Gorillas…in the Rain (2 weeks ago…) We woke up around 5:30am and headed north for
2 hours (on a very bumpy road in my dad’s dream car…Landcruiser thingy not
available in the US) to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, one of the few homes of
mountain gorillas. This type of gorilla
is only found in Uganda, the DRC, and Rwanda (http://mountaingorillas.gorillacd.org/),
which is why they can charge $500 US per person for a guided tour, one hour
with the gorillas, with a 95% success rate of finding them. Luckily, April is the rainy season and
there’s a $150 discount…and $350 seemed much more reasonable. Plus it goes to a wonderful cause of keeping
the gorillas happy in their natural habitat.
We met our guides at 8am and trekked for about 1.5 hours
into a beautiful, dense, tropical jungle.
Most of the time we were quiet, or talking with hushed voices, waiting
for our trackers to radio to us. They
had started off an hour earlier to find their previous night’s nest where they
examine their remains to assess the state of their health—including both food
leftovers and poop (normal vs. diarrhea).
Then they follow any signs they can find. This is their daily job! Very cool.
All of sudden my guide stopped on the trail, turned up into
the non-trekked bush and started hacking a pathway with his machete. We hiked up a VERY steep hill (we were often
crawling, grabbing onto roots or branches to get up)…and finally after 30
minutes reached the family of gorillas.
Papa Silverback was sitting very happily under a big bush, tearing off
branches with some serious strength (he weighs 500lbs plus), and stripping off
the bark to eat. He really could not
care less about us and did not turn to look at us once. His wife (they are monogamous and probably a
much better divorce rate than any human) and their children were a bit more
curious.
The one-year-old male baby was happy to be our entertainment
for the entire hour, and per our guides, was very animated and excited that day. He climbed up and down the big bush many
times, reaching the top, peeking over at us until he felt more comfortable, and
eventually put on a little balancing/dance show.
His mother on the other hand… We were trekking up about 15 ft to find her,
and I was right next to the guide. When we reached a bit too close, she jumped
out and beat her chest SOOOO LOUD. In
one swift movement I jumped behind my friend who was behind me, and pushed him
ahead-- gesturing to the Mama-- here take this guy instead, he’s taller with
more meat! The guide laughed…he
explained that she does this as a “hello” and also it’s a playful gesture.
After taking 100+ photos each, we simply watched these rare,
beautiful creatures from 10 feet away and I was mesmerized at how similar they
are to us. They are gentle, peaceful
(unlike their cousin baboons), inquisitive, and nurturing. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience
worth the money- see pics below!
Village-to-Village
Public Health Research
For the last two weeks we have been working in the rural
villages where we visit each home with three main goals:
1.
Screen for chronic diseases (high blood
pressure, asthma, epilepsy, heart failure, tuberculosis, HIV), take every adult’s
blood pressure, and then refer them to an education or medication delivery
program, or the hospital.
2.
Assess any other problems if someone in the
household is sick and refer them to my clinic on Wednesdays.
3.
Complete 100+ research surveys that I created
(with friend Eman) regarding adolescent alcohol abuse and its relationship to
sexual behavior and HIV prevalence.
I was assigned to Bunagana and Gatsibo, two villages that
are intertwined and ON the Uganda/Congo border…(more about that below re: the Congo war going on). Asking people about their own drinking habits
and then what they think teenagers are doing these days is mostly interesting,
often funny, and sometimes very challenging.
A few people out of the hundred denied answering and claimed that we are
getting paid to do this, and why should they help us, if we don’t help them. The first time this happened, my translator
was so upset, he stopped talking and just left.
I was somehow OK with it all, as I told myself if someone doesn’t want
to answer the survey, fine, and they’re entitled to their opinions regarding
who we are and our intentions, whether they’re right or not. The second time, I took it much more personally
and became quite upset. Looking back, I
realize that my reactions in such situations are often dictated by my mindset
in that moment. If I have enough sleep,
breakfast, and am in a happy mood (this is most of the time I’d like to think!),
I can handle this type of situation in a much more positive light. The minute I take things personally, which
happens when I’m sleep deprived, hypoglycemic, or stressed, my actions or words
are not as professional. My honesty here
perhaps unveils a negative characteristic, but I think the best things learned
in life are through making mistakes and admitting it to myself! I feel that
I’ve learned a very good lesson before earning my MD; to mindful of my own
state of mind. And to take care of
myself first because I will be able to take better care of my patients.
Most home visits are wonderful and very productive. I’ve
referred over 15 patients to my clinic, one of whom we saw yesterday and
discovered she has a serious neurological problem (leading diagnosed is spinal
tuberculosis). I’ve seen many things in
the villages I’ve never seen before—elephantiasis, severe heart disease, and a
family of albinos.
