It's Not Easy to say Goodbye....

Well I have been meaning to tell you about my departure from Uganda for quite sometime so here I go.

Leaving Uganda was really quite bitter sweet for me. On one hand I was excited to be coming home but on the other hand I was extremely sad to be leaving some of the most amazing people I have ever met (as a whole and individually). My farewell was really a whole week long. Filled with parties, gifts and of course some tears, it started on a Sunday night in one of the villages I worked in. I bought two goats and a whole bunch of soda and threw a party. It was a great time where I got showered with gifts, ate great food, and witnessed some traditional dances. Of course I had to join in...come on do you think I could just sit and watch?

There were even a few people wrote little songs for me which was really touching (eventhough I couldn't understand a few of them). My favourite line in one song (English) said something along the lines of "Thank your mom and dad for teaching you so well." I have it on video so I will be sure to show mom and dad. Also the kids songs and dances were very cute as well.

After the entertainment it was time for "cake" break. Now I was pretty pumped about the cake and tried to peak at it before we ate it but they batted my hands. away Then they revealed such said cake...now in Canada do we call pumpkin roasted with ground beef on the inside cake too? It has been a while but I wasn't aware of it if we do. He he. In their defense it was really good....just a little unexpected!

Then it was time to eat all that goat meat that I had bought. Innocent, Innocent and Phillip had been grilling all afternoon in their newly acquired clothes (I left most of my clothes behind for my friends which they were extremely excited about). I thought it was fitting that my final meal with all my friends was my favourite meal: Muchomo and a whole bunch of coke. There was A LOT of meat but we cleaned it up very well.

At the end of the night it was time for pictures and pictures we took! I had to make rules about lining up for pictures and only getting in on one picture to prevent myself from pulling an all-nighter. I think I took 100 pictures of people on this night (a lot of them I have no idea who they are). Of course I was more than happy to take a few snaps with my favourites!

The rest of the week consisted of eating a lot, trying to get some souvenirs and general goodbyes. I had a few cheesy Canadian souvenirs with me so I also passed those out which went over really well. Amazing how happy someone can be about a pencil or baseball cap.

Obviously the goodbye part was the hardest. You don't really realise how much people have touched your life until you go to say goodbye for your very last time. I mean in all reality I won't see most (if any) of these people again. The realisation of that really hits you hard, these people were and are some of my best friends in the world. The hardest goodbyes for me were saying goodbye to Mushabe Innocent and Hosea. Now crying in Ugandan culture is pretty taboo, you only cry if someone dies. My last day in the field I drove past Hosea and he hopped in the car as usual, what was unusual was that he was crying already. He spent the whole day driving around with me saying goodbyes crying almost the entire time, holding on to my hand and asking about Canada. It was really touching but also really emotional, he kept saying "We go to Canada?". I had told him a lot earlier in my stay that he should come to Canada. He apparently took it quite seriously and really wanted to join me on my journey home. Breaking his heart like that was really hard on me but I think I made it okay when I explained that he had to stay back and take care of his mom for me. Saying goodbye to Mushabe was also really hard. He bought a pineapple and we sat and ate it in his yard reminiscing about my stay and talking of his expecting child. Then he walked to me to my car, I went to hug him and he broke out into tears. The other Innocent was also there and he got almost pannicky like "Oh Oh Oh, no no you can't cry. Oh don't do this. Come on you are a man." Of course I broke out and started bawling which made it that much worse. Innocent was keeled over on the hood of my car blubbering like a baby trying not to look at me. This was one of the hardest things I have had to do. Innocent is truly one of my greatest friends in the world and I have to see him again someday...whether I can get him here or I return there I just can't imagine not seeing him again. But it hit me right then that he looked at me in that same way and we had really impacted one another a lot.

