I love Ugandan people

Dr. Kent is leaving for Canada this week. Last week, the women from one of the parishes invited all the FAOC people over to her house for supper. We had spent the day planting and building and even though we were running late for supper, we decided to attend without first showering. So there we were, a bunch of filthy muzungus showing up for what we thought was a casual meal. Instead, all the women of the parish were at the home, dressed to kill. They had set up the living room for our comfort and started the evening out with some local tea and buscuits they had purchased (something that is a big deal!). As we ate and drank, they continued to prepare the meal, intermittently join us for greetings. Then the food arrived. The women had prepared tonnes of food. There was rice, matoke, chicken, goat, g-nuts, beans, and do-do. For those of you who dont know, this is a huge variety. Usually when we are served a meal, we are offered 2 things - a starch and a sauce - there is no variety. So, we ate while the women watched us. This is customary in Uganda. Once we had feasted, the women then ate while we watched them. We were eager to leave because it was getting late, and it is not the best to be driving around at night, especially outside the city. We were just inching to leave when the chairperson from the parish began the speaches. They had prepared this farewell gathering for Kent, and after many very touching speaches, they presented him with some gifts - a traditional foot ball and a hand made basket. It was such a beautiful gesture, and of course, it was followed by a round of photos. It was one of my most favorite days in Uganda, and I was just the bystander at the party! All I know now is that I have BIG shoes to fill!!!

In preparation for his departure, Kent threw a going away party for the people from all the parishes. He had bought a goat for muchomo (roasted goat meat) and some sodas. With food and a community center, the party was set. On our way to the party, we were flagged down by Jose, one of my favorite kids here. He walked up to the car, opened the door, hopped onto my lap and said "we go." So off I went to the party, with Jose driving. It was very cute, especially because he loves to honk the horn!!!

When we arrived, the front field of the center was filled with >50 children. We entered into the church where there were many people from all the parishes, even ones that are a very far distance away. They had prepared special chairs for Kent, Sarah and me. Once we sat, a man introduced the program for the evening. There were several speaches and singing by women and children. The best part was that they wrote some songs in engish to say they were sad about Kent's departure. After this, it was time to cut the cake.

We were all excited, thinking we were about to have a cake the way we would in Canada. What a suprise. The cake turned out to be a steamed pumpkin that was filled with goat or beef type meat. We were all served a small portion and we ate. Even me! Me being a vegetarian was not important at that time. Offering meat to guests is a very important thing here, so I ate and smiled.

After that, we went outside for some traditional dancing. The women danced and sang while one woman played the drum. Then, Kent danced with the women. I have not laughed so hard in a long time. Some children performed, dancing and singing. It was a really great experience! The evening closed with muchomo and soda, Kent's favorite foods. Of course, I was handed a piece of goat meat it was insisted that I try it, so I ate more goat meat. I am not sure if I can call my self a vegetarian now or not, but the title seems unimportant here.

Queen Elizabeth National Park

After a long day in the field, Kent, Sarah and I headed out to Queen Elizabeth National Park to meet up with Dr Seifert, a wildlife expert from Markere University in Kampala. We arrived in the morning after a 2.5 hour drive. It was amazing how drastically the scenery changed as we drove. Mbarara is FULL of matoke plantations, but as we drove, these became more sparse and soon we hit tea country - hundreds and hundreds of acres of tea crops. They are actually really beautiful. They look like golf course grounds from a distance.

Once at the park, we met up with James, Dr. Seiferts assistant, and he took us out on our first safari drive. Because they are both part of a large predator project at the park, we were permitted to off-road in the park. The plan for our first trip was to radiotrack a lion. On the way, we saw many water buck, many different types of birds and of course, loads of wart hogs.

We also had an amazing encounter with some elephants. While we were driving on the road to access a different part of the park, we watched as 10 or so elephants crossed the road, quite near to our vehicle. It was the start of a very good day.

As we drove, the lion's signal was picked up and we located her, with her cub, in a heavy thicket. She and the cub were sitting half way up the tree. Apparently the lions in this region like to climb. Because of her location, I was unable to get any decent pictures, but it was still amazing to see the curious head of the cub peaking through the foliage.

That evening, we went on a night drive to track for hyenas. The hyena population has taken a serious hit in this park and their numbers have dwindled. Surrouding villagers poison the hyenas to prevent predation of their livestock. We drove out to the air strip on the park and within minutes we had found a hyena. James threw bait to the hyena while we madly snapped photographs. It is amazing how close the hyena came to the vehicle. For me, that was the highlight of the day!

