Black and White

For the first time in my life I am in the minority and honestly it is not nearly as much as I thought it would be. There’s being different and then there is really sticking out. And even with my lovely tan, I am white.

Very early on you get used to being called Mzungu, an affectionate term meaning white person. It is sort of the Ugandan version of the Thai’s Farang.

You also learn who to talk to, and what prices you should be charged. Find out the price from someone you trust before you leave on the transport, go to buy the pineapple, or barter for a shirt, or else you will find yourself paying two and three times more. It also helps to learn a little of the local language, so when the sales person calls out bitano to the local and 1000 to you, you can point out that you would be paying twice the price. Even if you don’t want the item, the look of shock when the vendors realize that you understand is completely worthwhile.

Interestingly enough it is assumed all white people have money and are in positions of power. It is never questioned when you make an appointment with someone, you will have it. Doors are never closed to Mzungus, people are always made available and no one second guesses a decision. It is very strange to be treated as a first class citizen 24/7. No matter who you visit, the good china comes out and the best foods prepared. You are required to sit in the best chair, or at the head of the table. You will take your food first. And if you try to clear the table, the world would come to an end I’m sure.

The part that makes this difficult though is that I feel totally undeserving of such treatment. I don’t feel like my colour is what should be honoured. I want to be liked because I am me and not because I am white.

And that is what is most difficult about being white – never knowing why someone has introduced themselves to you, or why they want to know you. I want to believe that people find me interesting and fun, but everyone here has at least one story otherwise. Someone wants a visa, or money, or sometimes it’s the chance to be seen with a white partner. White is a status symbol.

As a tall, white woman, who travels like locals across the city by herself (during the day), I stand out. Men regularly stare, catcall, and ask me if I will marry them. When I pass to close in the market both men and women grab my wrist to pull me towards their stalls to look at goods. The word mzungu is uttered in conversations happening around me, as if I don’t realize they are talking about me. When I walk with any of my male friends some men will make crude comments or ask where they can find a mzungu woman to take care of them.

But deeper meanings aside, the colour of the people here is beautiful. They are so dark. And despite Persis’ promise that she also was white and turned dark after spending time in the sun, her colour is something I could only dream of. The worst part, both of us would switch in a heartbeat. Just to give the other a break from our colour. But together they are a beautiful combination.

The Arsenal/Chelsea Match

Arsenal played Chelsea tonight right after Liverpool played Manchester United making it a big night for football (soccer).

My trip across the city proved to me exactly how football crazy Ugandans are! The bars were all packed with people standing outside. I could hear the commentary from the bars as I sat in the vehicle moving through the city. Every location with a television was tuned into the match.

About 15 minutes after I arrived home Arsenal scored. I could tell by the cheering. I live a 10 minute walk from the nearest bar that televises the game, and I felt like I was at the game. Sitting in the house I could hear as the neighbourhood erupt into cheering! A few minutes later a text from my friend Ibrahim confirmed my guess. Arsenal 1, Chelsea 0.

I would say Saskatchewan Riders fans have nothing on Arsenal fans in Uganda.

My City

A city, is a city, and to me Kampala is New York. Just with more mud. Walking down Kampala road in my work clothes, and heeled shoes, I could be in any western city. There are skyscrapers, banks, and well dressed business men and women.

Sure there are also ridiculous amounts of pollution and garbage piled on the street, but it is my city. I know my way around this place. You need to get somewhere I can show you the best way. When boda drivers take me places, they ask – Do you know here. And I do. And I will direct them the best way to get there to avoid the worst of the jams.

People go out of their way to talk to you, the nightlife is fantastic, the weather is just my temperature, and here, I feel free.

Kampala rocks, pre-CHOGM and post-CHOGM, and I recommended it as a safe and friendly place for anyone to start time in Uganda or Africa.

Transportation

While clinging, side saddle, as the boda-boda careened around a truck then bounced off a pothole, I realized I needed to do a blog post explaining transportation in Kampala.

Bodas are the generic term for two wheeled transportation: motorcycles, scooters, dirt bikes and bicycles. For the most part these are the most effective way of getting around the city. They weave in and out of traffic jams, and pedestrians leap for safety when they drive down the sidewalks. On more than one occasion I have yelled to my driver, pedestrians on sidewalks don’t have to move for us, we are in their space. They are cheaper then the special hires (taxis), but more expensive than a taxi (bus).

The do come with serious risk: scrapped body parts, broken legs, and death. While moving around Kampala you are bound to see a boda bumped or half stuck under a taxi. Sometimes there is a passenger holding their shoe, which is bloody. But, during the hours of traffic jams the boda-bodas are a necessary evil.

If you are travelling a long way, or if there is a lot of you, the special hire is the way to go. You call your driver; he picks you up and takes you wherever you need to go. This form of transport is out of reach for the average Ugandan. Good news, my driver, Rogers, has stopped calling me fat, so I am back to riding with him.

