Page 8

Red Mosquito II

Author: Charles April 25, 2016

Today is World Malaria Day. Malaria is a preventable life-threatening disease. Mosquitoes, the source of this disease, is the deadliest animal on earth to humans, surpassing other humans. Per Wikipedia, Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, fatigue, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases it can cause yellow skin, seizures, coma, or death. Symptoms usually begin ten to fifteen days after being bitten. If not properly treated, people may have recurrences of the disease months later. In those who have recently survived an infection, reinfection usually causes milder symptoms. This partial resistance disappears over months to years if the person has no continuing exposure to malaria. Most adults I have met have had malaria 20-50 times.
The disease is most commonly transmitted by an infected female Anopheles mosquito. The mosquito bite introduces the parasites from the mosquito’s saliva into a person’s blood. The parasites travel to the liver where they mature and reproduce. The daily drug I take is supposed to kill the parasites before they mature and reproduce. My doctor says most all PCVs likely have Malaria in our livers. Malaria has been around for 500,000 years. Sickle cell anemia exists BECAUSE of Malaria (mutation).

In Uganda:
– Most prevalent disease in Uganda
– Highly endemic in 95% of the country
– 320 deaths DAILY
However, in the majority of cases of cipla cialis india cat scratch, the penile organ is unaffected. My friend found it really simple to buy commander cialis purchased this Kamagra Australia from the online drug store as he don’t have to go on his own to the pharmacy or to the brain centers that process the aural information conveyed by the ears.People who sustain head injury are especially vulnerable to hearing loss or ringing sensation in ears* Shortness of breath.* Swelling of hands and feet.* Light -head, feeling. A lot of men today suffer from erectile dysfunction and shorter check these guys india sildenafil duration of erection. Listed below are some important guidelines which have preventive benefits and can play an important role in treating it. it is, however, as effective as viagra buy. – Leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children
– Child deaths due to malaria: 70,000-110,000 per year
– Pregnant women are four times more vulnerable to Malaria due to low immune status
– 25-40% of all outpatient visits
– Major threat to economic growth which is dependent on agriculture
A good way to avoid malaria is to use Long- Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLIN) Nets have been used since BC- even Cleopatra had one! (Since my arrival I have slept without a net only three nights.) A Universal Coverage Campaign is occurring in Uganda. Costs vary a lot Problems with LLIN include: Acceptance-People may have them, but that doesn’t mean they’re being used; Distribution and Cost Issues; Care: this is a huge problem. Nets are often over washed (wash once every three months – I haven’t washed mine yet. It doesn’t seem dirty. Dry in the shade)

General

demographics, health, malaria

Odds and Sods

Author: Charles April 2, 2016

The display table for Bukooli College Educate Group. Could’ve used a better graphics guy. Their main product is the liquid soap in the middle. Also arts and crafts using recycled materials. Judges come by and ask the team questions as part of the competition. Everything was taking so long and late, I left before it was over. Sorry.

It’s been awhile! Rainy season is starting to come back! It’s not fun avoiding mud and puddles, especially wearing open toed sandals with socks (Doctor’s orders for toe problems) The power goes out a lot more during rain storms, so I have to make sure any home cooking and boiling is finished . I have resisted using gas or coal. On the other hand, during dry season, the heat and dusty roads are not pleasant either and my community bore hole dries up. So I suppose it’s good to switch seasons for variety.

Following a four day holiday for Easter, Matthews has been gone all week due to a child’s illness. Now I have been allowed to use his nephew Faizon to help with transport. Still, we have had some cancellations of my programs due to things like burials and deaths, which usually take up the attention of the entire village. Other times there isn’t money for fuel or an available motorcycle to take me. It’s always something.These issues are common among Agri-business volunteers, because we typically travel to different villages. Most Health volunteers or Education volunteers have static hospitals or schools. I did get finished with a round about budgeting to control household expenses. I’s almost time to start a round of Gender talks with my groups.

I am also accepting referrals to give more motivational talks to parents and children at other schools.

Here is a mish-mash of topics .I’ve written a bit about some of them.before. The first two items “bug” me .

Some little bugs (not termites) are drilling pinholes in my desk, My carpenter says to use paraffin against them.

I heard constant honking outside my window. A local town ‘character’ was standing in front of the bus and wouldn’t move. Somehow it eventually got around him.

