us and minding their own business. I was so thankful that I finally got to see a live giraffe! I know this might sound silly, but I threw out a little prayer a few days before saying how much I would love to see a giraffe up close. God REALLY answers prayer sometimes. I know that he does it because he loved us and loves to see us smile. I am very thankful for the gift of seeing them so close and I was content if that was all we got to see for the rest of the trip.
I shouldn’t have said that I was content with that, because on the next day’s morning game drive, we only saw tons of antelope, some elephants in the distance, buffalo, some giraffe a bit far away, and lot of pretty birds. Midway through, the clouds started to roll in and the rain came down. It felt a little like Jurassic Park when things started to go wrong. I was getting worried that either a little creature would come and spray something in my eyes, or a big one would try to eat the car. We had to drive through puddles that reached the headlights in a couple of places and it was very slow going. Eventually, I could tell we were getting close to the ferry, but we came up behind a bus full of students from Macalester (what a coincidence) who had gotten stuck coming off the ferry the day before. As we were going down a long hill, all of us gasped in fear as the bus started to lose control and slide sideways into a bank. It honestly looked as if it would tip over onto the side with the doors and trap them inside. Luckily, there was a high bank that stopped them from rolling and they were able to get out, only to stand in the downpour. We stopped for a moment to ask if they needed help, but Charles was told to keep going and that we couldn’t do any good in helping them get out.
After a few more kilometers, we pulled up just as the ferry was pulling away from the dock. We stopped to see if they would return and Charles got out of the car to check with the ranger. As he did, a baboon approached the front of the car and then jumped up on the hood. He looked around and inside; apparently thinking that Charles may have left the window open and he could reach in and steal some food. He was surprised to see us, and only stayed about 5 or 10 minutes until Charles walked up and chased him away. Luckily, the ferry came back sooner than its scheduled time and we made it back to have lunch and take a nap.
We were pretty depressed about the weather, especially since the afternoon boat ride up the river does not happen when it’s raining. When we awoke from our nap, we thought that we wouldn’t be going because it was still raining. I was surprised when Ross and Rachel returned from checking with Charles to say that we are going! We hurried to grab our things and make it down to the boat landing. There were six or seven boats lined up, most of them with double decks or large in size. Out of all of them, ours ended up being able to seat 14 people. If you line up three chairs in your kitchen, you’ll see the width of our boat, with a seven seats on each side and a little 30 horse motor on the back. It was basically an oversized canoe with a flat canopy. Perfect for the Nile, I’m sure!
We puttered around, realizing that seeing hippo was not a big deal in this area. In fact, we even saw one the night before. We heard stories of hippo coming up to eat grass at the Red Chili at night, since they are nocturnal. All of us thought it was possible, but not likely, but at 2:20 Ross woke us up to say there was a hippo. Sure enough, not more than five feet from our window was a gigantic hippo noisily munching on our grass. No need for lawnmowers when this guy is around. They eat between 50-100 kilograms each night by climbing up the high banks (don’t ask me how they get all that blubber up the hill) and eating for 4 or 5 hours straight). On the boat ride, we got a bit of excitement. A Jaws-like moment in the making. We saw a wake part as a hippo swam towards us very close to the surface. Rachel jumped to our side of the boat as we moved forward a bit. We almost missed him, but he came to the surface just in time for his head to hit our motor and knock it out of its place. Nobody was really panicking because I think there were only 4 of us who actually saw him coming. Our driver turned towards shore a bit…..right into the group of hippos standing on the bank. They were not happy and one of them opened his mouth and thrashed it back and forth with his big teeth scaring us away. I could see the headlines…..”14 tourists eaten by angry hippos”. Luckily, our driver turned the boat quickly, and the hippos were not as mad as they looked. We continued up stream towards Murchison Falls to see it from the base. Along the way we spotted some crocodile in the water and a lone elephant drinking in some reeds.
At the entrance to the falls, there were dozens of giant crocs resting on a sandy patch of shoreline, along with many more swimming nearby. Apparently, they wait there as the fish and any other things coming down the waterfall swim by. They are usually dizzy and disoriented so they are an easy catch. No surprise for an animal that always goes for the thing closest to him.
The falls themselves are amazing. It is a 45 meter drop with a gap that gets as small as 7 meters. It’s the entire volume of the Nile passing through a narrow gap. The rumors of the ground shaking all around the area are not true, but the sound and site of it is still indescribable. On the boat, you don’t get very close, but the three of us had hired a ranger, Simon, to take us on a hike to get close. We had to hike a narrow trail along the cliff for about an hour to the top of the falls, stopping every now and then for a breather and a picture. At the top, you are mesmerized by the heavy streams of water being thrust between the rocks. We were trying to decide what would kill a person first; the pressure of the water, hitting the rocks, an angry hippo, or a hungry crocodile. Regardless, fall in and you’re a goner. A year ago a man committed suicide by jumping of the rocks and his body was never found. Nobody is really surprised.
