The realties of living in Uganda

Week of June 29th-July 6th

For most of my time here, I’ve been able to escape the daily hardships of living in western rural Uganda. I live with the most prominent family in our village; we are the only family with a car and solar power. Unlike most of the other women my age I do not dig in a garden daily with a baby on my back. Even here in Uganda, I make monthly what most people make in two-three years. This week I experienced first hand the challenges of living in this area of the world.

An attack in the forest- A week ago today, one of the researchers I know was captured at gun point in Kibale National Park. After spending all night on the forest floor, he was able to escape in the morning and get back to the research station. At this point the assumption is that they were poachers. Years ago rebels used to hide out in the forest but it has been a long time since anyone has seen rebels in the park.

Conservation and survival- People who work in the field of conservation here and many places around the world are often at odds with people who are just trying to survive.

Everyone who lives in the communities surrounding the park use either firewood or charcoal to do all of their cooking. Which means everyday there is firewood to be gathered. Many people don’t think anything about crossing the park boundaries to get firewood. One of the organizations we work with is trying to encourage people to plant trees on their own property that they will than harvest for firewood but it hasn’t been embraced by the community yet. The same organization is also training people how to build stoves that will use less wood.

Locals here do not see the primates who live in the park as cute like many of us from the west do. Instead many here seem them as a nuisance as it’s the primates and other animals that raid people’s gardens here. I was in a meeting last week where one of the major items of discussion was what to do about the elephants that had crossed the park boundaries and were destroying gardens.

While people don’t eat much bush meat (primates) as they have in years passed, poaching still occurs in the forest. I was with a group of students recently and the ranger speaking to them knew whose parents were regular hunters in the park.

On the other hand many people in the surrounding committees know that the park and other local conservation sites provide jobs and that the tourists bring money into the local communities. So there is a constant struggle.

Accidents happen everywhere- Tiffany (our new housemate) was walking to the swamp with guide as she had done at least twice a day for the last two weeks when she was hit by a bicycle. The driver of the bike had lost complete control of the bike as it came careening over the hill at top speed. Tiffany was knocked backwards onto the gravel road. After applying basic first aid to her most visible wounds, I was able to convince Tinka that we needed to take her to the hospital in Fort Portal. I was very concerned because she was in a terrible amount of pain in her back and was asking the same questions over and over again.

Almost two hours after the accident occurred we arrived in Fort Portal where we had to go to three hospitals until we found one who could do x-rays that evening. By evening we had learned that she had a broken bone in her hand, a concussion, a compressed vertebrae, and had to have stitches in five places including on her head!

She was in the hospital for the next three days and two nights. I stayed with her the entire time to help navigate the language and cultural barriers. The hospital looked like something out of the 1900’s. There were about ten rooms all around a central courtyard that looked like it had been bombed at some point. Seriously, the courtyard was full of concrete rubble and a low hanging clothes line that patients had to navigate to get to the one bathroom or the surgery room. There were no electronic monitoring devices in the patients’ rooms. We had to supply our own sheets/blankets for the beds and there were no pillows. The care was so basic, about all they could do for her is clean her wounds, take x-rays, and give pain meds.

The sad thing is even with that basic care it’s more than most Ugandan’s receive. The boy (20 years old) who was driving the bike went to health clinic in Bigodi which is basically just a first aid clinic. Once his wounds were dressed he than went to another district (county)- to hid himself because he was afraid thatsince he hit a mazuga he would go to jail. Once I reassured his stepmom that he would not go to jail and that he needed medical treatment (he has a head injury), the next issue became payment. They didn’t have the money for treatment. Nothing breaks my heart more than someone not receiving medical care simply because they can’t pay for it. I offered to pay for his treatment but they have been unable to locate him.

Teenage pregnancy- A girl who is just 14 who attended one of the schools I work with gave birth last week. One of the many sad aspects of this situation, is she was at school on Monday no one knew she was pregnant and by Wednesday she had given birth. Many, many girls here get pregnant and or married very young. When I go to visit the secondary school there are so few girls in the classes because most have dropped out of school by than.

Field trips- On a happier note two of our schools went to Kibale National Park on field trips this week. Even though they all live within just miles of the park, none had ever been into the park legally. Many had crossed the park boundaries to get firewood or to hunt for their families. It is a little frustrating that some of the park staff put more emphasis on their foreign guest than the local youth who are the ones who directly impact the park. However, I am glad we able to take them on an official tour. This week we have kids going on their first visit to the botanical gardens in Fort Portal.

Classroom visits- We visited three schools last week, it was great to see all the hands on and conservation lessons that they are doing with the students. I even got to teach a class of 204 second graders- yes there were 104 all in one class! It is frustrating when we go to schools and teachers are absent. There is a very high rate of absenteeism among teachers and since there are no substitute teachers, when a teacher misses school that class is on it’s own for the day or another teacher will try to cover two classes. Neither works well.

No place like home-I’ll admit it after being here five and a half months; I am looking forward to going home. It’s the little things I’m looking forward to the most; hanging out with my pets, catching up with friends, enjoying good food, chilling on my back deck, and just enjoying being home.