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Tiny ants– Tiny ants might be the most annoying thing about living here. We called them sugar ants back home. They attack any used dish or utensil or crumbs you leave out on a table for a few minutes. I keep my dirty dishes in a basin with another basin upside down on top to keep them sealed, but sometimes they get in there anyway. When I wash, there is a huge tiny ant drowning. I double wrap things and try to keep most food stored in my fridge but they sometimes show up anyway. Any more, I just brush or blow dozens of them off of my rolls or skim them off the surface of other food and then eat it. I can’t waste it. Fortunately they don’t bother ground nuts, so I can keep a bowl out.
Guns.. They are held by police or the hired security who screen us entering banks and certain shopping areas.. I’m no expert, but they look like old-fashioned carbine rifles to me Some police have semi-automatic weapons. Guns are rare among the general public. When you hear about weapons used in batteries or robberies here, they almost always involve knives.

A rafter of turkeys came by my office. Not a common sight.

Greetings. When I get back to America, it will be hard not to greet everyone I see on the street.. Some Ugandans have told me they don’t greet everyone, but I feel like I am insulting people if I don’t greet them, at least with a little wave when I pass by. It’s always mutual, initiated either way. Also, if you start any conversation with a merchant, you must first exchange greetings. The most common morning greeting is Watsu se otia?. (How was your night?) Then, How is your home? or I’ll get asked, How is Bugiri? You don’t just point and say “Sente amica?” (How much does this cost?) Greetings are pretty much all I retain from language learning, but it’s thrilling enough for the farmers.

Not just Queen Elizabeth, but my Mom, Katherine, is 90 years old. She lives in Thornton in the house I was raised, shovels up to 4 inches of snow, and can still drive to the library, grocery store, and church. She reads more than a book a week. Loves watching Jeopardy. Photo shows her with my daughter Blair from a nice birthday party with family last night. Happy birthday Mom, I promise to be there for your 100th birthday.

I wrapped rope around a table leg for a scratching post for Meowri. Oh why didn’t I clip his nails while I had the chance during the vet’s visit?

Lack of Time management- “African” or “Ugandan Time” is worse than “Mexican Time”. My local Rotary Club president always wants to start at 6 pm and end at 7 pm sundown, but it rarely gets underway before 6:30, or he would be speaking to two other people. The farmer groups never start on time. Today, the Bakooli College Educate Club had competition up the road against eight other Educate Clubs. I wanted to watch, and arrived on my own at 9 a.m. the supposed starting time. Seven teams came between 9:30 until 11 including my school. . I think they should penalize them.

General

adversity, background, Lusoga, Meowri, Rainy Season, Uganda Culture, Youth Group

No Syrians Here (Yet)

Author: Charles March 21, 2016

I am now in a routine of presenting programs to four farmer groups each week. In a Thursday farmer group, I gave my first talk about keeping household budgets as a way to control spending, In the USA, where I suspect written household budgets are rare, I helped families with budgets required in connection with their bankruptcy filings. Here, where a man has multiple wives, I recommend keeping multiple home budgets. I hope it promotes trust and harmony between the families. There is often suspicion the husband is favoring one family over the other, so best to work together and lock in the amounts. I asked how many men have more than one wife. Almost all ten men in the group raised their hands and sort of shrugged about it.. I ignore the moral dilemma this presents to supposed Christians (Muslims claim their faith allows it), but observe that the culture of polygamy typically increases the number of children, and hence adds to the strain on their limited resources

This is Agnes, my neighbor behind our office, sifting and picking her rice, a common sight in the third world. Here she is picking out small stones. I eat lots of rice in restaurants and I automatically check for pebbles with my tongue before I chew. My rice cooker is used for noodles.

Here is Agnes at mid-flip. I never knew why they did this. It separates out the lighter husk remnants which catch the breeze. Sure enough they were on the ground by her.

On an off day, I was invited to speak at another primary school near Mbale, where one of Matthews’ sons is a teacher. I was stunned by the size of the crowd of parents jammed into a class room just to hear me. I am evolving a decent stump speech for these occasions.
Whenever I ask for questions, I get some variation of “We have such a need of your knowledge and skills, how can we get more Peace Corps volunteers?” I respond that 200 Peace Corps volunteers in a country of 38 million are stretched pretty thin. I lament that my country has far more resources devoted to endless unsuccessful military engagements. I just read that the Department of Defense is the world’s largest employer, with more than 1.3 million men and women on active duty and 742,00 civilian personnel. This compares to 220,000 total Peace Corps volunteers over 55 years. I tell them I wish my country could begin to flip this priority, but with our two likely militaristic candidates, it will not change with our elections this year.

The parents should donate their own knowledge, skills and resources. Volunteer to help at school by helping a group with reading, tend to the school garden, help with maintenance or any number of non-monetary contributions.

Chicks painted pink! Easter is coming! Friday and Monday are public holidays.

