2011 Trip Blog

I was sad as I was leaving Lubanda Village, even more so when flying away
from Uganda airport. But all good things must come to an end, and I am so
great full for being able to be part of this experience and immerse myself
in the Ugandan culture in the small rural village of Lubanda.  Hopefully
one year I will be able to return again, but for now I have many fond
memories and photographs to keep me happy.

Chantelle :-)

Chantelle :-)

Since last weeks blog post many exciting things have happened. We spent the first part of the week travelling, which I'm sure Hannah and Chantelle will tell you all about.

It was later in the week when we were in Kampala collecting all the furniture and equipment that David and I had ordered the previous week that I was most excited about! The fact that we were moving from one place to another, amongst the crazy Kampala traffic jam, in an open backed truck with a simple tarp thrown over it to keep things dry, sure wasn't the way we would transport equipment for a medical centre back home but hey, this is Uganda!

On Friday, after a whole morning of waiting around for things to be packed, we finally had all the more sensitive equipment on board in our van (which was considerably safer) so we set off back to Suubi. The truck had left earlier that morning which meant by late on Friday afternoon everything had thankfully arrived safely at the clinic!

It really has been fabulous to watch everything being unpacked over the weekend. Everyone has worked so hard over the last 12 months to make the Suubi Clinic a reality and to finally see it being fitted out in readiness to become operational is quite an amazing feeling. Check out the photos!

To all the Ugandans who have done an brilliant job of organising everything here and constructing the building, webale nnyo nnyo nnyo! And to many, many people back home in Australia who have helped to make this possible, I can't even begin to find the words to thank you. I wish you were all here to see it with your own eyes. I'm very sure you would all join me in shouting a huge YIPPEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! Hopefully over the coming years some of you will get the opportunity to visit Suubi and see for yourselves what an positive impact your have helped to have on so many lives in the small village of Lubanda on the other side of the world!

HUGE HUGs for you all from Helen!



HANNAH:

We're back at Suubi after 6 fun days away adventuring around the country. We spent a few nights in Kamapala and 3 days at Murchison Falls National Park and were quite the tourists!

Though we spent many hours on the road, a long drive around Uganda is never boring for there are always entertaining things to witness on and beside the roads, in the form of interesting transport options. Many of these would be pulled up by authorities in Australia for being unsafe and downright crazy.

    ● A small tip-truck was packed with people in the back tray, all squished in like sardines, arms around each other to prevent anyone falling out. But with bodies half hanging over the sides, they certainly looked like they could fall with the next large jolt from the bumpy roads.
    ● One two-wheel motorbike speeding uphill had 5 goats tied to the back. 5 live goats! A wooden board was attached to the back and the goats were somehow roped on and, despite their wide-eyed looks of terror, they were hardly wriggling around.
    ● Traffic jams are painful anywhere. But in a place like Uganda, where the roads are already hectic and road rules minimal, a traffic jam is utter chaos. On the way into Kampala from Lubanda we were stuck in  a traffic jam for about 1.5 hours. That's where the true personality of drivers emerge. We were sitting in a long line of cars, and two lanes had already formed heading in-bound for Kampala, where there was only supposed to be one. Those less patient simply zoomed to the right of these rows of traffic and travelled on the wrong side of the road to get in front. With cars continually doing so, there ended up being 5 muddled lanes of traffic in-bound which eventually blocked off the outbound lane. I can tell you, huge buses trying to head out of Kampala were not happy, and honked their loud horns and attempted to squeeze between this traffic and the ditch on the other side of the road, whilst the cars tried to shove themselves back into the traffic on the correct side of the road. Most of the time, two adjacent vehicles were no more than millimetres from each other. For if you leave too much space, even a few centimetres, another vehicle will nudge it's nose in that 'space' almost scraping your own vehicle in and push-in.  

At Murchison Falls we stayed at a lovely lodge called Red Chilli where we enjoyed some of the extravagances provided at tourist locations such as spaghetti bolognaise, ham & cheese toasted sandwiches, and even cake! We regularly wound down the days with some beers or smirnoff ice. It was comforting also to not be the only muzungus, after receiving much attention in the village for our white skin. Whilst enjoying some drinks one night, we had many laughs listening to another Aussie's accent. His accent was so strong, perhaps amplified amongst the less bogan sounding British and Germans. Meeting a variety of travellers from different corners of the globe was very interesting. We gave a ride to a Frenchman and an American out of Murchison Falls NP and I enjoyed hearing about their journeys. They were both travelling solo around Africa, and had met each other on the way, though were departing company to soon go their separate ways. The American had also been to India, where he had been an extra in a Bollywood movie!

Some of the exciting activities we experienced whilst at Murchison Falls National Park included:

● A cruise up the Nile - a small 18 seater boat complete with local tour guide toured us along the river where we spotted many hippos, a few crocodile, a variety of birds and the odd buffalo.

