Beneficiary Updates

For those of reading who have been here and met some of these people, I thought you might like an update on some of our (or at least my) favourite women. Overall most are doing really well, of course some have still refused to build pens, deworm, or zero graze but those who were excelling continue to excel.

Safina
Safina has recently been elected as Lady Councillor for the new sub-county near Kaberebere. She has a total of 6 milk goats which is why her skin is so nice she says. She has even started selling some of the females to the Kyera stock farm near Mbarara for a good price. She has a really nice chicken coop/barn as well and all in all is very happy although a little busy with all her duties.

Janet
Janet continues to be an impressive farmer and business woman. She has opened a used clothing store in Kishuro and continues to doctor up those dairy bucks who seem to become neglected. She also has started an impressive nursery bed for vegetables which I am sure she will excel at. Unfortunately she isn’t having much luck with dairy females as they keep dying on her. She has purchased furniture for her house and pretty fancy iron doors and windows. She was unable to pay for Mika to go to school this year but we’ve got him back in school (Thanks Olive and Larry).

She told me she wanted you all to know that she is tired, and was trying to look it here.

 Katarina
Katarina is now the Chairperson of Kahenda and is really doing well. She has some really nice big goats and one of the best cabbage patches I have seen yet. She is growing beetroot in full force and is trying to improve Kahenda’s group. She had loads of questions for me regarding what to do with certain issues that she is working through. She also unfortunately lost her milk goat but has started milking one of her local goats and getting a little bit each day. She definitely made me smile.

Posing with a cabbage and her new Canada visor.

 Clemencia
Clemencia  has quite the impressive operation going on. The pen which she has built is easily the biggest in the project and it is absolutely full of goats. If my memory serves me right she has 22 goats now? The most impressive part is that she actually zero grazes them all. Unfortunately I didn’t see her when I was here. She was in the hospital for what could be best translated as stomach tumors. She was scheduled for surgery so I went to see her in the hospital. However, finding a patient in a Ugandan hospital is WORSE than finding a needle in a haystack. No one from the group seemed to know how she was doing so I am praying for the best.

Clemencia and I in 2008 in her sugar cane garden.

The very big and impressive pen.

Esther
Esther has given up pig farming for that of fruit farming, the drought was bad last year and she just couldn’t feed them all. She did very well with the sale of her pigs and bought a second plot of land near Kaberebere for added income and a retirement house. When I was here last I castrated a pig for her. I removed one testicle, she did the other. I figured that would be the end of it. Apparently people from all over the village call her to castrate their piglets! Who would have believed that hearing about someone castrating piglets could make me so happy? She now has started a little apple orchard and is doing quite well. She also has oranges and passion fruits. My visit with her was very inspiring.

Ester with one of her many apple trees (a rarity in Uganda).

These pictures are of others who most of us know well but that I don’t have much to report on.

Ibrihim who has shifted to Kyera.

Punari and Innocent - Nyamuyanja

Cecelia - Nyamuyanja

Mauda - Kishuro

Aderah Update

Well Innocent, Aderah and I spent all last day Wednesday in the hospital and were left with some better news than expected I guess?  First good news was that she now weighed 8.5 kg, a gain of 1.5 kg since last week, but still a far cry from a normal sized 2 ½ year old. She saw a pediatrician and a cardiologist and has been diagnosed with a ventricular-septal defect (VSD) about 0.1 cm in size. She currently is in congestive heart failure as it has been untreated for the past two years but the good news is that apparently 90% of these defects heal by age four. So she will be on medications for the next two years and will them be re-evaluated by the cardiologist again. At that time if the defect is still there then she will have to be referred for surgery which is the second good news (of sorts). Uganda does not at this time have a cardiac surgeon, however they have funding which allows them to send 150 heart patients each year to India to have the surgery for free. So if it comes to that there are at least options, options which I don’t have to look into as of yet. The medications are relatively in expensive (about $10 CDN per month) and the even better news is that they are working. I called Innocent the other night just to see how his day was “Fantastic!” he replied which is not a usual reply from anyone. When I asked why he told me that since Aderah was born he has looked forward to playing with her but she had never wanted to play. That day she had more energy than ever and was having fun. Thank you to all those who were keeping her and Innocent in your thoughts and prayers. They were much appreciated and I would be of the belief that they helped!