The taxi is a 14 passenger van than fits up to 26. It is the cheapest form of transport, go everywhere (except the expat areas), and run all the time. Most of the time, and like most Ugandans, I rely on them. Each day I head into the New Vision office, I take a taxi from Mengo to the Old Taxi Park then transfer to one of the vans running to Nakawa and Jjinja. You know which one to catch as the drivers yell their destination over and over again. “Nakawa and Jjinja” for the trip there and “Mengo/Rubagga” for the trip back.

The taxi’s present a different type of danger. They are a fire trap, with people wedged in and a bar (to hang on to) across the window. If one is in an accident, I am pretty sure it would just go up in smoke. And they fill the streets it reminds me of those national geographic videos with the wildebeests that are moving about. They are all headed in the same direction but there are thousands of them so they bump into each other, and fight.

So you pick your poison and head out to wherever you are going.

Caked in Red Mud

Some of Kampala’s city streets are paved, many have had some gravel put down, but more still are dirt/sand. Even the ones that are paved are covered in a layer of the red, gritty dirt.

And when it rains, that dry dust turns into the stickiest red goop imaginable. It is at its worst in the New Taxi Park, which sits at the bottom of Namirembe Hill. It rains, the mud can be ankle deep, but worse still when it rains it seems to put to much pressure on the drainage so systems back up and add to the water. The best practice is to not think about what you are walking through.

Every time I go though with flip-flops and finding mud, not only all over my feet, but up the back of my pants also. And this mud only streaks when you try to rub it away.

A trip to town just after (or if you are unfortunate during) a rainstorm guarantees at least one load of laundry.

If you decide taxi parks after the rain are not for you, and a boda-boda is a better option be prepared for equally dirty clothes. Not all bodas have fenders, so the back wheels kick up dirt. If your bike doesn’t make you dirty, one of the many passing you will.

Maybe walking on the sidewalk is a better option. Many of the sidewalks especially around Kampala road are pavement, with a few pieces missing. If you can avoid the places were overflowing storm drains are causing small waterfalls, and rapids, it is not a bad plan. However, trucks and taxis don’t slow down before hitting the rain-filled potholes, sending a cascade of muddy water over the unsuspecting pedestrian.

The dust is preferable to being caked in red mud.

Images

Some of the images I see on a daily basis...

Charles the CBHC immunization expert waits for his next patient.

David and Millie from the Counselling Clinic.


Unfortunately there is no typo on this sign, there are cases of people sacrificing children for witchdoctors.

Can I drive? Girl waits to see the clinician in Kasubi Zone I

Nora and her baby brother. Her mom is in Mulago Hospital right now, so she takes care of her siblings.

The Old Taxi Park, where I can try to find my taxi home.

Need a pair of shoes? The corner outside the New Taxi Park

The slum area close to Mengo hospital.

HIV positive girl from the Mengo Hospital Saturday Club waves.

The Cell Phone

In Kampala everyone who can afford a cell phone and airtime has one. Actually, many people who can afford a cell phone, but can’t afford airtime have them also.

Text Messaging, known as sms, has made communication accessible. Sending an sms costs about 0.05 CAN and a call 0.35 CAN a minute. This brings new abilities to a city where so few people (companies & businesses) have telephones the Kampala phone book is smaller than Sidney’s (BC) directory.

And as long as you have some credit you can beep. It’s how Ugandan’s let each other know they want to chat. You call your friend with your remaining credit, the very second it begins to ring – you hang up, thus not spending any money. Your name/number appears on their screen and if they have airtime they will call you.

It can both work well and be annoying at the same time. It is especially bad when you don’t have enough credit even to text to tell them you can’t call back.

The setup is different here than at home. The phone is purchased directly from the dealer. There are no promotional deals where if you sign up you will be given a lower price. In fact there are no contracts at all. After the phone is bought, a network is chosen and a sim (computer) card is purchased for the equivalent of $2 CAN.

The sim card is the phone number. Users buy phone minutes from the thousands of vendors distributed across the city. The vendors sit near offices, walk down the middle of the road, and wait near the taxi parks to sell airtime. The credit is added and you are ready to call, sms or beep.

Aluvia launched

On World Aids Day, the youth of Uganda were the first to gain access to Aluvia, a second-line, anti-retroviral (ARV), formulated specifically for children.

“We are the first institute in the whole world selected to launch this live saving drug,” said Peter Mugyenyi, director of the Joint Clinical Research Centre (Uganda’s pioneer AIDS research and treatment institution), where Aluvia was launched.

Aluvia, a combination of two drugs, lopinavir and ritonavir, is created by Abbott Pharmaceuticals the company behind the adult ARV Kaletra. Aluvia is the first and only second-line therapy for children.

Under a waiver order Abbot was able to ship the medication to Uganda after it was approved by the American Food and Drug administration. A waiver order allows medicines to be shipped before it is approved in the specific country, provided permission has been given be the government.