An interesting aspect of this journey was the fellow travellers in our boat who were making the trip not to look at the animals and scenery like us, but looking for oil! They were regularly pointing at the water and taking photos, which looked very strange until you could see that they were trying to capture small slicks of oil on the surface of the water. These people were looking for the oil for research and conservation purposes, but with considerable amounts of  of oil underground in Uganda, others are already drilling it north of the Nile. Helen spoke to a man working for the oil companies about the unearthing of the oil, and he said the locals were happy about the excavation and that profits were going towards schools and healthcare in Uganda. This, however, seemed like a view of the oil companies, as when speaking to our safari guide the next day he said people were concerned about the impact on the national park. We could already see some of the effects, with new wide roads being graded within the park to allow access for larger trucks to the oil sites. The amount of oil in Uganda could provide much needed wealth for this developing country, if it is managed well. But one does wonder, with some of the corruption and instability present in the country, whether the wealth will go to those who need it or to large international oil companies.

● Visit to the incredible Murchison Falls - we drove to the top of the falls and checked out where the mass of the Nile passes through a 7 metre wide gap before plummeting 45 metres in spectacular fashion to flow onwards below. The site of the falls are indeed something to behold!  And the sound from the crashing water is immense. I felt very priveleged to be able to witness the beauty and power of this natural spectacle.

● Animal safari - George, a funny and entertaining man, who has worked in the park for 30 years, directed us around the game tracks north of the Nile where we saw some incredible sites - herds of buffalo standing by the river delta, schools of hippos relaxing in the water, many warthogs (the ugliest creatures ever) trotting amongst the scrub, a dung beatle rolling a huge ball of dung along the road while another beatle attached to this ball was taken for a ride ( I might add the beetle pushing the ball more than twice its size was the female while the male just sat on the ball!). We were fortunate enough to see 2 lioness stalking around a group of giraffes. Though the giraffes seemed a little unphased, it was a spectacular site to see the lioness slinking around, one keeping a watchful eye on us and the other edging closer and closer to the giraffes. No attack took place however, as other vehicles came to watch as well and the 2 lioness were frightened away. Whilst only seeing elephants from a distance for most of the safari, on our way out we stopped a few metres from an elephant feeding on grass. It seemed very relaxed as we watched him grab tufts of grass with its trunk, shake the dirt from the base, and then scoop it into its mouth. Then, on our way to the ferry, we saw a spectacular site in the distance - a massive herd of elephants, more than 100 beside the waters edge. They looked absolutely beautfiul and is a view I won't forget anytime soon.

CHANTELLE:

We have done many exciting things in Uganda this week. It has been a week full of fun and excitement visiting the tourist attractions and soaking in the sun. Lubanda Village at times can be a little bit isolating, so I have really enjoyed being out at the tourist attractions and interacting with other "white people" from many different countries. I'm sure you've enjoyed hearing from Hannah about some of our fun experiences this week but I want to write about something else which happened on Saturday afternoon.

We were unpacking the medical supplies for the new clinic. We were so excited talking about how much of a difference this is going to make to the community here, when in walked Drake, a 14yr old boy from the house at Suubi Centre. He walked up to Hannah and said he had a cut on his foot. When I looked at it I felt sick in the stomach. Drake had cut his left big toe on some broken glass . . . over a week ago. The cut was so bad it was through to the bone. It should of had stitches straight away and by this stage it had been left too long and was seriously infected.  The wound was swollen and he had a fever, an indication that the infection had already entered his blood stream, the beginning of septicaemia setting in. We packed up and quickly drove to the Masaka Medical Centre.  In the not to distant future we will have a clinic here in Lubanda, but not soon enough.


The way in which people here deal with their wounds is really confusing to me. In Australia if we cut ourselves we would go to the hospital immediately. We don't wait for the next stage of infection and sickness. Its like here they wait to see what the body is going to do and how it plans to cope with the infection. They will wait until they are so sick and bedridden, before realising that this is serious and they need help. By this time it is too late. The cost of transport to a decent clinic and the cost of medication is high, so they just wait to see what is going to happen. I am so used our medical system in Australia that to be honest I don't think I even associated simple cuts and wounds with sickness and death, which is probably why the reality of the situation here is really getting to me.

Drake had left his injury too long and he was becoming ill.  The day he injured himself he actually went to a very small clinic in the next village and they gave him some medication and crushed up a tablet to rub into the wound, similar to what they did to Bell's foot a few weeks ago. They bandaged it and sent him home telling him to take it off the next day.  When he took it off it poured out blood so he went back to the clinic, paying more money for the second time to be sent home cleaned and bandaged.

I can't believe this system of treatment. Drake went there twice asking for help and he was sent home no better off.  If this was treated and stitched immediately he would not be in the situation he is now. Another thing I can't believe is that other adults here saw Drakes' toe and did not realise the seriousness of this injury. Perhaps they simply are not educated enough to recognise the severe signs.  

