Thanksgiving 2010

Well, I have discovered that like my (Aaron's) Uncle Rick in North Carolina, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. So, it is our privilege to celebrate this great American tradition in Uganda.  I was a little panicked of how we can get a turkey here, as they are not common, but yes, you can find them.  It was getting closer and closer and I had been working hard on trying to find out information.  My Indian friend (yes, we are best friends with all the supermarket people here in town!!!)  Jamaly, showed me from the newspaper ad how I could order one from Kampala, and which bus I could have it shipped on and said he would be out of town. I was trying to get the supermarket to do it since fridges are tiny here. I don't think he went out of town, it was his polite way of saying, "not worth it lady", but he also assured me that, "close to the end of November and near Christmas, you will find people moving down the street with turkey's, moving, moving down the street.  You can get your turkey here, madame."  If I was sassy, I would have said, YOU CAN GET YOUR TURKEY HERE JAMALY!!!" But, I would never be that rude or sassy.  Not wanting to deal with a fresh turkey butchering option the week of Thanksgiving, I kept at it (that Kampala connection failed as they denied being able to ship to our town and couldn't I drive to Kampala and get it??? hahahahahah was all I said....)  Finally broke down and asked the BROTHER of the main supermarket guy (who was taking his pregnant wife to India to have her baby).  How rude to go when I needed him most... ha!  So, I had my doubts about the brother, BUT he came through!!!  Monday before Thanksgiving, I was resigned to have chicken--I had talked to my friend twice and he was a bit nonchalant about calling and arranging the turkey (I generously gave him grace as we are not IN America and he's not AMERICAN...)  He is this young, hip Indian dude who has connections in Kenya and got me that express frozen turkey the Tues before Thanksgiving.  Impressive.  I don't know....  It was all so spy like and smooth.  So, actually, I got 2 because I didn't know as chickens are so scrawny here, but I want to report that turkey's are fat and one would have fed us all.  Next year, I am getting Dr. Gilbert's dad to raise one for me (I just found out he raises chickens and lives in a village near)  Also, I found out that our German friend is not only a holy priest, but grew up on a farm and could assist me and Johnson in "preparing" the turkey.

I still never saw people moving, moving with turkey's under their arm and I didn't even visit Jamaly during that time in case he was telling me stories....   nobody got hurt.

Thankfully, my friend Maxine sent me a turkey bag--yes, friends, I forgot again to bring one with me....so, the turkey turned out perfect, thanks to the bag!

This Thanksgiving was one of my favorites ever.  We had Germans, Ugandans, Congolese, a Rwandan student and an American student, plus our 2 families.  The day was peaceful and beautiful.  Our 10 year old friend Jesse read Psalm 100 and we ate and chatted and heard from a few of us what we were thankful for this year.  People brought dishes and we made things sort of like what we can get back in the U.S..  I am most impressed that our student friend Leah who called me around 11am to ask what time lunch was (at 2pm or so) and managed to throw together tasty green bean casserole and mashed potatoes for all of us--did you know that fried onion topping is also an Indian thing, so, unlike in England, it is readily available here.  I am also most impressed with Leslie's pies and gingerbread men!  Everyone did a good job.  I ended up finding Ritz like crackers from Malaysia, but imported here and found broccoli and some Kraft canned cheddar cheese that sort of made a casserole made famous by Aaron's mom.  I was also able to make a sweet potato streusel dish that was decent and Leslie's girls picked cranberries out of a trail mix which allowed Leslie to make a relish--amazing!!  I like that at Thanksgiving, you can have such a mix of people--family, friends of all different life stages and share a meal and some common gratitude.  I have to say, I remain humbled at the gratefulness of our African friends--for life, water, health, food.  We  have a lot to learn.  Johnson declared that his family in the village would not recognize him because he ate so much and got so fat.  That is Thanksgiving in Uganda.

 The spread.

 Some of the people.

 The pies!

 The German family, Denise from the Congo in the back, a German student, and a student from Rwanda.  I love how the guys are holding the babies--not common here.

 I loved that craft time was outside and the Hines had received and shared some turkey crafts--a first for Tabea and Joni from Germany.

This and That...

One of the great things about living overseas besides meeting the local folk, is meeting other foreigners at work and hearing their stories and seeing what they are doing. We met a British couple and their children--Craig, Claudia, Leo and Bethany. Leo turned 6 and so, we packed up the folks from the Hill (us, Hines and our German friends, Mattias, Stephanie, Tabia, Joni, and Lukas).

Leo is the one smiling the biggest and dressed as a pirate!

An awesome tree fort.
Craig, Emmanuel and Aaron. Craig and Claudia train teachers and on the side have fallen into mentoring a co-op of sorts. This young man is the manager and works in one of the villages in our district. They grow, trade, and manage seeds and crops and a training that comes with all of that--very encouraging.

