Chipati and bananas
Trip Start
May 20, 2008
1
7
14
Trip End
Jul 20, 2008
Kampala and iganga, Uganda
Monday, June 16, 2008
this weekend andrea, leah, and i, and two volunteers michelle, and setra went to kampala with two tasks in mind: 1) visit the slums and feed the kids bananas and chipati 2) find melissa and our colorado friends. the first task was heartbreaking but easy enough. we jumped on boda bodas sunday morning with a huge load of bananas and chipati and then walked in and out of a slum called katanga. it was pretty incredible. i dont really know how to describe it. the slums are made up of brown hutish buildings separated by foot wide canals with unclean water trickling through. their are starving dogs running laying all around and children poking their heads out from their fabric covered doorways. next we go i am hoping to pass out toothbrushes. it is hard to know what is helping them. i want to enable people to change their lives and not just give a one time use hand out. i need to get more inspired and really throw myself into projects here.
melissa had sent me a text a week ago with the name of the district in kampala where they are living and that was it. i tried to get a hold of her but it was useless and email can be a hit or miss. so, off on an adventure andrea, leah, and i went. first andrea was pushed into an empty taxi bus where the two taxi men argued with me and then started driving away with her... i started yelling at them to give me the girl but they wouldnt so i just jumped in! leah's face was priceless to see from the window. she was with michelle and setra so dont be too alarmed. the taxi went maybe two blocks and then stopped and the situation was releaved. it was a little bit of an adrenaline booster for a few minutes though. the taxi ended up taking us in the wrong way and giving us a run for our money but we refused to pay. after a few changes in taxis we made it to nansana but were clueless as to where to find melissa. we just asked people where the organization was (nobody knew but it was fun to act out the name come lets dance) and we started asking for a bunch of mzungus. we were pointed to down a road. no luck... then we went back to the people who originally directed us and they took us a korean lady's home. after that we walked i would guess more than five miles looking for mzungus. i went into the police station and andrea ran after a mzungu. the police were clueless but andrea's white girl ended up being emily who is with come lets dance! it was amazing to find them! i hid around the corner and surprized melissa when she got back from church. she cried when she saw me! it was awesome to just sit and chat with all the girls (aisha, stevie, sarah), i felt like i was back in colorado for a few hours. it was inspiring to hear all about what they are doing! we preceded to have the most uncomfortable taxi ride as of yet home to iganga. they like to shove as many people possible into vw vans. i only had one butt cheek at a time on the seat for the two hours home.
then today (i know this is a long blog) i took priscella to the doctor for her second to last malaria shot. i dont know if i have written about that at but it is painful to do. i took priscella on friday to see if she had malaria and she did and so twice a day i take her to get injections. she is by far the bravest two year old. she just sits there until she sees the needle and i have to hold down her legs and her torso and she cries. i cry too. oh man! but only tomorrow left! after that i went to the hospital and the ent was slow so i helped write up patients' information and then went the maternity ward. beth you can stop reading now. a lady was hemorraghing (spelling?) and needed to be operated. she was nine months pregnant and in labor but they couldnt find the babies heartbeat. she had had eleven kids! after an hour or so of her laying on the table they finally operated. the baby was lost. it was heartbreaking. i left before the surgery was completely over but it didnt look good for the mother either. my heart is aching for the eleven kids. mark and i are going to kampala this week to start our project of getting blood to hospitals here. if they had blood here this wouldnt have happened. a baby died last week just because the hospital ran out of oxygen. hopefully we can do something!
oh man oh man.
Comments
incite for some foresight
I couldn't tell in your previous blog if the flying squirrel was the name of the rapid, or a game for going down the rapids. Sounded fun regardless. Seems like your adventures and experiences are really heating up. I'd like to offer some incite as a reader and say that this blog is depicting a reality of the world that developed nations are not exposed to. Your comment about enabling people to change their lives, rather than provide them with a one time use hand out, is profound. This change is seemingly a daunting task even for one's lifetime, but the fact that you're there now, participating in a different world and sharing this with folks at home is creating a change. It's more a realization of how life differs when we travel great distances, and the recognition that it is still life, and it won't stop, no matter our geographic locale. You hold a valiant perspective Sally, one more of the world should be exposed to.
It's hard to respond to the close contact tragedies you've encountered, but I believe it can only fuel your inspiration to continue impacting lives. I hope Priscella's last shot went well and best of luck getting more blood to the hospital and with the remainder of your projects, journeys and stay!
Mountains look different everywhere we go, so keep on climbing..
Best,
Jeff