Prepping for her echocardiogram. There were many tears shed because of the cold gel.

Consultation with the pediatrician.

Aderah enjoying her post hospital meal. Because of her defect she eats like no other and literally cries when the food is finished.

Kids again...

 Kids continue to make my life here such a joy. If they aren’t terrified of you they absolutely adore you. As always some seem to weasel their way into my hearts a little more than others. So I present you with this edition of "Kids".

Davis
Davis is the little boy whose parents own the little restaurant where I eat each morning. He is too young to speak English but crawls up beside me each morning and steals a bite of banana here and a piece of bread there. I gave him a pair of those shoes that have lights in the soles and flash with each step (Thanks Ben, Julie, Aiden and Isaac). He played with the shoes for almost an entire hour showing everyone who passed the restaurant, insisting they try them. Then I asked him to put them on so I could take a picture. I picked up his foot to put it in the shoe and you would have sworn he saw a ghost! Ha ha ha! He screamed bloody murder for a good 5 minutes. Apparently they’re fun to play with but a little too scary to put on a foot!

Davis taking tea and stealing some of my Mandazzi.

 Edmond
Edmond is a little bit more like a shadow than a kid really. He just shows up when you least expect him. His huge eyes suddenly appear in a window or a restaurant or in a dark alley. He just loves to be with Muzungus and takes every opportunity to spend time with them. Last weekend I came home late at night and found him waiting for me at the house. I told him I was going for supper so he hopped in the car and said "We go?". I couldn't resist and took him for a Muzungu supper of fish and chips. At supper I told him I was heading to Kabale the next morning, to which he asked if he could come.  I just replied “Maybe”. Thinking that was as good as a no. Well at 7 am when I got in the car to leave who was waiting to go with me? Edmond. Unfortunately I broke his heart when I told him there was no room.

Tugume
Tugume (Too-Goo-May) is the boy who Dr. Leanne McDonald helped last time she was here as he was lame (see her blog). He has since had a surgery or two and has recovered well. Still with a limp but more full of life than when I left him here that is for sure. He is so funny and doesn anything for a laugh. He also stays at the same house where I stay so I see him a lot. His English is poor due to his lack of schooling at a young age but he tries. Sometimes he will be off in the house and you will hear him shout some random English. Examples include: “This is my roof!”, “This is a what? This is a toilet!” and my favourite is “My cat is my life!” Too funny.

I came from the shower one morning to find Tugume with my phone and a coat hanger on his head!

And of course kids always present the opportunity to take some great photos. Here are a few of my favourite!

A girl from Ntungamo.

Fareeda

Hosea and friend.

Nicholas

Another little boy benefitting from the Mussell Family!

Another really great reunion was that with Charles and his family. They were the ones who used to run the tea room near my house in Mbarara. They have since moved back to the village where they are working the land so finding them was a little challenging. I really wanted to surprise them so woke up early and drove to the town where I thought they were based from. I drove around looking for someone I might recognize. Well an hour of driving around got me no where so I defaulted to trying one of the old numbers I had. I called the first one – phone disconnected. Second one – phone disconnected. Third – phone disconnected. I was starting to think that I had driven all the way to this town and then drove around  town looking like the village idiot for no reason. I tried a fourth number and there was an answer. It was Mama Jane (she knows no English) “Mama Jane? It’s Kent.” Immediately her son Benon was on the phone and I informed him where I was. He asked me about 5 times to ensure he was hearing properly and then explained to me where to go.

When I found Benon in another village he took me to the farm where the rest of them stayed. Mama Jane was out on the porch singing and dancing with the biggest smile on her face. I got out of the car and she just broke down into tears. Then out came running Nicholas and Jane Junior giving me hugs and welcoming me.  Then came Mama Jane’s husband (The Reverend he calls himself) but I was really waiting to see Charles. Then they started to give me a tour of the house and farm taking me to the hut for tea, I was starting to get worried that he might not be around. Then off in the distance I could see him bringing in the cows and coming up the hill. Jane went to go and tell him I was there and he came darting up the hill and pretty much jumping into my arms. It was quickly established that I would have to stay the night and that they would slaughter a goat for me to make Muchomo. A whole goat is a pretty big deal and The Reverend was hesitant but Mama Jane wasn’t going to take no for an answer, I was there and we were slaughtering a goat darn it.