We drove Drake to the clinic in Masaka, a 45 minute journey from Lubanda. It was only the second time he had been to this larger town and the first time he was too small to remember it. At the hospital it was obvious Drake was very frightened but was trying hard to be a strong man. The doctor said his toe was too far gone to be stitched so instead he gave him two injections, one for tetanus and the other a strong antibiotic, and cleaned the wound throughly to remove some of the infection. Stitching at this late stage would only hold in the infection already created and cause more problems. Poor Drake, after the first few needles, he was terrified and did not want anymore. The doctor went on to inject the local anaesthetic  and he begged him to clean it without giving him more needles. This was such a foreign environment for Drake, I can't even begin to explain how overwhelming it was for him. The doctor was injecting the needles straight into Drakes toe which was very painful for him because of the severity of the infection. After about the fifth anaesthetic needle Drake passed out from the pain. His eyes were rolling around in his head and he was not responding to the doctors or nurses.  He almost fell off the bed he was sitting on, lucky Helen was there to catch him when she did. This was very frightening because the doctor was unsure if he was having a reaction to one of the drugs or if he was reacting to too much pain. We don't know Drake's medical history, if there is any, and he lives with his elderly grandmother, not his parents. The bed was too small for Drake to lay down and relax his body so Helen had to stand behind him to support all his weight while his was unconscious.  For a 14 year old he is quite large, and with his heavy weight pressing against your body it was hard to support him so we each took turns.  We had to hold Drakes head in a particular position so that his airways were open and he could still breath.


The doctor and nurses rushed around frantically trying to get his attention and secure a drip in his left hand. When Drake finally came around he had no idea what was going on and was hardly alert at all. The doctors cleaned his wound and removed all the infection. Then they pulled the skin close together and bandaged it. He was so weak he spent the next half an hour lying on a hospital bed connected to a drip.


During the whole ordeal, while Drake was not very alert, Helen promised him an ice-cream if he persisted through the pain, just like any mother would for their young child in Australia. The first thing he asked for when leaving the clinic was his ice-cream.

Drake must return to the clinic in five days time to see if the wound is improving and maybe then they can stitch it back together. I am a little bit concerned that after this ordeal we might not be able to get him back into the van to travel there.  I know if I went through what he did yesterday, they would have to drag me back to that clinic for round two.

When we arrived back in Lubanda Village we told Drake to go and put on his shoes to keep the bandage as clean as possible. He does not own any. He has such large feet we don't even have a pair to loan him. Hopefully this foot will stay clean enough until the next clinic visit.  I guess he has already lasted a week walking around barefooted with it uncovered before we found out about it.  Drake said he is growing beans in the family garden and is saving to buy a pair of shoes and a radio. He his also going to save half his money to put into his next money making project of breading chickens.

The amount of people who have been sick or injured while we have been here is ridiculous. Not just a little bit sick, sick to the stage where a cut or bite is beginning to poison the blood steam and make them seriously ill. And these are only the people we know. What about the rest of Lubanda Village? Not to mention the surrounding district. 

The Suubi Medical Clinic needs to be here right now! I am in disbelief about this medical situation. Hospitals are few and far between, they are over crowded and understaffed. I read an article in the paper yesterday about a woman who died of malaria in Entebbe Hospital because her family could not find a single nurse in the hospital for over two hours.  And as for the local "Medical Clinics" in my opinion are not worthy of that title. People go there asking for help and pay good money to be sent home with no improvement and a packet of unnamed pills. There is no trained doctor there, simply a nurse and half of the time they are not even open.

Well done to HUG. Being here in Lubanda Village has really made me realise how important the Suubi Medical Centre is. I don't know how people have survived so long without one.

Until next week
HUGs from all of us!

Well it's daybreak here right now and the boys who are building the new tank for the clinic have just started banging things together!! No more sleep for us - seem like a perfect time to write this weeks blog. The power has been out since last night though so I'm not sure how much I will get done before the battery on my laptop runs out - fingers crossed the power returns soon!! Ahhh life in Uganda!

It been another jam packed week. Last weekend saw the Suubi ladies graduating from the beading classes they had been taking with Alex. They were all very excited with the new skills they had learnt but were especially pleased to now be able to make bags from paper beads. They were also thrilled too with the new paper cutter which we bought for them. This will allow them to cut many beads very quickly and very accurately. What would have taken them a day to do is now being achieved in a few short minutes! They are all now very busy cutting and rolling paper to make a variety of beautiful craft items.

We also visited another of our partner schools last weekend to check on the school gardens. It was exciting to see the progress at Omoding, where we met with some of the parents. Fred, the head teacher, explained how the school garden will soon be harvesting enough beans and casava to feed all the children at the school lunch. Very exciting! In addition to this they have a great variety of fruits (mangoes, oranges, pineapples pawpaw etc) and vegetables (cabbages, tomatoes, pumpkins, green peppers etc etc) planted so, as Fred pointed out, they have food (their staple diet), vegetables and juice. Quite the little supermarket!

While at Omoding Hannah was also able to see one of the piglets which her family so generously donated during last year. Her Mum, Pauline, had sold one of their cows back home which had enabled us to provide 10 piglets to parents at three of our partner schools (30) and a cow for the Suubi youth group. Each person who was given a piglet will now pass on two piglets when their first litter is produced so Hannah's family will be positively impacting on many Ugandan families well into the future!  It has been wonderful for the people who initially benefited to able to thank Hannah directly.