Elephantiasis:
A lovely woman invited me into her home a few days after I
had taken her blood pressure. She had prepared raw honey from her beehive with
home-brewed aloe-vera juice (with some other African medicinal leaves) for
us! The honey was delicious- and even
chewing the honeycomb tasted yummy, but different from the honey. The aloe-vera juice was also amazing- it had
a fermented taste and reminded me of Kambucha (sp?).
 |
| aloe vera |
 |
| honeycomb, honey on the sides |
 |
| Aloe vera juice, lemon slices |
 |
| Benon, Gatsibo’s Village Health Worker, giving a talk on Cancer in Women that I wrote with my friend Eman. |
Benon, taking a villager’s blood pressure in the fields.
A strong-willed woman, and domestic violence victim, who we
interrupted during weeding sorghum. We
discussed at length her health and decided to plan a meeting with the couple
and the ‘elders of the village’ as an intervention and effort for change.
A gourd of some sort- used by the grandfathers to drink
homemade beer from.
Nelson (my translator) helping with a survey
Little girl eating berries for breakfast (we don’t have them
in USA…)
Sorghum- used for food and can be made into beer, the plant looks similar to corn
Co-Op meeting among villagers- these people function as a bank together. They invest in each other’s productivity, crops, etc. and make interest by keeping their money with this group. Yes, there are banks with ATM, but the closest bank is a 25 minute drive, or 2 hour walk, and not realistic for them.
Staying in my village,
Bunagana
Last weekend I had the pleasure of staying at Suzanne’s
house (my Village Healthcare Worker).
Her children and husband treated me like their own family and by the end
asked me stay longer! Luckily her
husband speaks very good English and Suzanne speaks fairly well. During the day I helped in the gardens and
around the house, mostly prepping meals and playing with her kids. They taught me how to peel and cook matoke
(plantains) and had a good laugh at my juvenile effort to peel potatoes. They
can easily peel them so that the skin comes off in one piece…I think my best
record was about 9 pieces. Suzanne
taught me how to make G-nut sauce- it’s delicious, healthy, and very common in
this region (think of a ground almond-peanut taste with tomatoes and onions-
and put it over matoke and rice). In
return, I made them banana-Nutella crepes…not exactly American, but very well
received (we used chapatti instead of crepes- its like a thin naan bread). I slept in a small room in the main house and
felt happy that the walls were concrete instead of mud and sticks (less
bugs). There’s no electricity or running
water in Suzanne’s village, so the bathroom is an outhouse in the back and it’s
simply a hole in a wooden hut (BYOTP…bring your own TP). Let me just say that the common idea of most
of the men I know to go and sit on the toilet and read whatever, relax, or have
epiphanies, is impossible when your quad muscles are the only things holding
you up. Plus there’s no real door and it
smells pretty horrible, so you just wanna take care of business and get the
heck outta there ASAP. Haha.
Through many conversations over dinner, I learned a great
deal bout their culture- an advantage of no TVs, computers, or any distractions
really (they live with the minimum!). We
talked about school, politics, dating and marriage customs, divorce, the
standard of living in Uganda vs. the USA, among other things. We discussed the
idea of the boredom of impoverished people and why alcohol is an easy
solution. Unemployment is a huge problem
here and is the reason why so many teenagers start drinking regularly at an
early age. Many can’t afford school or find work, so they scrounge for drinks
from patrons at bars or steal alcohol (easy to swipe one of those Chief Waragi
packets and put in their pocket). Or they can find alcohol brewed at home. Urwagwa is banana beer, easily made at home,
and very strong (pretty smooth I might add…).
We also talked about that the woman’s role- that they must feed their
children—which takes up most of the day (no microwave, no supermarket). Therefore
they have no time to go out with friends and drink, unless they have a job and
have help at home (rare). The men
however, have this luxury, and sometimes end up spending all the family’s
income on alcohol. These issues are
nothing new in the world, but it was interesting to discuss and compare with
the USA.
Genies…
Something that is definitely not in our country is the fear of “genies” and going
“underground.” First, let me tell you
that both villagers and urban, well-educated people believe in this
concept. So, if someone is very greedy
and wants a lot of money, they can make a room up in their house for the
“genie” with food, drinks, and gifts. Genies
are ghosts with human torsos, a long tail and hooved feet. Then, the greedy person finds the egg of a
special bird (this bird can apparently see better at night than during the
day), and walks into a lake and puts the egg into the lake on a bed of
grasses. Another option is to put the
egg down the toilet. One can also
exchange this egg for a white kitten.