Did you know that pineapples grow from the ground?
The view from the Smith house. Kabale town.
Mallory's pre-school led the chapel at the Primary school. They sang songs, did skits and recited passages and rhymes! Lucy was sick that day, but here are Mallory and Tabia and the Middle Class. Mallory is slowly getting to know the kids--you can just barely see her friend, Merab in the back.
Outside of the school. In a place with limited resources, it becomes important for children to memorize and copy board work from the teacher. This is common to see the alphabet on the outside and in the room are posters with information the children are learning.
We had a surprise 2 days off of school as the P7 kids took their national exams. These exams place them in secondary school, so all other kids had 2 days off and the P7 kids took their exams in peace. I could not believe how quiet it was around town--all the children hidden away somewhere! So, we had a fall party! A friend had sent the Hines some fall decorations and crafts and we pulled together some snacks between Leslie, Stephanie and I.
Playing apples to apples and excited about eating!
This moth has hair.
This moth also has hair.
A cloud was around us today and we took some photos of the yard.

This bird looks and acts like a monkey!
One of the ways we relax is to go to Lake Bunyonyi. Usually, we go to an island, but today we went on the high road and discovered an amazing hotel and view. Had lunch and hung out!
Yes, this hotel is just built in the side of the hill--a beautiful, steep walk takes you down to the lake.
A shot of the dugout canoes on the lake.
Micah and Jesse messing around.

Click on play to hear a snippet of some kids singing and dancing. They were having a retreat--didn't get to ask them what they were up to, but their shirts mentioned a rescue effort. Lots of people with lots of stories.

Back at our house, Aaron caught this picture--they both look like they are howling at something!

Tafti has become a part of the family.

Outreach Clinic by Aaron

Each week, the hospital sends a team out to neighboring communities to offer free clinics. We load up with a box of medicine, immunizations, a scale, and hoe and axe in case we get stuck. The team typically consists of a driver, antenatal nurse, immunization nurse, a clinical officer, and a Peace Corps worker. When I tag along, I help the clinical officer see patients. We are supposed to leave around 9:00am. We first make 3-4 stops getting gas, snacks for the trip, drinks, etc. The team seems to have a loose routine getting drinks at one shop and yogurt at another. Then we set off.

So far, the time on the road ranges from 1 ½ to 3 hours each way. Most of the conversation in the car is in Rukiga, which is the local language. So I mostly look at the countryside. Being that we are in a mountainous part of Uganda, the scenery is fantastic. The winding roads can make you car sick if you’re not careful. So far, the driver has insisted that I sit up front, which helps but is an honor I don’t deserve. The dirt roads have varying degrees of bumpiness. Somehow I imagined they would be even worse. The driver usually picks the best line through the dips and pits. He seems to have an innate sense of when it is ok to pass on blind curves too.

Just before arriving, we stop the car down the road from the designated outreach site so that we can eat our lunch without a gathering crowd. The tactic works sometimes. Others find the sight of me eating my lunch too tempting to just pass by, so they hang around until I am through. There is usually a short walk from the road to where we set up clinic. The site ranges from an open-air covering to the use of a school room. There is little to no privacy. It is worse when it rains as everyone gathers around for shelter. It gives the feeling of holding clinic in a packed elevator that is stuck between floors.

The outreaches I’ve been on have seen 30-50 patients, not counting the immunization and antenatal folks. The pace is fairly brisk. The more common complaints have been respiratory infections, gastrointestinal infections, and eye discharge/pain. There is usually some arthritis among the older patients who have probably spent most of the lives working in fields. Usually 1-2 of the patients look pretty sick. If we have extra room in the car, we will bring these patients back with us to the hospital. The last village I visited seemed poorer than the others. So not surprisingly, we saw more malnourishment and distended abdomens in the kids. We treated more for parasites/worms there as well.

I’ve gotten a kick watching some of the rural folks encounter a step-on floor scale for apparently the first time. I watch in wonder at how hesitant they are to step up on the scale. The nurse leads them right up to it, mumbles something in Rukiga, but inevitably the patient will first try to step over the scale. Then when corrected will place one foot on the scale. With some further coaxing they will put their other foot on (sometimes just switching feet). Then they wobble around like they’re on ice skates. When stabilized by the nurse, they usually have landed on and are covering up the part that reads how much they weigh. After they rotate around a bit, we get their weight and it’s over, until the next one comes along.

Fairly entertaining stuff until I get the feeling that I’m looking at myself up there being weighed. And start thinking how funny I must look the rest of the week while encountering my own strange, novel Ugandan scales. No wonder a crowd will gather just to watch me eat my lunch! Must look pretty funny.

So clinic passes. And we head home. At this time of the day, there are lots of kids on the sides of the road walking home after school. Now comes the part where I become a Muzungu superstar. As we pass by, one group of kids after another yells out in excitement, “Muzungu! How are you?” I smile and wave. Some of the kids run after the car for a little while (which is a local pastime in and of itself). The cries come in all sorts of tones and pitch. And I think, “Wow, these kids really get excited about white people.” Wonder how long it will last?