The week it self has been quite different as David and I set off for Kampala last Sunday while Chantelle and Hannah remained at Suubi. It was an extremely busy time as we chased from one side of the city to the other, amongst the chaos, in search of furniture and medical equipment for the new clinic. On Monday I thought we were fighting a losing battle after being stuck in a traffic jam for three hours! Thankfully by Wednesday we had managed to order all the furniture and most of the medical equipment we will need. It sure will be a thrill to see the truck arrive next week with our delivery! Another step closer to having the clinic operational - I can't wait!

I'm sure the girls also have lots to tell you about their week while I away so I'll hand over to them now.

Hannah:

Hello again! We've had some more wonderful experiences during our time here.
In Lubanda village, alcohol is made from matooke (a type of small banana picked when green). Bunches are picked, placed in big holes in the ground, covered in leaves and left for about 4 days. Following this time, individual bananas are torn from the bunch and tossed (with skin on) into a pit dug into the earth. Water is poured over the huge pile of fruit, which are then squished by stomping continuously with bare feet. We helped a local family with this – it was quite an experience!


Your legs get a solid work-out continuously lifting from deep in the banana peel and liquid and then stomping back down to extract more juice.  The feeling of squishy bananas between your toes is unforgettable and moving amongst the slime it’s hard to not fall over. The locals say its bad luck to fall over during the process, so we held onto nearby matooke trees for balance.

Puffed and sweaty after stomping for some time, we had to lift the mixture and pile it up in the centre of the pit, then stand on top to squeeze the juices out which were scooped into a large gerry-can. Sorghum seeds are dried and ground to a powder then added with this juice in a big drum. The sorghum acts as a kind of catalyst, so the banana juice is fermenting into alcohol. We tasted the result of this process and it is absolutely disgusting!! It tastes like very strong gin, with a dash of what I imagine feet to taste like, all swirling around in off banana juice. I don’t know how the locals drink it! At this stage, the drink is known to locals as ‘local brew’. It can undergo a further process of distillation, which we got to view 3 days later (enough time for the sorghum to do its work in the banana juice) with the same family. For distillation, the local brew is transferred to a big metal drum, and a fire created underneath to boil it. A pipe carries the boiled portion out the top of the drum, through an adjacent drum of water used to cool the liquid in the pipe, then drips slowly into empty bottles at the end. It takes all day to distill the quantity of the large drum. We tasted the distilled drink, known as ‘waragi’. It is incredibly strong – I imagine kind of like drinking methylated spirits. It seems to evaporate as soon as it touches your tongue, and burns all the way down your oesophagus to warm your stomach. The locals drink this straight! After seeing some very drunk men around town, it’s easy to understand why they’re so drunk – it wouldn’t take much of this stuff to put you on the floor!

Another awesome experience was my first ride on a 'boda-boda'. Boda-bodas are two wheel motorbikes used as taxis. Sometimes up to 3 people are sitting behind the driver! Helen and I caught a ride on one to Sharon Primary School about 12kms from Suubi. The ride was a lot smoother than I expected - though the roads are bumpy the driver was quite skilled. The ride back was quite picturesque - the sun was setting behind the undulating hills and the wind blowing in our hair as we waved to the locals as we whizzed by.

I’ve enjoyed trying my hand at the different daily tasks of the people of Lubanda village. Often we are laughed at kindly because we must look quite precious and unco-ordinated doing some things, but the people are always very welcoming for us to try, and encouraging whilst we have a go.  

At Jane’s house one day we notice some piles of beans. We asked if we could help the family with this task, not really knowing what it involved. We were promptly handed rough sticks and showed how to lift the stick overhead then bring it down with force onto the pile of beans. This is done to break the beans out from their dried shells. We laughed and laughed whilst pounding the pile of beans with our sticks – it felt so strange to hit beans because we couldn’t really see the result of our work. Apparently the beans were popping out of their shells and falling to the ground below, but whilst labouring away, it’s hard to see this occurring.

In the heat of the midday Ugandan sun this was quite hard work, and blisters formed on our hands. Following the pounding, the shells are carried away and the beans picked up from the dirt by hand and placed in a bowl. Fatima (Jane’s sister) showed us a little trick, where, when the wind blows, from standing position you slowly tip the contents of the bowl onto a Hessian bag below. The wind carries the dirt and debri that’s left in the bowl off to the side, while the heavier beans fall onto the bag.


The family sometimes eat beans with matooke for dinner, but mostly they are sold for income. 1kg is sold for 2,000 Uganda Shillings (approximately AU$1). It seems like a lot of work for not much profit. But that is the general way of life here. The people work physically hard everyday but are still very poor.

Chantelle:

The reality of the situation here is really starting to hit me. For the first few weeks everything was interesting and new. Now the reality of why I am here is getting more serious. I have begun to recognise what is happening here in Lubanda Village and the situation the Ugandans face daily.  One of the huge problems here is HIV/AIDS and another is lack of nutrition due to food variety.