Charles and I after the reunion, a much taller Charles.

Mama Jane and I taking tea.

It was quickly established that I would have to stay the night and that they would slaughter a goat for me to make Muchomo. A whole goat is a pretty big deal and The Reverend was hesitant but Mama Jane wasn’t going to take no for an answer, I was there and we were slaughtering a goat darn it.

The tasty goat that was slaughtered for me.

Nicholas delivering a gift to the neighbours.

I spent the afternoon catching up with Charles while being treated like a Ugandan King. They prepared a bed for me so I could lay and rest from my travels. Brought me copious amounts of Mama Jane’s amazing milk tea and The Reverend told me stories. The stories were a bit much at some point as I had no idea what he was talking about.  Then he would say “Oh Kenty, you should rest,” to which I would agree and then he would sit and stare at me only to start into another one a minute later.  The only parts I really remember were his descriptions of distance “It’s about five or twelve kilometers from here,” he would say, or  “You just go down that road 9 or 16 kilometers.” Other than that I was lost, something about the Bugandan King and some church I should see in Kampala. Then it was time to eat the feast, and a feast it was. Of course we had to eat ALL parts of the goat including random organs. I tried a few new ones, most notably kidney and pancreas. Kidney was a nice surprise and I might try again, pancreas I will be passing on next time around. After eating a whole bunch of Muchomo and drinking more of Mama Jane’s tea we slept.

Kidney on right. Heart on right. Unidentifiable chunk of meat at top.

Benon proving to me that kidney is indeed edible.

For the most part I love going to the village. It’s a whole different style of life and I like to take it all in. We woke up early in the morning and milked the cows. An experience that I always find intriguing, they just take a small rope and tie it around there legs and then stand there in the field milking them. We then moved all the cows into what is called a crush (what would be called in Canada a crappy chute, just random chunks of wood from the bush made into an alley of sorts) so we could spray them for ticks, flies, etc. They do this every week.

Charles milking an Ankole cow (the most common type here).

Mama Jane collecting the milk for the milkman to pick up via bicycle.

The Reverend spraying.

Benon pumping and The Reverend spraying. Note the crush.

After milking  and  spraying it was time to make my rounds. Rounds are the part I hate about going to the village. This is the part where they parade you around like some trophy which I suppose you sort of are. You go from house to house so that they hosts can show off their Muzungu. It wouldn’t be all that bad if it were just like a parade where I could walk by and wave but it’s the stopping at each house, sitting down, trying to make small talk with non-English speakers and the food. I try to tell myself that it is really an honour for them to have you and it makes them very happy. But when I am here for such a short time it really seems like a waste of my time. I know I am a jerk aren't I? The thing is you can’t visit a Ugandan’s house without having something to eat or drink, even if you have already had 6 other stops where you took something. This time was no different and the last house was really small and the people were quite poor I partly turned down food as I didn’t want to get sick and partly because I was already so full. Turning down food is a big deal but I stuck to my guns….and then the husband and wife each gave me 1000 Shillings. Doh! I felt like a jerk, they told me to buy some sweets with it…like they had 2000 Shillings to spare.

All in all it was great weekend and so nice to catch up with Charles. Turns out that even with missing lots of high school because of not having the money to attend, he ended up 3rd in his class of 68 (or was it 78?). He missed the chance to go to University this year but come next July we’re going to see what we can do for him!

KENTINA!!