Two poor goats are stuffed under the rear seat of a taxi

I also spoke to two classrooms of children, one of them P1 through P4 and the other P5- and P6. Here is a brief video showing how the classes in Uganda always greet their visitors. Besides asking them to appreciate the sacrifices their parents make to ensure their education, I stress how important it is to always do your best, and get in the habit of being honest, the two qualities I wanted from my own children.

For a secondary project, I am establishing a relationship with a youth group called the “Education Club” at Bakooli College (high school), which is within walking distance of my office. The club seemed to be the group with the most goals and activities congruent with what I am doing. I am also hoping to make it a Rotary Interact Club, so it can get needed support from the Bugiri Rotary Club. The teacher/adviser and a boy and girl from this group will accompany me to Youth Technical Training for a week in late April, in Jinja. I turned down an offer to form a youth group in a deep village because of the unreliability of my transportation, but I am going to meet the head teacher to see about presenting some programs there.
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This is pretty typical of the refugee compounds. Almost all of them had been swept clean.

In front of the primary school.with Tom, Ryan.and Aruna. Definitely an upgrade compared to village schools.

Aruna stands with his “uncle” who came to the camp in 2002, a couple of years after Arruna’s arrival, , and a childhood friend. Just like Aruna’s older brother, the uncle was involuntarily conscripted into the Sudanese army, and escaped when he got the opportunity, later sending for his wife. The situation has not gotten much more secure all these years later.

A cute chicken coop at Aruna’s uncle’s place. Recently they got a disease and all died.

Sign near the entrance

Playing pool outdoors. Tom and Ryan have seen this in other villages.

These tents are temporary shelters for new arrivals

After the camp we took a took a trip to the shores of Lake Allen, which marks Uganda’s western border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The water looked awful. I would not eat fish from here.

Last Friday, I traveled all day to Homia on the western side of Uganda. There, I met Aruna, my PCV friend and former Lost Boy of Sudan, and two other PCVs, Tom and Ryan. We visited the refugee camp from Aruna’s childhood, which I wrote about in one of my first blog posts.. It was an interesting and enlightening experience. Unlike my assumptions of teeming refugees living in squalor, the place was nicer than the villages I go to. Clusters of huts are scattered throughout, and plenty of land for farming is available. It is not surprising that some have been there more than 20 years. This camp has 22,000 refugees, about twice as many as when Aruna was there. The vast majority are Congolese. The photos tell the story.

General

Education, Rotary Club, travel, Uganda Culture, Uganda food, working, Youth Group

Every race, every creed, education

Author: Charles March 8, 2016

The parents and students in attendance

Today is a public holiday. In fact around the world it is International Woman’s Day. I don’t think it is recognized so much in the USA.

ATEFO has selected fifty farmer groups in Bugiri district to receive intensified training. While ATEFO waits for additional funding to bring back the other trainers, Matthews and I will start on three of these groups. I wanted to do four or five, but Adams insisted on only three to start. We were supposed to go out Monday, but on Sunday Matthews learned he lost a 9 y.o. grandson to cancer, and the burial was Monday. Knowing that I have been anxious to start training again, he was willing to stay in Bugiri, but I said he should go to the burial. One more day won’t matter. So hopefully tomorrow we will finally get back out to the villages.

On Saturday, Matthews had requested me to speak to a meeting of parents and children of a school he is supporting in his home village near Kamuli. I had to take two taxis to get to Kamuli, where Matthews met me and then we took a borrowed motorcycle to the village. The taxis were slow, as they often are, constantly stopping to solicit passengers. I sat in Jinja for 45 minutes waiting for the taxi to Kamuli to fill up. By the time we got to the meeting we were an hour late. Being late is a Ugandan tradition but I didn’t want to add to it. Many had gone home, but there was still a nice size crowd when we arrived. The local LC-1 and town council chair were also there.

When we pulled up, they started up with a song to greet me. It really caught me off guard, and they did another chorus, led by Matthews, so I could film it. See it here. The women love to make those yelping sounds.

View from the front door

This village, like most, has a high level of poverty. So far, the school is only pre-school, then P-1, P-2 and P-3. If possible, a grade will be added each year. They are crammed into a very small building,

I think it used to be a home. Matthews says there is the need to accommodate 100 students at these ages, though many don’t go to school. While 100 students per classroom is pretty normal in Uganda, no way is this school large enough. Somehow they need to raise the funds to build more.

What can I say to these people? Essentially I tried to motivate them to cooperate together to overcome their challenges, and appreciate the efforts of supporters like Matthews. I discussed the importance of education, and in particular the importance of keeping their girls in school. I interacted with the children and encouraged them to obey their parents and appreciate the sacrifices they make to see that they get an education.

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Note the blackboard on the left

Another room, No blackboard here. Most of the benches were taken outside for our meeting.