The food they eat daily is plain and has minimal nutrition. The water they drink is not clear and it is hard work to collect it. In a typical vegetable garden a family will grow matoke, maize, beans, coffee (to sell only) and cassava. Some families will grow potatoes, yams and g-nut for sauce. The plant in season at the time will determine what will be eaten. At the moment it is beans and matoke. This is the only food eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The children will often snack on jackfruit and other sweet things like sugar cane. This is very different when compared to the variety of food we have at home. If I cook chicken two or three nights in a row, I often complain and say that I am sick of it. These people would love to eat chicken! I don’t think that the diet here is nutritional enough to support a growing human being, a physically active man or a pregnant woman.

AIDS is very common here, but it is not often talked about. I was asking Ishmal about it the other day and he said that it is common for people have it. The man is often the first to die, which is an indication to the rest of the family that the wife needs to begin taking anti viral medication.

Yesterday morning we went to visit one of the women who attends bead classes at Suubi.  This woman’s husband died only one month ago, leaving behind a wife and small children.  I have been told that her husband died of AIDS and she too is HIV positive. She lives in a very nice house and it is easy to see that her husband earned a good income.  He was in a high position in the Catholic Church.  Now this woman must support her family alone, relying on the sale of her produce (coffee) and craft. I can’t imagine how hard this will be for her after relying on a decent wage.  

We helped her to pick coffee from early morning until lunch time. It took 3-4 hours to clear the field, with three of us picking steadily. If she was to work alone it would have taken her a full day at least. Perhaps she would have worked in the morning on two consecutive days. Picking coffee was not hard work but it was very repetitive. As soon as we finished one tree we would move to the next and then the next. Just when we thought we were finished there would be another coffee tree hiding around the corner behind matooke leaves. We had to wear a cloth tied over our hair, which at first I thought was strange but soon it became a necessity.  The coffee beans were covered in these tiny little ants which bite. The ants got inside our clothing and were really annoying. If they got inside my hair I would have had a lot of trouble getting them out!


The woman dries the coffee beans for two weeks and then sells them for 140,000 Ugandan Shillings for 20kg.  The coffee is then processed and exported to other countries. If a family does not have time to dry it, they receive only 15,000 Ugandan Shillings for 15kg. I have asked people why they don't wait another 2 weeks before selling because the profit would be so different, and they said they need the money right then and there to pay school fees or buy necessities like soap. Such a huge profit could be gained if they had time to wait.

It is very strange that people in Uganda grow a lot of coffee, but they don’t drink it. Everyone drinks tea but I have not seen anyone around here growing it.

It is satisfying to think that we assisted a woman in need with a task which would have been very time consuming for her. She said she mostly enjoyed our company because she is lonely without her husband, waiting for the children to return home from school late in the evening. I am struggling to process the thought of this woman alone supporting her family whist knowing she is HIV positive. It must be hard to afford the anti viral medication, not to mention paying for school fee’s and other daily necessities.  I wonder what will happen to her young children when she passes.

The medical situation here is very bad. During the week a man pulled up on a motorcycle asking for assistance. He thought that the Medical Centre was already open because he had heard that Hannah had been helping with a few minor cuts and infections. I guess word around the village has spread that Hannah is studying to be a doctor and we are open for business. The man was distressed and spoke little English. All we could make out was “My wife has a wound”. We did not understand him so we got Ishmael to translate. Turns out, his wife was having a baby (or had recently had a baby) and she was cut and bleeding badly. We had to turn him away because we did not have the knowledge or facilities to help him. That was extremely hard to do.  His wife is at home bleeding and we say “Sorry we can’t help you. Go away”. Many women die giving birth here, it is common. It is against my moral beliefs not to help someone in such a need, but there really was nothing we could have done.  We did not even have gloves to protect ourselves from HIV/AIDS. I will be thinking of this man and his wife often, along with the many other Ugandans in similar situations.

This is why what HUG is doing here is so important. The Health Clinic is desperately needed, and so too are the established demonstration gardens. Variety of food and nutrition is very important. The demonstration gardens at Suubi are helping educate so many people about the importance of planting a variety of food and correct growing methods.  The demonstration gardens at schools are helping to educate more people and are reaching out to the wider community. We can’t fix the whole world, but we can try to make life a little more enjoyable for people living in Lubanda Village, Uganda.

We are heading off to Murchison Falls on Monday so this will be another new experience. We'll tell you all about it next week.

Love to everyone back home.
HUGs from us all.

Wow, so much has been happening since the last blog that I hardly know where to begin!

Chantelle and Hannah have settled in well. The goat slaughtering and celebrations held last Sunday were a great way for them to see how the community comes together. For me it was very exciting to see the new education room in the clinic being used for the very first time! Even if it wasn't for medical purposes it was fabulous to see the room jam packed with people excitedly discussing the sports tournament that was about to begin. The mere fact that they were all within the new clinic building was a great way for the word to be spread about the facilities and medical services that will soon be available.