So if you don’t recall, last time I was here there was a baby who was born to Laubin and Susan. When they introduced her to me they asked me what the female form of Kent was….without really thinking I said “Kentina?” jokingly. But they decided that was what they wanted to call her. Now in Uganda often children will be given a nickname which they are known by for the first 3-4 months of their life until the parents can get to know the baby and give them a proper name. Examples include: Korea who is actually Bryan but looked like a Korean when he was born; Cham Wi-ray is Charles which means he wasn’t born in his home area, Soke is Charity which means cry and that is all she did when she was a baby, etc. So when I heard that they were calling their baby Kentina I just assumed that it would be a nickname, something to remember me by. Well in about November 2008 I started to get phone calls from Laubin telling me that they wanted to baptize Kentina (not in a Christian sense but in an official naming sense) and that I needed to come and give my blessings or consent I guess. I explained that it wasn’t really a name but that if they wanted to use it they could and they had my blessings and anything else they needed from me! He told me that they wanted to use the name but I really needed to come and baptize her. I thought maybe my refusal to come and baptize this little girl would save her from such a name but it appears she is stuck with my made up name. I must admit I am a little flattered, it’s not everyday someone names a baby after you.


So on one of my first days back, Laubin took me to her pre-school class. I walked in the backyard and seriously there must have been about 40 kids who called out “MUZUNGU,” and came rushing over to me. They all grabbed on to my legs and started to pet my arms (they love my armhair here), just staring up at me in awe. I really wish I had my camera as it was quite a site to see. So here I am standing there huge grin on my face and looking down at all these children just trying to figure out which one is Kentina. Thinking “That one has Laubin’s eyes,” or “Oh Susan’s lips,” then I turn to Laubin and ask with great aniticipation “So which one is Kentina?” He laughs and points to one of two children who are crying off to the side, terrified of the Munzungu. Ha ha ha! Here I was so sure she would be the one who was right next to me just vying for her namesake’s attention. Needless to say she takes after her father (whom Laubin claims is me and says that I should be paying child support) and is absolutely beautiful. She didn’t take much time to warm up to me and is now almost as much of a pest as her real father is. She is so funny and has quite the sense of humor, did I mention she was beautiful?

I taught her how to stick out her tongue...I'm such a good influence!

A snapshot of my day...

Sorry for the lack of entries I have been really busy out in the field working and been booking my evenings solid to try and squeeze in a meal with everyone. I thought I would just show you a few pictures of an average day here. I usually work in the office for the better part of the morning as people are always out in their fields during the early morning trying to beat the heat. I then usually try and make it to one or two of the villages. You have to drive down the most awful roads to get there and it sure makes you appreciate the paved roads when you reach them.

A typical Ugandan road which they race up and down.

Once I reach a village I travel around visiting different beneficiaries (orphans or widows who are benefitting from our project) and perform some health checks on their animals and give any required treatments.

Checking in on a beneficiary and her pig.

Vaccinating and tagging a goat.

 I also always learn a little more about village life each day. I love seeing what people spend their days doing. They usually dig from about 6 or 7 am until 11 or noon. The afternoons are then so hot that they can’t really work so they pass the time doing various activities. Some people just sit listening to radios, some prepare meals, some make crafts and unfortunately a lot of the men drink. When you visit a village you are almost guaranteed to run into at least one town drunk at any given time of day. It’s actually quite sad but seeking help in a place like this for such a problem I think would be very difficult.

A "Mukade" making a grass mat similar to the one she is sitting on.

Me trying to make a grass mat...and I thought braiding was hard!

Of course by the time you have walked around a village, up and down hills schlepping yours kits and what not you can work up quite an appetite. Now in the small villages finding a restaurant can be challenging and you usually end up in some pretty sketchy places. I just try and stay away from any kind of meat as I am sure it is a guaranteed trip to the toilet (which also pretty much non-existent in the village).

My translator and I taking lunch in one of the restaraunts.

People love that a Muzungu will eat in one of their restaraunts.

At the end of the day I like to stop at one of the more well-known beneficiaries and have a visit. It usually attracts a good crowd of kids which gives me a chance to pass out some of the Canadian things I brought along with me (pencils, balls, key chains, t-shirts, etc.).






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The game was entitled "Kick and Throw as Many Balls as Possible at the Muzungu".

Unfortunately because of some other things that have been happening (car troubles, banking issues) I haven’t been able to get to the field as much as I would like but with my last full week here in Mbarara starting soon I plan to get out there every day. Hard to believe it is coming to a close so quickly already.