Overall Uganda was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. I can't believe looking back that I was so worried about going over to a foreign country which is now completely unforeign to me. Everyone keeps asking me how my outlook on life has changes and I can't really put my finger on it. I guess the biggest thing I learned was that people can be so incredibly happy with nothing and in actuality the more we have the less happy we are. The people who I met that were the happiest and had the most spirit were those who were so deep in the village that all they had was all they knew. The few people who I met that maybe had watched some TV or seen some North American movies, knew there was something else out there (albeit crap) and wanted more making them so much unhappier with their lives. The other thing I have learned is that people are people, and no matter where we go the interactions we have with those people are what make life. People are what make this world go round and it is the relationships that we make with those people that can really change or create the way we feel about life and ourselves. Although I don't think that I will revolutionize the way I live in Canada I think I just be much happier with so much less and try to invest in people more. I thank God everyday for giving me such an amazing experience and I can only pray that I will take what I have learned and apply it everyday.

Thank so much to all those who faithfully read my blog (there were so many of you) you really made writing this so much fun. If anyone wants to look through A TON of pictures let me know and I can bring over my stack. Ha ha ha

Out with a bang...

Duh! What other way is there to go? Well I am sitting here in the Amsterdam airport trying to spend 10 hours of a stopover doing something (city tour maybe?). I am a little in shock at how fast "High Speed Internet" really is. I had actually forgotten. I bought one hour and now don't know what to do with it.

Ok if you aren't super quick on the uptake you will realise that Amsterdam is not Uganda which means I have left. Of course I had to go out in style (but not too stylish). About one week ago I was looking at my e-ticket to see how long of a stopover I had here in Amsterdam. I thought I would double check my flight date of May 31. Oops guess I am flying one day earlier...no big deal I can do that. Then I peaked at my visa (no idea why). Turns out my visa was misprinted and had April 1, 2008 as my exit date. I didn't think much of it until I talked to one of the vet students who informed me it would cause me some serious troubles at the airport. So I searched through my info from the Uganda High Commission in Canada. I tried the email adress they had given me...bounces back, the phone number 1.....not in use, phone number 2....also not in use. Then I went to the net. Looked up another email adress....it worked. So I waited for 5 days......no response. Then I tried calling the THREE other numbers listed on the website (all different from the previous two I had been given) ALL not in use. By this time I am about to depart for Kampala (the capital and the location of the offices). I leave early on Thursday morning but for several reasons I don't make it to the city in time to hit the offices. I wake up early the next day and go to the offices. I show them the person I am looking for to help me and they tell me she isn't in today. I explain that my visa had run out and that I had a flight that day. They found someone who could maybe help me. I told her my situation and she looked me in the face saying "Where is your letter from your place of work?" I told her I didn't have one and without batting an eye she told me I had better get one from Mbarara (now this would mean travelling back at least 4 hours....one way). "Did I mention that I am leaving TODAY?" She has me talk to another women. This women looks at me and says "You think I can just stamp this thing and you can go? We have a process here sir." Okay yeah I understand but is there anyway we can speed up the process say in like 2 minutes? She informs me that I must fill out a form and write a letter myself pleading my case. I muster over a letter for sometime and fill out this form present it to the woman and she smiles, stamps and sends me on my way. What? I don't know if she was just trying to intimidate me or what but she was really casual about the whole thing and I didn't even need to use the giant stack of money I had brought for bribery (hey this place is corrupt ok?).

Next it is time to catch a special hire. I talk to a man who agrees to take me and in the meantime I decide to check my email. While using the net I heard this huge commotion outside and people are running after a truck, screaming and crying. With some help from a friend I learn that some little boy was hit by a car and killed. The people were chasing after the truck as he was trying to get away. People were in serious distress...talk about feeling helpless. I really was in shock and didn't even know what to do (I never saw the boy or anything but it was still a really horrible situation). When my special hire showed up I was a little skeptical, like all cars in Uganda it wasn't in the greatest condition but the man seemed friendly and my friends were escorting me to the airport. We are trucking along just fine 6 km to the airport when I hear the distinct sound of a flat tire. We pull off to the side and assess the situation (which includes everyone peeing on the side of the road as well). The driver looks a little distressed and I learn that we have no jack. We try lifting the car (yes lifting....they actually thought we could do it but they quickly realised it wasn't happening). We then proceded to try and flag down someone on the way to the airport....now if you think about airports....not a lot of people have the extra time to stop and help someone with a flat. After some vigorous waving another taxi stops....pretty much throws his jack out the window and continues on his way telling us to find him at the airport. We put on the very shaky small small tire and drive really slowly to the airport. The long and the short of it is...I made it and on time (even early actually). My good byes at the airport were emotional for some (just a few friends from Kampala).