Charles was there to meet us at the falls and we had to ride for about an hour and half back to the Red Chili. We had dinner and then went back to our banda for the night to find salamanders and some really nasty looking centipedes with hard shells all over inside. Luckily Ross was able to get rid of the centipede and we eventually had to put towels in front of the door to keep them from coming under it. The salamanders stayed and I watched them eat a few of the flies and bugs in our room. We played a few rounds of UNO to pass the time before going to bed.
In the morning we got to sleep in and have breakfast of pancakes with banana and honey, French toast, and fresh fruit. We then took the long ride back into Kampala. Along the way we stopped for lunch at a hotel in Masindi while Charles filled up a tire that had lost air and got some more gas in the tank. We arrived back at the HVO House and unpacked. Then we got to lounge around and relax before meeting with Angella for dinner and planning for what we would do at the orphanages in the next two days. All in all the safari experience was amazing, with a few bits of excitement here and there. It was a nice vacation, but I can’t wait to get back to work. I want to make the most of every moment of this trip, and I know that we just have to keep plugging away at little things and doing what we can when we can. Troy will be arriving some time on Thursday and that will mean we will hit the hospital hard for the rest of the trip.
On Sunday morning, Godfrey met us at the HVO House with a driver and jeep that would be taking us on the long journey to the safari. Our driver’s name was Charles. Coincidentally, the last time we had a driver in Uganda named Charles was on a trip to the equator and he was the best driver we had the entire two weeks, so I knew this had the potential to be good. Thankfully, Charles lived up to his name and we had a great guide with lots to share about his country and the animals and history of Murchison Falls.
The ride up was probably the best we will have for three weeks. There is an attempt at a freeway around the main city to bypass the traffic, but it is nothing more than another beat up road with lots of potholes – I mean, craters – and a few less people, cars and boda’s to hit along the way. The further you get from the city, the more you see why they call Uganda “The Pearl of Africa” and God’s Country. The landscape is full of rolling green hills and the roads are lined with beautiful trees. Even more appealing to the eye, are the people; there are women in colorful traditional dresses carrying baskets and fruit on their head more than in the city. The children are carrying food and water and babies are tied to their mothers back in a cloth sack. Men and boys are hard at work trimming the grass with long metal blades, building a ditch of stone and cement by hand, planting gardens, and pushing bikes piles high with more banana leaves, coal, and sugar cane than I could fit in the trunk of my car! (I’m serious about this one…..sometimes the back of a bike is piled 10 or 12 feet in the air!) The air keeps getting cleaner too. I didn’t notice it as much on the way out because it was a gradual pleasant improvement, but on the way back today, I could smell the garbage and exhaust as well as the smell of thousands of people crammed into a relatively small area. It made me glad that we had our little time away in the fresh air.
The road to Murchison is paved for about 200 kilometers or so, which wasn’t the case even 2 years ago. Charles said it used to take nearly 13 hours from Kampala to the Red Chilli Camp where we stayed. Our trip took 3 hours to Masindi (the last city, and the end of paved roads) and only another 2.5 on red dirt roads to get to our final destination. More than half of the unpaved part is driving through the park property. It’s huge. I can’t remember the exact numbers, but the park is thousands of square kilometers of land. Once we entered the reserve, we saw baboons almost as often as I see squirrels running around in Minnesota. There are families with 20 or more that are eating on the short grass or the middle of the road. The mostly scatter when they see a vehicle, but occasionally one or two play chicken until we get very close. It’s almost impossible to take a picture of them because they run into the tall grass as soon as the jeep stops. It’s not a good idea to roll down the window when you stop to look at baboons because the biting flies that live near or on the baboons get in the car. We learned that the hard way, spending a few kilometers stopping every few minutes to kill a new fly that we had let in.
Further in, we crossed a couple of metal bridges that look exactly like the ones at Animal Kingdom. Obviously, Disney did their research! The road is very bumpy because it is straight up dirt going up and down steep hills all the way. We found after the rain storm on Monday that the roads keep getting worse every time large amounts of water fall and wash away parts of it. Coming down around a corner of one hill, we just had to stop and take a picture looking down into the valley. The green of the trees against the blue sky is breathtaking. All you can see for miles is trees in every shade of green. (Speaking of trees, on they way Charles showed us where they are planting pine trees to replenish the forests people have cut down to make charcoal….never thought I’d see that type of tree in this part of the world!) It seems that all the way on the drive, it kept getting better and better.