After the big feast we headed off to the first match of this years sports tournament. This gave Chantelle and Hannah the opportunity to see how passionate the Ugandan's are about all things sport and music. Unfortunately the Suubi Footy team went down 2-0 (maybe they ate too much goat before they played!) but this didn't stop everyone from dancing into the darkness as DJ Mike pumped music out of the back of the van. It really was a wonderful day all round!

Since Sunday we've had lots things happening at the centre and have been touring around some of the Suubi partner schools. Here's just a brief glimpse of some of what has been going on:

After Bell and Julius had done such a fabulous job of completing all the painting in the clinic David and I decided that we should freshen up the both the computer room and training hall with a lick of enamel paint which will make cleaning easier in the future. Chantelle, Hannah and I were happy to pull on the painting clothes and help out, but it sure was nice not to have to do it all, unlike in past years. Bell really has been a fantastic find!


Unfortunately during the course of this painting Bell cut his foot on a nail which was sticking out of one the bush pole ladders. He didn't tell anyone for a couple of days though so by the time I noticed him hobbling around it was looking like quite a nasty wound. I think it probably should have been stitched in the first place but of course that didn't happen when he had visited a small clinic in Kelegro. They simply crushed up some sort of tablet and put it on the wound and sent him home without even dressing it! Thankfully Hannah, who has completed two years of medicine at uni, was able to use supplies, sent from Ky hospital, to clean out the wound and pull it back together with sterie strips. This kind of thing really makes me realise how much of am impact the Suubi Clinic is going to have in the village.


Another interesting day took place when Ishmael held a training day for the ladies at Suubi to teach them about how to plant seeds into a nursery bed. Usually they plant the same crops; maize, beans, matooke etc, which are simply planted straight into the ground where they want them to grow. As we are encouraging them to grow a variety of new vegetables they now need the new skill of sewing seeds into a nursery bed and then transferring them into their garden once they are established. Both Ishmael and the ladies were excited to see the variety of seeds Chantelle and I had bought from Australia.  These seeds were donated from staff at St. Augustine's College Kyabram. They asked lots of questions about vegetables they had rarely seen before like, cauliflower, brusel sprouts, brocolli etc. Hopefully soon the seeds we distributed to them will be flourishing in their gardens and providing their families with a wide variety of vegetables, therefore providing a more balanced and nutritious diet.


Also during the week we have been visiting some of our partner schools to check out their school gardens. I was very excited when we visited Sharon Primary school and found the huge area at the back of the school, which was covered in weeds last year, is now covered in garden beds filled with all sorts of fruits and vegetables.

We also visited Bright Light and St Thersa's  secondary schools, which both have considerable maize planted now, but said they are in the process of developing vegetable gardens. I could actually see that the beds had been prepared so hopefully they will soon be flourishing too but unfortunately not all schools have a driving force like Frank, the head teacher at Sharon, who really has the commitment and passion to make a REAL change. The fact that there is any garden at the schools now is an improvement from the past but we will continue to encourage all our partner schools to diversify their gardens and pass on new farming skills to their students and parents. It is just that sometimes thing happen mpola mpola (slowly, slowly) as they say here in Uganda!!

There has also been much activity at the centre during the week with Alex, from Bujagli, teaching the ladies the finer skills of paper bead making. They were all very excited to learn exact measurements to make different craft items, quicker ways to varnish the beads and finally how to make new items like bags and belts. Since they started making bead 12 months ago they had been struggling to teach themselves how to do things by copying items I had bought from other areas. I'm very sure after Alex's excellent training sessions the ladies are now going to produce better quality craft and a far bigger variety which will increase their opportunity to make an income. Fantastic! The volunteers and I will be bringing lots home with us so anyone who has an event, fundraiser or simply wants to buy a beautiful piece of handmade craft please contact me.

And in amongst all these things happening we have finally managed to catch up with Dr Lwanga who is going to advise us on medical equipment and furniture which we will need to purchase for the clinic. He had a good look around the new building and was very happy with what he saw so hopefully he has been making a list of required items over the weekend and we will be setting off to Kampala on tomorrow to actually buy things - very exciting!

OK thats all from me but Chantelle and Hannah have had some other adventures during the week so let me hand you over to them.
HUGs from Helen

Hello! Hannah here, reporting again after some very eventful days.

Chantelle and I feel as though we are now quite settled, with life in Uganda feeling less foreign with the passing of each day. I don't think twice about things that originally shocked me. Women carrying large loads on their heads, 8 people crammed into a 5 seater car, incredibly bumpy roads, and people walking long distances by the roadside not wearing shoes, are all part of the everyday. I am quite accustomed to and even enjoy the food, and am slowly learning some of the Luganda language, making communication easier and often resulting in laughter from the locals, though they do seem to appreciate the effort.

