Outside my window

Outside our window, we often see great things.  Aaron and I both are always moved by the guys pushing bicycles up the steep hill.  On Fridays, there is a cattle market, so this is the view.

The picture doesn't capture the bright colors and the baby as these beautiful ladies come down the hill, going to town.

 This is a bouquet we picked from our garden--we got flowers when first came and are slowly building up our garden--we are so encouraged and thankful for how beautiful Ugandan produce and flowers are.  This soil is super fertile and with the rainy season, things grow fast! For the first time ever, we have a garden.  It's amazing.  We grow so much, we have to give away a lot, which is really nice!

Last Day of School

I think everyone would agree that the best day of school was the last day of school.  After exams, the students spent the days doing some lessons and most of all preparing for the Christmas celebration on the last day of school.  It was also graduation for the Kindergarten (Top Class) to First Grade (or P1).  The parents are invited and the Bishop of Kigezi as well as other important people in the community attend.  It was amazing as you will see...

Notice the blonde Mukiga girl...

We liked this version of the Jesus story, because the Holy Family had tea and bananas with the shepherds--love it!

Georgia Hines going to her dance, I couldn't get it on film, but Beyonce' has nothing on these girls!!

 There were several funny plays, but this one made the biggest impression on the Hines/Morrows kids--we heard everyone's version of how Grandpa acted things out!!

 Mallory in thought.

 Didn't get very good pictures of Jesse and Micah, but if you look closely, they are there singing with their class :).

 The Middle Class (pre-school)--Mallory on one end, Tabea and Lucy are on the right.

 The Holy Family.

 The principal, Ishmael, making a speech at the end.

 The Bishop giving his blessing.

 The top class graduation.

Students perform a Rwandan dance--reminds me of Hawaiian music.

Mallory's teachers busted out--these were the most lively songs--the ones in Rukiga.  Again, we were moved about how passionate folks love to sing and dance in the mother tongue.  They did well in English, too, but there was a marked difference.

Emma Shae's class singing away...

The cafeteria ladies sang and danced--awesome!

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.