It is still kind of surreal that I lived in Uganda for 4 months, 4 months which have already gone by. I don't know if I will ever return, certainly not in the near future. But I have learned so much about life, people and even myself. I will do some "back blogging" once I reach home as there is still a good chunk (yep it's a chunk) I want to tell you.

Sorry...

Hey all. I have been really busy trying to pack and get all my stuff in order and I am sooo not in order. I am leaving here tomorrow and flying Friday. I will do some "Back Blogging" (is that what you would call it?) from an airport I hope. Until then you can see a little of what I have been up to at Leanne's Blog http://drleanne.blogspot.com

The Tooth Rat?

My little friend Nicholas lost his tooth last week. I have young friends you might say? Yes I do he is 7 and in grade 1 thank you very much. When I showed up to the Tea Room he came running out of the back pointing to the gap in his teeth. It appeared as though he lost his tooth. When I asked him where it went he went running to the back again and returned plopping his little tooth on to my hand. I wasn't sure what to do with it but he was sure that I should keep it. I wondered about the Tooth Fairy but when I explained to the others they just laughed and told me about their Tooth Rat. It is the story that this gigantic rat roams around the country looking for his lost tooth. He tries any and all teeth but always leave 100 UGS (less than a cent) in return for trying to use your tooth. We all agreed that Nicholas should leave his tooth under his pillow so that the rat could find it and that he could get some sweets the next day. When I returned in the morning I asked about the Tooth Rat but he hadn't yet come. Nicholas figures that like most people in this country he doesn't have enough money to take his tooth just yet. I figure the rat was scared of being caught or has already found his missing tooth and no longer needs Nicholas's.

We're Having a Party

and you're invited...AGAIN!

I get invited to a lot of parties here in Uganda. At first I thought I was really cool and that everyone really liked me. Then I realized that no one is cool enough to be invited to 6 parties in one week and due to the fact that my skin looks like baby powder they were just looking to show off to their friends. This weekend I was invited to another party but it was of some good friends of mine so I decided that I would go. The day was interesting and of course it was another adventure to add to my memory bank.

First of all I should clarify that I was never fully sure what the said party was for. You see the children were the ones who invited me and their English is okay but not 100%. Most of the parties I have been to are for weddings so I assumed that this was the same, although the man is already married. However that doesn't mean that he wasn't get a second (or third, or fourth...). I tried asking the kids to figure out just in fact I had been invited to.

"So your dad is getting a second wife?"

"Yep," Sylvia said "It's a party for dad and his wife."

Okay different, never been to a second marriage party before but what the heck. Then I talked to Elsom.

"So your dad is getting a second wife?"

"No, he can't get a second wife he is a Savedi (a Christian)."

"So what is the party for then?"

"It is a party for him!"

"Oh so it's his birthday party."

"Yeah his party."

Okay to I am going to a birthday party for an old man...odd as they don't even celebrate children's birthdays but I will be there with bells on. So Saturday afternoon we head off to the birthday party (although I still wasn't convinced it was a birthday party..I was thinking a relative's wedding). I took Justus (one of the children) with me from town so I would know how to get there. Justus asked me to start honking the horn like mad when we got close. So at his command I started to honk (because we were near)...now if you remember my post on "being near" in Uganda you'll quickly figure out that I honked for a really long time. To the point where I was feeling really foolish as everyone turned to look at the stupid Muzumgo who was mightily announcing his arrival! I was constantly saying "You told me we were near." To which Justus replied "We are!"

Finally we arrived at the party in time for some food. I found some man cooking the largest pot of miscellaneous meat I have ever seen.

I am not nor have I ever been a fan of the boiled meat here but I choked down what I could throwing the parts I didn't want for the dogs (you know stomach, tendons, etc.). It was then time for the birthday party. The speeches started around 2 p.m. and at 6 p.m. they were still continuing. Then they started calling out people's names who would go to the front and give a gift of a household item or money. I asked who all the people were and it turns out they were part of "Dad's Group" ahhhhh finally I have understood the party....it's a financial circle (pretty popular here). They meet once a month or so and each person throws a party and makes a list of household items they would like and then your friends bring them or bring money. I was starting to sweat thinking that this was the reason they were so insistant that I come to the party. All I had on me was 10,000 UGX (or about $6 CDN), they wanted me because I would be the big gun who would show everyone up...because I am so rich you know. Luckily I was never called and after another hour or so there was actually a party. Up to this point all my "party" experiences have been speeches and more speeches and I was beginning to think these people didn't know how to party. WRONG! They know. First the party throwers had a little traditional dance which was awesome and so energetic (I secretly wished they would just dance all night).