Despite adjusting to life here, certain stark differences between Australia and Uganda astound and fascinate me. Samatiko, a boy who lives right near Suubi centre and whom we know well, fell seriously ill with malaria. He was taken to the closest hospital in the town of Kinoni (pronounced Chi-known-ni). A visit to the hospital or doctor are rare occurrences for the local people, due to lack of transport and particularly lack of money. Somatiko spent a night in hospital, and I was fortunate enough to be able to visit and look around the hospital when we collected him the following day. Looking at the hospital was indeed an incredible eye-opener!! I would hardly call it a hospital at all. The conditions are almost inconceivable to those of us used to the organisation and hygiene of an Australian hospital. The Kinoni hospital is a simple medium sized building, housing a central corridor off which are about 10 small, dark, dingy rooms. These rooms are for patients and hold only a rickety looking brown metal bed with minimal bedding. The rooms seem simultaneously too open to the elements - meaning problems with cleanliness - but also so dingy they are like caves. The 'operating theatre', used for minor procedures, is just another of these rooms. In the theatre sits an old white bed covered in a torn green surgical sheet, a small trolley with some non-sterile surgical equipment, a small light atop a rickety pole and an old used suitcase that apparently held more surgical equipment.  It is hard to convey how simple the setup and poor the conditions of the hospital.

The hospital did have some positive aspects however. A Ugandan woman who is the main teacher for the nurses at the hospital, decided to do something to help the local people who struggle to pay hospital fees. Attached to the hospital is a garden area that houses lots of offcuts of coffee plants. They give these out to local families in the hope they will plants them and develop an income from the profit of coffee beans. It has been running for a few years now and amazingly they have given to over 9,000 people. Also, the hospital has received grants from an international organisation. Each year 13 students are able to train as nurses at the hospital thanks to scholarships from this money. Without these donations these students would not be able to afford a career in nursing.

Some more new experiences include tasting roast grasshoppers - I must say I agree with the locals in that they are quite yummy! Also, whilst walking one day we came across the Ugandan equivalent of Mr. Whippy - a motorbike blasting a simple tune from a speakerphone notifying the people he is selling ice. On the back of the bike sat a round esky from which the man scooped what looked like coloured, flavoured ice into small cones - each one sells for 200 Shillings - about 10 cents I think!  They look like quite a treat on a hot day.

Bye for now, and my love to you all!

Chantelle here!

My time in Uganda is passing slowly. Every day a new adventure awaits with exciting experiences to be had. The two most exciting things which have happened this week were planting the seeds with the local women, and becoming a student for the day with Namosukoe Jane.  Last Wednesday Hannah and I spent the day at St. Teresa's Secondary School.  It was very different from the school I teach at in Australia.  Jane wakes at 4am every weekday to study for two hours, before preparing herself  for school. The she and walks the 40 minute journey to the next village. School begins at 8am and ends at 5pm which is a very long day for the students to concentrate.  When we arrived at school there was only the headmaster present because there had been a death in the village so the other teachers stayed home to attend the burial.  There was no replacement teachers to cover the teachers absent, so the students simple taught themselves. We attended two classes in which I was able to gather an understanding of the teaching style and classroom strategies. It mostly involved chalk and talk.  We were learning about factors for the past use of African slaves. The teacher would talk and share his knowledge with the class and then would dictate that information slowly for the students to copy into their books. I learnt some information whilst he was talking, but to be honest after the lesson finished I could not remember a thing. This makes me question how beneficial this style of teaching is.  The students take there notes home to study over them very hard and I think this is how most of the information is retained. Hannah and myself taught a few lessons about facts and the history of Australia to entertain the students. I also taught an Art lesson which was a novelty to these children as they do not learn Art as part of their curriculum. The one and only teacher left school at 3pm but most of the students stayed until 5pm and rang the school bell before leaving. Jane told us if she was to leave school early she would be in a lot of trouble when she got home.


After school we walked 40 minutes home and then we walked for another half an hour to the waterhole.  We filled our containers and carried them back up the steep embankment to Jane's house. This was hard work! It is not easy at all and I really struggled with this. I don't know how she can do it by herself every day! I have seen small children carrying 25 lt water containers on their head, and they don't struggle at all. I guess if you start doing it from a young age you will build up your balance and the mussels in you neck.
 

Late in the evening we helped Jane peel matoke and prepare it for dinner.  It takes two hours to cook on an open fire in the smoke filled kitchen. It is Jane's responsibility to cook a meal for her family every night. She must sit in the kitchen for the duration of the cooking time, as the fuel efficient stove requires more kindling regularly. She must add more wood every few minutes or else the fire will go out. I am surprised how many duties Jane has every day. I think some children in Australia would be shocked by the amount of hard work she does.

Well I'm off to church now. The Mass is totally in Luganda and is directed by a woman. Wish me luck!

Until next week, love to everyone at home.
HUGs from us all

After a lovely week at Bujagali Hannah and Chantelle finally arrived from Australia on Tuesday. As usual when you arrive in Uganda for the first time, they were wide eyed and trying to take in all the new sights, sounds and smells as we travelled from Entebbe airport to Kampala. Chantelle has travelled to the Philippines and East Timor so she has seen real poverty before but for Hannah this is the very first time she has been to a third world country. She was some what disbelieving of what she was seeing with her own eyes!