The following day (Friday) was when the streak of bad luck hit! In the morning we woke up early to go to the crater explosions and track lions. We had just made it to the edge of the crater and had picked up the signal of the lion when the rains hit! I had been riding on the roof of the land rover and so had to retreat to the inside of the vehicle. At first, I didn't think the rain was a big deal until we began driving. The top layer of dirt on the roads became like grease and we slid off the road multiple times. After a slow drive, we made it back to the hostel. Once the rain let up, a few of us decided to explore the grounds and came across many warthogs. Because of the wire gate, I was feeling brave and decided to talk to the hogs. Unfortunately, they took this as a challenge and I quickly moved on.

We also came across a tortoise that had been run over. His shell had been repaired a few days earlier and he was recovering in a bush outside the park offices.

Once the rains finally let up, we headed out on another safari drive to track lions once again. We were driving away from the park, near the salt mines, when the fan belt on our vehicle fell off. The land rover overheated and we were unable to continue. James hitched a ride back to the park and brought back the other land rover that then toed our vehicle. Again, it was a slow, long ride back to the park. Once we arrived, we ate some supper and then headed out for another night drive. This one was very uneventful. We did not see much besides some buffalo.

The next morning, we headed out on, you guessed it, yet another safari drive. Little did we know, this one would be quite exciting. The first part of our drive was interrupted by a stubborn hippo who refused to move off the road. After a few minutes of reving the engine, he finally continued on into the bush.

On the first part of the drive, we saw many beautiful Ugandan kob.

And a baboon...

We had been driving for quite sometime when we came across a group of 5 lions. It was amazing. There was one male and several cubs.

We were on our way to track the mother to the cubs when we crossed the paths of 2 poachers. Earlier in the day, we heard news that a buffalo had been killed by a poacher, but that they were chased off. We then saw 2 poachers with rifles and our vehicle chased after them in hot pursuit. Luckily we were travelling with an armed ranger. However, the poachers jumped into an area with heavy bushes and we were unable to catch them. We then traced their path looking for something that they had dropped. It turned out to be a hippo snare. We then informed the park rangers in that area and they went out on the lookout for the poachers. I hope they get caught! We then headed to the hostel after an exciting morning and left to go back to Mbarara. It was a very interesting trip!

Pimp My Pen Ugandan Style

We travelled to another parish on Wednesday to continue planting caliandra, leucina, and lub lub. We had also offered to help the women with goat pen repairs if they needed it. We were to bring the nails, and as long as the women supplied the wood and other supplies, we would do the repairs for them. So the global vets crew, Kent, Sarah, other FAOC volunteers and I arrived at the first home, ready to disperse and plant. We met a group of 10 women at the home and they directed us to a huge pile of cut trees and a large open clearing. We were to construct a goat pen for a elderly lady with 11 goats. So, as it turns out, it was more like BUILD my pen, Ugandan style. But it was ok, because there was a group of 20 people, surely we could build a goat pen. How hard could it be...right??? Well, first I should introduce our building tools - pangas (machetes) to cut the wood, spades to dig, and 2 hammers to build. Soon after using these tools, we realized that our initial design (the size of a small apartment) was too big. We down sized our plans and began digging. It was a slow process, using dull spades and machetes to dig 11 holes, 2 feet deep in hard, rocky ground. Within the first 5 minutes, I had already blistered my hands and was getting tired. Luckily, the women here have great skills with the tools they have and helped dig. Next, the tree cutting. Actually, this was not too bad. It is amazing to say, but a machete actually cuts a tree much faster than a manual saw. So now that the holes were dug and the trees cut, it was time to construct a pen, except that we actually had no idea really how to design a pen. Luckily for us, Kent is a man of very many friends, and of course, we had to recruit some local help to get the job done. The men quickly got things rolling, we all got to work, and got the pen build, after 8 hours!!! It is probably one of the biggest goat pens I have seen in Uganda, but at least it was built. The goats were not happy to be intruduced to their new pen, but with time, I hope they will like it.

Digging, Planting

On Friday, we spent the day working with the women in one parish to plant feeds for their goats and pigs. We had travelled to the stock farm earlier in the week where we picked up some drough-resistant seeds for local legumes (lub-lub and leucina). We also purchased some caliandra seedlings to plant. Once fully grown, these plants can be harvested to feed the goats and sheep. We spent the day moving from home to home, digging and planting. At the start of the day, there were 2 boys helping my group, carrying the supplies for us as we moved. Slowly, as the day passed on, we had accumulated a harem of 30 or so children, following us wherever we went. They ran alongside our car until it stopped and then watched us as we dug and planted. The following picture was taken after travelling to just 3 homes. I was afraid to take out my camera at the end of the day for fear that excitement/chaos would erupt among the huge group of children trailing behind us.

After our busy day, we stopped at my favorite parish. The kids were very happy to see me that day as you can tell!