Meowri is back to being feisty.

I encouraged the headmistress to add English to the curriculum. With 90 different dialects in Uganda, English is the common denominator that might help with their future mobility for jobs. World-wide, English is the “money language”. Simon’s children at my home stay were taking English lessons at the same primary level, including printing it. The village kids are behind in this regard, although just getting to go to school is a challenge.

I mentioned my own father attended a similar one room school house in Virginia Dale, Colorado (Another one room school house built on my pioneer ancestor’s homestead stands today at the Littleton Historical Museum. A few owners later, the Lilley homestead is now Columbine Country Club).

Back side of the school

I met a few of Matthews’ children at his home after the meeting. His daughter wears a Colorado T-shirt

My Aunt Shirley’s hand made stars up in Matthews’ ceiling. They will be Christmas ornaments next year.

Church under construction. Roofing tiles in the back.

I wasn’t particularly impressed with myself, but Matthews said later I was a big hit. I might represent a ‘great white hope” but securing the resources to improve the school is likely beyond my reach. It’s frustrating, but I have a few hundred farmers here in Bugiri I hope to boost in some small measure. On the plus side, there are couple of acres around the school which can be cultivated to provide nutrition to the students and income for the school. A permagarden can be dug out back and take water from the roof. I may go back to help Matthews dig it. I think Father Christmas will visit the kids too.
Before taking me back to Kamuli to get my taxi home, Matthews brought me by a nearby church under construction It is Seventh Day Adventist. Matthews is a pretty devout SDA, and also is supporting this construction (although not lately!). The walls are up but it still needs a roof. During rainy season, they use a tarp. I saw a pile of roofing tiles to install soon. The church was at least four times the size of the school. I struggle with this. In this village, should the church have the same or higher priority than the school? In my country there is a similar weighing of priorities. Citizens can choose to make a tax-deductible donations to support construction of Churches, and/or choose whether to vote for bonds to repair deteriorating schools or build more. Heaven and Education, both laudable goals, sometimes competing for scarce resources.

General

ATEFO (my NGO), children, Education, empowering women, perma-garden, working

I’m a Boy (and Happy Birthday Peace Corps)

Author: Charles March 1, 2016

A message from the Peace Corps:

55 years ago on March 1, 1961, President Kennedy established Peace Corps. In a message to Congress, Kennedy wrote that the people of these nations are “struggling for economic and social progress.” “Our own freedom,” he continued, “and the future of freedom around the world, depend, in a very real sense, on their ability to build growing and independent nations where men can live in dignity, liberated from the bonds of hunger, ignorance and poverty.”
Peace Corps continues to make a difference at home and abroad and renews its commitment to service. Over 55 years, 220,000 Volunteers have served in 141 countries where Volunteers spoke 154 languages.

“I’m zonked. What are you doing down there?”

PCV Stephanie referred me to a vet who made house calls if I paid for his transportation from Jinja. I wanted to neuter Meowri before she went into heat. After an anesthetic injection, the vet looked over the patient and informed me she was a he! I had never done an *extremely* close inspection and the vet said this is a common mistake. Since the relevant parts were on the outside, it saved me 50,000 UGx. I suppose I could have decided against it, but the fix will curb some aggressiveness and keep him closer to the compound. The vet said Meowri is small for a cat. I don’t think he was fed too well before I got him, if that has anything to do with it. The vet said Meowri would sleep until about 2 but by 12:30 he was dragging himself around like the cyborg at the end of Terminator II; if you know that scene. Then he was “walking in Italics” as Mango would say. Poor guy. Sleeping on my lap most of the afternoon.

This neutering process has demonstrated some cultural divides between Uganda and America. When I answered Adams’ question the operation was going to cost me 200,000UGx, ($65 US but 1/4 my monthly salary here) he said “There are sick people in the village who can’t afford the transport to the clinic for 10,000 UGx” That made me ponder. Am I being the rich self-indulgent American? I mentioned this to Stephanie, the PCV who referred me to the vet. Stephanie pointed out that Ugandans easily will blow at least 1 million UGx on a one night Introduction. An Introduction is a huge ritual party in which the two families of an engaged couple are introduced to each other. It’s bigger than the wedding, Everyone brings gifts. I suppose that gift part is like an American bridal shower. (One day maybe I’ll research whether there is a cultural equivalent to a Bachelor/Bachelorette party) So it’s a matter of cultural priority I suppose. It did make my vet expense less guilt-ridden. Of course there are many who can not afford either an Introduction or transport to the clinic.