After spending the night at Kampala backpackers we set off to Suubi with three American uni students who had contacted me before I left Australia. They were keen to come to Suubi to have a look at how we are running things and particularly to learn about the farming methods we are teaching. They are in the early stages of setting up a school demonstration garden on a small island in Lake Victoria so  we were happy for them to learn from our experiences at Suubi.

After a long bumpy ride and the mandatory stop off in Masaka Town to buy supplies, we arrived at Suubi at about 4.30 on Wednesday afternoon. After a brief tour around the new clinic and other facilities at the centre everyone rested up after there big trip.



Chantelle and Hannah are going to write about there first impressions so I'll hand over to them.............................

Chantelle
Wow! I can't believe I will be spending 6 weeks here. To be honest, Suubi is a lot different than I was expecting.  We are a lot more isolated than I imagined. It is only a short walk to Lubanda village which is a small rural community, but it is a 45 minute drive to one of the larger villages called Masaka. The drive from Kampala to Lubanda village was long and bumpy. The condition of the roads is poor, which makes traveling very slow.  The Suubi Centre is such a very beautiful place. We are in a quiet area, surrounded my a matoke plantation. Matoke is a local fruit which looks like a green banana. It is eaten by the local Ugandans for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I don't like it very much because it tastes too plain. It sort of tastes like potatoes, but with less flavour. It is okay smothered in soy sauce.  

On Thursday evening we went to visit Namusoko Jane and her chickens donated from St. Augustine's College, Kyabram. I was very pleased to see that all of the chickens have survived! None have died from typhoid or any other disease. Jane is looking after them very well. They are well fed and look healthy. Jane is very greatfull to the students from St. Augustine's College for the contribution, because it has enabled her to return to secondary schooling. The chickens will begin to lay eggs in the next few weeks. The eggs will then be sold to make enough money to pay for her school fees.
Next Wednesday I will spend the day with Jane, following her around and participating in her daily duties.


Last night we ate pork, matoke, potato and cabbage for dinner. This surprised me because I was not expecting to eat any meat for a little while. We brought the pork from the local butcher (a stump and an axe under a tree). It was covered in flies! I am sure my family at home will be disgusted when they see the photographs. We purchased a small amount to eat this week. I am not sure where the meat will be stored each day, to be honest I am too afraid to ask.


I am enjoying my stay here at the Suubi Centre, especially the slow paced way of life. I have no need to wear a watch to check the time. I go to sleep when I am tired and eat when I am hungry. It is a lot different to the rat race at home!

Hannah
The people of Uganda and the Lubanda Village have been very welcoming and their almost continuous joy is infectious. Each time I meet someone new I am greeted with a big grin, and there are many laughs to be had at our attempts to speak Luganda and the different way of life Australia.  For example, Chantelle explained to one of the men how we don't really eat the insides of animals at home. He was surprised and then explained this to the other men - of which all we could catch was the word 'muzungu' and lots of laughter.

The children are especially wonderful - they are always very happy and active. Though the language can be a communication barrier, it is easy to get along with the children by simply joining in on their games or listening as they show us a song and dance or demonstrate some English they have learnt at school. The children are very independent here and are treated more as small adults than children. They are expected to complete many jobs each day, and it is the elder childrens' duty to care for the younger ones. School runs from 8AM to 5PM, and with it being a privilege, their desire to learn and motivation pays off. The elder children who have attended school speak English exceptionally well and even the very young know many songs, both in English and Luganda, that assist their learning.

Each day is an exciting new adventure filled with activity. Later today is the football (soccer) match, with the Suubi team versing another village. Much discussion and planning has preceded this day.



As a prize for winning a previous tournament elsewhere, the team was given a goat. Today we watched the goat being slaughtered, the meat cut up and the insides prepared for food. Though Helen was close to being sick at the beginning when the head was cut off and the blood drained at the neck, it was incredibly awesome seeing the whole ordeal. I even used some plastic bags as gloves and picked up and tried to identify the different organs of the goat!


Most of the animal is eaten and it seems nothing goes to waste.  Even the blood is eaten - mixed in with chopped up insides and cooked inside matooke leaves - apparently it comes out a bit like a cake (I am very intrigued!).


It is interesting that here the men cook the meat, while separately the women prepare matooke and other food to accompany it. Much like in Australia where the men tend to operate the BBQ and the women tend to prepare the salads. Though we are different people, Ugandans and Australians, and we can learn a lot from each other, it is interesting how some things are universal and transcend culture - especially family and friends, people coming together to share a meal or celebrate an event, and of course a big smile.

I'm having a wonderful time here and look forward to each new day, new experience, and chance to learn about the Ugandan way of life with much anticipation and excitement!

OK we're off to the football now. We'll tell you all about it in the next blog!
HUGs from Helen, Chantelle and Hannah

Nankya Madelana explained how the Suubi ladies work together as a group.

Ishmael explain to the ladies about the benefits of using a fuel efficient stove like those in the kitchen at the Suubi.

The Omoding parents were very impressed with the new education room in the clinic.

The front of the building was looking very impressive by Monday evening.

Since visiting last year Harriett and Paul have had a new baby called Blessing.

Until then.
HUGs from Helen