We stopped by to see the first dairy kid had been born. Canada, the buck, is a sickly dairy goat that fathered this kid.

At this same parish, the global vets students had brought a soccer ball to give to the children. They were excited to receive it.

This little girl loves me! I am not sure why, but every time I see her, she grabs my hand and says "take me with you." When I tell her I cannot, see insits that I return tomorrow to see her.

This is a picture of Kent and me enjoying jack fruit.

My First Tick

Last night, Sarah and I decided to try a resturant at this fancy hotel Rwebi Kona (an area close to where we are staying). The guide books sited this resturant as the best in town, so what the heck. This was definately the weirdest experience I have had here yet. Safely stoed behind the compound walls were tonnes of white diplomats and travellers. I have not seen a single white person walking around in this area since I have arrived. Yet, there are tonnes here. Sarah and I decided that we much prefer to eat at local restarunts and to keep the company of local people who are more friendly and welcoming. Plus, the food wasnt that good anyway!

Today, I went out into the field to check out the goats in a parish that has not been visited much in the past. I soon found out why. It is a good 1 hour drive away and it is nestled within a very hilly/mountainous terrain. We met the coordinator for the group and then visited a bunch of homes with goats. We walked from one side of the mountain to the other. The coordinator didn't think a weak muzungu like me could make such a journey, but I did. It was a really hot, but my days of doing the Grouse Grind served me well. The best part of this day was what gift the hills gave me when I returned home. I was itching my knee like crazy and then soon realized that I had a friend burrowing away into my flesh. I had gotten my first Ugandan tick! Ugh. I dug it out and that was the end of that!

Oh, and I learned that pineapples grow from the ground! I thought they grew from a tree....

A day in the field

Yesterday, I went out into the field the first time after being sick. We started the day out right, with me driving and drinking my liquidy yoghurt from a bag. It was my very first time driving here, on the wrong side of the car, and on the wrong side of the road. Luckily, my stellar driving skills payed off and I didnt manage to crash the car or hit anyone on the side of the road. I did almost hit a boda boda driver, but technically that was his fault because he almost drove into me!

We spent the beginning part of the day at the market and then headed out to look at some goats. While driving to one parish, our path was interrupted by a herd of ancholi cattle. Those cattle are absolutely amazing!

Our journey was also slowed by a matoke truck that was picking up matoke to fill their load as they went. Luckily, the men were fascinated by us muzungus and were very eager (maybe a little too eager) to have their pictures taken.

Of course, when we finally reached the parish, we saw many cute children along the way. This bunch of children must of known we were coming because they started dancing as soon as they saw our vehicle.

This other bunch of children was amazed by the camera, something that is not always the case. We tried to take a picture of some children while we were waiting for the matoke truck and they got terrified and ran into the bush. I wasn't quite prepared for that reaction, but I guess now I know. Not all kids here like their pictures being taken.

Max gets chemo

The global vets students arrived safely on Saturday. They brought along with them some drugs to treat Max (the resident dog) who has a transmissible venereal tumor on his prepuce. A couple weeks back there was a local veterinarian at the office saying he would treat Max with surgery. We were very nervous about the prospect of a dirty surgery on the front porch and we knew of a medical therapy that is much more effective. So, we sent the vet on his way, requested and received our drugs from Canada and gave good ol' max his first treatment. He was suprisingly good and his happy smile is well worth the cost of the drugs. Afterwards, we rewarded him with a bag of scrap from the butchers. Max likes the goat tails, complete with fur, the most! Mmmmmmmm.

Max (left) and his friend Bush (right):

The Office

Here are some pictures of the FAOC office. I have nothing much to say about it except that the green paint on the front of the building inspired the background colour for my blog. This is also where several people from FAOC live.

The resident dog, Max, and the neighbour's dog, Puppy (but whose real name is Bush...weird) are usually at the front door to greet people eagerly.

In the back yark there are some chickens that Kent has been collecting. When we arrived, there were 2 roosters and 2 hens. One day, one rooster disappeared and last night, the nice, friendly hen (Helen) disappeared. I think the picture is evidence enough of what may of happened to them...

My love for tea continues...

Most people close to me know that I am obsessed with tea. At Christmas, I flew home with a suitcase of it to share with my friends. Here, I also love the tea. It is a bit different from what I am normally used to drinking. It contains mostly milk boiled with tea leaves, mixed with sugar. Kent introduced us to the Tea Room which is in Kianja (the area where we live). The people there are very warm and welcoming, and it is a nice place to go and relax, morning or night. When we were there a few days ago, we had our cameras out and took a few pictures. Everyone is always so happy to have their pictures taken here.

This is Mama Jane, the owner of the tea house:

Little Jane, her daughter, is on the left and Flora is on the right.