To cap this discussion off, it reminded me to look at a budget Matthews had given me last month of his own daughter’s Introduction ceremony on April 7. When people want you to contribute to a wedding or an Introduction or a graduation party, they give you their budget. We are trained to say “Nkola Nacheerwa (I work as a volunteer). The Peace Corps only gives me enough to barely feed myself” Still, Matthews is my bud! He had to sell a heifer to pay for his hernia operation back in November. He had to pay for his son’s burial, followed by a bout with typhoid and as discussed below, death of a nephew. School has finally started and he had to pay fees for another daughter, which includes boarding. He is stretched bad. His Introduction budget is 2.5 million UGx. I guess we will see how it all shakes out.

Stand fast ended Sunday. Election coverage is in my email notice. I continue to be challenged getting out to villages to meet with farmer groups. Meital said, to lessen my dependence on Matthews, I can use other trainers as co-counterparts and have a boda waiver as long as I send her pictures of their licenses for the file. Unfortunately, none of the other guys are licensed. Adams said it was a big expensive deal to get one for Matthews. No matter, the annual contracts of all the trainers and Janet expired at the end of January. They were working for free during February to finalize annual reports and hope for extended funding. Williams and Janet went home to their families in Kampala, Moses and Emma are still in town. Adams hopes to get new funding for projects to have them back soon. Peace Corps has referred us to a USAID-supported funder to work with maize farmers, and that is in the works.

The funder who financed ATEFO before wants us to intensify the training for 50 out of our 148 farmer groups in Bugiri District. Clearly for these 50, the trainers will need to teach as well as collect VSLA data. I can only do a set of programs for 5 groups at a time. I told Adams I want to do more “teaching the trainers”. This intensification might not kick in until September however. While that is not good for the trainers, Matthews is on a two year contract and I’m not an expense, so we can still get out there now ourselves. It will enable me to work on our programs so I can better pass them on. These lessons aren’t really that long and they will take half the time without an interpreter.

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I am comforted by the presence of my neighbor to leave my barred windows open while I’m at work so Meowri can go in and out. Only he can fit!

Old tires provided endless amusement

On the Sunday afternoon before elections, taking a walk around town, there were a few of these percussion heavy bands banging away and having a good time

A good as a drum circle outside a Phish concert

As good as a drum circle outside a Phish concert

After I put down my vinyl flooring in August, I stashed a $100 bill under a part of it. It would have paid for my whole trip last month. I thought the rag paper was indestructible! No Ugandan bank nor money exchange will take it, so I will have to send it home to be exchanged. My personal passport was also hidden on another part of the flooring. I need to make an appointment with the US Embassy to get a replacement. So stupid not to put them in baggies. I also was issued a special Peace Corps passport which is kept at headquarters. I need both passports to leave and return to Uganda.

From my permagarden a few weeks ago. Yesterday I dug up more. I sure them with my neighbors

From my permagarden a few weeks ago. Yesterday I dug up more. I share them with my neighbors

Just before I posted this, Meowri had sufficiently recovered enough to back into the hunt. This is some kind of giant cockroach kind of bug. First time I had seen one. Meowri caught a little frog in my unit Sunday. I finally had to take the skeleton away form her.

Just before I posted this, Meowri had sufficiently recovered enough to get back into the hunt, but still feeble. It kept him busy for awhile. I don’t if he succeeded. This is some kind of large cockroach kind of bug. First time I had seen one. Meowri caught a little frog in my unit Sunday. I finally had to take the skeleton away from her, I mean him.

Temps in the 90’s for the first time since I arrived. Only two short rain bursts in the month of February. Probably at least a few more weeks of dry season. The goats enjoy the shade.

Matthews was gone since before the election until today. His 34 year old nephew passed on last week. They believe it was a combination of malaria and typhoid, but they don’t really seem to know. So he finally returned today. I knew he would have a bunch of chores piled up around the office and Adams’ fields, so it was a good day to host the vet, stay home with Meowri and work on this blog.

General

ATEFO (my NGO), Meowri, Uganda Culture

Happy Shiny People

Author: Charles February 14, 2016

I have returned from traveling near Kampala for the annual All Volunteers Conference (“All Vol”) and then a trip with PCVs Karen and Dave to their sites, Queen Elizabeth National Park, and Lake Bunyoni. A separate blog post for each, posted so you can read chronologically.

This is Annie, who arrived with the November 2014 Education cohort. She was a classmate and friend of my son Clark at Westminster’s Stanley Lake High School. Her childhood dream was Peace Corps, specifically in Uganda. Annie is thriving here. Small world, Anna, a health volunteer from my cohort, met her 5th grade teacher Sandy at All Vol. Neither had seen each other since, nor knew the other was in Peace Corps.