Then the dancing for the general public got underway. Of course seeing a Muzungo dance is always quite the site and I certainly proved that white men can't dance!

I actually preferred sitting and watching more as everytime I got up to dance they all froze and watched me. Then when I sat they would give me a pop and asked if I wanted to sleep (I hadn't planned on sleeping there but they were pretty adamat that I slept at their house). Dancing seemed to keep going and although I was tired I wanted to watch the sights. Oh yeah and I can't forget the man who kept offering me some sort of alcohol from his jerri-can which he drank with a straw. Not really into the whole alcohol in a dirty jerr-can thing , thanks though!

They also had a midnight lunch which I was pretty pumped about, I walked into the kitchen and found it had been transformed into a nursery room for all the babies (I also quickly walked out when I saw that we were eating various animal parts again).

Finally at 2 a.m. after trying to keep up with these people I called it quits. I was shown to my bed and bedroom which consisited of one giant mat on the floor with two giant men already sleeping in it. Um are you sure this is where I am supposed to sleep? I reluctantly crawled in with the two unknown men and tried to sleep. The hard thing was that the music was still blaring, I had no pillow and did I mention I was sleeping with two unknown men? I finally fell asleep at some point with the pounding music in the background. I woke at 6 a.m feeling somewhat rested, greeted my sleeping mates (who knew no English) and they offered me breakfast which I was more than ready for. I sat down, waited to be served and what was placed in front of me?

How about a little sheep's stomach to get your day going? Breakfast of Champions right? I claimed that everytime I eat sheep stomach for breakfast I get really sick (gagging and retching is sick right?). I couldn't leave without being given matooke, potatoes, fresh honey from the hive, and a little more pop for the road.

This party was certainly no Canadian party and although it was an experience I think I will stick to buns, pickles, and cheese for the midnight lunch and drinking drinks from bottles not jerri-cans. Luckily in the morning there was this boy who gave me that little taste of home that I needed.

A Planting We Will Go....

Last week 4 veterinary students from the WCVM arrived here at FAOC to help for 10 days. We had plenty of hard labour planned for them but not all of it has worked out (shocking in Uganda I know). We were able to go out planting though which turned out to be a great day. Our main goal was really to show the women how effective group work can be in reducing time and hopefully can also build relationships. We went to my new favourite village called Nyamuanja. We planted Lab-lab, Leucena and Calliandra which are all good for goats and pigs and are relatively drought resistant (let's hope or else these blisters were worthless). We travelled around to a total of 29 homes digging, watering and soughing seeds.

The highlight of my day was when the women were singing as we moved from house to house. At one point they just all stopped and one woman played the jerri-can like a bongo drum and a small little old woman danced like nobody's business. I was so happy to have had my video camera and got some great video of them singing and dancing. Unfortunately I didn't get to take any snaps of the actual dancing but even just walking behind them, listening to them sing is something that can't really be described. They sing with such feeling and so effortlessly that you just have to smile, take in the moment, and cry ...uhhh I mean SIGH (seriously who could cry at something like that?).

The women were extremely gracious and sent us on our way with paypayas, avocadoes, tomatoes and sugar cane. There is no doubt about it that this was a "Feel Good" day.

Kids....Part 2

So since my first posting on kids was a huge hit I thought I would go for it again. Some of these kids have touched my life in ways you could never imagine possible. When I look through my pictures some of these kids seem to appear almost every second day. Most of these faces I will never forget (especially because I now have pictures as well). So here is the second installment on kids….

Jumper

This is one of the cutest kids I have seen. He was so rambunctious that I had a really hard time photographing him and even with the 10 minutes and 15 pictures I was still unable to get a good one. He kind of reminds me of Eyore from Winnie the Pooh (without the “ho-hum” attitude of course).