“JCRC has identified over 60 children in immediate need for this life saving treatment,” said President Yoweri Museveni, on why he gave his approval. He has been applauded by many researchers in the HIV/AIDS community for his fight against the disease.

As more medications are discovered President Museveni says the government will work with many organizations to ensure access for Ugandan citizens.

“Clinton Foundation is now working with JCRC to make [new] treatments available to our children,” he said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 2.3 million children under the age of 15 are living with HIV and a majority of those live in Africa. Until recently, paediatric formulations were unavailable, so hospitals and clinics were left breaking adult tablets into halves, or quarters, an estimate of the correct dosage.

In Uganda 115,000 children are infected with HIV and many of those can no longer take first-line ARV treatments due to negative reactions, or the virus becoming resistant to the medications.

“Introduction of second-line medicine for children living with HIV will hep restore hope for millions of parents and children who would otherwise face a bleak future if first-line therapy failed,” said Mugyenyi.

“Co-formulated lopinavir/ritonavir is a WHO recommended second-line HIV treatment regimen for children, and Abbott is making its latest, most innovative version available to our most vulnerable sector of society; children who live in poor countries,” he said

Aluvia can be taken with or without food, and doesn’t require refrigeration. This increases the usability of the medication as many people in developing nations don’t have consistent access to adequate nutrition and millions live without power.

“We want to ensure the child from Uganda takes no longer to receive medication than children in the developed world,” said Angelo Kondes, Abbott International’s regional director for the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan.

The treatment is being offered to Uganda through Abbott’s Access program; the two-tired pricing system used across 115 low- and middle income country. Aluvia costs $250 per child per year.

Money Talk

CHOGM is over, I can tell without even looking at the meeting agenda.

The streets are packed with more people, the traffic jams make even short trips take hours, and the street children are back.

Dirty little kids with grubby clothes, sad eyes, and outstretched hands… life in Kampala has truly returned to normal. I don’t know how I feel when I see them. I am glad they are back - it beats them being held and mistreated in some government intuition or prison. These kids are survivors; they understand the life on the street and know how to live it. Unfortunately knowing that doesn’t make seeing them any easier.

Today I had another understanding on how difficult it is for the average person to survive in Kampala. There is such desperation for jobs, that employers get away with paying their workers next to nothing – or on some days, if they feel like it, nothing at all. But, people are so desperate that 2000 USH ($1.17 CAN) one day, and nothing the next, is better than nothing at all. But, surviving on 2000 USH* is an amazing feat.

For example my typical daily budget includes:
15,000 USH a night for the guesthouse,
1,800 USH for the transportation to-and-from the New Vision Newspaper,
300 USH for the milk and oatmeal I have for breakfast (I make it myself),
2,300 USH for a plate of matoke, rice, groundnut sauce, and chicken with a Miranda, at the Hospital Canteen,
500 for a rolex for dinner,

That doesn’t begin to take into account the products and items I use, like bug spray and sunscreen, on a daily basis.

So if I live with a friend for free, eat only two meals and walk most of the way to work (would probably take 1.5 hours), I could survive on 2000 USH. The worst part, many of these places that are paying their employees 2000 USH are making a lot more money.

Did I mention these working days are 12-14 hours? The rich get richer as the poor get poorer. The whole system shows the problem with the way capitalism works.

How is a student supposed to make money for school fees? What if a child gets sick, the parents can’t afford the hospital, or what becomes of a child when if the parent dies? 2000 USH a day doesn’t leave much for savings.

*An example of costs
500 USH is 6 ripe tomatoes or 10 small onions or a bag of sugar cane
600 USH will give you 30 seconds airtime to Canada on the MTN plan.
1000 USH is ½ Litre of whole milk or a bunch of sweet bananas
1200 USH is 1 kg local rice
1800 USH for a 2 kg bag of posho (white corn flour – a mashed potato like texture when cooked)
2,400 USH is a litre of fuel
14,800 is a cheap Indian meal for two at Masala Chat, my favourite restaurant in Kampala
67,000 is the cheapest cell phone, plus a 3,000 sim card

So the police are hooligans?

See if you can spot the difference. And the typos and random capitalizations are as they appeared in the paper.

The New Vision (known to be *slightly* in favour of the government) reported that

Hooligans beat up DP Members
A GANG of hooligans, commonly known as kanyamas, yesterday roughed up Democratic Party (DP) members as they tried to march to Kamwokya Market to address a rally.
The men, some of whom were chewing mairunji (khat), descended on the team near Namirembe Road enroute to Kamwyoka. The over 10 kanyamas, who emerged from Kisenyi, a slum, descended on the DP group and beat them up before a commuter taxi could whisk them away.
The secretary general of the Uganda Young Democrats (UYD), Samuel Muyizi, who was badly beaten in the scuffle, was rushed to the hospital.
Kenneth Kakande, the UYD vice-chairperson was also thumped by the men who caught up with him on Martin Road.
Kayigo, who claimed to be the group’s leader, said: “We do not want these people to come into our area because the Police will accuse us of causing insecurity.”
Calm was restored when Kampala Extra Police chief Edward Ochom and a Military Police team arrived at the scene. As the men retreated, the security officers nabbed one of them and whisked him to the Central Police Station.