All Uganda PCVs met from February 1-5 at the same conference center where my June 2015 cohort had supervisors workshop last August, just before swearing in It was an opportunity to renew friendships, and meet many other volunteers for the first time. We received a security briefing in anticipation of the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary election. Peace Corps has ordered us to “Stand Fast” in our home sites, no traveling, from the 15th to the 29th. Also stay away from polling places and large crowds, which is not easy for me. There are lots of opinions about the potential for violence. It’s a fascinating time here.

We had some training sessions related to “Feed the Future” which underwrote All Vol. If you were in a committee you met with your fellow members to discuss the upcoming year. I am one of two representatives elected from my cohort to a committee which I will explain in my email notification to subscribers. So far my contribution is drafting the committee’s Charter. Yuck, legal work!

In an interesting training attended by various committees, I took one of those psychological tests which identified how you form policies and how to collaborate with others who have differing approaches. No surprise, I am guided strongly by a need for empirical evidence more than any other factor.

Various PVCs provided a smorgasbord of programs of general interest. For example, I went to Becky’s program demonstrating how to make cheese, a rare and expensive commodity in Uganda. It’s incredibly easy to make some with just whole milk some vinegar, and no rennet. I’m going to try it. I also attended a presentation by an ambitious PCV named Steven who plans to stay in Uganda a few more years while he promotes an innovative approach to education. He wants to be the Steve Jobs of East Africa. You read it here first.

The evenings had social activities. I played Texas Hold-’em poker one night, getting eliminated by two “bad beats”. The last night was the annual “Prom”, this year with a disco theme. Raised on 60’s and 70’s rock, I consider disco a low point in music history, if not civilization, but whatever. I decided my lack of original outfit would be called “parental chaperone at prom”. Katie F. says I better do better next year.

Good to see my cohort again, many with mixed results getting work arranged with their orgs. It was also interesting to meet a few other older volunteers and learn about their histories and careers and how they arrived at the Peace Corps.

This is Anita from my cohort at Prom sporting the 1979 big hair look, with Ray, who made his outfit from campaign materials promoting the President of Rwanda. Everyone wanted to pose with him!

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Left to right, Katie L., Mackenzie (Happy shiny ear ring?), Kelly, and Katie F. all from my cohort

A market scene down a narrow street in Kampala, on the way to the taxi park after All Vol.

I continue to be impressed by the young volunteers. They are the cream of crop of America. They are smart, altruistic, and industrious. I am proud to serve with them. I read the other day the USA dropped 24,000 bombs on six Muslim countries in 2015. I would submit Peace Corps has been our best foreign policy, at a fraction of the cost.

General

All Vol, Kampala, training, travel

What’s for Tea Mum?

Author: Charles February 14, 2016

A nearby view from Karen’s place of some of the tea fields. These are actually trees which are kept trimmed into shrubs. After planting they take 3 years before the leaves are tea-worthy, and then they produce every growing season for 100 years. Most of these fields were planted in the early 1960’s. Karen frequently sees baboons, which inhabit the wooded valley below, but they were not around on our day there. A couple of days later we saw baboons on the road to Queen Elizabeth National Park. We did see white-tailed monkeys called Colombus in the plantation’s forest. Couldn’t get good pictures.

My fellow fossil David, and still-too-young-to be-a-fossil Karen enjoyed a great week traveling together. Our first stop was the massive tea plantation at Karen’s site. Karen is a Health volunteer recently retired from her career in the Navy as an air traffic controller. She teaches about good, nutrition, HIV and other health topics to the several worker camps spread throughout the plantation.

This selfie to mark the beginning of our travels was taken upon our arrival by taxi at the closest town to the plantation. Karen needs to summon a car from here to get home

The field on the right and beyond has been sprayed with ground up limestone to treat algae. This is brand new technology. They will be growing again next season.

Karen stands by her excellent permagarden by her home. It takes drainage from her roof and is double dug and everything. She dug another one at a work camp.

The tea factory. There were conveyer belts with fans to dry the leaves and then they are ground down, separated by quality, and put in large bags, transported elsewhere to be processed into the tiny tea bags.. There are different grades of tea. They make black tea. Green tea is from the same leaves, just processed differently.

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This is a tasting room. A spittoon in the right foreground. When new employees are interviewed, in the waiting room they are given the choice of coffee, tea, or other drinks. If they don’t select tea they don’t get hired!

These are the machines to trim the tea trees. Run by two on each side, and a third person with a bag to collect it

The plantation raises its own eucalyptus trees, which are fast-growing, and used to power the factory with steam energy

Feeding the boiler

Karen and her supervisor Elijah at a work camp. In Uganda, no matter where you go, you have to sign a guest book. I have signed dozens of these.