Once we got to the Red Chilli, it was about noon and we had until 2:00 before we could check in to our banda. I was expecting a tent with a public toilet and shower, but Godfrey set us up to have our own two person room with a bathroom of its own and a living room too! We ate lunch in the restaurant with a thatched roof that overlooks a view of the Nile and the Valley surrounding it only a short distance down a steep cliff. I usually don’t eat a lot of meat here, but a bacon and cheese hamburger sounded like the best thing on the menu, so it’s what I chose. The meat tasted a lot sweeter than I’m used to, but it still hit the spot.
Charles decided to take us on a game drive in the afternoon to beat the group of people that goes in the mornings. The jeep vehicles has a sunroof that you can pop your head up through to see from a better vantage point. The only pitfall was that one of the backseat windows didn’t work so Ross and Rachel kept switching sides of the car. I offered the front seat, but they liked the back better. We really lucked out on the game drive. On the ferry ride to the North side of the river, we thought we were lucky to see and hear a herd of hippos on the banks. It turns out the hippo are much more numerous than any of us expected. There are hundreds of them lined up on both sides of the river for miles and miles. Thousands of different types of antelope cover the plains of the reserve and most of them are pretty shy about the vehicles, which didn’t bother us much because the honestly look a lot like deer and move like them too.
We saw a small herd of elephants with babies that were quite a ways from us. We also some giraffe and buffalo that I thought were fairly close, but Charles told us we should keep driving because there are others closer in different places. We got close to the edge of the Nile Delta and Charles kept looking with his binoculars. It’s one of those….”you know you’re a tourist when….” moments. Whenever our guide looks in one direction, we assume it’s something excited and get on the edge of our seats, when he’s usually just scanning an area. Charles gave up on a spot and started to drive away when Rachel asked what animal was near the water’s edge. When Charles took out his binoculars again, he got excited and said “It’s a lion!” Not only one, but two, - a male and a female drinking along the water’s edge. I was content being that close to them, but apparently our driver wasn’t, because he drove off the road and onto the grass to get a closer look. We ended up within about 30 feet of the lions, who laid down in the taller grass. He revved the engine a bit and moved closer so that the two lions got up to walk further. We could have stayed and watched longer, but we had to move on so we could make it through the park and catch the last ferry. As we came around another corner, we spotted three more female lions walking around the remains of an antelope. We broke the rules again to get close. There was nothing left of the carcass except the face, bones and skin. All of the meat was completely cleaned off, so they must have made the kill at least the day before, if not longer. After more ooing and aaahing, we got back on the road. On the way back, we spotted a giraffe on our left and then noticed at least a dozen more behind it. Rachel yelled for us to look ahead and there was a giraffe, just standing in the middle of the road, reaching it’s long neck down to a short tree to grab some leaves. We drove up a bit closer and stopped. Then the giraffe took a bunch of steps towards us, then stopped and stared right at us, while we admired him and all of his friends. He must be pretty popular because when we looked on either side of the road we saw giraffe all over. I tried to count, but I lost track after about 37. There were probably about 50 or 60, just surrounding us and minding their own business. I was so thankful that I finally got to see a live giraffe! I know this might sound silly, but I threw out a little prayer a few days before saying how much I would love to see a giraffe up close. God REALLY answers prayer sometimes. I know that he does it because he loved us and loves to see us smile. I am very thankful for the gift of seeing them so close and I was content if that was all we got to see for the rest of the trip.
I shouldn’t have said that I was content with that, because on the next day’s morning game drive, we only saw tons of antelope, some elephants in the distance, buffalo, some giraffe a bit far away, and lot of pretty birds. Midway through, the clouds started to roll in and the rain came down. It felt a little like Jurassic Park when things started to go wrong. I was getting worried that either a little creature would come and spray something in my eyes, or a big one would try to eat the car. We had to drive through puddles that reached the headlights in a couple of places and it was very slow going. Eventually, I could tell we were getting close to the ferry, but we came up behind a bus full of students from Macalester (what a coincidence) who had gotten stuck coming off the ferry the day before. As we were going down a long hill, all of us gasped in fear as the bus started to lose control and slide sideways into a bank. It honestly looked as if it would tip over onto the side with the doors and trap them inside. Luckily, there was a high bank that stopped them from rolling and they were able to get out, only to stand in the downpour. We stopped for a moment to ask if they needed help, but Charles was told to keep going and that we couldn’t do any good in helping them get out.