[Note: to go from Namirembe Road to Martin you need to pass in front of Old Kampala Police station.]

One the other hand The Monitor (known to be *slightly* in favour of the opposition) reported that

Police Disperse DP demonstrators
As Queen Elizabeth II addressed Parliament yesterday morning, police were busy fighting protestors in downtown Kampala.
Police spent several hours battling members of the Democratic Party (DP) youth wing in Kisenyi for organizing a procession in an unrestricted area of Namirembe Road.
The Queen arrived in Uganda on Wednesday evening to open the CHOGM.
The scuffle began at around 1pm after Uganda Young Democrats (UYD) Secretary General Sam Muyizi ordered DP activists to move towards Kololo through the city centre contrary to police directives.
Kololo is the designated protest area during CHOGM.
Mr.. Muyizi was injured in the process. He was rushed to Mulago Hospital; UYD Vice President Kenneth Kakande was also beaten up.
Kampala Extra Regional Police Commander Edward Ochom said the DP members broke the rules.
The over 500 protestors were led by DP president General John Ssebaana. The party leader, however, melted away as the police advanced.

[Note: He must have been hiding with the gangs…]

Either
A. The DP group is having a really bad day, especially Samuel (alias Sam)
B. The police are actually part of a khat-chewing gang called Kanyamas
C. There are some inconsistencies in reporting

Question: Did the reporters even speak to the Police Commander? Because each paper called him something different and he apparently said something totally different to each one. I’m just asking – that’s all.

Making a bet

Two things I have had to get used to very quickly here, the first is being laughed at and second is the different way size is viewed.

As you learn Luganda, one of the dialects found in Uganda and the one most commonly spoken in Kampala, you are met with lots of laughter. My English tongue just can’t stay out of the way long enough to pronounce the long vowel-strewn words. The official language in Uganda is English, but only those people with a formal education speak English, everyone else uses the dialect of their particular tribe or clan. The worst part: Luganda won’t work outside of Kampala.

On the other hand to be larger here is not necessarily a bad thing. But to those of us who are us who are used to the North American ideal of thin being best, it can take some getting used to. For example, I am driving home with my special hire (taxi) on Friday night, we are stuck in traffic and making bets as to how long it will take to get back to Mengo hospital.

I say “I’ll bet you a Rolex (fried egg wrapped with a chapatti) that…” – and here I was cut off.

“Angela,” he said, “I don’t eat Rolexs, they will make me fat.”

“But I eat them all the time and I am only a little fat,” I reply.

I wait for the typical North American response to calling myself fat. And I wait. And wait. And wait.

There was clearly no response coming, so I launch into the concept of fishing for compliments and how western women want to hear they are not overweight, but look lovely.

I explain that I want him to say – “no you are not fat.”

“Oh,” he says, “You want me to lie.”

“No, that is not the point; it’s just the way it works.”

“But you are fat,” he says. I know he isn’t being mean and in fact I could take it as a compliment.

But I still can’t hear “you are fat” as positive so I tell him again how I really would prefer hearing that I am not large and jokingly add maybe I should be looking for another driver.

We finally reach an agreement that I am a good size and many Ugandan men would like the traditional built women.

Good thing, I was getting ready to swear off Rolexs for good, which is problematic as they are an excellent & cheap fast food option.

When it rains it pours

In Kampala when it rains it pours. That means when it floods entire areas of the city fall apart. Aside from people being washed away and drowning, and houses collapsing under the weight of the water, the top cause of deaths during floods is electrocution.

The water saturates the ground and then draws up the walls, doors and across the ceiling. From there it moves in to the electrical wiring. The unsuspecting person arrives home and (if they still have power) turn on their lights. At that point their entire house becomes a conductor.

With the many deaths in the city, I was surprised the focus of an article on the floods was the inconvenience the flooding caused President Museveni. Many of the roads around the lower areas of the city were flooded with 2-3 feet of water – water that accumulated within a few hours. Museveni’s motorcade was stopped for 15 minutes on his way to the airport. A 15 min delay and it makes the news. Apparently he got out, looked around, pointed to all the rubbish and said it was the trash that caused the drains to be blocked.

Too bad there isn’t much infrastructure for litter removal. With the exception of CHOGM preparations, where certain city streets are cleaned regularly, the litter just piles up. I haven’t seen a single garbage can, in a shop or on the street, since I have arrived. There is also no ability to recycle, so plastic bottles are everywhere.

Unfortunately as the flood water resides, likely so will any public desire to keep the streets clean.