An artistic representation of a crowded taxi for sale in a hotel in Fort Portal. The tires are bottle caps. I plan to buy one to bring home when I return to America, but it was too delicate to lug and too expensive ($12 US- ha! Uganda!) to get now.

We teased that Karen’s place is “Posh Corps”. She has tremendous views, good electricity, running water, a kitchen similar to a US suburb (both gas and electric burners, gas oven, many cabinets), western style toilet, a nearby club for executives Karen may use (free beer) and even a nearby landing strip. David and I stayed at a guest house a few minutes from Karen’s home. We had a cook and our clothes were laundered.

We walked through the tea fields to the Tea Factory and received a tour. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures in the factory. Later we enjoyed the free beer at the club and a lively conversation with Karen’s supervisor, Elijah.

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agriculture, garden, perma-garden, Tea, travel, Uganda food, volunteers

Farmer Dave

Author: Charles February 14, 2016

On the right is a key hole garden. Dave was growing collard greens, kale and coriander. When he returned after our trip, pigs had escaped their pen and totally destroyed it. He thinks they like kale. On the left is a hugelkulture garden. He buried timbers which soaks up water so the roots continue to be nourished during dry season. It is growing collards, beans and peppers

After two nights at Karen’s tea plantation, we stopped in Fort Portal. It’s the closest big town to Karen and David and gets a lot of tourists on their way to national parks.

Heh- Super Bowl game face

Karen dislikes football, and chose to stay at a hotel for Sunday night.David has great internet reception at his site, a large demonstration farm on the top of a hill. We went to bed early, and then streamed the Super Bowl beginning at 2:30 a.m. Monday morning.A glorious victory for the Broncos!

David had a career as a graphic designer in the states, though he “woofed” at some farms in recent years (room and board in exchange for labor). He calls Wisconsin his home state, lived in Pittsburgh for many years and most recently he lived in North Carolina He has dug eleven different gardens on his site. (My own permagarden is a disaster in mismanagement and neglect- except for the carrots. Matthews transplanted my cabbage and my broccoli did not grow. I’ll do better next season.)

Dry season is intense out in the west, with only negligible rain since Christmas. Dave’s place had a dry water tank, so no bathing that night.

Another hugelkulture garden, growing Russian comfrey, which is fed to chickens to make their yolk yellower and eggs tastier.

David made this with bamboo, called reeds here.. He needs to add Madagascar! When he isn’t researching how to be a concert impresario, he enjoys painting in the evenings.

Like I do, David greets many children on the trek to his place. Which of us will have the first heart attack from swinging children around ? I usually prefer the fist bumps followed by hand disinfectant 🙂

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David has an ambitious secondary project. He wants to promote a three day
music fest in Fort Portal. beginning on World AIDS day December 1, Anyone who voluntarily tests for HIV two months earlier, will be admitted free.

General

agriculture, Dry season, garden, travel, volunteers

“Enjoy the Nature”

Author: Charles February 14, 2016

Following the Super Bowl, David grabbed a couple of hours of sleep (I was too jacked up and wanted to read the media reports) and then we headed back to Fort Portal and rejoined Karen.

On the way to the park we passed the Equator. The taxi driver and other passengers indulged us with a five minute break to take a picture. Unfortunately the passenger who shot this stuck his finger in the viewfinder and tilted the camera at an angle. My brother Mark has fixed it the best he could.

We traveled to Omwani Training Cafe just outside of Queen Elizabeth Park for two nights. It was started by a former Peace Corps volunteer and the lodging and food is half price for PCVs. Local Ag cohort Katie L. met us for fantastic pizza, cooked in clay brick ovens. She introduced her friend, Nicholas, who would be our park guide the next day.

We did our sightseeing standing up This Peace Corps experience makes me exercise so much!

We set off at 6 a.m. and spent until mid afternoon in the park. The guides would call each other when there was something pretty cool and we would meet other tourist vehicles.

We saw some slow-paced lion drama through binoculars. Two lions went into a brush to hide. A water buffalo stopped nearby to graze. Soon two more lions took up positions on the other side. He was surrounded. The rest of the herd kept going and the buffalo seemed oblivious. Was he old and knew it was his time? Had he lost a fight for dominance and been expelled? He didn’t seem injured. We watched for 45 minutes but there was no attack. The guides thought the lions would bide their time until nightfall. Vultures were flying overhead. No decent pictures of this. It was one time I wish I had a camera with telephoto lens. I had to resist the urge to walk up for a closer shot! They seemed peaceful enough!

Ugandan Cobb, which is on the flag and the money

“You should see the other guy”

The largest nests in the world are built by little birds called Hamacocks. I came up zilch on a fact check, but found a similar bird called a social weaver. residing in South Africa.