Alexander

Okay technically he isn’t a kid but he is really small and besides you can’t resist his curly locks which he is covered in but I particularly like his forelock! Plus if you see the way he interacts with his owner you could almost swear he was a dog. Really quite a character this one is!

Mr. Goat 2008

This has to be one of the most photogenic goats in history. Not only do I have about 15 pictures of him on different occasions but when I was recently on Facebook I noticed that another volunteer from this organization (who was here last year) also has pictures of him.

Weary

This goat cracks me up…..he was really into his food and really scared of me. Everytime I went near him he wanted to run away but his food was just a little too tasty so he would carefully watch me and keep his head just far enough away to be out of my reach.

Monkey

This goat as well as all goats love banana peels so much you would think they are monkeys. This little one was the first one to give me the demonstration of their love for bananas which also include head-butting one another and playing tug-o-war with the peel. I was tempted to try one myself but just couldn’t get there.

Reverse Dalmation

There are loads of these reverse dalmation goats and they always catch my eye. Unfortunately it always seems that they aren’t in our project so I don’t get the chance to take pictures of them. This was not only in our project but also very angry at me that I was not allowing him to be with his mother which was pretty funny (okay that sounded really mean…..I was trying to treat him, besides he was too old to be with his mother anyway).

Whitey

There is something kind of mesmerizing about a pure white goat (maybe I’ve been dealing with just goats for a little too long?). These two were just dying to have their picture taken as you can see from the almost smile on the mother’s face (seriously).

And my number one favourite goat in Uganda is...

HAPPY

This little girl was born about 6 hours ago and I can't begin to describe how "happy" I am that she is here. You see her father is a really sick dairy buck (the first one here in the project) who I wasn't sure was breeding...today I told Reagan that I was sad as all I really wanted to do is see a dairy baby as I wanted to see what the crosses would look like. Today as I was driving through the village this little girl stopped me and says "Doctor, doctor come and see what your Canada (that's his name) has produced." I was ecstatic that I went running to see this baby. I found its owner there proud as could be and she says..."Dr. Kent...it's a girl....I am going to have milk!" I gave her a HUGE hug and told her that I couldn't be happier. She then asked me to name her....the obvious choice was Happy. On top of all that she really is one of the cutest kids I have seen in Uganda.

Ok sorry…I just had to do a post on the other kind of kids here. Kids and kids (goat and human variety) can cause some serious confusion and usually some laughter. Various phrases can be super funny if you assume the wrong kind of kid. For example:

“Is she the one who left her kid outside all night in the rain?” – Goat kid

“She was the one with the kid that hung itself” – Goat kid

“That kid loves to eat pork.” – Human kid

“She shares her bed with her kid.” – Goat kid (yeah you read that right….see how it could get confusing?)

Nonetheless, kids and kids still amuse me on a regular basis. I can’t wait to get back to Canada and have some kids of my own (you be the judge on what kind of kid I am referring to there).

Let the waterworks begin...

So this morningwhile taking tea Mama Jane asked me when it was that I was going back to Canada. I looked at her calendar and pointed telling her "Today is the 13th and I will be leaving Mbarara on the 29th." She looked shocked and then immediately turned her face from me and covered it up. I was unsure what was going on and then her daughters told me that she was ceting because she doesn't want me to go. I then asked her please not to cry. She told me she knew it was bad to cry but that she couldn't help it. She then told me that last night there was this old man who had seen me on the street and I had gone and had a chat with him like I always do and then he had come into the tea room crying. He was telling her that he loved seeing me in town when he was on his bike as I would wave with such excitement to see him. It is hard to believe what an effect you can have on people. I always just think of my influence here in terms of the women that I work with giving goats, drugs or advice. But when you are in this situation there is no telling how big your sphere of influence really is. My days are numbered here in Mbarara (16 after today) and as I try and see all the people I want to see, buy all the crafts and souvenirs I want to buy I find it hard to believe that in all likelihood I will never return to Uganda (or not at least for a really long time). I guess I just need to live in the moment and not focus on the fact that "this may be the last time I do ______ or see this person". In all aspects of life I try to live in the moment but this will be a big challenge. As long as others don't cry I should be alright.....yeah right who am I kidding? It is only a matter of time before I bawl my eyes out everyday....I just hope there are no cameras around for that!

