Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Keeping on

The Batwa getting down at a recent visit to the Bikuto settlement. The dancing is a combination of a burst of quick jumps while stomping your feet down and some fancy foot work in between.


Agandi everyone,

Before I realized it February in Bwindi was gone in a flash. The guesthouse, where I take my meals, work, and find social sustenance, has seen many new faces and said goodbye others. This month we were graced with the presence of two pediatricians (Elizabeth and Annie) from the states, a neo-natal nurse from Denmark (Anna) as well as two med students from Denmark (Christian and Eva).

A photo of the February crew. From left to right (back) is Elizabeth, Annie, Der, myself and Tor and also left to right (front) is Apiyo, Carol, and Anna. Apiyo and Carol work as staff at the hospital and the rest are guesthouse wayfarers.

The guesthouse is such a great mix of culture, language, and background is. The conversations that you have over meals range across the globe (literally and figuratively) encompassing politics, religion, food, adventures…etc. Because of the strong hospital presence here, inevitably the conversations will turn to infectious disease, tropical ulcers, and the parasites that infest the local human population. This morning I realized how much my tolerance had grown here when I was able to happily eat my French toast with plum jam while Eva, told stories about patients vomiting blood full of hookworms!

Also this month we had a visit from Reno Rotarian Dr. Bob Clift and his wife and Linda Clift. Their visit was thoroughly enjoyable. We visited several Batwa settlements where projects are ongoing and they had the opportunity to see our approach to the projects and provide input. Bob and Linda really embraced the effort we are putting in here to build sustainable, community owned projects.

While they were here, Bob and Linda had a chance to sit in on a meeting for the goat portion of the project. Realizing that we know very little about how the Batwa cultural and social systems work Paul and I decided to hold a meeting where the Batwa have an opportunity to teach other Batwa. Mpungu is a Batwa settlement that is currently running a very successful goat project and we brought them over to talk to the beneficiaries of our goat project. The meeting brought out all kinds of issues and ideas that I had not thought of before. For example the folks at Mpungu seemed to think that perhaps the greatest benefit of having goats in their settlement is not for milk or meat but for fertilizer for their crops. It also brought out issues of land ownership and how the community needs to think about how to graze their goats and still be respectful to their neighbors.


Paul Muhwezi facilitating a meeting for the goat project.



Rotarian Bob Clift assessing the situation at the Batwa goat meeting at the settlement of Kitariro.

After the meeting Bob Clift expressed to me how important community ownership was becoming in his mind. He explained how he plans to bring that message back to his Rotary Club in Reno and to put a greater emphasis on the incorporation of community involvement. All I could do was nod in agreement. I’m looking forward to some of that feedback.

The Batwa breaking into dance with Linda Clift caught in the middle.

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It seems that my tolerance for discomfort has grown immensely since my arrival to Bwindi in September though I can definitively say it will never compare to the tolerance of peoples from Uganda. From walking miles and miles everyday to carrying giant stacks of firewood on their heads to piling 20 people in the back of a pickup that is already full of bags of corn flour, matoke (green bananas) and other supplies to making gravel by hitting large rocks with a hammer until they become small rocks. Paul, my Mukiga partner the other day tried to bring jerry cans full of gasoline into the cab of the truck as we were heading home from the field. I told him that the fumes were going to make me sick and he gave me a look of pity as if the poor Mzungu would never be able to make his way through Uganda without him. Which to some degree I cannot argue with.Pediatrician Annie hoops taking a photo of Batwa children at the Mpungu settlement.

Tor was talking to me the other day about how he didn’t think that he could return to the states and deal with complaints of people that were anything short of emotional or physical disaster. There seems to be much less sympathy for others misfortune here as life tends to hold a certain degree of heartache and physical suffering for everyone. It’s almost as if there is an intrinsic empathy and because everyone suffers there is no need to acknowledge it. Although open displays of sympathy for others is rare there is much humor and excitement in the Ugandan culture in sharing the stories of others misfortune. Many of these stories fall under the category of “if I didn’t laugh I would probably cry.”

For example:
Tor and I the other day were hanging out at a Batwa settlement, known as Bikuto, trying to set up a building workshop with the people there. We sent a gopher to pick up a phone number from the other side of the settlement that was down a ravine and back up the other side. In fascination we watched with the Batwa women the young man run full speed down into the ravine and back up the other side; the low lying tea plants allowing us to watch every step. On his return trip we watched his red shirt screaming down the other side of the ravine set against the light green tea leaves. Without warning he pitched forward cart-wheeled and slammed into the tea bushes. The Batwa ladies burst into laughter as Tor and I sat there with our mouths hanging open. He immediately recovered went back up the hill for the pen and phone number and continued his charge down the hill. Luckily he was not injured.Tor getting goofy with Petronea a Batwa woman with more character in her pinky than most people will ever show in their entire lives.

I feel like I have experienced every emotion possible since I arrived here in Bwindi. I think this spectrum of emotions just fits into a place like Bwindi. Great sorrow and great joy walk hand in hand here like no place I have ever been. The willingness of people here to move on with their lives despite tragic accidents or debilitating injuries is sometimes hard to make sense of being the westerner that I am. We tend to dwell on those times we were cheated or injured or lost big. Here I think that life is just too hard to dwell on what went wrong this would just lead to too many opportunities lost. It’s probably an experience that every person from the states could benefit from.Me showing off my first care package! It only took 2 and a half months to show up. It contained gummy bears, gummy ginger candy, socks (!), tea, bandaids, salaami, and much much much more.Photo of me defending my care package from Phillip by any means necessary. Phillip is the guesthouse cook.Butterflies of Bwindi. During the dry season the butterflies congregate in the thousands around standing water. It is a pure delight.

Scott Kellermann giving a thumbs up to the cow intestines and stomach linings hanging at a local butchery. Looks disgusting, smells awful, and tastes great (at least to the locals).

Annie Hoopes hanging out with a Batwa child from Kitariro during an outreach.

Gorillas crossing the road near one of the safari camps. The gorillas have been particularly active around the human settlements in Bwindi lately. This gives the Uganda Wildlife Authority fits when Mzungus see the gorillas without paying their 500 bucks!


An outrageously beautiful butterfly, speaks for itself.