It is hard to know how much we are helping sometimes. Some of the difficulties we run into include not having the right meds in our box to match the diagnosis. Other times, we don’t have the supportive tests or interventions to make a clear diagnosis. For some we run into problems too big for a mobile clinic, like patients who did not complete their tuberculosis treatment from a few years back and now have new symptoms of Tb. Some we ask to try to find a way to come to our hospital for further care, knowing it is unlikely they will be able to come up with the cost of transport or just plain won’t want to make the trip. Still, these mobile clinics are able to seek out the poorest of the poor in rural sites that would otherwise not have access to health care, much less be able to afford it. Which is why for now, I will continue to go out on these important clinics (not to mention the beautiful scenery!).

On the way to the village--this is Lake Bunyonyi--it is in the shadow of a volcano and has these wonderful array of islands all over it.

Couldn't resist taking this one.
Our caravan going to the clinic.
One of the houses.
Another house--family of 10 lives here.
One of my patients.
Immunizations. The mobile unit really serves the poor and cut off due to finances and geography.

Last week

On Saturday, this is the girls at play. Emma Shae had us laughing a few weeks ago. Out of the blue, she said matter of factly, "where is my white, American baby doll?" As opposed to her black, Ugandan doll.

This was on Friday--the parent open house at school. This is P1--Emma Shae's class welcome.
Emma Shae's is the red pineapple.

Here are some examples of her work.
Emma Shae and Teacher Lydia.

Micah's P 4 class or third grade. The kids came in 3rd and last term of the year. Because we knew this would be hard to come in late, we had them repeat their former years to take some pressure off and to let them learn the system and culture of education. It is harder on Micah, being older and aware of low marks--of course, he has missed almost the whole year. They have December and January off, so we will supplement with U.S. culture, history, etc and try to make up some of the Ugandan work? It is emerging.

Micah at the back of the class showing me his books. It was an open house, so when parents came, the students are dismissed to show them their work.

Jesse went home sick this day and Micah was pretty miserable. So, I came and ate lunch with him--rice and beans. He is not fond of the lunches, but as you can see, Emma Shae is!
We have a tree that attracts these huge bees--we have 2 types of birds who eat the bees--here is one of them. I am working on getting the names....I tried to catch the hooked nature of this bird's beak, but it is hard to see in this picture. This guy is charcoal in color except for this hummingbird green streak on his neck area.

Here is the other bee catcher... a yellow songbird--he is always serenading us--I guess he is so happy with the bees?
Look at that bee!!!
Mallory was sick this day--strep throat. So, during the chapati lesson, Mallory was sitting with baby Jeremiah (Maureen's baby) and his sitter, Judith, a young girl, who helps Maureen. They were reading and writing together--very sweet. Prayed the other kids would not get strep! I had mixed feelings about this little play date.

Precious and Johnson

PreciousA chapati lesson by Maureen, who is pictured on the right. Precious is on the left on a phone call from the U.S. :). I have been looking for a rolling pen forever (didn't bring mine, too heavy), well, Maureen just had this and the round wooden board made to order from a carpenter. Leslie was telling me this--oh, like a chapati kit!!! ha! So, soon for about $2, I am going to get a rolling pen and round cutting board and I can make better tortillas, too! woo hoo!
Johnson in action! He uses a panga to cut (like a curved machete)

Johnson and the "girls"--the dog is a girl.

I have been wondering for years what it would be like to hire people to work for you in the developing world. It's just part of life and culturally expected--the Ugandans who can afford to have live in help. We were wishing for that this week-end--whew! But, I am not used to being an employer and have settled into a nice routine of some days on and some days off. There is no way I could do all of the work myself.

These two folks came recommended through friends who have lived here before us, but now moved. They are father and daughter, which is fun. They are both GREAT language teachers and such a blessing.

Precious is a student and a huge help. I cannot tell you how pleasant she is to have around and she is very gracious and generous to me and our family!

Johnson works in the yard and helping us with a garden. He also will work as a night watchman when people go out of town, but we have not gone out of town yet! It is common for people to have night watchman due to petty theft, but we have a dog that is working so far.

Here are some of the conversations we have enjoyed....

P: "what is that, a walking stick?"

Me: No, it's french bread (there is a bakery in town and we bought a loaf of gianormous french bread--made "subway" one night)

Me: "Johnson, I am going to take some cookies to the neighbors, do you think they'll like it?"

J: "It is good to have relationship with your neighbors. If you are attacked at night, you can do this (put your hand to your mouth and make the Native American war cry) and they will come running. Even Aaron could do this or you and in fact, they will come running, even if it is in the middle of the night."

Me: Precious, we got some cow manure today from our neighbor for the garden. I'm so excited!

P: What kind of cows-exotic or domestic?

Me: Oh, domestic--one was a black cow and the other a dairy cow.

P: what?

Me: what do you mean by domestic or exotic?

P: exotic are black and white and the domestic are the ones with the long horns

(Domestic depends on what country you live in--duh)

So, we are beginning to share our lives together--we could not make it without them, for sure. Johnson has also told us some amazing and sad stories of working in Rwanda when the war broke out. He shares with laughter how he rides his bike three hours to get to us from his village--it is near Kabale. Wow. Precious shares stories of going to school in the village and then continuing on in her studies for counseling and guidance training at the local university. It is still not common for girls and women to have schooling. We enjoy them so much, but I always wonder what life is like for them. I'm sure I have no idea!