After a few more kilometers, we pulled up just as the ferry was pulling away from the dock. We stopped to see if they would return and Charles got out of the car to check with the ranger. As he did, a baboon approached the front of the car and then jumped up on the hood. He looked around and inside; apparently thinking that Charles may have left the window open and he could reach in and steal some food. He was surprised to see us, and only stayed about 5 or 10 minutes until Charles walked up and chased him away. Luckily, the ferry came back sooner than its scheduled time and we made it back to have lunch and take a nap.
We were pretty depressed about the weather, especially since the afternoon boat ride up the river does not happen when it’s raining. When we awoke from our nap, we thought that we wouldn’t be going because it was still raining. I was surprised when Ross and Rachel returned from checking with Charles to say that we are going! We hurried to grab our things and make it down to the boat landing. There were six or seven boats lined up, most of them with double decks or large in size. Out of all of them, ours ended up being able to seat 14 people. If you line up three chairs in your kitchen, you’ll see the width of our boat, with a seven seats on each side and a little 30 horse motor on the back. It was basically an oversized canoe with a flat canopy. Perfect for the Nile, I’m sure!
We puttered around, realizing that seeing hippo was not a big deal in this area. In fact, we even saw one the night before. We heard stories of hippo coming up to eat grass at the Red Chili at night, since they are nocturnal. All of us thought it was possible, but not likely, but at 2:20 Ross woke us up to say there was a hippo. Sure enough, not more than five feet from our window was a gigantic hippo noisily munching on our grass. No need for lawnmowers when this guy is around. They eat between 50-100 kilograms each night by climbing up the high banks (don’t ask me how they get all that blubber up the hill) and eating for 4 or 5 hours straight). On the boat ride, we got a bit of excitement. A Jaws-like moment in the making. We saw a wake part as a hippo swam towards us very close to the surface. Rachel jumped to our side of the boat as we moved forward a bit. We almost missed him, but he came to the surface just in time for his head to hit our motor and knock it out of its place. Nobody was really panicking because I think there were only 4 of us who actually saw him coming. Our driver turned towards shore a bit…..right into the group of hippos standing on the bank. They were not happy and one of them opened his mouth and thrashed it back and forth with his big teeth scaring us away. I could see the headlines…..”14 tourists eaten by angry hippos”. Luckily, our driver turned the boat quickly, and the hippos were not as mad as they looked. We continued up stream towards Murchison Falls to see it from the base. Along the way we spotted some crocodile in the water and a lone elephant drinking in some reeds.
At the entrance to the falls, there were dozens of giant crocs resting on a sandy patch of shoreline, along with many more swimming nearby. Apparently, they wait there as the fish and any other things coming down the waterfall swim by. They are usually dizzy and disoriented so they are an easy catch. No surprise for an animal that always goes for the thing closest to him.
The falls themselves are amazing. It is a 45 meter drop with a gap that gets as small as 7 meters. It’s the entire volume of the Nile passing through a narrow gap. The rumors of the ground shaking all around the area are not true, but the sound and site of it is still indescribable. On the boat, you don’t get very close, but the three of us had hired a ranger, Simon, to take us on a hike to get close. We had to hike a narrow trail along the cliff for about an hour to the top of the falls, stopping every now and then for a breather and a picture. At the top, you are mesmerized by the heavy streams of water being thrust between the rocks. We were trying to decide what would kill a person first; the pressure of the water, hitting the rocks, an angry hippo, or a hungry crocodile. Regardless, fall in and you’re a goner. A year ago a man committed suicide by jumping of the rocks and his body was never found. Nobody is really surprised.
Charles was there to meet us at the falls and we had to ride for about an hour and half back to the Red Chili. We had dinner and then went back to our banda for the night to find salamanders and some really nasty looking centipedes with hard shells all over inside. Luckily Ross was able to get rid of the centipede and we eventually had to put towels in front of the door to keep them from coming under it. The salamanders stayed and I watched them eat a few of the flies and bugs in our room. We played a few rounds of UNO to pass the time before going to bed.
In the morning we got to sleep in and have breakfast of pancakes with banana and honey, French toast, and fresh fruit. We then took the long ride back into Kampala. Along the way we stopped for lunch at a hotel in Masindi while Charles filled up a tire that had lost air and got some more gas in the tank. We arrived back at the HVO House and unpacked. Then we got to lounge around and relax before meeting with Angella for dinner and planning for what we would do at the orphanages in the next two days. All in all the safari experience was amazing, with a few bits of excitement here and there. It was a nice vacation, but I can’t wait to get back to work. I want to make the most of every moment of this trip, and I know that we just have to keep plugging away at little things and doing what we can when we can. Troy will be arriving some time on Thursday and that will mean we will hit the hospital hard for the rest of the trip.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Friday and Saturday - Wooly Days!