Happy Mother's Day

I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce you to some of my favourite mothers in Uganda. As I have said before, I try not to pick favourites but sometimes you just can't help it.

Janet

Janet is likely one of my favourite people not to mention my favourite mother in Uganda. She also has my favourite kids in Uganda. She is one of the hardest working ladies you could possibly meet. Not only is she a widow but also a goat farmer, grows matooke, has a garden, has a shop, made some beautiful handcrafts for my mother and now is a para-vet. She never fails to amaze me and always acts as though she hasn't seen me in ages. I will truly miss this woman and her family.

Mama Jane

Mama Jane owns the tea room and calls me her son. As her son she has no problems scolding me for some of my various activities. Which include hanging out on the "Wrong side of the trading centre strip", dancing, and of course watching movies (I know I live such a wild life). But she loves to see me and always tries to feed me some more food so that I can get fat.

Boney

Boney knows essentially no English but I love seeing her as she has the greatest smile and is just such a beautiful person. I can see by the way that she interacts with her children what a great mother she is and what a great job she has done in raising them. Her children make me laigh and have really good English. They had heard that I slept in their village one night and now request that I sleep at their house for one night before I leave. I really hope I get the opportunity as I know it will be really fun.

Chairperson

When I first arrived here in Uganda Susan would only refer to herself as the Chairperson of "Expectant Mother's Uganda". She was "very satisfied" (or full of food) she would always tell me as in Uganda telling people you are pregnant jinxes the baby and you certainly never tell anyone your due date. She worked like she wasn't even pregnant up until the day she popped out Kentina. Yep you read it right they have called their little girl Kentina (maybe after me? who knows? ha ha ha). When they asked what the female form of Kent was I quickly replied.... "Kentina?" The name has stuck and I suppose that is some of the reason why I love Susan so much. But she really is a great lady and she always gives me a deal on tomatoes or carrots, or tries to cook for me. Well now that you habe met Susan you should probably meet Kentina while you are at it.

Of course my own mother remains my favourite mother in the whole world but I have just limited this list to Africa. Hope you had a great day Mom and also all you other mothers out there!

Officially Doctors...

Okay more like Para-vets but you get the point (well maybe not yet but you will once you finish reading). Today we had a celebration to officially pass out the veterinary kits, certificates, dairy goats and the new car from Veterinarians Without Borders. It was a really, really long day starting and 6 am and go-go-going until 9 pm. It was a lot of work to organise such an event in the village and of course had its interesting moments (come on it's Uganda...things don't happen "uneventfully"). My first task was to take the truck and pick up the tent, as shocking as it may seem (I firmly state I was not the last to use the truck) it had no fuel and no battery. It took me pushing it a good 500 meters and sweating profusely to realise that maybe there was no fuel. After getting fuel the truck still seemed unaware of my urgency to get going and still refused to start. I ended up asking some random guy on the street if he knew anything about mechanics. He quickly lifted the hood removed some pipes, sucked a ton of gas into his mouth (yes into his mouth) spit it out all over some engine parts and voila...the truck started. People here are so much more resourceful than I will ever be. We then took off to the tent place where the tent was waiting for us and was a little bigger than expected....we used what ropes we could find and strapped it down and then drove over the lovely roads here. I was merely waiting for a disaster to happen. The only thing that happened was me trying to drive under a tree and ramming that tall post right into the trunk of the tree....that'll stop you pretty darn fast!

The actual trek to the village was uneventful and we successfully dropped the tent at the location. It was then time to pick up 80 chairs and pile them in the back of the truck.

You might think...wow that's a tall stack of chairs on your truck, didn't they fall out? Of course they fell out....I mean really, can you stack chairs that high then drive on these roads and expect them to stay? Certainly not. Ha ha ha.


I then left a few people to set up while I went and picked up some of the ladies and once again I filled my truck to the brim....with people. They sang the whole way and it was really fun (eventhough I could see the tires bulging under all the weight). Don't forget the 9 of us in the cab.