The SPC in Kampala

There has been a distinct lack of good internet everywhere lately. Even the fast wireless in the orthopaedic clinic has been so slow; I had to give up on loading e-mail after 22 minutes. The question: Are you ready for CHOGM?

In other CHOGM related news, I was told a story on Sunday that makes me worry a little. The SPC are the police brought on board to control “the people” during CHOGM. They arrest for being in somewhere at the wrong time, throwing litter on the ground, or selling goods on Kampala road (and until recently everyone threw out their garbage and sold goods on Kampala road). They were only given a month or so training before being handed a gun and a baton and told to patrol Kampala. There are rumours flying that the government doesn’t have the funds to pay them, which will leave 1000+ angry, untrained officers with guns at the end of CHOGM.

But that’s not the worrying news.

An SPC officer was supposed to bring in a suspect, so he marched into the local area and demanded the people tell him the location of the suspect. They were mostly ignoring him. Rumour has it he wanted to make the people listen/fear him so he shot randomly into the crowd. A man was wounded in the leg and a young girl (13 or 14) was killed. The crowd, sick and tired of being repressed by untrained violence, responded with mob justice and beat the officer within an inch of his life.

I haven’t seen anything on this in the local papers, just something I heard from a fairly in-the-know friend of mine. It speaks volumes to the tension the Ugandan people have been put under for the preparation of CHOGM. Ugandans for the most part are friendly, and peaceful, remembering past years of violent repression.

Are you ready for CHOGM?

Are you ready for CHOGM?
The billboards are everywhere. Other signs tell Kampala citizens that 1.6 billion eyes will be on Uganda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The queen will be in Uganda for the first time since before the Idi Amin era. I really don’t have the heart to tell people here, that significantly less eyes will be on Uganda, and their chances of actually seeing the Queen are infinitely smaller then that.

If Uganda had been passed over as the location, then CHOGM would have been held in Canada, as we were the other finalist country. Still, how many Canadians have heard of CHOGM let alone would pay any attention if it had been in Canada.

Also, I bet you there would be some significant differences in the preparation. I bet the Canadian city that would play host, would not have plans to close the road to the airport to any traffic other than delegates. This is the worst rumour we have heard so far, as one of the housemates is trying to fly-out during that time.

Places where the queen MAY visit are having structures hastily built. The other day the newspaper contained an article on a resort in Queen Elizabeth Park (a game reserve) that was having a room renovated for her majesty – to the tune of several million shillings (thousands of Canadian dollars). At the Kasubi tombs, one of Kampala’s only tourist attractions, the structure that had always been used as the community health centre, was torn down to be rebuilt – fit for a queen.

Roads the queen might travel on are being torn up and fixed, while feeder roads are being left in appalling conditions, with higher traffic volumes due to detours. Matatu taxis (the local buses) are pulled of the streets leaving masses of humanity without methods of transport. Two reasons I have heard: Too much traffic for the delegates to be able to get around and the Queen won’t like the dust. The Matatus that have been left on the streets are taking the opportunity to increase their fares. The ride Wilbur’s (see article on CBHC) daughter takes home from school was 500 USH, yesterday they were asking for 2000 USH. She didn’t have it and had to walk for hours to get home.

Can you imagine Ottawa taking all the buses off the road for the parliament being in session, or a better example closing the metro and taking taxis off the street whenever the UN was in session in New York?

Fruit stands, phone card booths, and boda-boda stages are being ripped up and moved, the area they have vacated being converted into something “nicer to look at”.

I have had heard the rumour that men who go downtown will be asked to wear ties in the Queen’s honour, even though she will probably never go downtown during her entire stay (of two or three days).Finally, despite the lack of transportation, ordinary Ugandans are at risk of being rounded up if they are walking alone at night. The police’s theory? Fewer people in Kampala for CHOGM will mean less of a problem and easier control during the meetings.

So the question of are YOU ready for CHOGM is picking up more than excitement, it is also becoming the brunt of many jokes and frustrations.

Brace yourself – CHOGM is in less than two weeks.

News from Uganda Nov. 7

Two former Ministers of Health on are on trial for misappropriating money designated for a child immunization program. Last week the defence lawyers walked out of court after their objections to how the prosecution was questioning the two went unheard. Many people here believe the trial is more for show, the government and courts showing the world they will not stand for corruption, even as more corruption occurs.


Lords Resistance Army (LRA) representatives are in Kampala to meet with representatives with the government to further discuss peace negotiations between themselves and the government forces. This is the first time some of these LRA members have been back to Uganda in 10 years, having been hiding across the border in DRC and Sudan.


In Alchoi Region, in the north of Uganda, MP’s okay use of small doses of DDT in houses for mosquito control. This was the original use of DDT, and it became known as one of the dirty dozen pesticides after widespread spraying began affecting the environment in North America.


An UPDF army private was sentenced to death by hanging after shooting his girlfriend 32 times. Dennis Omona Anywar said he killed her because she was stealing money from him and gave him HIV.