(Reminder that toilets here are not flushable). This is the act of “going underground,” and
the genie will come to its room, take all its gifts, and tell the greedy
bastard that you must sacrifice (i.e. kill) the person you love most. The genie already knows who this is without
asking, so one can’t just kill anyone.
In exchange, they tell them exactly how to make money-- A LOT of money,
as long as they follow their instructions on how to conduct your business (if
you don’t, you lose it all). Often you
are supposed to bury this loved one underneath the building you are
constructing for business. THIS HAS
SERIOUSLY HAPPENED! I have seen from afar a few houses in my village of those
who have gone ‘underground.’ They look like Spanish villas, have solar panels
and their own mast for cable/internet etc.
In Kampala (the country’s capital) a man was imprisoned after
sacrificing his daughter to the genies and then bribed the police for release
with millions of dollars. Human rights
activists protested and the man was finally put in jail for life.I know there
are many people who believe in ghosts and will do crazy things to appease them,
but my jaw dropped at this story.
According to my translator, you can be wealthy if you are good
businessman, but you can never be as wealthy as someone who has gone
underground. Interestinly enough, this
fear is only 5-7 years old in Uganda, and originated in the Congo and Tanzania.
By the end of my home-stay, I learned how to cook, eat,
dance, sing, go to church, and sleep like an African (wake up with the
sun!). Some photos of my wonderful
weekend with Suzanne, Vincent, Latitia, Pious and Nobat are below…
 |
| Pious and Nobat, checking out their new visitor |
 |
| Latitia starting a fire in the stove for dinner |
 |
| Pious and his baby goat! |
 |
| Suzanne shopping for shoes at market |
 |
| Nobat, my buddy. He and I were enjoying sugar cane (so yummy!) |
 |
| more baby goats..love |
 |
| Local eggs being packed in dried banana leaves for wholesale |
 |
| home-made ugandan bicycle, pretty rad |
 |
| Left to Right: Mai (helped with surveys), Nelson (translator), and Suzanne (VHW) in Suzanne's home for lunch |
 |
| Latitia and Nobat, before church |
 |
| Kisoro market- where you can get all veggies/fruits for very cheap |
 |
| Per Benon, a very helpful plant (and expensive) b/c you can boil the leaves in tea and it will kill ascaris (a worm that lives in your stomach and wreaks havoc- very common illness here) |
The Congo…
For those of you that don’t know (I didn’t know much til I
got here), the Congo has been unstable for 10+ years due to Congolese rebels
(called the M-23) fighting with the government.
The Congo has the highest amount of raw material exports in Africa. The most productive land is in eastern Congo,
right next to Uganda. Per a Congolese
man I had the pleasure of speaking with at length (he was the uncle of the
family I stayed with for a weekend), the government keeps this eastern part
undeveloped on purpose (i.e. no roads/schools or gov funding) so that they can
dominate access to the raw materials.
They have special planes that can fly in and transport all the mined
materials, and therefore left the local Congolese with no business opportunity,
no support, no schools, etc. Thus, the
M-23 was formed. I have no idea how much
of this is true, but it seems it is what most Ugandans believe as well. In any case, this makes my town a bit scary.
When I arrived there was no fighting, and a few weeks ago it started up again, but now I've heard its stopped.
There are stories of Ugandan villagers having stray bullets hit their rooftops
at night (this happened last year, no one was injured). More
recently, a “bomb” of some sort was fired on accident by the M-23 and landed
between 3 houses in my village Gatsibo.
Luckily the older woman and children who had been there 15 minutes
earlier departed for dinner…so no one was injured (it did not detonate- just the force made an impact in the ground). The M-23 came over to apologize. They very
much appreciate their peacefulness with Ugandans as they provide business to
them on the ‘black market.’ From what i've been told, no Ugandan has died from Congo warfare. In any
case, the whole thing makes me a bit nervous when I think about it, and it will be brought
up tomorrow with my program director.
 |
| Kids that followed me, Nelson and Vincent to the top of the Uganda/Congo hill |
 |
| Just past the bean fields you can see a dug-out area on the hill- this is the start of the Congo and where the M23 keep a lot of their equipment. The beans are in Uganda. The hill from where I took this photo acts as a protective barrier as most houses are in the valley. |
Overall, my time spent in these villages has been amazing. I mean, this is my daily “office”:
 |
| Saucer clouds over one of the volcanoes |
 |
| Benon at a villagers compound- the thatch-roof hut is where visitors are greeted with tea |
Two and half more weeks left of my 9 week stay in Uganda…can’t believe it! Thank you for reading.
Love, Vanessa