My "Niece"

Perhaps the most anticipated and emotional reunion has been with my very good friend Mushabe (Moo-Shah-Bee) Innocent. Last time I was here we made an incredible bond and claimed one another as brothers. Over the past two years we have been keeping in very close contact sometimes talking on the phone for an hour (quite a feat when you consider that with most of the others I can talk for about 4 minutes and the fact that he really knows limited English). For the most part he really hasn’t been doing well since I left him here last and the majority of his problems are stemming from his daughter who was born shortly after I left (July 30, 2008), Nuwassima Aderah. Aderah has just not been doing well and when I talk to him on the phone I never could get a clear idea of what was going on. “She eats but has no power,” he would say, or “She still can’t walk,” or “She has pneumonia”. I kept telling him that he needed to take her to the doctor and when he would and they would give her treatments but nothing would help. His explanation was that she had some curse, something about him not paying enough of a dowry to his in-laws and so now she was cursed? Anyway, my mom, dad and I decided that when I got here one of the things I would do would be to get her help and find out just what was wrong with her.

The day that I arrived at Innocent’s for the first time I thought he might cry. He embraced me like never before just repeating "Doctor, doctor, doctor...". Telling me he had heard rumors that I was around but wouldn’t believe until he saw. He showed me around his place and told me his wife was away and that Aderah was at his mother’s today. I told him I really wanted to meet her so we travelled off to his mother’s house. I had my translator along with me as I was from the field and when we both lay eyes on Aderah you could tell something was wrong. She is very small, she is weak when walking – stumbling over the smallest obstacles, has a big stomach and most importantly she's beautiful! We chatted a bit about her health while she cowered in the corner away from the Muzungu who Innocent is telling is her “Unco”. It was decided that I would search out the best place in town for her to be seen and I would pick them up on Wednesday morning.

Innocent helping Aderah put on the new dress which "Unco" brought from Canada

Aderah in her new dress, you can see she is still not sure of me.

So Yesterday morning I made the trek out to pick them up and brought them back to town to be seen a private hospital which is supposed to be state of the art here in Uganda. It actually wasn’t all that bad other than the extreme amount of waiting it was pretty decent and the cost was very affordable (for me, certainly not for them). Anyway, while sitting in the waiting room chatting, I looked over at Aderah and noticed that she had a jugular pulse (basically could see her heart beat in her neck). In one second the whole picture came together for me- the failure to thrive, the big stomach, the weakness, the cough - she had a heart defect. I tried to calm myself down and wait to hear it from a doctor officially but in my heart I knew. Innocent went in to the exam room and was in for a long time. I stayed outside I pacing the hallway waiting for the news. When he came out he told me the doctor says it’s something in her chest and wants blood work and an xray. I gave him the extra money for the tests and while he went to pay I kept the file. I flipped it open and read through what the doctor had written “HIGH heart rate, irregular rhythm, gallop beats…” my heart sank and I shed a few tears. My mind started to race…How can this be happening? What can I do? She surely will need surgery. Surgery won’t be available here. She’ll have to go out of country. How do I get her to Canada? Wait could she even get surgery in Canada? Maybe South Africa? Or India? I'll need to get them passports, and visas. How much is this going to cost? How risky is surgery?

The tests confirmed what I was fearing and even more. She has congentital heart defects which would most likely be the result of Tetrology of Fallot (although I am not 100% convinced that's the case). Additionally, she has malaria, mild pneumonia and aenemia as well. After a long talk with the doctor we have booked her an echocardiogram for next week along with an appointment with the pediatrician. We will then decide if she needs to be referred to the cardiologist in the capital or not. I then asked about the logistics of it all…IF she does have the said defect, and IF she needs surgery, what do we do? He told me that no one in Uganda currently does the surgery but from time to time visiting surgeons come for a couple weeks to perform these surgeries. When we go for the appointment in Kampala (I’m assuming we'll need the referral I guess) they will have that schedule of visiting surgeons. In the meantime she will be on a whole bunch of meds to try and relieve the symptoms and help make the definitive diagnosis next week.

Innocent and Aderah after a long day at the hospital. She was so good, likely would put a lot of Canadian kids to shame!

Please keep Innocent, Lillian and Aderah in your prayers this week. He is truly an amazing man, father, husband and friend and I just want to help him in anyway I can.