The European Union has decided to increase direct funding to Northern Uganda, thus cutting back on funding to NGOs. The 22 billion shilling grant (12.9 million US) is earmarked from those regions beginning to recover from the 18+ years of civil strife. The EU ambassador thinks the direct funding will strengthen local programs but is warning officials against embezzling the funds. Should be interesting to see how this works out.


Not exactly Ugandan news but important to Ugandans was Saturday’s match for Manchester United against Arsenal. They tied.

Notes on Uganda

• Security guards, police, and military all carry very large guns on a regular basis.
• KPC is Kampala Pentecostal Church on Kampala road and makes an excellent marker for many other locations.
• Traffic here rivals Bangkok and crossing streets in Phnom Penh is very good practice for Kampala.
• Look both ways before crossing the road, even if you are on a one way street.
• A taxi park is an adventure in itself.
• When it comes to boda-boda rides, know that there are safer ways to travel, but also realize your driver also wants to come out of the experience alive (you hope). Best bet, until you are used to them, just close your eyes, keep your knees in close and hang-on tight.
• People are so friendly. As you walk around downtown Kampala people will always take time to point you in a direction, even if they have no idea what you are looking for.
• Pediatric medications for HIV don’t exist. Adult ARVs and Septrin are simply broken in half (and half the adult amount is prescribed).
• Children, for the most part, are allowed to run around where ever they want and without adult supervision thus the significant child abductions rate.
• Beeping someone is totally acceptable; a beep is calling their phone but hanging up before they pick up. They will then call you – thus paying to talk to you. Usually this is done when one person is nearly out of minutes. It’s best not to do it constantly or you will find people will not return your call. Texting is also popular (and cheaper than a call).
• Kampala is a great mixing pot many different cultures (and thus) foods. There is a number of good ethnic restaurants from Indian to Lebanese, and samosas are offered at most canteens. Samosas are the Cuban peso pizza of Uganda – cheap (about $0.05 each) and delicious, although probably not the most healthy offering.
• Matoke, steamed plantain, must be eaten fresh – if it hangs around too long it becomes an inedible lump.
• School girls have hair about ½ cm long. Schools restrict them girls hair length saying they will spend more time on their hair than their studies.
• CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) preparations are becoming a pain! Roads are randomly ripped up, power goes out for 20 hour stretches and people (and buildings) are moved. Billboards ask “CHOGM: Are you ready?” My guess? Not really.
• People in Uganda (both muzungu and Ugandan) regularly show up uninvited and unannounced and stay for long periods of time. For the most part it is great, but every once and a while you will find yourself at a complete loss at what to say and have no idea how to ask them to leave.
• You can make most kids days by stopping to say “Hi” or waving. Of course as they get to recognize you they come running at you for a high five, hug or to hold your hand and follow you to your next destination.
  

Also, a very unique experience…

When I was out with CBHC on Friday we went to the Kasubi tombs, the place where the kings of Uganda are buried. The tombs are tended by the descendants of the Kings and their wives. We went to treat these people and I became the first Muzungu to step inside a caretaker’s house since 1894. It was a huge deal. I was given a Buganda (tribe) name of Nabatanzi, as well as a grandmother and aunt. It was all very wonderful. We ate delicious matoke and groundnut sauce!

Outpost

Not all healthcare takes place in Kampala’s many (for fee and for free) clinics and hospitals. Mengo Hospital is the base for one of the many Community Based HealthCare (CBHC) units. Yesterday, the coordinators, Olivia and Margret, asked me along as they headed to the streets and suburbs of the city. The ministry of health is in the middle of a mass immunization campaign; all women of child bearing age are to receive the tetanus vaccine.

The morning was spent visiting two schools near Mengo hospital. Women who worked at these schools were being given the opportunity to receive the vaccine. One of the schools we stopped at was a maze of buildings and broken walls. It looked like the plan had been to have a three story building. The first floor is finished with tile walls, windows and electricity. The second floor has brick walls and a roof, and the third floor only has the hint that walls were suppose to go up.

At noon, the team, headed to one of their outposts in the district of Kawaala. It is only 20 minutes from the city however, as soon as the pavement ends so does the similarities. Lush and green, red mud roads, and cement buildings with tin roofs. The clinic roof presents an interesting problem because when it rains it is so loud you cannot hear what the person next to you is saying.

One of the highlights was meeting Charles, a clinician from Mengo hospital. He lives in the area and met us at the outpost. We have just spent the last 10 minutes bumping down a muddy and rut filled dirt road when we arrive at the clinic. I get out of the landcruiser, an important vehicle for this line of work, and come face to face with Charles, who is wearing a lab coat. The lab coat’s tag reads – Vancouver Island Heath Authority. It was such a flash from home. I am pretty sure my mom wears the same coat when she works at Saanich Peninsula hospital, around the corner from my house! It was brilliant.