May 9, 2009
Yesterday and today have been full of orphanages and fun! I woke up in Friday to the sound of monkeys running around on the roof on the house next to ours. Since we are still not sleeping fully through the night, we were tired at 7 am. I couldn’t go back to sleep and I could think of nothing else I could do without waking Ross and Rachel that I laid in my bed and watched the monkeys. They are always fascinating and really they are just eating off of the tree and running around, but they crack me up every time. There were at least six of them jumping from branch to branch. There were also two puppies chasing a bigger dog that looked like he had escaped since there was a long chain dangling from his neck.
Once we woke up, we walked down to the market to get some breakfast from Hot Loaf Bakery. Although it all looked good, that was about as far as it goes. The cakes and muffins are super dry and you need a sip of water or something every time you take a bite. We then walked down to the markets to show them to Rachel and collect a few souvenirs. I didn’t barter at all, even though I knew I should have. A huge mistake is converting everything into dollars because you think you’re are getting a deal. I paid 31,000 shillings for a batik (painting on canvas), two necklaces, a scarf, and a small stone elephant. This is really only about $15 US, but I probably should have paid no more than 25,000. When I return I will remember to barter and keep in my head shillings rather than dollars. Rachel is an expert barterer even though she hasn’t done it before….she’s pretty much a natural at everything she does. I’m so glad she’s joining the family!
We met up with Angella at 3:00 and went to the Sanyu Babies Home. It has been around since 1929 and the set-up the have is great. They have room for up to 50 babies at one time, so the age limit is 4 years, however, recently the age limit is down to 3 or sometimes 2 ½ to make room for newer and sicker children. The home first tries to send the baby to family, then to an adoptive family, or, as a last resort, they send them to another orphanage run by a bigger organization. The home has many buildings. The staff includes nurses, an administrator, an accountant, a social worker, launderers, seamstresses, cooks, teachers, mothers, and probably more that I am forgetting. It is a big job to care for that many children, and they manage their resources well to be able to care for so many children. One of the teachers showed us her classroom for children starting at six months. She has a shelf to help them hold themselves up or learn to walk, toys are spread out so kids have to learn to crawl to different ones, and if they cry they will sometimes put them in front of a mirror or mimic them to make them stop. The also teach them to share and that in order to apologize you must run the person on their shoulder or arm to show true apologies. The teacher said the goal is to give the babies life skills and be successful on their own, whether it be with a mother or at another home with a whole new group of kids.
After that we took a surprise trip to see the Woolies. We stopped at a gas station to get some food for the home because Angella said she doesn’t like to go empty handed. Although we all agreed it is good to bring them stuff, we also decided that it is sometimes good to come with nothing except ourselves. The kids, especially Ruth, come up to you and are expecting that anything in a bag or in your hands is for them and they are disappointed when you don’t have anything to bring. I know that when we return over the next three weeks we won’t always have something to bring except our love and hopefully we will start to show them that they don’t always need to get something.
The kids have definitely grown up a lot. Trevor, Arthur, and Kenny all go to school thanks to some sponsors in Kampala. Henry and Simon will soon be old enough and the got sponsors to start in a couple of months. None of the children speak English until they get to school. You can tell that the three older boys are getting better and better at it. They were doing their math homework on Friday. Arthur was showing me how good he was at math. Kenny and Trevor were working with Ross and Rachel. They seemed to struggle a bit more, but were still starting to catch on. Overall, the kids were very quiet, but it may be because they were all just napping before we came. Irene was the biggest surprise. She is a completely different kid even from the first time that we came. She is friendly and jumps in people’s laps. She smiles and sings and even though you don’t know what she’s saying, you can tell she is trying to communicate something to you.
Oh yes, on a side note, on the way there we took a shortcut through the “ghetto”. Angella said you shouldn’t go there at night because you might end up in the river and even the cab driver rolled up his window while we were driving through it. On the way back a chicken almost through the open window. I’m lucky it wasn’t all the way down or else we would have had scratched and chicken feathers all over the place. We just say, TIA, this is Africa.
We promised the Woolies we would be back on Saturday and left with Angella to get some dinner. We ate at an Indian restaurant near the Crocodile. It’s amazing that we can eat at some of the best restaurants and still only pay about $10 US.