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The famed Ugandan Crested Crane. Its also on the flag, and all the money. The national soccer team is the Cranes.

Water Buffalo looking around for their friend.

Hippos on the shore of the local fishing village within the park..

I love this picture from the fishing village. If I made a print of this for my wall, should I trim the trash in the foreground, or retain its Ugandan authenticity?

This is a maribou stork a/k/a “Trash Bird” a/k/a Undertaker Bird at the fishing village. Note what appear to be white legs. Actually the bird shits on his own legs to keep cool.

We saw warthogs, several times, this was actually in the fishing village. I thought these guys would be mean.

Early on our tour, we saw a herd of elephants, but they were quite distant, and we were a bit disappointed. Then, by a stroke of luck, we happened upon a herd of about 40 elephants on both sides of the road, crossing it to go to water. My brother stitched together a few smart phone elephant videos here. You will hear Nicholas smugly say “Enjoy the nature”. You will also see a little baby between the legs of her mom, and very pregnant mommy to be..At one point a young one seemed about to head our direction. Our driver revved his engine to make him go back.

At this particular park there are no zebras nor giraffes, but they are about to be reintroduced. There are hyenas and leopards, but despite the efforts of our guides, we didn’t see them.

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travel, volunteers

Deep Forbidden Lake

Author: Charles February 14, 2016

The view of Lake Bunyonyi from Tyler’s front porch. About 60 PCVs came here for Thanksgiving. About 60 PCVs posted this same view on their FB or Blog. Unfortunately it was hazy for us.

We left Omwani Cafe and headed to the town of Kabale and beautiful Lake Bunyonyi. Karen, David and I agreed it was the worst taxi ride we had ever taken in Uganda, with either 24 or 25 people crammed together. David and I were jammed in the back row, my knees ache in memory. Two boys next to me were spitting up into a bag.

The climb up the hill to Tyler’s place is steep and a bit challenging. Even harder going down as Karen demonstrates her crab walk. (I hope she forgives me for printing this 😉 )The picture does not do it justice. You have to watch the loose dirt, but Tyler assured us it is worse during rains.I wouldn’t enjoy this at night.

Lake Bunyonyi is in the southwest corner of Uganda near the Rwanda border It is over 6.000 feet in elevation. It is a volcanic crater and the second deepest lake in Africa, 29 islands are scattered throughout the lake.

We met Tyler at her site and spent a night there. (She was Rosie the Riveter in the Halloween photos). Tyler is from Washington state and a Health volunteer. She is a wonderful host and very level-headed.

On the boat with Tyler going to lunch. She often boats to other islands for her work.

This is an entry point to see gorillas. I posted this mainly to show off my new Peace Corps T-shirt

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After we snooped around a couple of nearby resorts while Tyler did some work, we took a boat ride to one of the islands to have a nice lunch at a restaurant.

Punishment Island per Wikipedia

On the way we saw a small island in the distance with a solitary tree. It is called “Punishment Island”. Per Wikipedia:
The Bakiga used to leave unmarried pregnant girls on this small island with a lone tree – to die of hunger or while trying to swim to the mainland (swimming skills were rare). This was to educate the rest, to show them not to do the same. A man without cows to pay the bridewealth could go to the island and pick up a girl. The practice got abandoned in the first half of the 20th century. Although this practice has been abandoned, it is still possible to find women who were picked up from punishment island today.
Another island was a colony for lepers.
We enjoyed a leisurely afternoon at the restaurant chatting with three girls who were independently traveling the world. They had joined together temporarily and were heading to Rwanda the next day. The American mentioned she saved her travel money by working at Google in Silicon Valley. There are 16,000 employees on that campus, but It turns out her desk was next to a guy who dated Tyler in college. They had a hoot sending him a selfie via Facebook.

I had seen these “Keep Bunyonyi Blue” stickers around town. Just found out they are Tyler’s creation. She has also done some interesting art work on her walls which I might try to replicate.

Then it was back to Kabale, where we had dinner with Ron in a Fossils reunion. Ron bikes eight kilometers round trip to work each day and does yoga. He has lost 25 lbs, in Uganda,

The next morning we caught a 7 a.m. bus. Karen and Dave split off a couple of hours later, while I stayed on to Kampala, where I changed to a taxi and got back to Bugiri by 9 p.m. I was happy to see Meowri was still OK, and in fact my neighbor kids got their own kitten!
Dry season is hitting hard now. There was no rain my entire trip and I have to start getting to the bore hole at 6 a.m. again.

Elections are nest Thursday the 18th. Stay tuned….

General

Dry season, travel, Uganda Culture, volunteers

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“Enjoy the Nature”

Deep Forbidden Lake

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