The outpost is definitely a full service clinic. Babies were immunized and registered, and mother’s vitamin A and tetanus shots. There was HIV testing and counselling. Olivia ran the basic clinic/pharmacy handing out medications from painkillers for headaches to antibiotics for infections. For five hours the team of four from Mengo, with the help of local traditional birth attendants trained in public health, saw nearly 90 patients.

The community leader met with us for a while, he is a fascinating man, knowing what is best for his community, yet being totally aware of the details of world issues. He told me we would have met last year at the AIDS conference in Toronto, but his invitation was lost in the mail and he didn’t receive it until after the event. (Remind me not to mail anything home.) He has invited me back to the community as often as I’d like – I will take him up on that in the future.

Football night in Kampala

In Uganda, right after you are asked your religion, people want to know which team you support. Man Utd. or Arsenal? Actually I am a Chelsea fan, but I have been known to cheer for Liverpool and Manchester United on occasion. This answer is usually acceptable. British Premiere League football (soccer) is hugely popular here. The pubs are packed on game nights; even taxi drivers wear their team on their sleeves, or more accurately painted on the rear windows.

Last night Arsenal played Liverpool. The bar was so packed; we got their 25 minutes early and still had to sit on the cement floor. The bar exploded with excitement everytime a goal was scored, or nearly scored, or saved. Us muzungus (foreigner – falang in Thai) went with a couple of the older Bakuli Boys, Junior and Tony.

The Bakuli Boys, so named for the district where most of them live, makeup the NGO African Hearts Community Organization. This is a group of 62 boys who live in poverty. Through the organization they have been given food, the chance for education, and taught to play instruments. They have formed a brass band which has become exceptionally popular, and the money they make goes towards school fees, uniforms, and other necessities. The 15 boys who were homeless now have a place to stay. Some nights I go down and help them with homework. Finals are over the next couple of weeks and their semester break (for 2 months) begins in November.

One of the younger boys, Robert, who guesses his age to be 13, comes for soup after school. He’s not really allowed to come by the guesthouse, but none of us staying here would ever dream of turning him away. Not only is he smart and charismatic, the soup and peanut butter toast probably is the closest he gets to real nutrition. Robert's only other meal is posho at the school lunch. Posho is corn flour than when cooked in water resembles mashed potatoes when it is finished. It is tasty, but when eaten alone rather bland. Robert says the reason I like it, is I have only eaten it a few times.

Anyway, Liverpool and Arsenal tied, which is a big deal. Arsenal’s winning streak is over, which is good for fans of all the other teams! Most of the people cheering for Liverpool were Manchester United fans, who needed to see their main rival taken down a notch. The give away, was when for the few seconds the camera panned to the Man Utd. coach, there was more cheering then when Liverpool scored their goal. I don’t really know much about sports, but that is a close enough approximation to still have me included in further “football” conversations.

News from Uganda Oct. 26

Police are investigating in an all girls’ school, where 10 girls between the ages of 12-14 were reported to be pregnant. The girls were all from the same class. The response from the administration is that parents should step-up and be teaching their children morals.

• I may be editorializing a little bit but that’s not far from the truth. (I was going to put a direct link for the story here, but I find the Monitor's website impossible to figure out - see for yourself at The Daily Monitory Online)

One of Kony’s top officials from the Lord’s Resistance Army gave himself up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The DRC is handing him over to the UN peacekeeping mission in the Congo to prepare him for his return to Uganda.

The refugee crisis in western Uganda is getting worse as nearly 800 Conglese enter Uganda daily. Kisoro is the town where the refugees are headed. UNHCR, MSF France, and UNICEF have set up latrines, and a system for garbage collection to avoid outbreaks of disease.

As Uganda prepares for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) there have been rumours that police are randomly arresting more people in an effort to decrease the number of citizens in Kampala. I have been told that people are afraid to walk outside at night, even with ID, as the officers have been known to rip up the ID and arrest people anyway.

Also, apparently Ugandans are to vote off a particular person in Big Brother Africa. That show is huge here – and there is no creative editing…. Everything is shown.

HIV/AIDS in Uganda

HIV status in Canada is something people tend not to disclose, unless they are activists. To have HIV in Canada is, for the most part, something people feel ashamed of. Those who are HIV positive are often seen as being drug abusers, promiscuous, or prostitutes.

In Uganda, however, HIV is so prevalent it affects nearly everyone. Mothers accidentally pass it to their unborn children; men give it to wives and girlfriends; nurses get pricked by syringes; and people injured in (the frequent) car accidents receive HIV from other passengers. The sheer number of people, both those who look healthy, and those who look ill, is huge. Stigma, for the most part, is gone. The AIDS clinic at Mengo Hospital is constantly full. People arrive early in the morning and wait all day to see counsellors, meet with a doctor, get tested, receive free anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs), and those who test positive have the opportunity for a CD4 count.

