Moving forward

A photo of me holding Bright, the healthiest child in Uganda. Bright rarely smiles but chooses to show his affection in hugs and high 5's.

It’s been a couple weeks since my last posting and it is difficult to find where to begin. I guess I will start with our new volunteer Rotaract member Kristen Whitcomb who is assisting me in the assessment phase of the Rotary 3H grant! I picked her up at the airport in Entebbe on October 14^th at 7:30 am and took her on a whirlwind journey to begin her month and a half long stay here in Uganda. I began by taking her through the streets of Kampala to get some last minute items before heading back down to Bwindi (the dreaded 10 hour bus ride). Being with Kristen I began seeing Uganda and Kampala again for the first time to understand what she was experiencing so that I could explain this place that I am calling home for the next year. Just crossing the street in Uganda is a cultural experience. One can wait for 15 minutes without finding a break in the traffic or be forced to weave between a maze of matatu busses and jostle with motorcycles to find your way to the other side of the street. Walking down in the market area of Kampala I was stunned by the sheer volume of stuff being hawked. Small 10ft X 10ft cubby hole stores line the streets for as far as the eye could see. Second hand clothes, blankets, “rolex” watches, candies, jerry cans etc etc etc. Looking up I could see the market reached four stories high with trinkets and clothes of all shapes, sizes, and colors hanging from the exterior of the buildings swinging in the wind. It was just a solid wall of junk with nothing solid or stationary to focus on. Eventually we found all of the supplies we needed and headed back to the Backpackers hostel for a much needed rest.

Kristen and I woke early the next morning and caught the 6 am bus to Bwindi. Two breakdowns and 14 hours later we eventually arrived back at the guesthouse to BBQed steaks and peanut butter cookies prepared by the Danish med students Nadia and Karin and the IT expert Der (I guess its not all roughing it out here). I think Kristen was absolutely wiped out but I shall let her explain in her own words.

Kristen has quickly taken to the role of field/lab technician processing the bacteria samples and generating data that will drive project implementation. Her quiet and supportive demeanor has been a very welcome change from juggling the finances, testing, and project planning for the Rotary 3H grant (the 3 H’s stand for Hunger, Health, and Humanity all directly related to clean water). She has even begun setting up her own experiments for UV treatment of contaminated waters as a possible at home measure to ensure clean drinking water (see photo on right). Kristen has also wasted no time in getting acquainted with the multitudes of children here that sing at the top of their lungs "hello, how are you!" over and over again when they see a Mzungu. At this point I am thinking that a month and a half may not be long enough to have Kristen, I may have to keep her for the rest of the year!

To date we have collected fecal coliform data on 34 community drinking water sources including springs (protected and unprotected), surface water sources, gravity scheme sources (water piped from protected springs), and rainwater harvest sources. Thirteen of these sources were found to be under 10 cfu/100 ml. Sources greater than 10 cfu/100 ml is the contamination standard used by Life Water International. Our primary focus will be on those springs greater than 10 cfu/100ml. Obviously the most difficult situations are where there are no springs to protect and surface water is the only alternative.

Once again the major issue appears to be available land. Driving back from a weekend away at Lake Bunyonyi we spent 5 hours driving through the valleys and up over mountainous passes which characterize the region. During the entire drive there was not one strip of primary rainforest to see, not one native plant. The hillsides are all cultivated and the most common tree found is eucalyptus, which is an Australian native, used for building houses and other structures. The houses of the Mukiga (plural: Rukiga is singular) people here are spread out over every square foot of the land to be near to their crops. Unfortunately this often sets families and in some cases whole communities long distances from protected drinking water sources. The women and children in charge of fetching the water often resort to the nearest available sources that are often surface water sources that are always contaminated. The photo above is a child collecting 20 liters of water, equal to 40lbs!

Just one anecdote before I leave you for another couple weeks. As I stated earlier I visited Lake Bunyonyi this last weekend with the Danish med students Nadia and Karin for canoeing and relaxing (see photo below Karin to the left and Nadia to the right). The lake is a ten thousand year old lake and is the deepest lake in Uganda. It was created when a lava flow dammed a river and the river valley filled with water. On our return trip we hired, Patrick, a taxi driver to take us on the five hour journey back to Bwindi. The day was beautiful and there were no storms threatening to turn the roads into the muddy mess that can delay travel for days. Although a bit bumpy I thoroughly enjoyed driving through the lush green valleys and up over the mountain passes with stellar views.

Just 30 minutes outside of Bwindi I was confident that we would arrive at our destination without delay despite darkening clouds overhead… Just after we crossed the river we found that a ten ton truck had lost its brakes and drove up onto the embankment and turned over on its side blocking the entire road. Our driver, insistent on delivering us to our destination and heading back to his home that night decided he would drive across the nearby meadow, bypass the accident and get us back onto the road. The crux of our short detour was a steep ascent on slick muddy ground right before getting back onto the main road. The nearby onlookers viewing the accident were more than happy to assist us. As our driver approached the slope no less than 40 men and boys threw themselves against the back of our vehicle, rocking it up the incline and finally pushing the car up onto the road. It makes my heart ache to think that I didn’t have my camera with me to capture the moment. When we were back on the road it was time to settle up and I had a sinking feeling that the situation could get nasty. How do you pay a group of 40 people, I didn’t have any small bills on me better yet 40 of them? Is there any recourse if they ask for too much money? The group crowded around our driver arguing what the price should be. Thankfully the price that was demanded was 15,000 shillings which is about $10 however if they had demanded $100 I probably would have had to pay it. We left the scene of 40 men and boys cheering their good fortune at having landed such a prize. Nadia, Karin, and I could only smile in amazement at our good fortune and at the strength of Uganda which lies in its numbers.