TODAY – SATURDAY
This morning we ate a hearty breakfast of Malarone (medicine to prevent malaria), Cliff bars, and tea. Then we walked all the way to Garden City to meet up with Angella to get some things for the kids, such as mosquito nets and cough medicine. While I was sitting outside, a boy named Ronnie came up and talked with me. He was probably 18 or 19 and he said he would like to talk to me because I am tall and that we should go to a place called the Iguana. It sounds like a Karaoke bar, and I’m pretty sure that would be a bad idea. I told him I didn’t have a phone and probably cannot go out with him because we are too busy, but I continued to talk with him and learn what he thought of his country, my country, and life in general. Although I don’t advocate talking to strangers, I do like to learn about people and the best way is to speak to them. I know that a lot of times, especially here, there are ulterior motives to get money or something else from you. The biggest thing I got from him is that the people of his country have no voice because there is one government in control of everything and everyone. I can’t imagine living in a place where I feel as though my voice won’t be heard. Even Angella mentioned that although there is a re-election coming up, peoples votes will not matter because the current administration will control the counting and most likely will rig it. She said she lost her voting card and probably won’t bother to try and replace it. She does really like Obama and even called us this year during the inauguration to ask how we felt about him.
After Garden City we hired a cab to drive us to another part of down to get some beans, rice, and a scale to weigh the kids. It was mass chaos but I’m so glad we did it. Ross and Rach stayed in the car while Angella and I got what we needed. We asked somebody for a scale and he didn’t have one but there were at least three guys who tried to grab our attention and lead us to one. We tried to stop at other places and find one on our own, but they insisted on leading us. Angella said if he told us to turn down an alley, we should just keep walking. We had to go to a market to get the rice and beans. After almost getting hit by a taxi and backed into by a truck, we made it to the market (by almost I mean, a safe distance, but coming fast - safe as long as we were paying attention) I think that people tried to sell me mangoes, a pineapple, random Ugandan fruits, even a plastic bag. Angella said I would have never made it on my own so I am thankful that she is here to guide us through the country!
We made it back to the taxi and had an awful time of getting to the orphanage. Not only was traffic at a dead stop, but it was super hot and we had our backpacks and bags of goods packed in the back seat with the three of us. Three people at almost six feet and over don’t fit too well in any car, especially here. We decided to walk and wait until the taxi caught up with us. It was a nice breeze and only rained a few drops. The rest of the drive was easy, but we spent a total of two hours in the taxi for something that only takes about 15 minutes if you go without stopping.
The kids were very excited to see us and were more the energetic ones that we saw yesterday. We gave each of the boys a jersey that our mom had purchased for them. We also gave the girls two dresses, one yellow one that mom had bought specifically for Irene. I bought Irene and Ruth each a Cabbage Patch kids that they were very excited about. The mothers named them Tracy and something else with a T. I’ll remember late I hope. We showed the kids the video of them on Ross’ camera and got them all excited. Then we played a short game of soccer outside until they got tired. Then we just sat around and talked with them and played. One of the older boys who calls himself Henry has a picture of the two of us that he brought out to show me. Angella had told the kids they are going to the zoo a couple of weeks ago, so we are probably obligated to go. Angella thinks it will be pretty easy and less expensive than we thought. Thanks to donations from my friends Lori and Maleah, I’m sure we will be able to go. Hopefully it will be next Saturday.
We decided to get the full Ugandan experience by cramming ourselves into Mtatus to get home. Again, height works against us, but it was still fun. We hit the ceiling in even the high bus, and our knees are always touching the seat in front of us. On the seconds Mtatu, there was some Ugandan music playing in the front and we were crammed next to a ton of people, and I really felt like I could have been in some part of a movie, just driving through Africa. I really love it here and even though there are parts that are difficult, like the smell (of the air and some people), some food, bad plumbing, horrible internet connections in most places, the extreme poverty, and the dirty and crowded streets….just to name a few. It really is a beautiful place full of beautiful people. I pray and hope that I will be back here many times in my lifetime and see good changes happen to people and places.
Tomorrow we will be going on a Safari to Murchison Falls for three days. I hope to see lots of big animals – especially giraffes!
Side note for the day……if you ask somebody here where you are from based on how you talk, the have no idea if you are from Germany, Spain, America, or England. I could easily tell those regions apart because the accents are distinct. I think it must be because I have been exposed to people from those places more. However, people here can tell different dialects and Eastern vs. Western accents apart. I am sure that Tigist (my friend from Ethiopia) has a very different accent than Angella, but unless they were speaking to me at around the same time, I would not be able to mimic or tell their accents apart. This is just my random thought today. Anyone that knows me has had to deal with my random ideas, so I just thought I would let this one be known to all!