We eventually arrived despite me being sure that someone was going to fall out of the truck and die. The ceremony was great and I have never really seen these people so happy. During the lunch break while we waited for the guest honour to arrive we broke out into some dancing, they thought it was hilarious to see a muzungo try and dance like them. In the afternoon we presented each trainee with a kit, certificate and a working apron.

We then also officially passed out the dairy goats and the car.

The day ended with me loading up the car again and listening to the women sing about how great life is and what faith they have in God (at least that what someone translated it to me as). I had an amazing day and eventhough I am now really tired and really broke I feel, like a million bucks!

Scrambled, Fried, or Poached...

If you come to my house I will ask you how you want your eggs and then go to my hen house and get some fresh eggs. I have actually had chickens for quite some time now but I have been a little embarassed of them. Well maybe not embarassed of them per se but more of my inability to get eggs from these darn things. You see we started out with two chickens when I arrived here. Hilda had 5 and remained with two....one male one female. She told me that she had got them when they were just chicks and and they were now at least one year old and still hadn't laid a single egg. Me being a vet could see the problems and instantly set out to fix them. #1 - There was no place for chickens to lay eggs, so I made a nest box out of cardboard - easy. #2 - They weren't being fed very often nor were they being chicken feed....just left over Matooke, bananas, rice, etc., so I bought some layer's ration - a $3 solution. #3 - There was no perch for the chickens to sleep on, I found an old stick and secured it about 3 feet off the ground in the hen house - I am such a genius! I awoke the very next morning with the desire for....ahhh let's make it scrambled today. I eagerly went to the hen house to find that they had decided to perch on the nest box leaving all the recently eaten food on top, removed all the nest material and had managed to knock down the new perch. I reached inside the box to find....more of the digested chicken feed. Ok, no big deal let's give them a couple more days. In the following days I heard many sounds of mating and found scattered feathers to prove it so was sure that I would soon be finding eggs. Well about a month in I decided I needed to purchase a laying hen. The new hen came to me strapped to the back of a bicycle for a whopping $4. She was really big and I was sure that soon eggs would arrive. I cleaned the house and nest box, put lots of laying hen ration in the feeder then put the new hen in (and listened to the fighting for a day). The next day I came to the hen house, opened the door and out came the new hen flying like a crazy chicken. She was quickly named C.C. (Crazy Chicken). From left to right you can see C.C., Todd (I don't really know why I called him that...I think because he twitches a lot which is kind of like a nod?) he is almost as crazy as C.C.and finally Helen who is the smartest, calmest, friendliest chicken Uganda has ever seen. She greets me every morning and it isn't uncommon to find her in the house searching for food.

So with time I assumed C.C. would lay some eggs or at least convince Helen to lay eggs. It seemed it was going to take some convincing. I tried buying eggs and putting them in the nest, I bought a new cage to give more sunlight, I brought them local plant that some woman told me was good for egg laying and still NO EGGS!

All the time I was getting more and more frustrated, everytime I go to the village I see these hens who have no cage, no food, no water, no nothing....well except for the clutch of chicks they have following behind them. Grrrr. I had pretty much given up on getting eggs from these darn things before I left here until the other day. You see I had told some friends that before I left we would slaughter one of my chickens and we would have a feast. Turns out that I have become a little too attached to Helen, I still think that someday C.C. might lay eggs and Todd, eventhough I don't like him, without him there is NO chance of getting chicks (which is really what getting eggs was all about for me). With the price of chickens steadily increasing I thought that I would buy two hens now and save them for when I leave. Turns out that the price already has gone up and I only took enough to the market to buy one.

The new hen REALLY caused a raucous in the hen house and I honestly thought I might wake up to a dead chicken in the morning. Much to my surprise I woke up to.....AN EGG!

I was sooo happy I literally started to jump around and dance. I can't for sure say that it is from the new hen but I can assume it was her (I know what assuming does so spare me the saying...ha ha ha) and for obvious reasons she has now been called Eggnes (Agnes). As of today I have 3 eggs and with any luckI might have a chick before the time I leave.

For those of you wondering why the chicken that was given to me in the village hasn't been included in my story it is because he was a rooster who Todd chased away on day 2 of his time with me. Yesterday I went on a rooster hunt to the neighbouring houses but I failed to find him, but if Dan asks you about him....just tell him he was really tasty!