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.