Yesterday and today have been full of orphanages and fun! I woke up in Friday to the sound of monkeys running around on the roof on the house next to ours. Since we are still not sleeping fully through the night, we were tired at 7 am. I couldn’t go back to sleep and I could think of nothing else I could do without waking Ross and Rachel that I laid in my bed and watched the monkeys. They are always fascinating and really they are just eating off of the tree and running around, but they crack me up every time. There were at least six of them jumping from branch to branch. There were also two puppies chasing a bigger dog that looked like he had escaped since there was a long chain dangling from his neck.
Once we woke up, we walked down to the market to get some breakfast from Hot Loaf Bakery. Although it all looked good, that was about as far as it goes. The cakes and muffins are super dry and you need a sip of water or something every time you take a bite. We then walked down to the markets to show them to Rachel and collect a few souvenirs. I didn’t barter at all, even though I knew I should have. A huge mistake is converting everything into dollars because you think you’re are getting a deal. I paid 31,000 shillings for a batik (painting on canvas), two necklaces, a scarf, and a small stone elephant. This is really only about $15 US, but I probably should have paid no more than 25,000. When I return I will remember to barter and keep in my head shillings rather than dollars. Rachel is an expert barterer even though she hasn’t done it before….she’s pretty much a natural at everything she does. I’m so glad she’s joining the family!
We met up with Angella at 3:00 and went to the Sanyu Babies Home. It has been around since 1929 and the set-up the have is great. They have room for up to 50 babies at one time, so the age limit is 4 years, however, recently the age limit is down to 3 or sometimes 2 ½ to make room for newer and sicker children. The home first tries to send the baby to family, then to an adoptive family, or, as a last resort, they send them to another orphanage run by a bigger organization. The home has many buildings. The staff includes nurses, an administrator, an accountant, a social worker, launderers, seamstresses, cooks, teachers, mothers, and probably more that I am forgetting. It is a big job to care for that many children, and they manage their resources well to be able to care for so many children. One of the teachers showed us her classroom for children starting at six months. She has a shelf to help them hold themselves up or learn to walk, toys are spread out so kids have to learn to crawl to different ones, and if they cry they will sometimes put them in front of a mirror or mimic them to make them stop. The also teach them to share and that in order to apologize you must run the person on their shoulder or arm to show true apologies. The teacher said the goal is to give the babies life skills and be successful on their own, whether it be with a mother or at another home with a whole new group of kids.
After that we took a surprise trip to see the Woolies. We stopped at a gas station to get some food for the home because Angella said she doesn’t like to go empty handed. Although we all agreed it is good to bring them stuff, we also decided that it is sometimes good to come with nothing except ourselves. The kids, especially Ruth, come up to you and are expecting that anything in a bag or in your hands is for them and they are disappointed when you don’t have anything to bring. I know that when we return over the next three weeks we won’t always have something to bring except our love and hopefully we will start to show them that they don’t always need to get something.
The kids have definitely grown up a lot. Trevor, Arthur, and Kenny all go to school thanks to some sponsors in Kampala. Henry and Simon will soon be old enough and the got sponsors to start in a couple of months. None of the children speak English until they get to school. You can tell that the three older boys are getting better and better at it. They were doing their math homework on Friday. Arthur was showing me how good he was at math. Kenny and Trevor were working with Ross and Rachel. They seemed to struggle a bit more, but were still starting to catch on. Overall, the kids were very quiet, but it may be because they were all just napping before we came. Irene was the biggest surprise. She is a completely different kid even from the first time that we came. She is friendly and jumps in people’s laps. She smiles and sings and even though you don’t know what she’s saying, you can tell she is trying to communicate something to you.
Oh yes, on a side note, on the way there we took a shortcut through the “ghetto”. Angella said you shouldn’t go there at night because you might end up in the river and even the cab driver rolled up his window while we were driving through it. On the way back a chicken almost through the open window. I’m lucky it wasn’t all the way down or else we would have had scratched and chicken feathers all over the place. We just say, TIA, this is Africa.
We promised the Woolies we would be back on Saturday and left with Angella to get some dinner. We ate at an Indian restaurant near the Crocodile. It’s amazing that we can eat at some of the best restaurants and still only pay about $10 US.