The Pharmacy

As each new patient is admitted they meet with a counsellor, who discusses modes of HIV transmission and asks what they will do if they test positive. A major emphasis of these meetings is positive living. The counsellors say - just because you are HIV positive, doesn’t mean you will die, with healthy living, proper protections, and a balanced diet, people do not get AIDS for a long time. Patients are asked to make sure they are sleeping under bed netting to avoid malaria, nets are provided to those who cannot afford them.

The Waiting Room

The patient then has blood drawn in the lab and 10 minutes later the counsellor will tell them their status. It boggles my mind, that within 10 minutes a person’s life will be totally changed. Nearly everyone goes for testing, especially because couples are legally required to be tested before they can get married.

While people with HIV can avoid getting AIDS for a long time, there are many patients at the clinic who are very ill! A woman, Jane, came in yesterday. She was so well dressed, like everyone in Uganda, and I guessed her age to be around 50. She is 29.
Due to her battle not only with AIDS, but also TB, she had lost a lot of weight since her last visit, the scales showed her weight to be 44 kgs. Jane is just one example of people who, despite taking all prescribed medications, is literally wasting away.

Even though many people Kampala are educated about HIV and its transmission, there are people trying to profit from it. Henry, was tested the first time at Mulago hospital, on the way home with his results, he stopped by a small church. For a large fee and the correct stamps on his positive test they would pray for a miracle for him. He came to Mengo hospital looking for the official stamp. Jennifer, one of the counsellors, explained to him, that some people will take advantage of those that are sick, and that he shouldn’t have to pay people to pray for him. Christianity is very important in Uganda, and the counsellors constantly struggle to convince Catholics to use condoms to protect themselves. The other battle is against small religious sects that convince people to throw away their AIDS medications; these groups say asking God for forgiveness will clean people of HIV. Despite these set backs, the counsellors are blunt in their explanations and are willing to answer any questions to help people understand their HIV status. Some of the counsellors are HIV positive themselves.

Arrival at Mengo

The plane from Amsterdam to Kampala had more white faces then black – holidaying families, sports teams, groups of AIDS workers, and UN representatives. But, these faces moved out of the airport quickly and into waiting Land Rovers, the preferred vehicles of NGOs, before disappearing among the 1.2 million people living in Kampala. One of my first questions to Nicole, the girl giving me a tour of Owino, the largest market, was where are all the white people that I flew in with? She brought up an interesting point – you don’t find them at Owino or many of the other outdoor markets. They prefer to go to shopping malls and stay in high-end hotels.

Although by the standards of most Ugandans JaJaGwens Guesthouse at Mengo Hospital could be a four star resort because we have running water (both hot and cold), beds, toilets, electricity, and a generator for the many power outages. Not to mention our stove is half electric and half gas, so we can still cook when the power is out!

Persis, our friend (and housekeeper), also lives on the hospital grounds. She has a mat on her concrete floor for sleeping, uses lamps and candles for light, uses a shared latrine, and her water (for cooking, bathing and cleaning) is collected from the shared tap outside.

Besides the accommodations Mengo hospital is home to a dental clinic, eye clinic, maternity ward, paediatric unit, AIDS clinic (called “Counselling”), and several patient wards. Luke and Catherine are the male and female wards respectively, for those people who do not have much money. Those people who can afford more stay in single rooms in the Sir Albert Cook building. Luke and Catherine are 80 bed dorms where families bring food to their sick relatives. Also in the compound are armed guards ensuring people don’t leave before they pay their fees, oh and the garbage heap. Regularly circling the garbage, or perching in a nearby tree are about 20 – 25 of the largest birds I have ever seen. Standing at 1.5 m tall the Marabou Stork put our scavengers, like seagulls, to shame.


Outside the compound all bets are off. Looking both ways before taking any steps prevent you from rapidly becoming roadkill. Every street corner houses a booth, in the most rudimentary sense of the term, where you can purchase minutes for your cell phone, or make calls from the one they have set up. Suzanne sits right outside the gates of the hospital, all day, everyday, and she is where I purchase my minutes.
Across the street is a little corner store that sells some western type products mixed in with the beans, rice, and cartons of milk that doesn’t always have to be refrigerated. Down the street about 8 minutes, just past Maggie’s bar, an excellent place for beer and a game of soccer, and the internet place, is Mengo Market. This is an outdoor market with bananas (called matoke), pineapple, most vegetables, ground nuts (peanuts) and a great place for rolexs. A rolex in Kampala is an egg omelette with tomatoes (and sometimes onions) rolled up into a hot chipati. They are rolled eggs, hence the name rolex. (If you still don’t get it say rolled eggs then rolex out loud).

In fact I am responsible for dinner tonight, which means I need to head out to the market, now.
Next post will have more on the AIDS clinic and the African Heart Boys (Bakuli Boys).

The view from JaJa Gwen's Guest house. (Jaja is grandmother).

The start of something new.

A new career, a new location, a new trip, hopefully a new starting point - it seems fitting it comes with a new blog.