TODAY – SATURDAY
This morning we ate a hearty breakfast of Malarone (medicine to prevent malaria), Cliff bars, and tea. Then we walked all the way to Garden City to meet up with Angella to get some things for the kids, such as mosquito nets and cough medicine. While I was sitting outside, a boy named Ronnie came up and talked with me. He was probably 18 or 19 and he said he would like to talk to me because I am tall and that we should go to a place called the Iguana. It sounds like a Karaoke bar, and I’m pretty sure that would be a bad idea. I told him I didn’t have a phone and probably cannot go out with him because we are too busy, but I continued to talk with him and learn what he thought of his country, my country, and life in general. Although I don’t advocate talking to strangers, I do like to learn about people and the best way is to speak to them. I know that a lot of times, especially here, there are ulterior motives to get money or something else from you. The biggest thing I got from him is that the people of his country have no voice because there is one government in control of everything and everyone. I can’t imagine living in a place where I feel as though my voice won’t be heard. Even Angella mentioned that although there is a re-election coming up, peoples votes will not matter because the current administration will control the counting and most likely will rig it. She said she lost her voting card and probably won’t bother to try and replace it. She does really like Obama and even called us this year during the inauguration to ask how we felt about him.
After Garden City we hired a cab to drive us to another part of down to get some beans, rice, and a scale to weigh the kids. It was mass chaos but I’m so glad we did it. Ross and Rach stayed in the car while Angella and I got what we needed. We asked somebody for a scale and he didn’t have one but there were at least three guys who tried to grab our attention and lead us to one. We tried to stop at other places and find one on our own, but they insisted on leading us. Angella said if he told us to turn down an alley, we should just keep walking. We had to go to a market to get the rice and beans. After almost getting hit by a taxi and backed into by a truck, we made it to the market (by almost I mean, a safe distance, but coming fast - safe as long as we were paying attention) I think that people tried to sell me mangoes, a pineapple, random Ugandan fruits, even a plastic bag. Angella said I would have never made it on my own so I am thankful that she is here to guide us through the country!
We made it back to the taxi and had an awful time of getting to the orphanage. Not only was traffic at a dead stop, but it was super hot and we had our backpacks and bags of goods packed in the back seat with the three of us. Three people at almost six feet and over don’t fit too well in any car, especially here. We decided to walk and wait until the taxi caught up with us. It was a nice breeze and only rained a few drops. The rest of the drive was easy, but we spent a total of two hours in the taxi for something that only takes about 15 minutes if you go without stopping.
The kids were very excited to see us and were more the energetic ones that we saw yesterday. We gave each of the boys a jersey that our mom had purchased for them. We also gave the girls two dresses, one yellow one that mom had bought specifically for Irene. I bought Irene and Ruth each a Cabbage Patch kids that they were very excited about. The mothers named them Tracy and something else with a T. I’ll remember late I hope. We showed the kids the video of them on Ross’ camera and got them all excited. Then we played a short game of soccer outside until they got tired. Then we just sat around and talked with them and played. One of the older boys who calls himself Henry has a picture of the two of us that he brought out to show me. Angella had told the kids they are going to the zoo a couple of weeks ago, so we are probably obligated to go. Angella thinks it will be pretty easy and less expensive than we thought. Thanks to donations from my friends Lori and Maleah, I’m sure we will be able to go. Hopefully it will be next Saturday.
We decided to get the full Ugandan experience by cramming ourselves into Mtatus to get home. Again, height works against us, but it was still fun. We hit the ceiling in even the high bus, and our knees are always touching the seat in front of us. On the seconds Mtatu, there was some Ugandan music playing in the front and we were crammed next to a ton of people, and I really felt like I could have been in some part of a movie, just driving through Africa. I really love it here and even though there are parts that are difficult, like the smell (of the air and some people), some food, bad plumbing, horrible internet connections in most places, the extreme poverty, and the dirty and crowded streets….just to name a few. It really is a beautiful place full of beautiful people. I pray and hope that I will be back here many times in my lifetime and see good changes happen to people and places.
Tomorrow we will be going on a Safari to Murchison Falls for three days. I hope to see lots of big animals – especially giraffes!
Side note for the day……if you ask somebody here where you are from based on how you talk, the have no idea if you are from Germany, Spain, America, or England. I could easily tell those regions apart because the accents are distinct. I think it must be because I have been exposed to people from those places more. However, people here can tell different dialects and Eastern vs. Western accents apart. I am sure that Tigist (my friend from Ethiopia) has a very different accent than Angella, but unless they were speaking to me at around the same time, I would not be able to mimic or tell their accents apart. This is just my random thought today. Anyone that knows me has had to deal with my random ideas, so I just thought I would let this one be known to all!
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